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 Swim
Comments: Swim time includes the looong run to transition. I don't understand why they don't have the T1 mats by the swim exit. I'd much rather have a longer T1 than an inaccurate swim time. The swim itself was great. Warm water (compared to SF Bay) and no salt which was a nice treat. Sighting off the wall was sooo easy and I actually saw my friends on the shore about halfway through which was awesome. It blew my mind how many people at this tri had problems with the swim. I know I'm lucky to have a pretty strong swimming background even though I am slow but I just couldn't believe how many people I saw in earlier in and later waves hanging on to the lifeguard boats or the wall. I felt strong, was able to draft a bit and overall had a really nice swim. What would you do differently?: Nothing really. Maybe not wave to my friends from the water but aside from that I put in a nice solid effort.  Transition 1
Comments: This was long I think just because of the size of transition. I ended up having my goggles, cap and wetsuit totally off before I actually crossed the timing mat but I had to run up a hill to my wave's area, switch my stuff then dodge trees and other people to get to the bike out. What would you do differently?: Not get my bike tangled up in the rack. It's too tall for the racks and I have trouble getting it out and putting it back in place.  Bike
Comments: I pushed it hard on the bike. There were tons of people on hybrids and mountain bikes so I just kept passing and passing people. I was in the big chainring almost the entire ride aside from on the few inclines (I won't call them hills). It was different to ride on a course that was basically flat, the strategy for how to ride is a lot different than what I am used to with hills. The road surface was pretty bad, especially on the way back but they did a good job of warning us at the course talk so I was prepared. I took the two tight turns veeery slowly but so did everyone else so that was good. What would you do differently?: Take it a bit easier at the beginning to help me get into a groove a bit earlier. The first few miles hurt pretty badly. Transition 2
Comments: Had trouble getting my bike back on the rack. I need to practice this. What would you do differently?: See above.  Run
Comments: I was soooo close to a sub 30-minute 5k but alas it was not meant to be. It was a really good run other than that. My legs felt like frozen jello coming off the bike, when I saw my friends I actually waved at them and said "I can't feel my legs." It took the first mile to get them back and then I started to push it. Took in 1/2 a tri berry Gu (yum!) at the 1 mile aid station because I was starting to get really hungry and that helped a lot. Then I went hunting. I started trying to run down every woman I saw with an 8 or a 9 on their legs because that meant they were in my AG. I passed quite a few people who were walking or running slowly, and got past my some fast people from waves 11 and 14. A volunteer told us we had 100 yards left and I put in my final kick and sprinted to the finish. What would you do differently?: Nothing. I ran as hard as I could and left everything I had on the course. I'm slow and I need to work on my running which is why that will be my focus this winter. Post race
Warm down: Grabbed a bagel and a banana, found my friends, did some light stretching and went for breakfast. Did some more walking a bit later to get my bike from transition and tried to stay loose. What limited your ability to perform faster: Experience. I just need more of it, and more training. I'm really, extremely pleased with how this race went. I was 318th out of 1056 women which means I was FOP. I NEVER thought that would happen to me since I've always been pretty mediocre at sports my whole life. I'm excited to see how my next race goes at the end of September. Event comments: I've heard people complain about the size of this race and the logistical nightmares but I had a fantastic time. I was in a very early wave, so that probably made a difference but I found that the swim and bike courses were not at all crowded and that all of the logistics went off without a hitch. Now I would not have wanted to be in the F 25-29 Oly wave, I think they had to wait until like almost 10am to start. If I do this race again it will be the sprint and not the Oly, as I like the early start time. Profile Album Last updated: 2009-02-03 12:00 AM
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United States
Capri Events, Inc
62F / 17C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 1052/2304
Age Group = F 25-29
Age Group Rank = 84/267
Got up at 3:30. Ate a PB&J, put air in my tires got all my stuff together and got ready to go. I was staying with one of my best friends from college. We had planned to race together but she got bronchitis a week ago and her doctor told her that if she competed she might do bad damage to her lungs. It was so sad to not be able to race with her but she was a huge support the day of and got up with me to be at transition at 4:15 when it opened.
We walked from her condo about 15 minutes down to transition. They had our bikes racked by wave and I ended up getting a sweet spot right at the base of a huge streetlight which made it really easy to find my spot among the 9,000 bikes. I got set up and then we walked to the swim start. I had 1/2 a mojo bar while waiting for my wave which went off at 6:38 (wave 9, my lucky number!).
None really aside from putting the wetsuit on and standing around with 500 of my closest friends in the waves around me in the corrals waiting for the swim to start.