Post Gulf Coast Thoughts

As many of your know, I am extremely hard on myself when it comes to many things in life. Triathlon is no different. Thus, I have mixed feelings about my Gulf Coast performance. Overall, my time was pretty competitive but by my standards I thought I raced poorly. I always like to give a race 48-72 hours to set in before I begin obsessing over the data.

Typically, I comb through the results looking for the fastest and average stats. I like to know where I ranked against the fields in each discipline. I like to take it one step further and look at cumlative times to see where I gained and lost positions. Yes...I am OCD.

More recently, I have began bench marking myself against the top 10 in my age group. I feel that this is a good barometer. And on a day where the heat destroys the field, it is critical that I remember that its not always about a time goal. On Saturday, a sub-5 race was a level that I am not capable of achieving. A mediocre (by my standards) 5:25 ends up competitive against much of the field.

Rankings:

	Overall	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run
Fastest	4:06	25:08:00	1:35	2:10	0:40	1;22
My Time	5:25	37:05:00	2:52	2:33	1:39	2:10
Overall Rank	164/1045	236	97	129	101	282
Men Rank	127/739	208	74	125	57	213
Age Group	23/92	31	12	19	9	38

Looking at the numbers, it actually appears to be a solid race against the field. Of course, I am not happy with my performance unless you look at it from the 100 foot view.


Benchmarks:

	Overall	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run
Top 10 30-34	4:49	33:33:00	2:57	2:24	1:49	1:46
My Time	5:25	37:05:00	2:52	2:33	1:39	2:10

Looking at the benchmarks gives me something to strive for. None of those results are way out of my grasp. Instead, they are pretty close to where I am. The bigger question becomes what does it take to get there?

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Grading my performance:

Overall: C
I certainly didn't push it in this race. I think I just needed to mentally get through it. I know I left a lot on the course and that is ok for this race but it leaves a ton of room for improvement.

Swim: C
I failed here. I followed feet out but I dropped off at the first sign of struggling. I really need to figure out how to stay focused for 30 minutes. Hopefully I have some opportunities in training over the next few weekends.

Bike: B+
It wasn't a bad bike by any measure. My watts were down and that was slightly problematic. But I didn't push it. I got passed around the 40 mile mark and tried to go with him. Then a backed off. I need to push harder on the bike

Run: C-
I totally sandbagged it If I got hot, I slowed down. I was ok running a dreadful pace. Hell, my pace was exactly the same at IMFL for twice the distance. I know I am capable of much more. And I know I was capable of much more on Saturday.

Mental Strength: C-
I finished and hung in there. That is the positive. I let myself settle too much in the race because I didn't want to hurt.

Physical Strength: B-
I was fatigued going into the race and that is likely where I lost my power. Looking at how I compare to the rest of the field, it looks better than a B-. But i will never be happy with my effort from a race where I walked that much.

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Overall I am very much at peace with the race. I think after NOLA, I just needed to mentally prove to myself that I am strong enough. I think GCT did its job. I feel a bit renewed whereas I was feeling burned out. I am actually looking forward to Cardinal Harbour in July (minus the heat). Hopefully this race will propel me mentally and physically to where I need to be for the rest of the season.