With the completion of this race, I have completed 80 individual triathlons since 2007. Hooray!
This was the first year for an Olympic distance race at this triathlon. I did the sprint last year, so I thought I would give the Olympic a try this year. It was challenging. Not just because it was a nearly 29 mile bike instead of the usual bike that is under 25.
It was a normal morning, get up, eat the usual breakfast, head out and stop along the way for water, coffee, donut(s), and Gatorade.
I got there about 15 minutes after transition opened and about the time they were going to start handing out numbers and body marking, about 6:15AM. Last year, you could park in the park right by start\finish and transition, and it was super close and easy. This year, no parking in the park, and by the time I got there I was about a 10+ minute walk away. No biggie, just surprising.
Setting up in transition, get my race packet, and getting body marked was easy. No issues.
Had some time to wander around and chat. Wanted to make sure I drank water and Gatorade, not too much, but more because it was hot and humid. More on that later.
The walk to the start is about a half mile on course gravel. Last year I went barefoot. That was a mistake. At the swim start they have a shoe drop, so I smartly wore my Keens to the start and dropped them off. Much better than walking barefoot.
The sprint swim is straight across the lake. The Olympic, would be swimming in box shape loop back to the start, and the swimming straight across. The water temperature was nice, maybe a bit warm. Brett Lovaas, a local elite who I know, was doing this race and is a very fast swimmer. I thought I might get on his feet at the start and get a small boost, not a chance. At the gun, he was off, and I was left behind. I was in the open and alone on the swim for most of it. I was going back and forth with a guy for a bit, and then there was traffic from the spring coming into the finish. The swim was, as usual mostly uneventful. My time, a little slower than I would like, but ok.
I did slip on the rubber mat they put down at the swim finish, I as still in the water. As I tried to stand up I got a bad hamstring cramp on the right side. That gave me pause. The run up to transition is pretty decent, and I think that was a good thing. It allowed me to workout the cramp a little before getting on the bike.
The bike is pretty flat. Probably one of the faster bike courses around. The Olympic is two laps of the sprint course. You could feel the heat and humidity on the bike. It was pretty nasty. At about the 6 mile mark of the first loop, you turn into a pretty decent headwind and you have to deal with that for probably a good 5 miles or so. That headwind felt really, really, hard on the second loop of the bike. I felt pretty decent for the first 20 miles or so. Then my back started getting uncomfortable, I started getting a little bit of side ache\cramp on the right side, this might have been related to dehydration and\or my breathing. I was starting to feel it out there. I think I was averaging over 22MPH up until about the 22 mile mark, and then I started to fade a bit. I drank more fluid than usual on the bike, not surprising. I also started to feel a little nausea from the warm water\Gatorade mix in my bottle.
Ugh. The run. A little less than the first mile, is up and down through the woods. Then out onto an open road that has some decent\difficult hills and no shade. After you get up the first big hill, it is flat with nothing. Just flat, for probably more than a half mile. Coming up to the turnaround is a long somewhat steep hill. Tough. It did cloud up a little on the run, that did not make it any less humid and it was still pretty warm. I started to get a little bit of side cramp, which is unusual. My time to the turnaround was not that bad, I think I was averaging just over 8min/mile. I died around the 4 mile mark. It became one of those races where I was trying to finish without walking. Which I did, so I was happy about that.
It ended up being one of those races that I was happy to finish. It was tough. I could not cool down after finishing and eventually had to go the first aid tent, after another racer who I knew advised me to do so, and get an ice pack. I was hungry all day, and ate everything in front of me. I think it took a couple of days to get rehydrated.
The extra long bike took some out of my legs. 3-4 extra miles on the bike, especially in the heat and humidity, will take it out of you for the run. I suppose if I did my bike training regularly in the 1.5 hour plus range, instead of the 45 minute to 1.25 hour range it would help me out in these situations.
I would like to do this race again soon. I like the course, flat fast bike and challenging run. If I do it next year, I might try to get in some more bike time to help me out with the slightly longer bike course. Overall, pretty happy with how things went.
2015 Graniteman Clearwater Race Results
Swim (1640 yards) = 26:25 (1:40/100 yards)
T1 = 2:13
Bike (28.7 miles) = 1:19:24 (21.7 MPH)
T2 = 1:14
Run (6.2 miles) = 53:23 (8:37/mi)
Total = 2:42:38
Overall = 26/105
AG = 7/12
Pace = 4:32/mi
2014 Graniteman Clearwater Race Results
Swim (774 yards) = 11:41 (1:27/100 yds)
T1 = 2:19
Bike (14.3 miles) = 38:20 (22.4 MPH)
T2 = 1:08
Run (3.1 miles) = 24:54 (8:04/mi)
Total = 1:18:20
Overall = 39/250
AG = 4/14
Pace = 4:24/mi
This was the first year for an Olympic distance race at this triathlon. I did the sprint last year, so I thought I would give the Olympic a try this year. It was challenging. Not just because it was a nearly 29 mile bike instead of the usual bike that is under 25.
