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 Swim
Comments: Count down and we were off. Not a ton of people in our wave so pretty smooth sailing, a few minor bumps but start went okay. Kept sighting on the first buoy and went a little wide but I noticed one group went way left. Group got thinned out but I kept some in sight. Rounded buoy and we are looking directly into the sun, thank goodness I was wearing mirrored lenses that made seeing a little easier. From there it was just a long hot swim. Could barely see my hand in the water as it was murky so except for the occasional sighting, running into a swimmer going the wrong way it was pretty uneventful. Towards the end I couldn’t see the last buoy and the kayaker was just yelling “Spot on the boat” . Sure enough, I could see it silhouetted by the sun. Round the buoy and sight on the next one, trying to see where we finish. Hit the last buoy and still not sure where we finish. The whole area is just brown docks (walkways) so no land to see. I see the Run Finish banner and I know its left of that. There are several people who are swimming near the docks but then I see the white water depth gauge and head to that. Finally get out of the water not breathing hard at all (but a tad bit hot). Up the ramp while I am pulling off the swimskin. Knew I had a slow swim but saw a couple of guys from my AG come in after me. What would you do differently?: I was approximately 5 minutes slower than last years swim. But last years was in 75 degree water with a wetsuit. I do believe I took it too easy on the swim and should have pressed harder. No big deal, next year I will murder that time. As for the swimskin, loved it (except for the extra warmth). Definitely helped, no scientific data to support it and may simply be a placebo effect.  Transition 1
Comments: To the bike, swimskin off, spray on some suntan lotion, glasses, helmet, put on Garmin, lose 10 seconds as it is messed up, and off to the bike mount. I have to run the full length of the transition area to get to bike mount. Flying mount and I am off. Next year a new Garmin or I just leave it at home What would you do differently?: Next time I will push harder and not mess around with the garmin.  Bike
Comments: Up a short hill and I am off. Get my feet in my shoes and watch my speed. They announced that parts of the roads that were bad last year were repaved. A very cute lady passes me and then slows up a tad. I follow her (at a non-drafting distance) for a mile and as I am about to go for a pass we hit rough roads. For the next couple of miles I could have passed her but the roads were bad enough I just waited. Eventually got passed that section and passed her. Ramped up the speed to 20mph for a few miles then back down to mid-19’s. Munched on the M&M’s I had bought as I had forgotten to pack my usual granola bars. Hit some more bad areas but definitely not as bad as last years. Took those miles easy. Near the area, take my feet out of my shoes, down a hill, and flying dismount. What would you do differently?: Easy ride, trying to save my legs for the run but I should have pressed harder. I was way too fresh coming off of the ride. Next year I will nail this. Transition 2
Comments: Jog all the way back, helmet off, socks shoes on, put on more suntan lotion, grab my race number and head off. Decided to fool with my Garmin after I started running. Didn’t push hard.  Run
Comments: Short hill, cross the road and onto the sidewalk. First thing is that I have to pee, must not be having too much fluid intake issues. No place to go (middle of a small town) and just keep going. It’s hot but not too bad as there is some cloud coverage. Hit aid station #1, grab some water and pour some of my Infinit into it, grab a spunge for under my hat, some gu chomps and I am off. Aid station #2, replacement spunge and I am off. At this point I am watching the cloud cover disappear and thinking this would be a bad stretch of road to run in direct heat. No shade, just hot asphalt. Sure enough, sun comes out and it is just plan hot and I still have to pee. I pass a few guys that are walking, see a guy from my tri group who is struggling. Hit aid station #3, little farther up is the turn around and I find a tree to pee behind. Back at it and hit the mile stretch of sun. I am in putt-putt mode just trying to keep going. Finally get to the last aid station and back to some shade. At this point I look at the watch and it says 5.2 miles so that means I have, um, not far to go. Simply could not get the math to work for a minute. Munched on the rest of the Gu chomps I gotten from the first aid station and finally figured the math out and kept going. Down a short hill, put a little effort into a short sprint to at least have some semblance of a good run as I finish. Down several drinks, talk to some folks and realize I am starving. Post race
Warm down: Drank a lot of fluids, ate some pizza, had a sno-cone, saw my poor rankings and headed home What limited your ability to perform faster: Heat and this being a B race for me Event comments: If they keep the race in August next year I will do the aquabike, if they move it to October then I will do the full oly. Profile Album Last updated: 2011-06-25 12:00 AM
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United States
95F / 35C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 58/105
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 6/6
This was my first full Oly (did the aquabike last year) and my longest OWS non-wetsuit. This year (evidently due to conflicts with city events) they moved it from October to Augest. Usually a very hot month made worse by the record temps/lack of rain we have encountered. This was a B race for me and had no real goals short of finishing. Overall the race was well run but it was very hot. I really held back too much on the first two legs and just melted on the run (but finished strong).
Morning
This year the race was to an earlier time to help escape some of the heat. Had done a Google Maps to find the drive time the night before which was a mistake. Got up a little after 4am, got myself going and was out the door by 4:45am (Truck packed the night before). Started up the truck and the truck GPS and it said I would be there by 5:45am (Google said it would take longer) so I could have slept longer as I had planned on getting there no earlier than 6, preferably 6:15. Thanks Google! Drove out, stopped on the way for a snack but couldn’t find anything I liked other than M&M’s which I promptly did not eat but put in my bag.
Got to the race, found a parking spot right next to transition, sweet! Registration was quick, body mark and found my rack (racks assigned by race number). Grabbed my stuff and set up my transition area.
Porto break then put on my swimskin and headed to the water. Warm! Felt like bathtub water. Considered not using the swimskin to keep cooler but decided to keep it. Took a 100m swim and the swimskin felt great and I was gliding thru the water. Got out and the air temp was cooler then the lake temp, fun.