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 Swim
Comments: The current was strong and the tide was coming in. As we were treading water at the start line we kept floating past the start line marker. The race director kept backing us up. Finally we got to go and it was a good swim. There were no goggle issues and I felt good. I did get kicked more often then ever before but that was because I tried to race and not try to "keep from getting kicked". I did have to stop a couple times and shift to the left of other swimmers who were colliding in front of me. After the left it was tough to see where to go. I had to stop and watch the others. There were so many boats and so much activity on the marinas that it was hard to figure out where to go. About three quarters of the way through I remember that I noticed that there was no feeling in my toes. It was cold water. Finally I saw the volunteers pulling swimmers up the ladders and I was home free. What would you do differently?: There wasnt much that I could have done different. Sleeves on my wetsuit would have been nice but I did ok with what I had. Maybe some of these neoprene footies because my feet were numb.  Transition 1
Comments: After getting out of the water we had to run from the marina and across the street to T1. I got out of the water and stripped my wetsuit to my waste. They had shower heads set up and I stopped under one of them to rinse the sand or saltwater off me. The timing mat was after the showers, so stopping to shower was included in my swim time. I wan into T1 and stopped at a port a jon. I had to fight the wetsuit to get it down enough to pee, without letting it touch anything in there. After that I ran into the bike area and found my bike. I then looked across and noticed my girlfriends bike was already gone. I sat down and pulled off the wetsuit. It wasnt cold anymore. After drying my feet and reading chapter one of Gone With the Wind I put on my bike shoes, helmet, garmin, cheststrap, bike shirt, arm warmers, and then walked over to check for her bike again. Finally I took off out of T1 What would you do differently?: I would have cut out the fat. I should have stuck with my plan and I could have cut off (at least) a minute.  Bike
Comments: Because my wave was second to last and my swim and T1 were not, I was biking behind most everyone. That explains why I passed so many people and was passed by so few. I can not complain about my bike. I went as hard as I could figuring I would take the run when I had left. I drank the aero bottle of infinit. I was able to take the water bottle of infinit from my bike jersey and pour it in my aero bottle. I also took the bottle from my cage on the bike and put it in the aero bottle. At the second aid station I was able to snag a water from a volunteer. I put it in my mouth and tried to pull the cap off. After losing two teeth I realized that there was no lid on it(Mental note, they pull the lids off for you). I did a GU at around mile 30 or so. I felt stron during the bike until around mile 35. Then I started to anticipate the bike end. I was counting down the miles which made the ride seem longer than what it was. Around mile 40 I realized I had to Pee and that I had to pee now. I was able to hold it though. There were a few spots on the bike that were tense. Traffic was stopped on the highways for us and we had to shift from the right lane to the left lane a time or two. There was one point when traffic was all congested and we had to go single file up the right side on the shoulder of the road, among all the debree to get around the jams. The bridges we crossed were a little hairy, but it was fun to go down the last one at 37mph. What would you do differently?: I cant say that I did anything wrong on the bike. I gave my best effort and did the ride at 20mph. For me that was great, but my best is far below many of the others. Transition 2
Comments: I stopped and got off the bike and handed it to a volunteer. I knew where my numbered rack was so I headed toward it. The volunteers kept asking my number so they could point me toward my spot, but every time I said "750" they looked around puzzled. I got to my spot and opened my run bag. The volunteer asked me my number again so I said "750" again. He went ovewr to a spot and said "over here", so I said (again) "no, I am 750". So he left 715's things alone and I told him it was ok, Im already here. I changed into my run shirt and shoes, put on my tri warrior visor and grabbed my fuel belt and number belt. Then the most important thing was to find a port a jon. There was one in T2 so I used it, adding to my T2 transition time. Then I was off. What would you do differently?: I would not hand my bike to a volunteer. They did great but didnt take the time to rack the bikes correctly, thus risking damage to them as they were hung every which way. Mine was jammed inbetween the bull horn and aerobar. I appreciated the volunteers but their racking of the bikes was meant for the full athletes since their run bags were on a rack by the changing room. We half folk had to go to our racks anyway and could have toted our own bikes there.  Run
