Swim
Comments: Despite the fact that I finished last in my age group, this actually went really well for me. I had estimated my time pretty good and only had 2 people pass me. The second probably should have stayed behind me because I kept catching up to her when we got close to the wall. What would you do differently?: I just need to put in more swim time - other than that it went well. Transition 1
Comments: I don't have an actual transition time (I think they got lumped in with the bike time) so this is an estimate. I was racked all the way at the back of the TA so it took me a little longer to get to my bike, but once I got there things went OK. What would you do differently?: Try to rack a little closer to the front of the TA. Bike
Comments: Time is based on what my Garmin showed as I finished the bike route. As I mentioned before, I think transitions times were included in the official bike time, so I used the time I showed. This was hard, but I knew it would be going in. My bike fitness was not where it should have been and even though I had trained on some hills, I knew this was going to be tougher. The rolling hills were OK, but there were some that were a little longer or a little steeper - those took a lot out of me. Twice I had to stop my bike because I was feeling sick and having trouble catching my breath. After a few minutes and some water, I was able to get back on and keep going. The second half went a little better - I was able to shift better (knowing what gears to use when) but I was definitely ready to be done by the time I got back to the TA. What would you do differently?: Lots more bike training! Transition 2
Comments: Again the time is estimated. It's a little long 'cause I stopped to pee. I probably could have waited until after the run, but figured the run would be a lot more comfortable this way. Run
Comments: This was a bad run for me, with a lot of walking. I tried to run the few flats that were there and the downhills but had to walk the uphills. What would you do differently?: More bricks maybe? I don't know, I though I'd be OK on the run but even after my legs loosened up, I just didn't have any energy. I guess the bike took alot out of me. Post race
Warm down: Got some water, orange slices and walked around a little. Then headed up to the hall for food and awards. Got some Gatorade, a sub sandwich (they had pizza too) and some pretzels. I decided to stick around for the raffle and ended up winning a large bottle of HammerGel and a gel flask. What limited your ability to perform faster: Not enough of the right kind of training. Event comments: I'm glad I did this race. It's something I've been wanting to do for the last 3 years. I'd love to do it again next year, but only if I spend a lot more time with hill training, both on the bike and the run. Last updated: 2009-05-19 12:00 AM
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United States
City of O'Fallon
Overcast
Overall Rank = 274/296
Age Group = W45-49
Age Group Rank = 15/16
Saturday I cleaned and lubed my chain and pumped up my tires. I had also prepared my water/Gatorade bottles and put them in the fridge. Up at 5:30 am on Sunday, got dressed, made myself a PBJ for the ride over, grabbed my transition bag, loaded up the bike and was on my way. I got to the race site and set up my TA and got body marked. Then it was wait time. This was a time trial start in an outdoor pool and I had about an hour until my turn to swim.
Not much here. Figured it wouldn't do a lot of good because of the wait so just sat around watching the other athletes start their swim, chatted a bit with some others and just waited for my time.