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 Swim
Comments: Well...where to begin? I intentionally started in the back of my wave to avoid the washing machine. waded in, and started to swim. Stroke felt good, but for some reason I had some of the OWS 'panic' set in. Not sure why, but it did. So I switched to the breast stroke, and a bit of backstroke to get myself under control. Didn't stop moving, and just did what I needed to do. Once I reached the bouy, I made the turn and switched back to the crawl stroke. Moved well in the water, but got a mouthful of seawater, and did a bit of backstroke to clear things up. A bit more crawl, and then I was up and heading up the beach to transition, a good 200 yard run across the beach, and up a ramp. If there were any positives, it was I finished the swim, maintained some sort of forward motion, didn't get passed by anyone in the following wave, and when I did use my crawl stroke, it worked pretty well. What would you do differently?: More OWS practice. Try not to freak out.  Transition 1
Comments: Took a couple seconds to mentally adjust after getting out of the water. Wetsuit came off OK, although one heel stuck. Used Body glide on ankles/wriste, and it helped. Cap & Goggles stayed in my sleeve, as planned. Since I was riding in my running shoes, I put sock/shoes on, shirt (no tri top, so, yes, I put on a shirt.), sunglasses, helmet, and off I went. What would you do differently?: Practice a bit more, and get a new tri top or two.  Bike
Comments: Took the first 1/2 mile to get the legs moving. My goal was to keep the speed at 15+ MPH. Since I was riding my Trek 7200 road hybrid, going much faster probably wasn't in the cards. The course was pretty flat, an out & back on a peninusla along the ocean. I felt good riding, and managed to hit 25+ on one of the downhills. I didn't push too much since I was thinking about the run, and wanted to be sure I had enough gas. My cadence and speed felt good, althought I was passed by about everyone. I did manage to pass 2 folks, but they were both riding knobby tired mountain bikes which were, I believe, the only 2 bikes slower than mine :). Started to think my name was "on the left" given how often folks said it to me. What would you do differently?: Get a new bike. push more Transition 2
Comments: This felt faster than the speed says. Racked the bike, picked up hat & number, and was off. What would you do differently?: Nothing  Run
Comments: Had a bit of the 'bike legs' feeling, but it went away quickly. settled into a decent pace, and away I went. Couln't help the feeling of "Holy crap, I'm really doing this!" as I made the turn back. Coming down the finish chute was AWESOME. I was so psyched as I approached & crossed the finish line. Let out a few war whoops as I did, and it felt great. Fantastic. was nearly immediately mugged by the race chip collectors, and let them do their thing. What would you do differently?: Run harder. I think I could have picked up the pace, based on how I felt after I was done. Post race
Warm down: Grabbed some food (bagels, bananas, fruit, gatorade, etc). Got a massage, hung out w/ some folks. Watched awards, waited for bike raffle - I did not win. What limited your ability to perform faster: Since it was my first race, I think I was probably too conservative in my bike and/or run pace. I probably could pushed both, and I'll condiser this a lesson learned. Also, more OWS, and get a different bike. And train more. Event comments: Overall, an incredibly positive 1st tri experiece. I'm hooked. The adrenoline at the finish is worth getting there. Glad I did this, and it won't be the last one. Thats for sure. Worked my a** off to get to this point, and I'm not giving any of it back. Looking forward to a full 2011 season, and more races & fun. Last updated: 2010-07-16 12:00 AM
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United States
The Fantastic Nantasket Beach Triathlon
65F / 18C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 350/490
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 34/37
The backstory: Back in Feb of this year, at a doctor appointment, I was stunned to see where my weight had reached. Heaviest ever in my life. Too many years of not exercising as I had in the past, driving a desk for a living, and eating like crap. Stewed on this, and in mid March, I got off the couch. Started daily workouts at the Y doing cardio & strength training. I also started a class called "boot camp fitness" that was a great motivator.
Come mid may, I was asked to be the bike leg on a relay in a local tri. I accepted, and after that race, I decided I wanted to do this myself - it seemed like too much fun to only do a part of it. That was June 26th. Over the next week, I found BT, and started to figure out what I'd need to do to get ready for a tri. Also found this race on 9/26, and set it as my initial race goal. I've had to learn to run again (was once a daily 5-7 mile guy ages ago), swim properly, and work on the bike. I started the journey down Tri road on July 5th. Since march I've lost nearly 50 pounds, and feel as good as I have in decades, and have found a new source of challenge and fun I never knew about. So....on to Sunday....
Was able to get a decent nights sleep, and woke up at 5:30. Had packed everything up the night before, checked the bike, etc, so I was mostly ready. Got dressed, had a normal breakfast - bagel w/ PB, had some water, a banana. Race was only 5 miles from my house, and my wife gave me a ride to the site. Checked in, got marked, and set up transition. Had a good marker for where my stuff was, so that helped. Family showed up as well, so I had a small cheering section near the finish line. Overall things went well. One cool thing pre-race -- the PA annoucer for the race was the same guy who does the PA for Red Sox games at Fenway.
Did a bit of swimming to get used to the temp, and felt OK.