Swim
Comments: The water was freezing. My wife commented that we all seemed like lobsters thrashing in the water since everyone's arms were so red. I couldn't put my face in for a long time since my face felt like it was melting. I had serious brain freeze. I forgot to breathe. I felt claustrophobic and thought I was going to die. What would you do differently?: I would breathe. That was definitely my biggest setback. I think relaxing would have helped. Transition 1
Comments: The transition had us running at a slight incline on the beach. With my balance out of whack, it was really hard. I took off my wetsuit on the beach as it was restricting my run to the transition area. I saw another swimmer in front of me take off his wetsuit in the water. I think that was smart. Was out of breath the whole way. Forgot to clip on my helmet. What would you do differently?: take off wetsuit in the water. Bike
Comments: Really tired from the hills Was passed by 4-6 people with some sweet rides. As they zipped past me, I could only think, "I beat you in the swim!" What would you do differently?: Train on hills more. Transition 2
Comments: Pretty smoothe transition.. What would you do differently?: nothing Run
Comments: Went out fast. Had a nasty cramp at the 1 mile mark. Probably from drinking too much gatorade endurance drink. Fought through them. My calves felt like bricks. What would you do differently?: not sure Post race
Warm down: Drank some water. Ate a banana and gatorade. cheered the other participants. Celebrated with my wife and baby! What limited your ability to perform faster: I didn't practice enough brick workouts. Cramps Event comments: This was my first triathlon and although I felt totally wasted at the end, I'm ready for my next race(Spirit of Racine). I really underestimated how difficult the race was. I will need to do more bricks and long rides to survive the next race. I was happy that wife and baby were there to cheer me on. While I would say that a wetsuit was a must, it was interesting that the first swimmer out of the water was just wearing tri-shorts. Basically, I learned that while a wetsuit will keep you warmer and hold you afloat, it cannot replace having a good stroke and technique. A few negatives: They served pizza at the end of the race which I thought was kind of wierd. They should have had bagels, not pizza. I expected the expo to have booths, not a booth of overpriced tri-gear. The t-shirt that participants recieved was a low-quality cotton with a small firecracker emblem. I will wear it with pride as I wash my car or do chores. Last updated: 2007-07-04 12:00 AM
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United States
Fifth Third Bank Firecracker Triathlon
Sunny
Overall Rank = 88/366
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 12/37
Ate a half a bagel, a half of ensure, and a cup of coffee at 5 a.m. Arrived to race site @ 6:20. Set up transition.
Biked for 5 minutes. Ran for 5 minutes. Swam for 10 minutes in the freezing waters about 30 minutes b4 race start. Felt good.