Swim
Comments: The swim was my fear going into this event and proved to be my toughest portion on the day. With not knowing what to expect, I thought the entrance to the water and the start was fine. It was a little congested but I moved to the right and avoided alot of that. My stroke was not good at the beginning of the race as there were many people in the water so I just tried to swim with my head out of the water to get going and then once some of the people moved out, I went into the freestyle stroke. It was hard to not go as fast as you could just to try and catch the people ahead of you. I was still a little panicky until I reached the half way point, then I settled down and started swimming. I put my head in the water and really started catching people. That was the highlight of the swim and I really began to feel confident. Swimming is alot of work though and I was pretty tired when I came out of the water. I saw my wife and daughter as I was running up the ramp and that gave me a little boost of energy. Swim wasn't as bad as I made it out to be. What would you do differently?: Try and get my stroke going a little earlier instead of makeshift swimming. Transition 1
Comments: The transition was my first ever and I ended up putting one of my socks on upside down. I rolled them up but apparently I had them in the wrong direction. Plus being a little disoriented after the swim was a different feeling than I have had before. Getting my bike shoes on was okay, and I fumbled around with my helmet and getting my shirt on. I definitely think I can do better next time around. What would you do differently?: Work on the socks and get a little more organized prior to the race. Bike
Comments: I felt really comfortable on the bike. My bike rack was right at the end next to the "hop on" point so I didn't have to run too far in my bike shoes. The course started with a bike trail right away that was kind of narrow and had some sharp corners and kind of hilly. I felt really good on the bike and seemed to drink the right amount of fluid. I wasn't needing a whole lot of fluid once I got off the bike. I probably could have pushed the bike a little harder as I felt great on the run, but for the first race, I think I was right where I should have been. What would you do differently?: Maybe pushed a little harder on the bike portion as my legs felt great on the run and I had quite a bit left after the run. But I had a great time on the bike. Transition 2
Comments: I opted to not used Yankz or anything like that, and that cost me some time. Also, I had a little problem getting my bike back onto the rack so that cost me some time as well. This was not my best transition by far, but I think there are definitely things to improve on. It was also a little disheartening getting encouragement from guys that had already finished the race, but nonethe less I was competeing and had a great time. I also stopped and got a drink out of my water bottle on the bike and I probably didn't need to do that since there was water at the start of the run. What would you do differently?: Use Yankz or lace locks or something similar. Tying my shoes probably cost me 45 seconds or better. Run
Comments: My legs were a little tight at the start of the run but felt good about 1/2 mile into the race. I followed a guy who had passed me at the start and kind of used his pace to judge me since I forgot to start my watch. Once we got to the turnaround point, I decided to pass him as I felt great and could go alot faster. I think I should have pushed harder on the run a little earlier. I thought my time was a little faster than it was but I was still happy with it. I can't believe I finished as fresh as I was. I really felt good after the run. What would you do differently?: Push harder a little sooner. Maybe going into the turnaround start to increase my pace. I still need to work on drinking water while running. It always seems to go up my nose. Post race
Warm down: Didn't really do much, which is normal for me. Stretched a little bit and just walked around looking at the people and their bikes. Being a first timer, I was impressed at the bikes around me. What limited your ability to perform faster: Swim for sure and possibly just not knowing how my body would feel at the end. I think I left some on the table as I felt great at the end of the race, which I am glad. My family was there and it was great to see them without me being just flat out exhausted. Event comments: I think this is a great race and pretty well organized and run. It started on time and I thought they did a great job with the course markings. This is an excellent race for first timers. They limited it to around 200 people so that made it nice that there wasn't a huge crowd of people. Overall I was happy with my performance and would definitely go back to this race again next year. Last updated: 2009-06-04 12:00 AM
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United States
65F / 18C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 113/181
Age Group = Male 30-34
Age Group Rank = 19/24