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 Swim
Comments: This water felt COLD! It took me a good 20 minutes before I felt like my breathing was regulated due to how cold it felt. I honestly worried that I was not going to make it through the swim at one point, but by about half way through I finally felt like I could breathe and concentrate on my stroke. This was also my first time starting in a mixed wave with men and women (waves were by estimated swim time- which is a GREAT idea!) but it worked out well and because this is a small race it wasn't crowded at all and spread out quickly. In the end, I was SHOCKED to see that my time was faster than expected when I got out of the water. What would you do differently?: Dunk myself underwater while waiting the 3 minutes between waves to start- going under right off the bat just shocked my system.  Transition 1
Comments: It was really hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of two different transition zones. They had given us a plastic bag to put our stuff (including wetsuit) into after the swim that would be transported to T2 so in addition to pulling off the wetsuit, I had to stuff it in the bag. The good thing is that my rack (which only had four bikes assigned to it anyway) had only one other bike- so I put mine on the end next to the curb which allowed me to sit on the curb to get off my wetsuit and stuff it into the bag before taking off for the bike. What would you do differently?: For some reason, during races I have problems buckling my helmet (never happens during training). Maybe loosen it a bit so I can buckle it faster. Still would love to mount the bike with shoes on pedals but haven't tried that yet.  Bike
Comments: Felt GREAT on the bike- only passed by a couple of the fastest guys who were on their second lap when I was on my first (after starting in the first swim wave- I was in the fourth). Loved the course- rolling hills (nothing too bad but enough to have some fast downhill speeds) were great. Roads were pretty well-paved and no major potholes except for a few minor places that were easily avoidable. What would you do differently?: Nothing- this was a bike PR for me. I felt like I still had something left at the end so maybe push harder on the bike? Transition 2
Comments: Easy transition- I had a good spot and just had to switch shoes (and put on socks) and grab my belt/hat and run. What would you do differently?: Nothing- pretty good transition for me  Run
Comments: Run felt great too- I liked the course and felt like it was just the right amount of hills and shade. What would you do differently?: Nothing. Post race
Warm down: Grabbed some of the food- very impressed at the selection (one of the best post-race food selections I've ever had!) and brought my gear and bike back to the car...my T1 bag was sitting with my bike which was great- still impressed with how they get everything from T1 to T2 in an orderly fashion. Stuck around for the awards and was happy to find out I took 2nd in my age group. What limited your ability to perform faster: This was a PR for me (even with the longer- 1 mile- swim) so I can't really complain. I had an insanely busy weekend before this race so I was definitely sleep deprived and hadn't even thought about the race until the night before, but that seems to have worked in my favor. Still need to work on the swim-- the effect of the cold water might have slowed me a bit but the key will be continuing to work on my form and efficiency in the water! Event comments: After a rocky start (my packet had been given to the wrong person and wouldn't be available for me until race morning) I was really impressed with the organization of this all-volunteer organized (non-profit) race. As promised, one of the race organizers had my packet all ready when I arrived this morning, even with the correct size race premium that wasn't available when I had originally tried to pick up my packet. Even though this is a smaller race (and competed with the much larger Nations Tri on the same morning) it was extremely well-organized, executed and the volunteers were wonderful. There were a few places on the courses where there could have been additional volunteers directing racers but I understand how hard it is to find volunteers and the race organizers did a good job spreading them out as well as possible. The post-race food was some of the best I've had at a race. I will definitely do this race again next year. Last updated: 2009-09-06 12:00 AM
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United States
Reston Triathlon
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Felt a little out of sorts for this race- first of all, my packet had been given to someone else by mistake so I had to get my packet the morning of the race (to the organizers' credit, it was ready and waiting for me first thing in the a.m. when I arrived); also, I had a busy weekend beforehand and hadn't even been able to focus on this race until late Saturday night. Finally, this race is a little different in that T1 and T2 are in different locations so that messed with my pre-race prep and sense of organization. But I woke up at 4:15 a.m., ate PB on toast and headed out the door at 4:45 to be at the start by 5:15 (to get my packet). Set up at the school (T2) and then rode over to T1 (and swim start) with a friend who had done this race before. Thankfully I had her with me- I had no idea where I was riding and it was still pretty dark! Once at T1/swim start, got body marked, had a Cliff Bar, and waited for my wave to start.
Rode from T2 to T1 (different locations) and then just chatted with a friend doing the race. Did not do a pre-race swim- not sure if it was allowed or not but it didn't occur to me. Sort of wish I had as the water was COLD and it might have helped to dunk myself in before starting the swim!