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 Swim
Comments: I had a horrible start! Stepped up to the timing mat, heard it beep and was told to go, and I normally slip in and then push off the wall, but this pool was quite a bit higher from the deck to the water and I ended up kind of falling face first into the pool, felt like an idiot and of course my goggles filled up with water. Took a few strokes and realized I did not want to swim the entire swim with water in my goggles (one was TOTALLY full!), so I quickly rolled on my back and got them right and started swimming. We had noticed while we were waiting that they were not strictly going by bib numbers, and some people were obviously clinically insane when they posted their swim seed times! I passed 3-5 people and could have passed one more in the last half-length, but decided it wasn't worth the extra effort and I figured we'd get to the ladder at the same time and I would have let her exit first anyway, so I just followed. Probably lost a couple or seconds actually touching the last wall rather than just going to the ladder, but whatever, the swim was done! Long run from the Natatorium to T1, but they had carpet laid down the whole way, so I was able to run it. What would you do differently?: Get in the water the way I normally do and push off! Lost a bunch of time getting the goggles fixed... I had hoped to come in around 7:20ish, so I was a little disappointed in the swim.  Transition 1
Comments: I had an average racking spot in transition, racks were assigned by bib numbers. Easy to find, but further away from the bike in/out than I'd like to be. I have new bike shoes, not quite so easy to get into than my last pair, so I went ahead and sat on the ground to get them on, threw on sunglasses and helmet and took off. What would you do differently?: Practice some transitions! I was 3/9 AG, do NOT pass up free speed, work that transition, baby!  Bike
Comments: I was really happy with this leg! I rode pretty hard and passed a lot of people. Played leap frog a bit with one girl, but ended up coming in before her. Nice course, very smooth, quite a few corners and I was able to take most of them in aero and pedaling! I changed up my nutrition a bit and luckily it worked. Since I had my Gu before the swim early, I had a dose of Shot Bloks as soon as I got settled on the bike, within the first mile. Took 2 more with about 2 miles to go, and eased back a bit on my pace to give the legs a little break before hitting T2, but stepped it up a couple of times to pass a few more people. What would you do differently?: Maybe have pushed just a teeny bit harder so I would have hit 20 mph! Transition 2
Comments: This is normally a pretty quick transition for me, had someone in front of me so really couldn't run the bike in. I had new running shoes, so went ahead and sat on the ground again to get them on. I'm sure that cost me time. 6/9 AG, too slow! What would you do differently?: Umm, yeah, practice transitions!!  Run
Comments: I always dread the run, always. My legs felt pretty good though! Started flat, then down a cement roadway that went under a road, and then back up. I was breathing hard, so I started a run/walk thing.... walk for a count of 30 seconds, then run as far as I could before needing the break again. It was working pretty well, felt like I was running faster each time I started after the walk break. Finally with around 3/4 mile to go I found my rhythm and was able to run to the finish strong! What would you do differently?: This is the one leg that I feel I haven't gained back what I lost by missing 6 weeks of training this year. But, for what I've been running in training, even with the walking it was not that bad of a run for me.... Post race
Warm down: Grabbed a bottle of water and sat down for a few minutes, then tried to get back to transition to pick up my phone to take some pictures of Ron, but they wouldn't let me back in, oh well. Walked over to the place where the 2nd loop of the bike began and watched hubby come by, then walked back up towards the finish and ended up sitting and talking to the two guys that were in line in front of me for the swim. Drank a Gatorade, and finally saw Ron start the run. Once transition opened I got my stuff all packed up and got my phone and then waited at the finish line so I could take his picture as he came across. We took all our stuff to the truck and waited for awards. What limited your ability to perform faster: Walking during the run, and slow transitions... performing a little faster on either of those and I could have had 1st place AG!! I was 2 minutes behind! But I am happy with my performance coming back from 6 weeks of no training! Event comments: I really enjoyed this race, the volunteers were super! I liked the course, and would definitely like to do it again! Plus we got 2 shirts!! A tech shirt AND a cotton shirt, awesome!!! And my hubby is now officially a triathlete! And he liked it! Last updated: 2013-05-28 12:00 AM
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United States
Race Texas
80F / 27C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 231/487
Age Group = F 55-59
Age Group Rank = 2/9
Hubby and I drove to College Station on Saturday and checked into our hotel, and we got an upgrade to a room with a Jacuzzi! Then we drove and found one of the sponsors, Brazos Running Company and I was finally able to find some Margarita Shot Bloks. Got some lunch and headed over to the campus for packet pick up. They had a Newton display with a special of $20 off, and since I was needing a new pair, I got the newest model of Gravity and was very glad to be able to try them on since they have changed their sizing rules since I've been wearing the bright orange ones... I'm in the 10% that didn't go down a half size, go figure! Then we drove the bike route which looked to be very flat and fast other than a long, slight incline on the back half of the loop. From there we went and visited the George Bush Presidential Library, the first I've ever visited and it was really interesting. Worth the visit. We drove back to the room and got all our stickers and bib stuff figured out and then went out to eat, found an Outback just down the street and since we don't have one at home, I LOVE to eat at Outback when we have the chance. Got back to the room fairly early, and filled up the Jacuzzi tub and watched the Tour de France until I couldn't take the heat anymore. We both slept like crap! The bed felt like it had giant hole where your butt lies on the bed, covered by a thick memory foam topper, just couldn't get comfortable, so dozed on and off all night and hubby says he didn't sleep at all! Got up at 5 a.m., had the usual cup of coffee and oatmeal, loaded up the truck and headed over to the race. Got everything set up pretty quickly and scoped out the ins and outs and then headed up to the pool. This was hubby's first tri, and I think he was pretty nervous.
Used the bathroom twice, and thankfully it WAS a bathroom and not a portapottie. Jumped in the pool and swam 200 as a warm up, was glad I did, the Natatorium was quite warm, so the swim cooled me down. We got the pre-race spiel and then started lining up for the swim, we were supposed to line up by our bib numbers which correlated to our swim seed times. Ate a Gu about a half an hour before I got to the start.