Pre-race Report Notes
First, big shout out to Tyler Ems! My family and I had fun at dinner, and nice job in Milwaukee.
I've been looking forward to the Age Group Nationals since planning my race schedule at the beginning of the year; however, after hurting my knee at NJ States I was not sure how the race would go. We flew out on Thursday and met James Chesson, who was on the same flight to Milwaukee. James was 4th place at NJ States and beat me by 17 seconds. Besides James, we knew Doug Clark was making the trip to Milwaukee, but we were not finding the usual top names on the athlete registration list. Adam Webber, Brian Duffy, and Jake Ryhner were not on the list, and we knew Dan Hedgecock and Patrick Parish took their pro cards. When the race provides an athlete registration list, we like to survey the list to understand the competition and help plan the race strategy.
Race Set-up
I was fortunate with a good spot in transition. Close to the end of the rack and to the ‘swim in’ entrance. Although this meant I would have to run farther with my bike to the ‘bike out’ section, I thought it was better to run a shorter distance with my wetsuit and have a shorter distance on the ‘bike in’ with running with my bike. Last year in Vermont, we knew USAT gave out an award for fastest (and slowest) transition awards. With my transition spot, I thought to try and go for the award (fastest transition time, not slowest). Also during my race morning set-up, we pumped up my tires. There was a mandatory bike check-in the day before, and we discovered that my tires had lost 10 lbs of pressure in each tire during the night.
After setting up transition, we went back to our rental car to relax as my wave (i.e., the Male 30-34 age group) was not starting until 9:30 am. Thankfully, the weather was overcast and the air temperature was not too bad even with the late start time.
Swim
The swim was situated in Lake Michigan and the water temperature was pretty cold. The venue was perfect being in a protective cove. There was also ample space for pre-swim warm-up, which was nice. It's funny thinking back to my days swimming at Villanova how I hated warming up before a swim meet. Now at a race if they do not provide the opportunity for an 'in-water' swim warm-up I get disappointed.
My age group was the largest wave with 183 swimmers vying for the best starting position. I usually like to set-up on one of the ends, but these areas were the most populated. As I was swimming around, practically no one was settling in the middle so I decided to make this location my swim start position. With such a large group, I sprinted the first 200 meters to get out in front. There were 3 other swimmers holding the same pace, so I moved in behind to try and draft. After making the turn at the half-way point, we started to see swimmers from the group ahead that started 10 minutes earlier (i.e., Female 25-29 age group). Passing the first few female swimmers was fine, but then we came up to a large group of swimmers. With open water swimming it is tough to see two feet in front of your face. Mistakenly, I swam on top of one swimmer’s legs. I felt sorry running into her in the water until she gave me a return forearm shiver. Thankfully, it propelled me forward and away from the group so I felt less sorry for running into her as I realized she was fine. The last 200 meters I picked up the pace and came out of the water in 4th place.
T1
With the fastest transition award in the back of my mind, I sprinted up from the water and passed multiple athletes going into the transition area. Removing my bike from the rack, I could see a competitor right ahead of me. I sprinted with my bike in hand passing him going out of transition. I was now in first place after a fast T1.
Bike
The bike course was great. Smooth roads and not too many turn arounds. I was leading until the eventual age-group winner passed me with about 6 miles to go. The eventual second place finisher in my age group passed me up the final hill, which was the bridge heading back into the city of Milwaukee. I was able to pass him back on the downhill, and entered T2 in second.
After a slow bike time at NJ States, I reconfigured my position to be more similar to the position I hold when training. The bike felt a lot better and I was happy with my split time of 57.42 (i.e., 25.8 mph).
T2
With the close position in the transition area to the 'bike in,' I did not have far to run with my bike as compared to T1. I quickly put on my shoes and was off to the run. I exited transition right beside the first place athlete.
Run
After hurting my knee at NJ States, I focused on swim and bike training only for the past 3 weeks (i.e., no running). The run started off fine, but when we started to pick up the pace, the pain in my knee began again as in NJ. This time the pain was more severe. At NJ States, I could feel the pain, but it did not affect my speed. Here in Milwaukee I had to slow down to let the pain subside. The first place finisher pulled away, and the second place and third place (James) athletes passed me as well. My run split time ended up being a 38.48.
Conclusion
I finished the race 28th overall, and 4th in my age-group. It was a good race, and I definitely give credit to Doug Clark and James Chesson for very strong performances. They represented the state of NJ well.
Later that evening, we came back to transition to help my sister with bike check-in for the Sprint race that was scheduled for the following day. We could overhear the awards ceremony. Doug Clark won for Masters Overall and had the fastest bike split for Masters. When they announced the fastest transition award, they provided the combined T1 and T2 time. After hearing the winning time, I was calculating my transition times and thought I should be pretty close. Just after that thought, the announcer said the second fastest transition time belonged to Michael Phinney from Yardley, PA at 8 seconds behind.
Based on this race here is some advice to fellow triathletes:
• Review the athlete registration list to get an idea of the competition before the race
• If there is a mandatory bike check-in the day before, be sure to add enough time race morning to pump up the tires as air pressure may decrease over the night
• Work the transitions and utilize free speed tips like rubber bands on your shoes to hold them in place as you exit T1
First, big shout out to Tyler Ems! My family and I had fun at dinner, and nice job in Milwaukee.
