Swim
Comments: The shallow and narrow out portion made for a very crowded swim for about 6-700 meters, then as pacing allowed the wave to string out, got much more comfortable. Was by myself for a good portion of the return. Nice. Saw a couple of fish and one dude on the return who got on our side and swam beneath me...it was surreal. The course curved naturally along the shoreline in a backwards c shape. I am comfortable with sighting so on the return I did not hug the buoys. I sighted well down the course and cut the corner. If they had done a straight line out into deep water, this would not have been possible, and I am sure it was a disadvantage to those who hugged the buoys. Got passed by the fastest swimmers from the next wave, but passed several from the waves ahead...that was new. What would you do differently?: I got warm in my full wetsuit towards the end and I certainly could have swam without it, but in light of the still sore road rash on my arm and leg, I felt it would be protective and worth the hassle of getting the stupid thing off. Oh and I SO didn't swim 1500 meters. Course was short and I was a base opportunist in making it shorter by cutting the corner. Transition 1
Comments: I have been really working hard on getting my T1 time down, and even though this looks like a long one, there was a very long run from the beach to transition, so I am going to claim progress. I still struggle with my wetsuit, but for this race, I am glad to have worn it...even in the jostling of the start I didn't get any bumps or kicks to the war wounds. I also wore socks for the swim (weird I know) b/c I didn't want to cut my feet on the run. I dunno if it was worth it or not. They do keep my feet clean so I just pull the wet socks off and put the dry ones on, so that is a minor victory. What would you do differently?: More practice getting the iron maiden off. Learn how to do the shoes clipped in thingamajiggy. Remember to leave bike in higher gear. Develop 1" callouses on my feet so I don't need socks like a little pansy girl. Bike
Comments: I am happy with my progress in bike handling in corners and turns. I am getting better. It started raining really hard toward the end...weirdly I didn't notice until water started flying out of my shoes. I had other things going on. I did take the last bit easier because of the wet conditions. I seriously did not want to crash 2x in 7 days. And if anyone can tell me why "FAME, I'M GONNA LIVE FOREVER, I'M GONNA LIGHT UP THE SKY WITH MY NAME. FAME!" was running through my head, I would be grateful. It was distracting and might have lost me a place in my AG. Weirdly I was able to counter it with a rousing chorus of "Do a deer, a female deer, ray, a drop of golden sun..." Look, I can't explain it, I am merely reporting the facts. And I did gain a mile an hour when I started going all Sound of Music on myself so I'll take it. At least my brain walkman didn't hit me with Eidleweiss...that would have probably put me in a ditch in the fetal position. Little victories. What would you do differently?: Ok, now for the bad. Lola LeMond and her psycho friend "Black Italia Saddle" did the mean girls thing and ganged up on my lady parts. Two words: Chay Fing. And that's all I have to say about that. I've done a century. I ride 50-150 miles a week. I. have. never. hurt. this. BAD. Needless to say, I lost time (and a fair amount of sanity) dealing with this discomfort. Nobody's fault except mine. I have been trying to figure out how to blame RAM racing or the weather or somebody's higher power for this debacle, but at the end of the day it is my fault. I crashed my bike last week. I broke my crappy yet lady part friendly saddle. And I didn't take the new beyotches out for a long ride to find out what I was dealing with. I have a new idea for everyone, how about NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY?!? Maybe I'll start a thread in triathlon talk. Haha. Lesson learned. Transition 2
What would you do differently?: Actually it was kind of fun running out of transition taking off my biking gloves and waving them at the spectators, while shouting, "I RUN WITH BIKING GLOVES...GOTTA PROBLEM WITH THAT?!?" I got scant applause and a smattering of cowbell for my hilarity. It was the last bit of fun I had on the run, so I'll keep it... Run
Comments: I DID get some laughs around mile two when it rained again with my smartass "Yeah, because what we REALLY need around here is more rain." The first loop was an angst filled drama in my head. Occasionally I would drop a tourettes inspired, "what the duck", or "oh this sucks." The second loop, I developed a plan and felt much better. Walk the muck, walk the drink stations, hammer the faster parts, and mostly hang on for dear life. I have a new respect for XTERRA runners...that's some tough stuff. I either need to get comfortable with trail running or avoid this kind of race in the future. Fair enough. What would you do differently?: Newtons rock. Except when they suck AZZ on trails. Different shoes. Quicker adaptation to conditions. Less psychodrama. More HTFU. I clearly need the run to go well to feel better about myself. Stop that. Post race
Warm down: Fall down at finish line. Sit in the mud for awhile, chat up the volunteer who gave me a water and took my chip, and reassured me it was ok to just sit there looking like death warmed over for a while. Eat some pancakes. With my hands. They were out of utensils by then. It's ok, I was in the Navy...I can eat trucker style. What limited your ability to perform faster: Me. And the mud. But I'm not complainin'... Event comments: Volunteers were great. Bike course direction was well managed. Next year, I'd like to see a graphic of transition on the website....they've been doing this race long enough that they should be able to share the plan regardless of whether transition is in the grass or in the parking lot. I have mixed feelings about this race, and need to do another Olympic distance before I really figure out how I feel about it. I hated the trail run, but that might be mitigated by practice and more appropriate shoes. It was my first OLY and my third tri overall. I quit all endurance sports in mile 12-18 on the bike, but I am over that now. I am proud to have finished. Thanks for reading. Q Last updated: 2010-06-14 12:00 AM
|
|
United States
RAM Racing
80F / 27C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 286/543
Age Group = F40-44
Age Group Rank = 8/29
Stayed about a mile away in Lake Geneva with the family. Got into town the afternoon before, ate a big lunch, racked my bike, and ran back to the hotel for some pool time with the babies and Babydaddy. Had a big salad for dinner (hate a big meal last thing the night before a race/big workout). Laid my gear out before bedtime, got the kiddies to bed, and hit the hay. Up before the alarm as always, ate, got dressed, Chrissied up my hair, grabbed my bag, DOUBLECHECKED for my freakin' watch and walked the lake path down to the park. Set up transition (getting more familiar with this so it's not the giant flail it's been before). Went potty and promptly got thrown out of transition so I went to mill about smartly for 45 minutes before my wave went off.
The walk on the lake path from town to the park was awesome and a good warmup. It was a good "meditative" time for me, and a bonus was walking along the swim course as I approached the park.