Swim
Comments: A friend recognized my voice while waiting for our wave to start. I did not know he was going to be there, so chatting with him was a pleasant surprise and took my mind off treading water. I wanted to be in the back of the pack but wound up in the middle. I was hit a couple of times in the start but nothing bad or distracting. I got my rhythm and stuck with it. I noticed I fatigued quickly and realized I was not exhaling in the water so I was not getting a complete breath in. Corrected that and all was good. I passed a few people, swam fairly straight, and got passed by a couple of the female speed demons in the wave behind me. I only treaded water or breast stroked to clear my googles once and to sight. I turned on all of the speed I had after the last turn into the home stretch. What would you do differently?: Nothing for this race. Overall, I should work on my sighting a little. I also need to work on getting faster to place better in the swim and going longer so I can move to Olympic distance toward the end of next season. Transition 1
Comments: I thought I went faster than this. Overall, I think I did well but I was probably too cautious to not forget anything. What would you do differently?: Trust my practice more. Just get moving once I get to my bike. Bike
Comments: I was pleased with my bike ride. I got a good start and felt strong and focused throughout. I intentionally rode a lot more in the drops than I usually do. I never rode this far without stopping for traffic. I passed a lot more people than I thought I would. I made a point of briefly chatting with a few people on the ride and shout some encouraging comments to others. I pushed hard on the bike because I knew my run would be bad no matter how much energy I had left in my legs. This ride was a blast! What would you do differently?: Work on bike handling skills so I do not take turns slowly or have to slow down to a crawl or pause to eat or drink will riding. Transition 2
Comments: I thought it went well but, again, took too long just making sure I had everything. What would you do differently?: Trust my training and don't spend so long looking for what I forgot. Run
Comments: Just a note...I REALLY dislike running! I took off too fast causing me to walk twice in the first mile. I shifted my focus from my dislike of running by chatting with folks and ran the last two miles without walking. I think this helped my pace even out. I finished strong. What would you do differently?: Get a better attitude about running which will help me do more training runs to improve my performance. Post race
Warm down: Hung out and ate a little until the bikes were released. What limited your ability to perform faster: Being new and wanting to be cautious with my energy. Next time I do this or a similar course, I will put forth more energy in each event. Event comments: I have no comparison, but I think Red Rock did a great job running this event! There were lots of great volunteers and there was no way to get lost on the course. Last updated: 2011-09-05 12:00 AM
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United States
The Red Rock Company, Inc.
Overall Rank = 172/217
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 11/18
Bike drop off in the transition area was the day before. I scored with a end spot near the bike exit/entry! I laid out, triple checked, and packed my transition gear the night before. Due to nervousness/excitement, I only slept for three hours tops. I got up at 3:30, ate my usual breakfast and drank two cups of coffee. Wife dropped me off near the transition area so I could set up my transition area, get body marked and get my timing chip while she parked the car. It all went off without a snag. A micro-burst blew through the race area the night before and we were told to check that our bikes were functioning okay. Mine was fine. I walked through transition flow a couple of times then got a good luck smooch from my wife.
Got in the water about 5 minutes early so I was not rushed to get to the start bouys. Swimming the 25 yards to the start buoys and treading water was my only warm-up.