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 Swim
Comments: My estimated swim time was pretty accurate. I estimated 10 minutes and never got passed. That was a good feeling considering that last year I got passed by 3 people within the first 100m. I started out probably too fast- after about 200m I wanted to be finished. I felt like I was at a hgih effort level and settled into a slower pace. The water was extrememly murky and it was hard to see other swimmimers coming in the opposite direction. The girl in front of me breast stroked the ENTIRE swim. It was really annoying- I had a hard time passing her. Finally I caught up to her at the wall and she let me go ahead of her- she really slowed me down. I passed a guy breast stroking after that and coordinated mys troke to keep hitting/pulling his leg so he knew I was trying to pass. He was more cooperative and slowed down and got as far to the side as possible. I was excited- I already passed 2 swimmers! And then the collison happened. It wasn't my fault, but 2 people were trying to pass a swimmer in the opposite direction of me. They both passed this swimmer right after another. The first person ran into me head on. I was not happy because I pretty much had to stop swimming to let the 2nd person passing get around that swimmer or I probably would have suffered from a concussion. After that I was pretty pissed. I picked up the pace within the last 100 and was happy to see that I was almost done. I passed a girl in the last 50 (that made 3) and caught up to a guy but he beat me to the ladder. I had to wait for him to exit the pool- that irriated me too. I got out of the pool and checked my watch- I was just over 10 mins, which meant I was pretty much on traget with my estimated swim time. I was happy. I ran out the door and hit the cold air- yike sit was hilly. Ran down a ramp and crossed the chip mat. What would you do differently?: I would have given myself a faster estimated swim time. I should have estimated my swim time around 9:50 instead of 10 minutes. That would have eliminated the difficulty in trying to pass people in the pool.  Transition 1
Comments: It was nice not having to worry about removing a swim cap- that's a bonus for having a shaved head. My T1 went pretty smooth. I was debating whether or not to throw on a long sleeved shirt for the bike but opted not to. It was a little chilly but I knew I woudln't be biking long and that I would take the shirt off anyways for the run. I didn't bother with it. I stuffed a gel in my tri suit and was off! It felt weird running out of T1 with my bike with one bike shoe and one running shoe- I am sure I got some strange looks from spectators. I have a great race photo- you can see my 2 different shoes! What would you do differently?: Not a whole lot. Maybe get clipped in quicker and learn to mount my bike more quickly and smoother. And of course- have BOTH bike shoes with me at the race!  Bike
Comments: My bike was ok. It didn't start off good for me. It took me awhile to get clipped in, and once I started going my gel fell out of my side pocket. I now know that those pockets aren't good at holding gels- it has happened before. I was worried that I would bonk on the bike without a gel. But luckily I had downed a bag of energy beans before the swim and I was hoping they would get me through the bike. I had my aero bottle with Gatorade and tried to drink often. I got passed quite a bit on the bike- it made me mad. I felt sooo slow. I was happy to get off the bike just because I knew I wasn't doing as well as I had wanted to. What would you do differently?: Tape a gel to my bike so it woudln't fall out of my tri suit. Bring my other shoe with me to the race- duh. Transition 2
Comments: I took longer than I needed to in T2. I took a gel because I wasn't able to take one on the bike. I saved some time by already having one running shoe on. I spent too much debating whether or not I should wear my sunglasses. That was dumb. I didn't wear them because I had my running hat on. I ran out of T2 and my fellow TNT'ers who had alrady finished the race didn't even see me. I had to yell at them as I ran by. Not sure why-I just wanted someone to cheer me on :) What would you do differently?: Plan ahead of time to wear or not wear my sunglasses. Not take a gel during T2 and take it on bike instead.  Run
