May Day Biathlon Recap 5/1/2011

Yesterday morning I was headed toward Morganton, NC to do the May Day Biathlon. This is not your normal "ski and shoot" type of event. No, in this event we exchange skis for running shoes and weapons for an aero bike shaped to go fast like a bullet.

The race organizers put on a well orchestrated event. There is plenty volunteers and police support along the both the run and bike courses so I felt very safe in making a high speed turns. While the run course was closed to traffic, the bike course was open to traffic. Only once did I have someone pass a little close for comfort. But who knows how long they had been behind me. With an aero helmet, I cannot hear anything except the roar of the wind.

I kept to my normal routine of picking up my race stuff and studying the course maps. Then, it was time to setup my bike area and get in a warm up.

The parking lot was starting to fill with competitors and some familiar faces were in the crowd. I got a chance to catch up with Mitchell and Mike L. before the race.

My warm up included a run over the 5k course and then it was time to switch over to my racing flats. A few more striders were used to loosen up my tired legs and I headed to the starting line.

The Biathlon and the 5k races start at the same time. This is one of those races where it is a little more difficult to single out your competition.

Right from the gun, I tried to settle into a groove and work toward clicking off some decent miles: 5:33, 5:34, and 5:49. I covered the last .17 in 55 seconds.

The transition took me 54 seconds because I have been having some trouble getting my shoes clipped into the pedals. This is something that I really need to work on correcting.

The bike course is tough with some monster hills along the course and a really nasty one as we climb the hill beside the dam. For a while I thought was doing all right but as more riders caught me, I started to get this sinking feel. The one that tells you it is just not your day. My bike leg was over in 57 minutes and 22 seconds.

Thinking about the results, I was a little dejected by my effort. Later with the Garmin Training Center, I was able to compare results from the race last year with the race this year. I knew my run time was slower, but I thought my bike time would have been faster.

Here is all little of what I determined. The run course last year measured at 3.16. This year it measured 3.17. This is based on two different Garmins: 305 and 310XT. Now, I am assuming the start, finish, and turnaround locations remained roughly the same from last year. My .1x time was exactly the same but I covered the 3 miles 27 seconds slower.

My transition time was 5 seconds slower which in and of itself isn't bad for me, but it could be faster if I work on the shoes.

Last year, the bike course measured at 19.40 miles. This year, I measured it at 19.39 so there was not any extra distance being ridden at least by me. My bike time last year was 57:07. This year, I rode 57:18. So instead of averaging 20.4 for the 19+ miles, I averaged 20.3.

Again, more time was lost to the overall goal of being faster.

So my time roughly 41 seconds slower than last year.

When I break down the raw statistics, I wasn't that much off from last year. But it doesn't stop the feeling that I could have done better. I guess what really punctuates this point is that I finished 6 overall last year and 13 overall this year. I know this is the wrong way to look at it. I mean no one can control who enters the race so basing my success or failure exclusively off this statistic is really stupid, but I cannot help it. This is just the way that I look it. I am a competitive guy so to me the overall results are just as important and the overall finish time. Again, I know it is stupid to look at it from this perspective.

Just for the record, I don't recommend that anyone else take this perspective of the race efforts.

 

 

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner