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 Swim
Comments: The full distance went off, then the half waves over an hour late. So much for my fig newtons at 6:40 and my gel at 7:25…I’d now eaten breakfast 4 hours and 40 minutes prior to my start with my last nutrition coming 55 minutes before my start. My wave was ushered into the water and I barely had time to stick my face in to check the seal on my goggles before we were off. I lined up next to the buoy, with 4 or 5 women in front of me, most were in line to my right. We started and it was full contact for a few minutes, my right lens didn’t seal and was filling and I was getting a little over anxious. I emptied my goggle and tried again, it took two attempts to get a good seal and after that all was well. I managed to find a good draft (that never happens!!) and by the first turn (we did a long rectangle, counter clockwise) I was in control and feeling very good. My breathing rate was good, allowing me to breathe comfortably bilaterally and my arms felt pretty strong. I had a few good collisions with the back of the men and one with the line of a buoy. I was pretty sure my swim was good as by the last 100 my arms were just done, usually that isn’t the case. I stood up to climb the boat ramp and saw that my watch had probably been bumped and had taken two splits-the face was showing a time of 10 seconds. Shit. I was really annoyed and distracted by that. The wet suit strippers did their job and I ran to the bike. What would you do differently?: nothing  Transition 1
Comments: Transition was total brain fart. I fucked around with my watch, I thru my wetsuit on the rack and then picked it up and put in on the ground, I picked up wet socks (I have a blister from that my bike shoes were annoying and wanted to wear socks on the ride) and then decided not to wear them. I rubbed body glide on my feet. I put my glasses on, took them off, stared at them and put them on again. They fogged on my face and again I was distracted and thought I didn’t want to wear them. I did end up with them on. I grabbed my bike (thank god this was paved) and then jump a curb up, run on the sidewalk, jump back down, and exit before mounting on a hill. What would you do differently?: stop thinking and just do  Bike
Comments: The ride started poorly for me as I was trying to get my total time on my watch, bring my heart rate down, clear my glasses and stop being annoyed by the cold rain. It took quite awhile before I settled in, and even when I got total time to display on my HRM (it might have been a mistake to use this for my timing too, I’m not as familiar with the buttons as I am on my timex watch) I had no idea if my swim was good or bad or what my transition had been or where I was on the course. This black cloud sat on my until the half way point when I saw that I’d reached half way in about 2:10. This meant that I could probably be running by 3:45. Now I realize that my first half bike was probably 1:35 and wasn’t too unhappy. The course is an L shape, and the 14 miles I was on after the half was fast. I concentrated on keeping my heart rate in the low 140s and my cadence very high. I’m not sure if the rain caused my shifting problems or if Tony didn’t look it over well, but I was jumping gears and generally have trouble with shifting. I even tried to pee once on the bike, I failed to do it well, but got enough out that I didn’t have to stop for the rest of the race. The final 14 was tougher as I was trying to keep my heart rate low and we had bit of a head wind. The rain also started again. My nutrition plan for the bike stayed consistent despite the rain/Newton/salt paste I had. I drank SE every 15 minutes, drank water every 5 at least and whenever I wanted, and stuck my fingers in to the pasty mess every 30 minutes to get some salt and mushy cookie. In retrospect, I wasn’t able to get all the cookie, so I lacked a tiny bit in nutrition and will continue to work on getting more from the SE (it agrees with me). What would you do differently?: stop f---ing with my watch and just ride Transition 2
Comments: Transition 2 was another series of brain farts. I had to the curb/sidewalk/curb thing again and really body glide my feet to get wet socks on and that took time. I debated my hat and glasses again and then forgot my race number. I didn’t even realize that until two miles into the race. No one asked, and I figured I just say I lost it on the bike (you didn’t need to wear it on the bike, but some did). What would you do differently?: stop thinking  Run