I've been looking forward to the Age Group Nationals since planning my race schedule at the beginning of the year; however, after hurting my knee at NJ States I was not sure how the race would go. We flew out on Thursday and met James Chesson, who was on the same flight to Milwaukee. James was 4th place at NJ States and beat me by 17 seconds. Besides James, we knew Doug Clark was making the trip to Milwaukee, but we were not finding the usual top names on the athlete registration list. Adam Webber, Brian Duffy, and Jake Ryhner were not on the list, and we knew Dan Hedgecock and Patrick Parish took their pro cards. When the race provides an athlete registration list, we like to survey the list to understand the competition and help plan the race strategy.
Race Set-up
I was fortunate with a good spot in transition. Close to the end of the rack and to the ‘swim in’ entrance. Although this meant I would have to run farther with my bike to the ‘bike out’ section, I thought it was better to run a shorter distance with my wetsuit and have a shorter distance on the ‘bike in’ with running with my bike. Last year in Vermont, we knew USAT gave out an award for fastest (and slowest) transition awards. With my transition spot, I thought to try and go for the award (fastest transition time, not slowest). Also during my race morning set-up, we pumped up my tires. There was a mandatory bike check-in the day before, and we discovered that my tires had lost 10 lbs of pressure in each tire during the night.
After setting up transition, we went back to our rental car to relax as my wave (i.e., the Male 30-34 age group) was not starting until 9:30 am. Thankfully, the weather was overcast and the air temperature was not too bad even with the late start time.
Swim
The swim was situated in Lake Michigan and the water temperature was pretty cold. The venue was perfect being in a protective cove. There was also ample space for pre-swim warm-up, which was nice. It's funny thinking back to my days swimming at Villanova how I hated warming up before a swim meet. Now at a race if they do not provide the opportunity for an 'in-water' swim warm-up I get disappointed.
My age group was the largest wave with 183 swimmers vying for the best starting position. I usually like to set-up on one of the ends, but these areas were the most populated. As I was swimming around, practically no one was settling in the middle so I decided to make this location my swim start position. With such a large group, I sprinted the first 200 meters to get out in front. There were 3 other swimmers holding the same pace, so I moved in behind to try and draft. After making the turn at the half-way point, we started to see swimmers from the group ahead that started 10 minutes earlier (i.e., Female 25-29 age group). Passing the first few female swimmers was fine, but then we came up to a large group of swimmers. With open water swimming it is tough to see two feet in front of your face. Mistakenly, I swam on top of one swimmer’s legs. I felt sorry running into her in the water until she gave me a return forearm shiver. Thankfully, it propelled me forward and away from the group so I felt less sorry for running into her as I realized she was fine. The last 200 meters I picked up the pace and came out of the water in 4th place.
T1
With the fastest transition award in the back of my mind, I sprinted up from the water and passed multiple athletes going into the transition area. Removing my bike from the rack, I could see a competitor right ahead of me. I sprinted with my bike in hand passing him going out of transition. I was now in first place after a fast T1.
Bike
The bike course was great. Smooth roads and not too many turn arounds. I was leading until the eventual age-group winner passed me with about 6 miles to go. The eventual second place finisher in my age group passed me up the final hill, which was the bridge heading back into the city of Milwaukee. I was able to pass him back on the downhill, and entered T2 in second.
After a slow bike time at NJ States, I reconfigured my position to be more similar to the position I hold when training. The bike felt a lot better and I was happy with my split time of 57.42 (i.e., 25.8 mph).
T2
With the close position in the transition area to the 'bike in,' I did not have far to run with my bike as compared to T1. I quickly put on my shoes and was off to the run. I exited transition right beside the first place athlete.
Run
After hurting my knee at NJ States, I focused on swim and bike training only for the past 3 weeks (i.e., no running). The run started off fine, but when we started to pick up the pace, the pain in my knee began again as in NJ. This time the pain was more severe. At NJ States, I could feel the pain, but it did not affect my speed. Here in Milwaukee I had to slow down to let the pain subside. The first place finisher pulled away, and the second place and third place (James) athletes passed me as well. My run split time ended up being a 38.48.
Conclusion
I finished the race 28th overall, and 4th in my age-group. It was a good race, and I definitely give credit to Doug Clark and James Chesson for very strong performances. They represented the state of NJ well.
Later that evening, we came back to transition to help my sister with bike check-in for the Sprint race that was scheduled for the following day. We could overhear the awards ceremony. Doug Clark won for Masters Overall and had the fastest bike split for Masters. When they announced the fastest transition award, they provided the combined T1 and T2 time. After hearing the winning time, I was calculating my transition times and thought I should be pretty close. Just after that thought, the announcer said the second fastest transition time belonged to Michael Phinney from Yardley, PA at 8 seconds behind.
Based on this race here is some advice to fellow triathletes:
• Review the athlete registration list to get an idea of the competition before the race
• If there is a mandatory bike check-in the day before, be sure to add enough time race morning to pump up the tires as air pressure may decrease over the night
• Work the transitions and utilize free speed tips like rubber bands on your shoes to hold them in place as you exit T1