It was a normal morning, get up, eat the usual breakfast, head out and stop along the way for water, coffee, donut(s), and Gatorade.
I got there about 15 minutes after transition opened and about the time they were going to start handing out numbers and body marking, about 6:15AM. Last year, you could park in the park right by start\finish and transition, and it was super close and easy. This year, no parking in the park, and by the time I got there I was about a 10+ minute walk away. No biggie, just surprising.
Setting up in transition, get my race packet, and getting body marked was easy. No issues.
Had some time to wander around and chat. Wanted to make sure I drank water and Gatorade, not too much, but more because it was hot and humid. More on that later.
The walk to the start is about a half mile on course gravel. Last year I went barefoot. That was a mistake. At the swim start they have a shoe drop, so I smartly wore my Keens to the start and dropped them off. Much better than walking barefoot.
The sprint swim is straight across the lake. The Olympic, would be swimming in box shape loop back to the start, and the swimming straight across. The water temperature was nice, maybe a bit warm. Brett Lovaas, a local elite who I know, was doing this race and is a very fast swimmer. I thought I might get on his feet at the start and get a small boost, not a chance. At the gun, he was off, and I was left behind. I was in the open and alone on the swim for most of it. I was going back and forth with a guy for a bit, and then there was traffic from the spring coming into the finish. The swim was, as usual mostly uneventful. My time, a little slower than I would like, but ok.
I did slip on the rubber mat they put down at the swim finish, I as still in the water. As I tried to stand up I got a bad hamstring cramp on the right side. That gave me pause. The run up to transition is pretty decent, and I think that was a good thing. It allowed me to workout the cramp a little before getting on the bike.
The bike is pretty flat. Probably one of the faster bike courses around. The Olympic is two laps of the sprint course. You could feel the heat and humidity on the bike. It was pretty nasty. At about the 6 mile mark of the first loop, you turn into a pretty decent headwind and you have to deal with that for probably a good 5 miles or so. That headwind felt really, really, hard on the second loop of the bike. I felt pretty decent for the first 20 miles or so. Then my back started getting uncomfortable, I started getting a little bit of side ache\cramp on the right side, this might have been related to dehydration and\or my breathing. I was starting to feel it out there. I think I was averaging over 22MPH up until about the 22 mile mark, and then I started to fade a bit. I drank more fluid than usual on the bike, not surprising. I also started to feel a little nausea from the warm water\Gatorade mix in my bottle.
Ugh. The run. A little less than the first mile, is up and down through the woods. Then out onto an open road that has some decent\difficult hills and no shade. After you get up the first big hill, it is flat with nothing. Just flat, for probably more than a half mile. Coming up to the turnaround is a long somewhat steep hill. Tough. It did cloud up a little on the run, that did not make it any less humid and it was still pretty warm. I started to get a little bit of side cramp, which is unusual. My time to the turnaround was not that bad, I think I was averaging just over 8min/mile. I died around the 4 mile mark. It became one of those races where I was trying to finish without walking. Which I did, so I was happy about that.
It ended up being one of those races that I was happy to finish. It was tough. I could not cool down after finishing and eventually had to go the first aid tent, after another racer who I knew advised me to do so, and get an ice pack. I was hungry all day, and ate everything in front of me. I think it took a couple of days to get rehydrated.
The extra long bike took some out of my legs. 3-4 extra miles on the bike, especially in the heat and humidity, will take it out of you for the run. I suppose if I did my bike training regularly in the 1.5 hour plus range, instead of the 45 minute to 1.25 hour range it would help me out in these situations.
I would like to do this race again soon. I like the course, flat fast bike and challenging run. If I do it next year, I might try to get in some more bike time to help me out with the slightly longer bike course. Overall, pretty happy with how things went.
2015 Graniteman Clearwater Race Results
Swim (1640 yards) = 26:25 (1:40/100 yards)
T1 = 2:13
Bike (28.7 miles) = 1:19:24 (21.7 MPH)
T2 = 1:14
Run (6.2 miles) = 53:23 (8:37/mi)
Total = 2:42:38
Overall = 26/105
AG = 7/12
Pace = 4:32/mi
2014 Graniteman Clearwater Race Results
Swim (774 yards) = 11:41 (1:27/100 yds)
T1 = 2:19
Bike (14.3 miles) = 38:20 (22.4 MPH)
T2 = 1:08
Run (3.1 miles) = 24:54 (8:04/mi)
Total = 1:18:20
Overall = 39/250
AG = 4/14
Pace = 4:24/mi
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