Comments: My watch read 3:47 when I ran out of transition but I wasn’t entirely sure that the time was correct. Within a minute I saw Patty and she yelled that I was at 3:48, so I felt pretty good about my chances for a PR. I ran as instructed, trying to stay easy for the first 3. The first mile was 8:45, I eased up and stopped at the aid station between 1 and 2 for a gel and water. The next miles were just under 9 and I was feeling pretty good. At 3 I decided to pick up a tiny bit and continue to measure each mile by the effort to beat 9 minutes. It kept me focused on the mile at hand and built some confidence in finding consistency. I think the mile markers were a bit off as my miles seemed to range a fair amount, but they were all under 9. I stopped at the 4.5 aid station for another gel. This was a two loop out and back course on side walks and bike paths along a reservoir. The drainage was very poor and large parts of the path were under water, in some cases several inches of water. I stopped at the same aid stations on the second loop but could feel myself fading hard between mile 9 and 10. My HRM didn’t register a change in heart rate but I felt a pounding in my chest, who knows what that is about, for most of the run my heart rate was high 160s low 170s which would be a high tempo pace. I wanted to hammer the last 3 and while my effort level certainly went up, it was simply because my energy levels had dropped. Those miles were slower than the middle miles had been and I battled to stay at 9s. At some point in the last three miles I hit the stop button on my watch accidentally, so I’m not even sure what my final splits were and as I crossed I didn’t know my time When I finished I knew I had a PR, but I didn’t know by how much. The clock read 6:02, but the wave starts had been compressed and no one seemed to know by how much. One of my teammates (who ran his first half iron that day, in 4:30, I hate him!!) told me to substract 28 minutes, but I knew that was wrong. Turned out 18 was the right number but it took a long time before I knew that. Post race
Warm down: get annoyed with my teammates for not buying beer What limited your ability to perform faster: only 2 month of trainign Event comments: it was rainy and muddy and I'm sure that made everything harder, not a pretty course, but plenty of friendly volunteers Last updated: 2009-09-21 12:00 AM
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United States
Oklahoma Redman Triathlon
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 57F/151F
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 10/30
Pre-Race:
Thursday:
I began with the carbo load (pancakes, toast, eggs) and regular work day. I also had a couple fo bagels, a few strawberry newtons, and some pasta. I tried hard to follow the instructions to go to bed a bit hungry and taper my food through the day. Didn’t get to swim, but did have a good energy filled 2 mile run. 8:15s for both miles. I’d shipped my HRM and was just full of it, but the run felt good and I hoped for 8:30s in the race.
Friday:
I had an early flight to OKC (6:10) and ate a bagel/egg sandwich on the way to the airport and another bagel while laid over in Memphis, and then an immediate stop at Waffle House in OKC for a waffle, hashbrowns, toast and two eggs. It was delicious. I checked into my hotel by 12:30 and propped my feet up to rest until I had to pick up my teammate Patty at the airport. At 1:45 I left to get her and we went straight to the race site. There was a long line and seemingly a lot of wetness, but within 40 minute I had my packet and was able to rack my bike. There was much walking back and forth between the parking area and transition, much longer than I would have liked. I ate a granola bar. Patty and returned to our hotel, rested until 6:15 and then went to dinner at the neighboring hotel for the Redman Triathlon dinner special of pasta with grilled chicken, sauce on the side. I also had a glass of wine. We returned to the hotel by 8:15, I got my gear all set and went to bed.
Race Day/Saturday:
I woke up before my alarm, at 3:58AM and had a blue berry bagel with some Gatorade (man, I hate that stuff!!). I mixed my nutrition, put on my Team Fraser uniform, gathered my bags and left for the race site at 5:15. The parking was already getting crazy and we were fairly far from transition again, but closer than yesterday. I picked up my chip and checked my wave start time (7:40), and prepped my transition area. All was well. The day was looking cloudy and cool, the rain forecast was a 10% chance and the water was smooth. After getting set up I went back to Tony’s RV to sit and after a few minutes heard the rain drops. Slow at first, then harder. I headed back to transition to try to cover up my stuff a little. I thought the rain was passing so I didn’t bother with plastic. Well, it wasn’t passing and in fact became torrential. My socks and shoes were soaked, my bento box was full of water and my fig newtons and salt tablets in the bento box we mush. I’d put them in a small zip loc but didn’t seal it because I wanted one handed access to it on the ride. The rain fell steadily and the race start was postponed again and again. At one point there was talk of canceling the bike and making it a swim/run/swim (while this might have benefited me in the overall scheme, I’d come a long way to not ride the bike!). They announced that the course was flooded in at least one spot and there would be a mandatory dismount at that location. Other flooded areas might have the same if they didn’t drain quickly—we were instructed to pay attention.
shivering in the rain