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 Swim
Comments: My plan with the swim was to go in toward the back of the pack and avoid the maelstrom. Something about the plan didn't work, because as soon as I hit the water, I was surrounded by kicking and flailing bodies. I got nailed multiple times, but I did my share of beating up on other people as well (unintentional -- I actually apologized to one guy). Frankly, it was fun! Triathlon swim is indeed a contact sport. After about 200m the pack spread out. The swim course was very frustrating and hard to follow. It was this strange roundabout course. My sighting was bad, and I swam way out of the way at a couple of points. Also, I had to stop and ask the kayakers which way to go. That wasn't good. The worst part about it was that toward the end of the swim, I ran headlong into the outgoing wave -- SMASH! That was bad. And I was not the only one -- there were about 5 of us caught in that onrush. Other than that, I felt strong on the swim. I didn't get tired, my shoulder didn't hurt. The most exhausting part was the long run up the sand back to the transition area. What would you do differently?: I need to work on my sighting. I could have shaved a couple minutes of this time had I swam in a straighter line.  Transition 1
Comments: I don't have a time for T1... I think it's included in the bike split. I was very slow. A guy who was behind me in the swim came into T1 and left before me. (I later passed him on the bike, but point taken -- I'm too slow in transition). I had some trouble getting the wetsuit over the timing chip on my ankle. Also, putting the socks on wet feet took longer than anticipated. Lastly, I "lost" my bike and spent too much time looking for it. What would you do differently?: Skip the socks. Run the bike to the mount area (I had trouble with this in my bike shoes). Do a better job (maybe count racks) to help me find my bike. Just speed it up.  Bike
Comments: I felt good about my cycling and was surprised to have done so poorly relative to my age group. I kept a pace of 20mph for the first 30 minutes, dropped to 19mph for the second 30 minutes. I'll have to update this section when I can get to the details from the Garmin. I think that both transition times are included in the bike split, hence the long duration, because the total time on my Garmin for the bike was 1:15. I got passed a lot on the bike -- folks were going 25mph and faster. I obviously have a long way to go. What would you do differently?: I need to train more on the bike to get faster. I'm on my roadie and I got passed a lot by folks on TT bikes. Transition 2
Comments: Again, I spent waaay to long in transition. I did not have my running gear sufficiently accessible. I must have spent a whole minute trying to find the wristband for my Garmin. I never did find it, and went without. I meant to put it on in T1. Also, I was tired from the bike. I think this was part of the problem. What would you do differently?: Use those fancy shoelace thingies so I don't have to tie. Make my running stuff more accessible. Run the bike back to the rack (maybe take off my shoes before entering transition?)  Run
Comments: I had not anticipated how tired I would be coming off the bike. I had done some brick workouts to prepare. But I was tired at the start of the run! My plan was to run easy for most of the run -- 8:30 to 8:45 then drop to 7:50 or so for the last 1/2 mile. That didn't happen. First, I didn't have my Garmin, so I really didn't know how fast I was running (er... I mean how slow I was running). Second, I was wiped by the time I hit mile 4.5. The run was a killer. I did take two brief walk stops at the hydration stations to drink -- less than :30s, but that helped keep the energy high. What would you do differently?: I really missed having the Garmin with me. I like to know my pace and my distance. It's a psychological thing. Post race
Warm down: Oh man... I was totally wiped out when I hit that finish chute. My first warmdown was to chat with a guy who had kept up with me on the run. Then I grabbed a water and this protein drink they had and walked back and forth for awhile. I ran into some folks from my tri club and stopped to chat. Also, they had a GREAT BBQ! What limited your ability to perform faster: Too slow in transitions. Really, I think I could have shaved 5-6 minutes of the total time. Also, I think my run split should have been faster. I'm happy with the swim, so I think I need to shift my traning to focus on the run and the bike. Event comments: This is my first race, so I don't have a lot to compare it to. But it seemed really well organized. There were lots of volunteers, the course was very well marked (except for the swim), and the post-race activities were great! I enjoyed this race very much, and I have lots of things to improve for the next one. Last updated: 2010-05-18 12:00 AM
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United States
Breath of Life Ventura
Overcast
Overall Rank = 283/420
Age Group = 40-44 male
Age Group Rank = 37/53
I had packed everything up the night before into a duffel, so I was ready to go. Set the alarm for 4:15am and woke up alert and ready to race! I ate a bowl of oatmeal, filled up my water bottles and hit the road about 5:15am, which was about 15 minutes later than I had planned to leave. I felt surprisingly calm -- I expected more pre-race jitters.
I had anticipated doing a brief run, bike, and swim prior to the race. The parking lot was about 1.5 miles away from the transition area, so I cycled it slowly with my duffel bag full of stuff hanging over my shoulder. When I arrived at the event, my next warm-up was waiting 20 minutes for the bathroom(!) I wish they had more porta-potties. Once I got my transition area set up and popped some Motrin to keep my shoulder pain in check, I headed down to the beach for a swim warm-up. I only swam about 150 yards before the kayakers asked me to clear the course. I would have liked more time for a warm-up, but I felt ok.