Yes, this is the heart rate profile from the New Jersey Devilman “half lite” triathlon last Saturday. I’m skeptical of the high readings during the swim. I think they might have been caused by interference from other HRMs on the athletes surrounding me. It was a crowded swim. I got pushed back early and couldn’t get clear of the pack.
The couple of blips during the bike and the nearly continuous 190+ BPM readings during the run were very real, though. The sensation is one of my chest rattling. It doesn’t affect my stride. There’s no shortness of breath, dizziness, pain, etc, only the buzzing plus a slight sense of anxiety. You can see, late in the race, where I walked aid stations. My heart would settle back into a normal rhythm and then - boing! - Back to the arrhythmia as I picked up the pace again. Most unusual is how the rhythm settled into a normal rate during my final 3 miles, as I pushed the hardest. Very odd!
The arrhythmia was probably induced by some pretty bad indigestion, which was caused by a thoughtless nutrition plan. I drank 1,000 Calories while riding - far too much for a 40 mile intense ride.
Despite my trials with palpitations and a sick gut I managed to score 3rd place in my age group, “losing” to first place by a mere 58 seconds. I did the race almost on a whim at the tail end of my first three week training block. It was my first triathlon finish in 22 months and my first real race specific fitness test since signing on to Endurance Nation. I’d say the EN philosophy’s working out just fine for me, thank you!
While placing is gratifying, I’m most pleased with my pacing execution & mental toughness. I managed to negative split the bike and run legs. Despite some serious self-doubt early on that run (during which I said to myself, “I can’t possibly race 70.3 Rhode Island in July”) I rigidly STUCK. TO. PLAN.
There’s a lot of room for improvement in other aspects of my racing, too.
I made my aero position much, much more aggressive last fall. But notice here that my forearms are dipping downward. That’s not good and is probably inducing more drag. I’ll be adjusting the aero bars before my Saturday ride. Also notice that I’m wasting the benefits of my dorky aero helmet by sticking my head up too high and tiling my head down. Those two adjustments could speed me up with zero additional fitness… “Free speed.”
Check out this AWFUL running form! This is early in the run. Check out my hand position… I’m fatigued and just not thinking.
OK, this is much better as I approach the finish line. Funny how running faster tends to improve form.
A final note is that I wasted gobs of time in transition. Gotta make them more efficient for my key race!
Onward. So pleased to be back among the racing... I love this stuff…
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