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 Swim
Comments: Very choppy so it was hard to sight on the buoys. On the way out to first turn every time I looked up I caught face full of water. I had not been doing much swim training in April because I caught a cold. So I didn't want to push too hard. I was getting grabbed from behind a lot, and got kicked some. Got passed by a lot of women from next wave. I usually only get passed by a few. Even some from wave after that caught me, but I wasn't getting bent out of shape over it. Caught many from previous wave, and some from men's waves. The conditions were challenging. They reminded me a little of AG worlds with the chop. What would you do differently?: Swim more in March and April. :)  Transition 1
Comments: I was wearing my old QR suit that I've had for years. Some people have "thin and fat clothes". I have "thin and fat wetsuits". This old suit is my fat wetsuit. It's the only one that fits decently when I'm 10 lbs over normal race weight. But what I love about this wetsuit is that it's a piece of cake to get off. I can actually step on legs and feet don't get caught. Transition would have been quicker if I had not wasted time trying to get lifesaver out of the wrapper. (I suck on lifesaver to get rid of nasty salt water taste in mouth.) What would you do differently?: take lifesaver completely out of wrapper before race.  Bike
Comments: My bike split got messed up because when I went back into transition to pick up gear I walked across mat with my personal chip. So very humorous to see my bike split in official results listed as 3:58:06 and having rank of 50th out of 50 especially since cycling is what I truly excel at under normal racing conditions. These were not normal racing conditions for me. I went as hard as I could, but between poor training and the tough winds it wasn't one of my better performances on the bike. I got passed a lot which doesn't normally happen. I got ticked off at myself when a 59 year old women using toe clips and wearing running shoes kept passing me, and finally stayed ahead for good. But no matter how hard I tried after the last pass I could not get back to her. The biggest sign of my head not being in this race was that when I sent my bike off on the TNT truck I had forgotten to put my race wheels on. Didn't even think about it until a few days before hand when I got an email about race wheel specials from my bike shop. But in some ways I was glad not to have the Zipp 404s riding in the cross winds. There were a few times I got blown around. What would you do differently?: I can't change what went on this winter, so I can't really complain about how the bike ride went. Transition 2
Comments: Even though I wasn't racing per se, I did remove my feet from shoes before the dismount line. I figured it was good practice for when I do actually go for time in my later events this season. It's a little hard to do on the cobbles, but at least this year I knew where the dismount line was. :0 What would you do differently?: Clean up change to running shoes.  Run
Comments: This wqas the part of the race that I was really dreading. Running has been painfully slow this winter. I had a lot of problems with shin splints, achy knees, and plantar facsiatis in left foot. At one point this winter I just stopped running all together and walked. When I did start running again I was doing 13 minute miles. ( I will not complain about 9 minute miles again. At this point I'd kill to see those again. LOL) My plan for this race was to run as much as I could and walk the water stations. I was able to maintain that plan for the most part. I was pleasantly surprised that I got through the 1st two miles at an 11 minute pace even with the walking breaks. As I got hotter, and started having problems with blisters I had to slow it down a bit. I walked for a brief stretch not at a water stop, but couldnt take it, and started running again. The last mile I decided I was going to have fun. Since the TNT waves started over a 1/2 hour after my age group wave many of them were just in their 1st mile of the run as I was in my last mile. I did something that I would never have done if I was in hyper competition mode. I gave high fives to almost all the TNT'ers heading out. Many smiled at me, and a few probably thought I was wacked out. However if it helped a few of them get through their run then I did my job as a TNT mentor. :) What would you do differently?: Get new legs. :) Post race
Warm down: Did a few token stretches in the food line, and had terrific post race massage. What limited your ability to perform faster: Mid-life crisis, injuries and burnout. Event comments: The BT party at the Veranda B&B was great. Really enjoyed meeting everyone. Last updated: 2006-01-04 12:00 AM
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United States
84F / 29C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 2033/3029
Age Group = F 50-54
Age Group Rank = 21/50
I had a rough winter training wise. The weather was not very good, I had had a number of nagging foot and leg problems that impacted my running, and I'm going through some rough spots emotionally. Combine those things with general burnout (I raced way too much last year) and you get conditions that aren't conducive to having a good race.
I had thought about transfering entry to 2007, but I already had my plane ticket, and I wanted to be with my TNT group even though I did not fundraise for this race. So I had to be willing to deal with not repeating last year's 3rd place AG finish, and possibly doing my worst Olympic time ever. Those of you who followed my racing last year know that I like to compete, and had some pretty damn good results to show for that. So probably toughest part of my pre-race prep was leaving my ego out by the entrance to the transition area, and doing this for fun.
Did packet pick up on Friday to avoid the rush on Saturday. Spent lots of money at expo. :) Anyone tell you shopping is T0?
Got to transition later then I'd like if I had been racing this, but with injuries and burnout over the winter I went with the flow of my TNT group. Spent more time in body marking line then I'd like. Despite knowing that I wasn't racing this I still got kind of amped up. The subconscience takes over the mind.
Walked over to swim start. Did some yoga stretches while waiting for wave to go off. Didn't evn get in water before AG was called to the chute.