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 Swim
Comments: Most swimmers swam directly from buouy to buouy. I, however, opted for the zig-zag course. I love the look on the kayakers face when I would look up and I was heading straight for them. Imagine their relief when they realized I wasnt seeking assistance, I just sucked at sighting. Note to self: need more sighting drills, the swim will go faster! What would you do differently?: Swim Faster....duh!  Transition 1
Comments: My first thought was: where are all the bikes? I guess that's one advantage to being BOP in the swim. When your bike is the only one on the rack it's a cinch to find! Anyway, I thought T1 was going great. I had my wetsuit half off and my swimcap and goggles off by the time I reached my stuff I struggled a little getting the wetsuit around my ankles (especially the left one) but on with the helmet glasses and bike socks and shoes and carried the bike out. As I got to the exit, I saw the electronic loop in the ground and looked down at my left ankle, no timing chip! OH S*&^T!! I guess its lucky I looked down at that moment. But the flood of thoughts right then included: "I lost it in the water somewhere," "I gonna have to pay 95 bucks", " I wont know any of my splits" then I got a little calmer and realized I should check inside my wetsuit. So I started back to my area (with my bike) My brother (who was standing just outside the fence and is smarter than me said "leave your bike here"--Great idea. I ran back and my chip was laying on the ground right under my wetsuit--WHEW. So I put it on my left ankle, ran back to my bike and off I went. What would you do differently?: Watch that @#%^! timing chip!!  Bike
Comments: I knew the bike was going to be my strength and I couldnt be happier with the result. The best pace I ever did in training was 18.5 mph. and I did this at 19.1. This was also the only part of the race where I was actually passing people. What would you do differently?: Bike faster...duh! Transition 2
Comments: My split time for t2 didnt show up so I assume there was a glitch with the chip or maybe I didn't pass over the mat properly. So I assume my run time includes the t2 time. The timing chip seems to be a recurring theme in this race. I suppose that is what my nightmares will be about the night before my next triathlon.  Run
Comments: I was holding about a nine minute mile pace and walking through each watering station (every mile). When I came in from the bike, I knew I had a chance to come in under three hours overall, but I would have to push it during the run. I thought I was keeping the pace necessary to do it, But I got to mile 5 and had about seven minutes left. It was at this point I realized I might have to settle for just over 3 hours. As I sit here and type this I still think I could've done it and maybe my mental game just wasn't strong enough. But at that moment I was giving all I thought I had. What would you do differently?: Run Faster....duh! Seriously, though, if I know I'm that close to my goal, I will add some buffer to my calculations for my run pace. If I had only run 8.5 minute miles instead of the 9 i thought I needed, I might've done it. I guess I'm happy overall with the run since the only walking I did was from the water stations to the trash cans at each mile. I thought I might have to walk more than that. Post race
Warm down: FREE COOKIES! I love this sport! What limited your ability to perform faster: Some major gaps in my training. Event comments: Since this is my first race, i dont have much to compare it to. However, in most ways it met or exceeded my expectations. The only gotcha for me was this: I did the walkthrough of the transistion area the night before, so I knew where everything was. However on race day, they moved the bike in and run out gates and I was a little confused. I eventually found the right places to go because they were well marked. I guess I shouldve done another walk through on race morning and not assumed it hadn't changed. Overall, I am thrilled with my first race. I have never been very athletic or competative and I was a pack-a-day smoker up until about four years ago. When I put down that last cigarette, I never could've imagined that I would ever accomplish something like this. I have a young daughter and I want to be a good role model. But, selfishly, I want to be around for a long time and have good quality of health for as long as I live. Profile Album Last updated: 2009-05-02 12:00 AM
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United States
Tri Utah
75F / 24C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 178/252
Age Group = M 40-45
Age Group Rank = 30/31
Since this was my first triathlon, I can't really call it a routine. But, the previous night, I got all of my gear ready and mentally went over the race in my head. I tried to go to bed early. Why? Well, I guess so I could lay awake longer. I tossed and turned alot but I know I slept some because of the tri-mares I had. I woke up at 4:30, drank some water, ate whole wheat toast with peanut butter and a bannana. I drank a cup of tea on the way to the race. I arrived early enough to get a decent parking space and I set up my transistion area with plenty of time to spare. I went to get body marked and scope out the port-a-johns.(just a quirky observation, but haven't port-a-johns come a long way in the last ten years or so?) I think at this poit my nerves had calmed a bit and I was enjoying observing the other racers come in and set up. I knew I didnt want to put on my wetsuit too soon, because I had practiced with it a few days earlier and I got very hot very fast. I saw some swimmers in the reservoir at this point warming up. I thought "I should go do that, too." That thought, unfortunately, never tranformed into action. I ate the corner of a clif bar, drank a little gatorade than went to the start.
My warmup consisted of a ride from the parking lot to the venue(probably a couple of miles.) And then just before the start I swam maybe fifty to a hundred yards (lame, I know) My brain was in "you gotta save it all for the race" mode.