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 Swim
Comments: Not a bad swim. I was unsure how the time trial start was going to be, but it worked well. I hit the water and got a good start, unlike often happens in a mass start. I focused on swimming straight and pulling through to get the most out of each stroke. I did get a bit tired after the turn and that makes me unhappy. I should not be getting tired in a 500m swim. What would you do differently?: While I'm pretty happy with the time on the swim, the fatigue bothers me a bit. I only ate yogurt, a bit of cereal and a banana for breakfast. Maybe that wasn't enough. I've not been doing any long sets in the pool and that could also be a contributing factor. Before Rochester I will get in some longer sets and make sure my nutrition is dialed in.  Transition 1
Comments: Holy carp that was a long run up to T1! Must have been a mile, easily. I was still a bit tired, so I walked some. Then I sat down and took off the wetsuit. No problems there. My stupid hair was in the wrong place, so I had to fuss a bit with that. Grr. I'm just going to shave my head. What would you do differently?: Be bald, I guess.  Bike
Comments: Whoot! I felt fast on this course! Probably it was due to the large number of people on mtn or cruiser bikes. I was constantly passing bikes the whole time. There was one guy on an orange road bike that I kept passing and then he'd pass me back. I think I ended up coming in before him because he passed me on the run. Since I don't get to ride on the flats much, I think that I could have gone harder. I was cruising along at about 23-25mph, but my HR was still low. I need to figure out how to push that up and gain more speed on the flats. I guess I'm just used to rollers. Anyway, it was a good bike ride for me. What would you do differently?: Push harder on the flats. I know I could have gone faster. Transition 2
Comments: Downhill into T2 was a bit scary. I hopped off and trotted to my rack. Socks slowed me down a bit, but they are still necessary. Grabbed a sip of water and I was off. What would you do differently?: Not much. This was a long T-area and much of that time was running one way or the other.  Run
Comments: Let the suffering begin again! Why is running so hard? 'Cause if it wasn't hard, they wouldn't call it running. Someone told me that Iowa was flat. If that's true (which I was beginning to doubt), they found the only hilly part to have this particular 5k run on. It was tough and I just kept trotting along. Never walked. I passed a few people and got run off the road by a camper, but still kept going. The camper... it was in the middle of the road with racers on both sides. I was on the right, running about as fast as they were driving. Then it started inching over toward me. And closer until I had to jump off the curb into the mud. Damm. I pounded the van and yelled something unflattering. Glad they didn't know that was a rule violation because I'd be pretty easy to identify with my number written all over my body. Important lesson- don't have road rage, even when running. What would you do differently?: No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't run any faster. I just didn't have it. I felt like crap the whole run. I need to do more run training. Plain and simple. Post race
Warm down: Water, stretch, lots of food and chatting. Pizza was particularly good. What limited your ability to perform faster: Lack of run training. Maybe a nutrition issue. Rednecks and thunderstorms. And natural slowness. Event comments: Good race and a great venue. Can't wait to go back in August so Jeremy can race the HIM. I'm just support for that one so it will be fun. Last updated: 2009-06-02 12:00 AM
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United States
Midwest Multisport
65F / 18C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 379/666
Age Group = F 40-44
Age Group Rank = 19/35
Jeremy and I headed down to Iowa on Friday night so we could have Saturday to rest and check out the courses. We got there after dark and had to set up the tent by the headlights, but that went OK. The forecast was kind of grim, but we were hopeful that it would turn off nice. Of course, it rained. That allowed us to lie around the tent half the day and relax. Lots of napping. Finally the weather cleared after lunch and we did a bike ride and swim.
Later that evening as we were sitting out on the picnic table with Mario, some new people showed up at the campsite behind us. They looked (and sounded) like they were going to be trouble. Lots of cursing, lots of yelling and lots of booze. Nice. They also had a baby and a dog, but they proved to be the least of our worries. The ranger came by a couple times to reassure us that he was on top of the situation.
Just as we were getting ready to go to sleep, the female over there shrieked, "You azzhole, you threw my effin cigarettes in the fire!". Then it was on. She ranted, raved, cursed and threatened for about 15 minutes. Then she demanded that they take down the ghetto-like shelter they had constructed on the side of their van so she could go get more cigarettes. When that wasn't going to work, she just yelled some more. At that point, I drifted off to sleep a bit. I next awoke to her on the phone calling people to come get her so she could get cigs. Then it changed to just getting her so she could go home. The last thing I heard was, "Dammit, come pick us up, or we're going to jail". I assume that the ranger was there at that point and offered them an ultimatum.
Next I was rudely awakened by what sounded like a monster thunderstorm raging outside. Lightening flashing, pouring rain and a lot of wind. The tent collapsed in twice, but held its ground. I asked Jeremy if we should get in the car instead, but he said no. I think he didn't want to abandon his bike which was in the tent with us. Mine was in the car.
At that point, we were already up, so we ate breakfast and started getting ready to go to the race site, about a half mile away. Camping at the venue is the best!
No real warm-up, but let me explain. We had ridden over and made sure the bikes were fine and there was so much time before our swim starts, I didn't see the need for a bike warm-up. No need for the run either. Before the swim, I got in the water a bit to loosen up. Transition closed at 7:15 and my wave didn't go until about 8:07, so a good warm-up was a logistical impossibility. Instead, we stood around and talked to various people.