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 Swim
Comments: Overall, not a bad swim for me. Cap came off immediately, had to take some time to put it back on correctly. Settled in for a while, then got too close to a guy who was doing a crawl stroke with his arms and a frog kick. WTF? He nearly got me a couple times with the kick before I put some distance between us. Kept a fairly slow cadence (and resulting pace) for the whole swim, but managed to crawl the whole swim. First time I've done that on a swim this distance. Rest of the swim was pretty uneventful. Did notice that the skies were getting darker again. What would you do differently?: Nothing, except learn how to swim.Last in age group by more than a minute. :(  Transition 1
Comments: Missed a step on the walkway coming out of the water, almost did a faceplant but managed to catch myself with my arms and spring back up, to an audible gasp coming out of the crowd. Longish run to transition area, must have been a quarter mile or more, barefoot on rough asphalt, then grass. Once there, I had to run the length of the transition to get to my first-row rack. No problem with helmet or getting the bike off the rack, then it was maybe ten steps to the bike exit. Decent mount, had about 500 yards of service road to get into my shoes, no problem there either. What would you do differently?: Take a cab from the swim to the bike rack? Probably second or third in age group (half the times didn't seperate the T1-bike splits)  Bike
Comments: Rain had abated throughout the swim but the roads are still soaked. My mindset from the start is one of caution, I know the course and don't think the surfaces are conducive to high speed maneuverability in wet conditions. So I'm probably overly cautious throughout this ride. Caution wasn't a problem on the way out, as the wind is blowing in and all I can manage is 20-22 mph. Still manage to pass a lot of people in the first half the course. After the turnoff onto Ouzenne Road, the wind is behind us and I'm up to 24-25, but coasting early going into the turns. Around Mile 12 it starts to drizzle, then through the rest of the ride the rain becomes progressively harder. Around Mile 15, I get a severe side stitch. I never get side stitches on the bike! All I can think is that I'm screwed if this lasts through the run, so I back off a good bit. Stitch abates after a couple miles, but by then I've wasted much of the best stretch of road on the course. Get back to US 90 and lay the hammer down, staying above 27 for about a mile, but too little too late. Raining hard enough that I can't see out of my visor, so I flip it up and ride the last two miles with naked eyes. What would you do differently?: Ride dry roads, use less caution, avoid a side stitch? Regaardless, I finished right above 22mph, figure about 1mph less than potential on a good day, but not bad at all considering the conditions. Managed to finish with all my skin attached and all the air in my tires, as several other finished with flats and road rash. Transition 2
Comments: Decent enough, short run to rack with bike, had a little trouble getting the wet muddy feet into the Zoots, then had to run the length of transition to get to the run exit. What would you do differently?: Nothing.  Run
Comments: Leave transition to the loudest clap of thunder of the day, wonder if/when they're going to pull us off the course. Rain was much appreciated on the run course, considering we usually do this in full sun, with the temperature and the relative humidity both in the 90s. Pretty uneventful run, got passed by a couple younger runners, but didn't see anybody in my age group I could pass or be passed by. Saw a rival coming out of the turnaround, but he was too far ahead to catch. So, maybe the mental effort wasn't there... What would you do differently?: Eh, maybe if I had the focus and incentive, I could have shaved a half-minute or so off of this. Still, decent enough effort, so I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Post race
Warm down: Walked around, drank, ate, visited, checked the results. Saw it looked like I was going to get third in AG so hung around for awards. First time I've placed at CajunMan! Of course, smaller field due to the weather, but I'll take it. What limited your ability to perform faster: Rain, mental effort, overly cautious, mysterious side stitch on the bike. Event comments: Always a good event, biggest local triathlon, glad to be a part of it. Last updated: 2009-06-07 12:00 AM
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United States
70F / 21C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 74/322
Age Group = M 50-54
Age Group Rank = 3/9
Woke to pouring rain, lightning, thunder, and doubts that the race would actually happen. Had coffee with bagels and honey, showered, shaved, dressed, dawdled, finally got in the car to go. Twenty-minute drive to race site, parked and unloaded, walked like a mile to transition area. Had to get body=marked and pick up chip before they would let you in the transition area, that took another fifteen-twenty minutes. Still got the non-aisle end spot on my rack, which was the one closest to the bike exit. Sweet!
Nothing. After visiting a while, walked back to the porta potties by the swim, then back to set up my transition area. Then went back to the swim, thinking I was early, when someone shouted "Orange caps in the water, you're going off in four minutes." Apparently they wanted to get started fifteen minutes early due to the weather, but didn't do a good job communicating that to the participants. In the water quickly, peed while dog-paddling to the start. Had just enough time to slap on my cap and adjust my goggles when we started.