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 Swim
Comments: Open water, ocean swim. Swim was started from the beach in a wave start format. Surf was light at 1 to 2 feet, no prevailing current, and no noticeable wind. Sky was overcast. Unfortunately, I only had tinted goggles and couldn’t find amber ones before the race. With the wave start and surf, this was probably one of my least contact swims I’ve ever had. After getting through the surf, I had a pretty clean line through the course. From the water, there was an approximate 200 yard run through the sand to T1. What would you do differently?: Not sure why, but caught myself zig-zagging toward the final buoy. Need to work on keeping straight.  Transition 1
Comments: This seemed to go well. I opted not to mount my shoes on my pedals for this race. There was a pretty steep hill leaving transition and running up the hill with your bike was not allowed. So, I chose to don my shoes in transition then make a flying mount allowing me to pedal into the hill. No issues doffing wetsuit. The one thing that still costs me a little time in T1 is socks. I just can’t bring myself to cycle and run sockless. What would you do differently?: Nothing.  Bike
Comments: No real issues here except I was hoping to be a little faster with these conditions. I was expecting to at least average 23 mph, if not break 24 mph under these conditions. I really could have used different set of wheels on this course. Hopefully soon, I will have something around a 50-60mm aero wheel for these flat courses. My only nutrition for the bike segment was 2 scoops of HEED in 20 ounces of water. I made sure to take time to consume all of the water during the ride. In previous races, I have found I that I tend to skimp on water so I can keep hammering on the bike. Unfortunately, this puts me behind the “eight ball” for the run. What would you do differently?: Just need greater cycling strength and more anaerobic specific training. For this type of course, I would like to be able to average 25-26 mph at a minimum. Transition 2
Comments: Oops! Here’s where I made a blunder. I came down the hill into transition and got off my bike leaving my shoes attached to the pedals. I ran to my rack only to find myself lost. I had identified landmarks before the race, but somehow I still missed my rack by one aisle. I had to back out and get over to the correct aisle to make my change. No issues with the actual transition from bike to run. Shoes on, grabbed my race belt and visor, and took off the run course. What would you do differently?: Not miss my transition area!  Run
Comments: Darn! I pushed the run pretty hard, but at the end I was left wondering if I might have left a little out there on the course. I was still able to finish on a pretty hard kick on a gradually climb to the finish line. I really wanted to go sub 20 off the bike. I will get this goal soon, real soon! The course just threw me a couple of surprises in the form of small climbs. Nutrition for the run consisted of 1 ounce of Hammer Gel diluted in 5 ounces of water. I carry the mixture in a 6 ounce Hammer flask which is easy to carry on the run. What would you do differently?: I think it was more mental today. As I'm sitting here typing this I think my legs had more in them. I just need to push harder next time. Post race
Warm down: Walking warm down. 1 bottle of Recoverite. What limited your ability to perform faster: Swimming remains to be the thorn in my side, especially in these shorter races. I need to get back with my swim coach and do some work! Bike and run was good, but still behind my ability. I'm making progress from my injury, but I'm not completely back. I would say I'm funtioning in the 90 - 95 percent range with a couple new, nagging areas of concern. Event comments: Except for the parking fiasco, my only other area of disappointment was the guy from the timing company. To be nice, he was a jerk. He was yelling at people about how to run through the chutes and, in my opinion, being fairly rude! Last updated: 2010-06-02 12:00 AM
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United States
City of Carlsbad
68F / 20C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 76/1000
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 12/116
What a nightmare! Parking was horrible. The City made no arrangements for athlete or spectator parking. Basically, thousands of people had to find parking in residential neighborhoods along the coast. With the street closures and dead-end streets, it took me over a half-hour to find a parking spot over a mile away from the event.
Because I was running late, the transition area was filling up quickly. I managed to get a fairly good rack spot with some identifiable geographical landmarks above my aisle. I still had plenty of time to get my area set-up and walk around the transition area to familiarize myself.
Nutrition was normal routine. Coffee when I woke up and a protein bar. No food within the three hour window prior to the race.
Got into the water, dove under some waves, and opened up my wetsuit at the neck to flush the suit with water. Did a quick jog in the sand to get loose for the race.