Swim
Comments: Not a good swim for me. Last year, swim was my best event relative to field, this year not even close. It was my first open water swim of the season and first time in the wetsuit this season, so maybe that was a factor. Maybe I just didn't do enough in the pool to be ready for this. Got started and just felt like a couldn't catch my breath at all. Really had to slow my pace for the first half of the swim to find any kind of groove at all. Last 1/3 of swim was better, I think, but overall it just wasn't very good. What would you do differently?: More laps over the winter. Transition 1
Comments: T1 time ranked 40/197, so that's pretty efficient for me. What would you do differently?: Nothing Bike
Comments: Even though my average was only 15.8 mph, I really felt like I had a good ride. I passed a lot of people, didn't get passed by too many. Fist time up the hill after just getting out of the water was really hard -- small chain, lowest gear, 5-6 mph average all the way up. I really felt bad for the HIM folks having to go up that damn hill climb 4X. No gracias. In hindsight, I may have pushed too hard on the ride. My legs weren't there for the run. Still need to figure out my pacing bike to run. What would you do differently?: I just couldn't force myself to drink enough liquids. The gatoraide I had in my bottles was just too sweet and was making me sick. I should have gotten to the store in time to get some Gu Brew, which I like a lot better. Also, probably should have had some Gu or Hammer Jel available during the bike. I didn't get to the store for that either and figured they'd have some at the race, but either they didn't, or I just didn't see it. Either way, I dropped the ball on nutrition. Transition 2
Comments: Could barely feel my legs when I got off the bike. Jumping off bike and running through transition were not options. Run
Comments: Awful. Only other Olympic tri I've done was Stamford KIC IT last year, and I did 9:00 miles. Here I did 9:50 miles. I know I'm in better shape and better trained this year. Only thing I can figure is that I went too hard on the bike, and maybe didn't get enough nutrition in my during the race. I was able to keep things moving, though, didn' thave to stop and walk, but the running was very slow, and I never seemed to get my legs. What would you do differently?: I don't know. Pull back on the bike, I guess. Post race
Warm down: plenty of water and a couple of slices of pizza. Event comments: Course is very scenic and very challenging. It's kind of a spartan operation, though. Not a lot of (read "no") during or post-race activities for families, not a lot of volunteers, not a lot of police/security on the course. There were enough volunteers to get the job done, and anough police to keep traffic under control, but there could have been more of both. Ultimately, if you're just looking for a good, hard race, this is perfect. If you like the bells and whistles at some of the other races on the calendar, if you want to bring the kids and the wife (or husband as the case may be) then this one may disappoint you in that regard. Last updated: 2011-02-03 12:00 AM
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United States
Genesis Adventures
75F / 24C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 122/197
Age Group = M 40-44
Age Group Rank = 15/26
The HIM went off at 9 a.m. and the Olympic at 10:30, so I had a chance to watch the HIM swim. It's amazing how far off course so many people get. One person starts heading the wrong way and 10 others follow right behind them. As a beginner, I tried to make a mental note - swim to the buoy, don't follow other swimmers.
Some light pre-start swimming in the lake.