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 Swim
Comments: I was actually excited by the time the swim start finally occurred. I saw Jon near the swim entrance, and he waved and blew me a kiss. I just had to smile. I was going to make this happen. I was getting pumped watching the 1st 2 waves go, and before I knew it, it was the ladies' turn. I lined up near the middle of the front row. I really hate the scrum, it freaks me out, so I purposely stay away from the inside line, and then swim in towards the buoys. We started with no problem, I felt smooth, no contact. I think I swam a little wide, because it took a while to get into the first buoy, but I flt good and saw only 2 other pink caps ahead of me. Cool! The rest of the swim was pretty normal, caught the first 2 waves pretty quickly, and got a little tangled up with people rounding the buoys. before I knew it, I was headed into shore! Sweet! What would you do differently?: Start further in towards the buoys.  Transition 1
Comments: The wetsuit strippers were awesome. They got my suit off in about 3 seconds! I ran into the transition area and ran right past my rack because I didn't see my bike (because it wasn't MY bike). D'oh! Ran back, found my spot, got helmet, sunglasses (stupid) and helmet on and took off. Mounted and prayed that my maiden voyage on this bike would go well! What would you do differently?: Remember what bike I'm riding!  Bike
Comments: For this race, I really wanted to go sub 3. With the rain, and on an unknown bike, I really didn't know if this would happen. The first few miles were basically me getting acquainted with the bike, and the steering felt much twitchier than my P2C. But, after a few, I settled in and focused on staying smooth and comfortable. I didn't have a bike computer, so I was just going by feel. The sunglasses came off almost immediately, because I totally couldn't see with all the rain. Shoved them in my Bento Box (which I had purchased at the expo the night before, lol). Did the mandatory dismount, ran around the giant puddle, and got back on and dpwn to business. The first 1/2 went quickly. I passed quite a few men, played leapfrog with a bunch, and got passed by some crazy fasties. Man, they were moving!!!I concentrated on drinking my accelerade, and eating my gels every 45 minutes. The rain sucked, but the cooler weather definitely helped me stay hydrated. I had to pee, and for the first time, I just went on the bike. It was raining, so hey, what the heck!The road was pretty rough in spots, and a bit more rolling than I expected. However, being a Ct resident, the "hills" were nothing, and I stayed in the big ring (easily) the whole ride. After the turn around, I kept up the plan to stay smooth and stay within myself so i wouldn't blow up. Every time someone passed me, i reminded myself to ride my own race. I had no idea how I was doing (no computer), but felt good, and was really having a blast. I played leapfrog with a few more people on the way back, a few guys, and a woman in a blue Hammer Nutrition outfit. I was a bit peeved to have a freaking peloton of about 10 people blow by me around mile 35. Seriously? WTF??? I hate cheaters! The only negative is that the saddle was KILLING me, and I had to sit up every 10 miles or so to fix my shorts, and try and dull the pain! Before I knew it, we were getting back on the dam road, and heading into transition. i couldn't believe that I had pulled off a good ride (although I had no idea what my time was until after the race) on an unknown bike. Yay! What would you do differently?: Um, have Sports Express NOT lose my bike? Transition 2
Comments: I wanted to take this one easy. I was really hoping that my extra socks, which were in my backpack would be dry. I spent a minute looking for them, and they were soaked like everything else. Oh well, I was already wet, so whatever. Got my wet socks and shoes on, put on my visor, grabbed a couple of gels and stuffed them in my top, and off I went! What would you do differently?: Nothing really. It was fine.  Run
Comments: This was the part that I was nervous about. i am not a strong runner, and I didn't know how I would hold up after 3 plus hours of racing. My plan was to take it easy and get settled in for the first 5k or so and then find a steady pace for the remainder. I settled in pretty quickly, and actually felt great. Amazing! I tried to just keep my breathing steady, and keep a steady pace. I saw my sister and brother in law right at the beginning, which was really nice. I made sure to take water at each aid station, and before I knew it, the first few miles were gone. Of course, people were flying my me, but I'm used to that on the run! One guy made me laugh when he said, "Hey! Way to emasculate me on the bike by flying by in your all pink outfit!" I chatted with a few people on the first lap, and before I knew it, I was headed to the turn around. I saw my sis and bro in law again, and my mom and dad and Jon were at the turnaround in their "Team Josie" t-shirts that my mom had made (thanks mom!!!). I started lap 2 still feeling good. Same routine, water at each aid station, and gels aver 40 minutes. Around mile 9 I realized that I was actually going to do this. I was going to finish. I was going to run