Swim
Comments: Swim started off way too fast. I am very competitive and wanted to keep the leaders in sight for as long as I could. With my poor warmup my breathing was sucky and started getting tired right away. My first open water swim, my first tri start and my first time dealing with the mass of people. Didn't get kicked, but was grabbed a few times, no big deal. Did okay sighting, but after rounding the first buoy I was way to the outside along the backstretch, I think I was a bit off course. Finally got into a great rhythm after the 2nd buoy and before I knew it, my hand was touching the sand and it was time to get out of the water. What would you do differently?: Draft! I need to practice this skill, it could have helped tremendously. Also, not starting out too fast. Do my own race and not worry about placement. Transition 1
Comments: Long run up a hill and into transition area. I tried to drink some water at the aid station, but it wouldn't go down so I just washed out my mouth. Into transition, getting my shoes on, the lady next to me asks for help getting her shirt untangled from her race belt. I take a moment and help her unravel her top. Remembered to put my helmet on and buckle the strap before unracking the bike (my biggest fear was to forget this). Then off running to the bike mount area. What would you do differently?: Put helmet on while stripping off wet suit? Never heard of this, but it makes sense. Need to practice. Bike
Comments: Started passing riders right off the start. Felt good to be on the bike. I wondered if I was going way too fast to start out, but decided that 12 miles wasn't that far I could just go for it. My goal was to average 18 mph. I have about 80 miles pre-training on the bike, that's it! Went back and forth with several riders. Since this was my first race, I was worried about the drafting rules and tried to stay out of a draft, but yet didn't want to lose ground after a rider passed me. Hit the turn around and felt great. A few minutes later I caught sight of my sister. She looked good. She later said that I looked like I was smoking! Into the dismount and I saw my mom cheering me on. Sweet ride. What would you do differently?: Drink more gatorade. My seat height was a bit too low, I need aero bars. Transition 2
Comments: T2 was fast, at first I thought I was missing something because it went so fast. What would you do differently?: Nothing. Run
Comments: Immediately my left calf started to cramp. Ugh. I felt pretty tired. A class racer passed me and I tried to keep up and couldn't, then I tried to keep him in sight and eventually that was a lost cause, too. My goal for the run was to finish in 28 minutes, but after the first 1/4 mile I knew that was not going to happen. I tried to focus on smooth movements and realized my heart rate was way too high. I needed to get that reighned in. Lots of people passed me on the run. How demoralizing. I have been training for a marathon since April and thought my run would have gone much better. I saw my sister when I was at mile 2 and she was at mile 1. We high fived as we went by. She said I looked awesome. There was a short uphill before the finish and it was pretty difficult for me, but I dug deep and came on into the finish. I was so thrilled to have finished my first triathlon and had done so well. I still set a PR for a 5K run, despite not making my 28 minute goal. What would you do differently?: Try to stretch or do something to get the legs to fire more quickly. Post race
Warm down: Walked around, drank water, at free clif bar/block samples and then ate the post race meal. Yummy. What limited your ability to perform faster: Get my HR under control. Was way over my limits. Event comments: Will probably do this again next year. Great atmosphere and an easy course. Last updated: 2009-06-17 12:00 AM
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United States
AA Sports, LTD
70F / 21C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 224/629
Age Group = Clydesdale
Age Group Rank = 18/28
Day started early by getting everyone in the house moving and out the door because I was so excited for my first triathlon! Stopped and picked up my sister at her house, had a full truck load of people and gear. Arrived and got body marked and into the transition area. My first race, so I didn't know what I was doing, tried to look at how others had their stuff set up and then mentally rehearsed what T1 and T2 would be like and then planned accordingly. Had left my sunglasses in the truck thinking I wouldn't need it because it was overcast, but my sis said I'd need some eye wear for the bike, so I scrambled back to the truck to retrieve them. Put my wet suit on backwards at first, had to strip it off and then put it on right. I was getting flustered because I wanted to do a good warm up and time was getting short.
Didn't do the 15 min run like I had wanted, but got into the lake and swam out to a large buoy and back. Wet suit felt great, water felt good, am very excited.