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 Swim
Comments: This was a little better than my last olympic swim in terms of time, but my last swim was in a river with a current so my performance may have been even better this time given that I wasn't helped with any current. I felt really good this time with my sighting, which had been a problem in my last race. I think that having so many buoys (not just the large ones but the smaller ones in between) really helped me stay on course. It was very well-marked. What would you do differently?: Continue to work on my swimming form- it's by far my weakest leg and I have a long way to go. I am taking lessons and already see a difference, and I am sighting better, but hope to continue to improve with more lessons and practice.  Transition 1
Comments: A little slow here- I had a great spot on the rack but I had a tiny bit of trouble getting the wetsuit off. What would you do differently?: Practice more with the wetsuit- it was borrowed and I hadn't practiced in it before the race. I would also LOVE to master getting into my shoes on the bike, but for now I feel like the risk of falling or just wasting MORE time trying to get into them is too great!  Bike
Comments: This was a nice course and very well-marked, which was helpful. The volunteers were great about making sure everyone knew, well ahead of time, which way they would be going especially with the different courses for sprint and Olympic. The roads for the most part were in good condition with just a few portions that were pitted. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the course spread out- I was expecting it to be really crowded but there were even times that I felt like I was all alone out there! What would you do differently?: My bike is fine- it's an entry-level road bike that has served me really well and never gives me problems- but I think a better bike might help along with just continuing to work on my power on the bike. I also wonder if a professional fitting on my bike would help improve my times at all. Transition 2
Comments: There was a relatively long distance to run with the bike from the racks to the mount/dismount area but nothing too terrible. What would you do differently?: Again, need to just work on faster transitions. Work on the flying dismount leaving shoes on the bike.  Run
Comments: By the time my wave got to the run (11:00) it was SUNNY, HOT and HUMID. The course was somewhat shaded but mostly sunny. The water and COLD TOWELS were amazing! This is definitely much slower than my typical pace (6:30)and I just have to attribute it to the heat and humidity at that point. I usually don't drink on a 10K course but today I took at least one cup of water at each water station. What would you do differently?: Nothing- I finished 3rd overall among women in the run time and felt good given the conditions so I don't think there's really anything I could have done differently. Post race
Warm down: Stood in the cold water shower (thank you!!) for several minutes before changing, getting food and watching the awards ceremony. Was pleasantly surprised to find out I won 2nd in my age group and excited to get the award, although after I got home (a 3-hour drive) I realized that the date on the award is last year's date (2008)! Oh, well- it'll make a good story. What limited your ability to perform faster: The heat and humidity. I was also diagnosed with strep throat on Thursday and was just feeling better this morning so that may have limited my performance somewhat. Event comments: This was one of the most organized and well-supported races I have ever run. I was so impressed with how well the race directors kept so many racers organized, from the packet pick-up to the post race festivities. The fact that there was still plenty of food left for the latest finishers speaks to how well everything is thought through in this race. For a race of it's size, it didn't feel crowded or disorganized in the least. I will definitely be doing this race- and other CGI races- in the future. Last updated: 2009-07-26 12:00 AM
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United States
CGI Racing
Overall Rank = 144/743
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 2/60
I stayed with my cousins who live just 5 minutes from the park, so I woke up at 5:00 to get ready and eat a bagel with PB, kindly prepared for me by my cousin. I left their house at about 5:30 and got to the park shortly thereafter and didn't encounter any traffic- I got a great parking spot and a good spot on my rack. From what I heard, athletes who got there just a little later (closer to 6:00) waited almost 45 minutes to get into the lot so I think that the rush happened a little after I arrived. I would always rather get there early and have time to just chill out than get there late and stress about the traffic and transition set-up, though, so I didn't mind getting there early.
My wave was the LAST of 22 waves to go off so I didn't really think about warming up right away; I set up transition and then watched most of the sprint race before heading back to the swim start where I did go in and practice in my wetsuit (the race was barely wetsuit legal at 77.9 degrees!) which was borrowed (on the off chance it would be legal!) and I hadn't used before. It was nice that we were allowed to warm up in the water before our wave and not required to warm up before the race began since there was a good 2 hours from the start of the race to when we got into the water!