every single step. Wow. Shortly after, things began to hurt. By mile 10, my butt and hips were getting pretty sore, but I told myself to HTFU and kept pace with a guy named Jon who was also doing his first 1/2. The last few aid stations I switched to gatorade, and I tried to pick up the pace, but my legs were pretty spent. I got so excited when I saw the finish in the distance and could hear the announcer! At mile 12, I put my head down and pushed. My sister and bro in law were yelling and cheering me on, and all I could respond with was "This hurts!!!"I saw the amazing sight of the 13 mile mark and the finish line and gave it everything I had. I crossed the finish line and stopped for the volunteers to take ff my chip. I was pretty dazed and just kinda shuffled through the tent, getting my medal and my t-shirt. I couldn't beleive I had done it!!! On a rented bike, in the rain. I DID IT!!! What would you do differently?: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. My one other half mary (stand alone) was last October and I ran a 1:59:20, so this time was awesome for a HIM! Post race
Warm down: I shoved a few bananas down my throat, got a Coke and a bag of pretzels, and went off to see my family. Gave them sweaty hugs,and then went off to transition to collect my things. Finally, I went to check the results and was totally amazed to see 5:24:00!!!!! My goal was sub 6, with my reach goal being 5:30:00, so this was awesome! What limited your ability to perform faster: Not having my bike, and probably the rain. Although, the cooler weather definitely helped on the run! Event comments: Thanks to all the volunteers, you guys were so awesome! And a BIG, HUGE thanks to The Bicycle Store in OKC for getting me on a bike with VERY short notice. You rule!!! Postscript: Today i got a call from sports express that my bike arrived in OKC. Great. Only 4 days late!!! Well, at least they found it! Last updated: 2009-09-12 12:00 AM
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United States
Oklahoma Redman Triathlon
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 238/
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 8/22
This story really begins the day before the race. We got to OKC on Thursday night, and the next morning got up, went to Waffle House (YUM!) and then off to Schlegel Bikes to pick up my bike. She was shipped via Sports Express and was to arrive on Thursday, get put back together in time for Friday pickup. We got to Schlegel, the guy went to get my bike, and came back a few minutes later...empty handed. I was then informed that my bike hadn't arrived. I immediately called Sports Express and was told that someone was currently "working" on my case, and would call me back in 5 minutes. He did, and I was given the news that my bike was, um, MISSORTED. Which is a different way of saying, "We lost your bike." I immediately broke down in tears and told the guy that I HAD to have my bike that night to check in. He assured me that they would do everything they could to get it to me in the next few hours (it was already noon). We spoke every hour or so, with no good news, and around 2, he called again to tell me that my bike wouldn't get there in time. More tears. He had called all the area bike shops to try to find me a comparable bike to ride for the race, that they (Sports Express) would pay for. I was sent to The Bicycle Store, and spent the next 3 hours getting fitted on a Giant Aeryn. It was NOT a P2C (like mine), and they had to literally cut the aerobars which were ridiculously long. We did the best we could to fit the bike to me. They were super super nice and insisted on putting race wheels on it (Sports Express had told them to do whatever they needed to do to keep me happy). I finally got to the Redman site at 6:15, got checked in, and went back to my sister's house to eat dinner with the family. I was famished, as I was way too upset to eat lunch. I didn't know what to expect the next day, since this was:
1. My first 1/2 iron
2. My first time riding that bike!!! (except for the 2 ;aps around the bike shop parking lot)
I slept amazingly well, considering. Got up at 5, ate a bagel, and Jon drove to the race site. The Garmin wouldn't acknowledge the race address, so we ended up on the wrong side of the lake, and had to ask for directions. By the time we got there, I had about 10 minutes to set up my transition. Great. I then realized that I had no bike pump, ran down the row asking for one, got one, and had no idea what psi the tires on this bike ran at. Couldn't see the printing on them cuz it was pitch black. Great. Guessed, inflated, got the rest of my stuff set up, grabbed my wetsuit and went down to the water. And now it's pouring. Great.
Borrowed a nice guy's bodyglide, got into my wetsuit, and then sat around in the pouring rain with everyone else while the rd figured out what do about the flooded bike course. We finally got the announcement that they would start at 8, and we would have a mandatory dismount @ mile 6 b/c of road flooding. Great.
At this point, I figured that I should just try to have a great day. So much had gone wrong already, I should just try to have fun. Chatted with a few women before the start, huddled in my garbage bag, and waited for the start.