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 Swim
Comments: Swim is still my nemesis. Bad swim. Never got my groove on. Felt like I was fighting the water the whole time. As soon as I took my first stroke, I realized the mistake I made in just wearing a sports bra as my top - I scooped so much water in with that...must think about getting a tri top, no matter how unflattering they may be. Our wave was down for 8 minutes to complete the distance. I was the last of our wave out of the water (sigh). The good news is my pace for my previous tri swim was 2:45. Must get faster. Or go to duathlon. Heather was out of the water well before me. What would you do differently?: Learn how to swim faster. Wear different top.  Transition 1
Comments: Got to bike, brushed off feet and struggled to put socks on wet feet. Popped long-sleeved t-shirt on (also hard over wet skin), sunglasses and helmet. Unracked bike and ran to bike out...as I got to the mount line, someone yelled, "Your helmet is on backwards." I stopped, put my helmet on the right way and then mounted my bike and clipped in. What would you do differently?: Put my helmet on the right way the first time.  Bike
Comments: Very nice route. Heather and I rode the route about a month ago so I knew what to expect. Freeport is much less hilly than Camden - which is good news for me. There is one hill of slight significance on the way out about 1/3 of the way to the lollipop. I felt GREAT on the bike. I passed several people and only got passed once (by a bike relay person, so I was okay with that). I kept beating myself up for my swim though. Most of the time I just liked biking. By far - my favorite sport. Two times, the chain threatened to hop off, I just slowed down my cadence until it slipped into place and then hammered it home. Rode as fast as I could, pedaling all down hills. At the turn into the site, Katherine was there with Heather's fiancee - cheering us in. Very nice to see them! Pace this time: 15.92, pace at Mainiac 14.7 What would you do differently?: Stop obsessing about the swim. Transition 2
Comments: Easy to take the helmet off when it's put on the right way, eh? Everything came off, changed from the water soaked long-sleeved t-shirt to the short sleeved shirt with the number pinned to it. Bike shoes off, running shoes on, grabbed shot bloks and out the door! Saw Heather right in front of me. We must have come in off the bike really close to each other. What would you do differently?: Not much. Maybe put number on belt - but didn't have much luck with that at the last tri...must think about this.  Run
Comments: Felt not too good getting off the bike (it's called a brick for a reason). Just started plugging away. Caught up to Heather (her sister was running the run with her to keep her distracted), offered her a shot blok, choked down two for me and kept plugging away. Felt a little slow, but knew I could finish. I wish I would have been able to run faster - but just didn't have it in me. Pace this time 10:42, at Mainiac 9:42 What would you do differently?: Eat something before the start of the swim. Two hours after breakfast was just too long. Really started to drag at the end. Post race
Warm down: Made it across the line, remembered not to click the watch until after the finisher's picture. Got a medal (snerk) and a water bottle and turned around to watch for Heather. She was about 5 minutes behind me. I saw her sister fall off and send her through the chute. She made it! Ran up to her and gave her a big hug...what a huge accomplishment for her! (and now she's talking about doing the Mainiac and a half marathon in the fall! Woot!) What limited your ability to perform faster: Timing of food. Still recovering from this crappy cold. Bad clothing choices. Bad attitude about the swim. Event comments: Very well organized. Little strange layout - no port-a-potties...had to go inside the Y to use the bathroom...which didn't lend itself to availability during the race. We were recommended to stick around for the awards ceremony - but it hadn't started 30 minutes after the scheduled time, so we left. I am thrilled Heather completed this one - but I don't think I will do a pool-swim tri ever again. All the waiting around was not good for me. Last updated: 2010-03-26 12:00 AM
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United States
Cumberland County YMCA
60F / 16C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 96/294
Age Group = W40-44
Age Group Rank = 15/26
Work my oldest daughter up at 4:45a for the drive down (one of her best friends is the daughter of the woman I was running the race with - they would get to spend the day together while Heather and I raced). Drove down with no problems - even got to stop for a coffee and a snack before getting to their house at 7am.
Heather and I loaded the car up with her stuff and headed over to the site. Parked and walked about 2/3 mile to the site, got my race packet, numbered (one on each upper arm, one on each thigh with my age on the right calf...LOTS of ink!) and went to set up our transition areas. This was Heather's first triathlon - and she was nervous. Helped her get her bike set up, arranged all of our stuff and then stood around for a VERY long time. At a bagel and some apple slices at 8am.
This was a pool swim, so the race started in waves. Heather and I were in wave 10, so we sat at the side of the pool watching all the other waves go off. Each wave would have to be completely out of the water before the next wave went in. It was a short swim (325y), so the waves went pretty quickly. It was nice to see everyone get out of the water to lots of cheering - but waiting that long was agonizing. Must have peed about 6 times before the start of the race.
We finally got into the water at 10:30...in the middle of the pool sharing a lane (swimming side by side).