Comments: The run was nothing short of awesome. There were alot of people along the 6.6 mile run out to cheer you on. It was very motivating to hear people yelling for you by name (since our names were on our number bibs). The scenery was great, and I loved running through the park and over the wood bridges. Running on the cobblestone or bricks did kind of suck. I was worried about stepping wrong and twisting an ankle. The aid stations were spot on with water, heed and anything else you needed. I chose a hammer gel once, but was happy with my infinit in my fuel belt. On the way out I saw all my friends and my girlfriend, so that was motivating. It was on the way back, at oh, around mile 10 that my body started to say "you know, lets walk some". I spent three miles yelling at myself to not walk. I walked a couple miles at White Bakes half, and never forgot it. I was not going to walk. I forget which aid station it was, 10 or 11 mile, but I grabbed a handfull of cut up bagels, they were so good. I enjoyed having solid food. I did slow to 10:30's on the run but kept running. On the way back there was a hill by Front st, around mile 11 that was short but very steep. I took baby steps but made it up without walking. Then the bridge was hard to cross, because of the metal grates being sharp. I was able to finish the run without walking but it took a huge mental effort. What would you do differently?: I cant think of anything. I could say run faster but that wouldnt be possible. I trained and did my best. I have never been fast so I felt this was my best effort. Post race
Warm down: Talked to some people, ate some pizza and drank a beer. We got a ride to our truck from our friends dad, so I want to thank him again on this report. He didnt have to go out of his way, fighting the race and the traffic to do that. We drove back to the race and watched othere finish. We got to see our fellow club member finish the whole in 10:30. That was a great time. What limited your ability to perform faster: The transitions Event comments: This event deserved to be ranked second in the nation. Setup events had everything organized and running on schedule. The magnitude of this race was huge and the logistics must have been crazy (with the two transitions being 8 miles apart). All my bags were where they were supposed to be, when they were supposed to be there. The volunteers were wonderful. All the aid stations were stocked with enough supplies to get through the race. The law enforcement and DOT people did a good job with traffic control. I did have a couple of instances when I thought the traffic was a hazzard, but that was due to the drivers being idiots and not because of the race. Throughout the entire race there were people yelling their support. It was very motivating to have that many people out there. Last updated: 2010-03-02 12:00 AM
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United States
Set Up Events
41F / 5C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 128/441
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 18/58
We arrived on Friday and went to the Convention center for the meeting and packet pick up. The place was packed with athletes. The expo had several vendors but we had seen them all before. There was the guy selling "the stick" but we have one of those already. We did buy the small "stick" for your foot. The sweatshirts they were selling were nice but they all said 2.4 mile swim 112 bike 26.2 run. I couldnt get one because Im doing the half. We did get some nice coffee mugs. The meeting was held indoors and they showed the new B2B video and went over logistics. Then we went to the hotel to check in. Then we went to the right hotel to check in (I went to the wrong Marriot). Our hotel was 2.0 miles from T1 and across from Mayfair on Military Cuttoff. We then drove to T1 and dropped off our bikes, racking them and checking out the enter and exit routes. After eating steak and lobster at Ruby Tuesdays we went back to the bike and dropped off our bike to run bags (which someone drove to the battleship and placed by our racks.We then drove the 8.3 miles to T2 (the battleship) and saw where our spots were on the bike rack. That is where our run bag will be placed. Then off to bed.
We woke up at 4AM and took a hot bath to warm up the muscles. Then used our sticks and foam rollers. We actually stretched pretty good this time, which was good because it was 41 degrees outside. A few cups of coffee and we bundled up and drove to T1. The volunteers were great. A couple were directing the vehicles in the parking area and we had the truck in a great spot. Which is good because it would stay there until the race was over and we got a ride to pick it up. It was also nice to check all our bike and T1 items for placement then jump back in the truck to warm up. We finally got on a bus that took us to the swim start. It sure was cold and the wetsuit was warm, but to get that on I had to take everything else off.Then all of my pre-race clothes went in a bag to be brought to the race finish and they directed me to the water.