Swim
Comments: First OWS was fine - I wasn't sure how it would go. What I didn't appreciate until actually doing it was the congestion in the water...even for such a small race (only 40 people in my wave). I tried to hang back and to the left to get a feel for it, but I still couldn't find open water short of swimming AWAY from the buoys. I don't know if it's because the swimmers were weak (being a Mini Sprint)? I feel like for the first 250 yards out of 300 I was just trying to find space. What would you do differently?: Since I am a strong swimmer I might try to get out front and not be as passive at the start. I got kind of caught up in getting in so I didn't really pay attention to the rows of people in front before getting in the water to get an idea of how to navigate around people. Transition 1
Comments: I was THAT guy with a hybrid bike and regular pedals so I had to actually lace up shoes and unrack a more unwieldy bike, but I felt comfortable doing it. Before the race I had made a point to walk from the swim to my bike a couple of times. What would you do differently?: Nothing, went smoothly. Bike
Comments: I knew biking was my weakness coming in. I was riding an 8 year old hybrid with standard equipment. Most of my training up to this point has been on spinning trainers at the gym so I don't have a feel for speed or power. My main indication of my speed was that I was getting passed like crazy. As it turns out I had it in the wrong gear (you can laugh) so I was on the middle ring instead of the big ring...on a flat course. As I tried to change gears my chain started spinning and I thought it was going to come off. I managed to get it back in the original gear until the halfway point. Then I tried again, but it in the highest gear and took off. I wish I knew my splits on that one. I felt strong the whole way so once I'm more comfortable with the bike I will be in good shape. My first tri, so I was going to PR anyway...I just set the bar low :) What would you do differently?: Pay attention to the gear, perhaps? Spend more time riding the actual bike. Get something so that I can see feedback on speed, distance, power, etc. so I can get a feel for when I need to make adjustments/what adjustments to make. Transition 2
Comments: Made a rookie mistake in not paying attention that the bike in was in a different place than where we entered transition so I went down the wrong aisle the first time. Don't have biking shoes and only a 2 mile run so just stayed with the same shoes, grabbed race belt and took off. What would you do differently?: Walk from where the bike in will be to the rack a couple of times. Run
Comments: After everyone had passed me on the bike it felt good to reel some of them back in. Kept up what I thought was a good pace and caught as many as I could. What would you do differently?: Nothing Post race
Warm down: Got some food and walked around, watched some of the Sprinters transition from bike to run, cheered on some of the Sprint finishers. What limited your ability to perform faster: Inexperience Event comments: Really enjoyed my first race and learned a lot. Great introduction for me at a short distance and now I have extra confidence for my next race. Last updated: 2010-04-15 12:00 AM
|
|
United States
outloud
Overall Rank = 53/164
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 6/11
Breakfast on the way (45 min drive). My first tri so I wanted to get there early and get a feel for how everything worked. Got my transition set up, had someone show me how to rack my bike :)
Being my first OWS, I swam the swim course once to warm up.