Comments: I ran out of T2 with my legs feeling somewhat good. I was surprised that they didn't feel heavier. That's how I knew I took it easy on the bike. I felt good on the run- the sun came out and I was glad to have my hat on. I was breathing loud- i was embaressed that I was one of the "heavy breathers" but I didn't care. I felt great. I passed a 44 year lady on the run within the first half, and had also been rubber banding with a 35 year old guy since the start of the run. I got to the water station close to 12 minutes. I realized that I was running a pretty decent pace (for me at least). I passed a 70 year old man on the way back and told him good job. He looked great- especially being 70 years old! I hope I'm in that good of shape when I'm 70! Within the last mile or so I got passed by a girl in my age group. I picked up the pace and had my eye on her until the end, but I coudn't catch up to her- she blew by me. I finished the race and felt great- I was surprised! Last year my pace was 9:07 at this racce. This year it was 8:31 min/mile. I couldn't believe it because I felt so great. Made me wonder if I should have pushed myself harder?? What would you do differently?: Ran faster. Post race
Warm down: Didn't do much for a cool down. Ate some food, waited for the others to finish. Met up with Russ (gullacarcker) and Shanon (SAG). Went to the awards ceremony and swatted knats the whole time while we sat there. Got back to the hotel. AS I was getting my clothes together I noticed my missing bike show laying on the floor- I was mad. I was convinced I didn't leave it in the hotel and that's why I never went back to the hotel before the race. DOH! What limited your ability to perform faster: Lots of things- I wasn't really "trained" for this event and just used it as a training day. Also have I mentioned that I wish that I didn't leave my other bike shoe? Event comments: This is an excellent race for beginners- it's small and both the bike/run course is flat. I didn't care for the pool swim- the lanes were crowded and it was hard to pass people. Also, the pool was very murky and it was hard to see. Last updated: 2006-02-03 12:00 AM
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Overall Rank = 46/68
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 11/15
Woke up way too early- we weren't leaving the hotel until 7am, but my one friend wole up at 5:30am to shower and blow dry her hair. That itself made me appreciate my shaved head :) My back hurt soo bad form the hotel bed- I had mattress springs poking into my back that I decided to take a hot steamy shower in hope that it would alleviate my back pain. Showered, got dressed, at a 1/2 whole wheat bagel with peanut butter, and laid around and waited. I didn't have to worry about my bike- Jim put our bike numbers on our bikes and pumped up our tires and had already loaded our bikes onto the bike rack. He kept all 3 of our bikes in his hotel room since he had room and we kinda cramped having 3 girls in one room. Drove to Parris Island, set up transition. It was at this point that I realized I only had one bike shoe. I was a little mad- where the heck was it? I was trying to figure out if I left it at the hotel, left it at home, or left it at the bike shop yesterday. I pretty much accepted the fact that I would bike with one bike shoe (my right foot) and wear my running shoe (on the left). There wasn't much I could do at that point. I thought I could borrow a bike shoe from a friend (even though she wore a bigger size than me) because she'd be done with the bike by the time I started. But I wasn't able to clip in with her shoe so I gave up on that idea. Picked up my chip and got body marked. Freaked out a little bit when the girl asked me my age group. Becuase of the new USAT rule, I am already in the 30-34 age group. Therefore, I had the age of 30 written on my calve even though I won't be 30 until the end of September. After body marking i went back to the TA.
I ran for about 10 minutes to warm up, and took my bike for a spin trying out the combination of bike/running shoe. It was ok- not great, but not as bad as it could have been. We rode our bikes only about a mile to check out the part of the course that was under construction. During the race we would have to dismount from our bikes and either run or carry them through the grass for a short distance. Not fun but I would rather do that than crash. Got back from biking, and hung out while we waited for our fast swimmer friends to start. Went to the pool for a pre-race meeting, and then watched the fast swimmers take off. I pretty much sat around at the pool cheering for Jim, and my TNt friends and taking pictures until it was close to my swim time. Spent some time talking with Shannon. Here's something funny- she told me that a lady she knew told her about seeing a girl with a shaved head and said she was probably a marine. Shannon had to tell her that it was me and I shaved my head for charity and not becuase I was a marine. My hard core tough image went out the door after that- I was hoping my shaved head would intimidate my competitors :) About 10 minutes before my swim start, I warmed up in the pool for a lap or 2 and waited in line. Ate some energy beans right before my swim- I swear they helped!