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 Swim
Comments: Went hard at the beginning. Don't normally start in the front rank but I saw a lot of men standing on shore and guessed that they would be pretty slow to start since they hadn't gotten used to the water. Pretty crowded to the first buoy, but thinned out nicely on the return leg. Time was a little faster than I would expect so the course was either a little short, or I was getting some pretty good draft! What would you do differently?: Probably nothing, except start my warmup a little later, on the assumption that I could do this off to the side of the swim waves and not interfere.  Transition 1
Comments: Had my wetsuit down to my waist before I entered transition. Pulled it off the rest of the way before actually entering the transition area so I could take advantage of the extra room and the ability to hold on to the fence for balance. As noted in other reports, the transition area was a gravel parking lot WITH NO MATS. Rough on the feet. It had started drizzling while we were in the water, so everything was a bit damp. Had a nice warm cycling jacket, and a second cycling rain jacket which kept me nice and warm once I got started. Gloves, and headband under helmet completed the ensemble. What would you do differently?: Knowing there was a possibility of rain, I should have had my shoes/socks (with toe covers) in a bag. As it was, they started out damp.  Bike
Comments: First 20 minutes or so were pretty rough. Legs were still wet from the swim (and it was raining still). So, the first big downhill was quite unpleasant on the legs (wet skin, 6 C air temperature, and 60 km/hr). No problems on the subsequent hills but the feet kept getting colder throughout. What would you do differently?: Arguably should have drank more (a whole bottle instead of just a few mouthfuls). I was pretty dry post-race. Transition 2
Comments: Slowed down a bit by taking off two jackets. Slippery in the shoes so moved more carefully (no running). What would you do differently?: Nothing  Run
Comments: Unlike some folks who felt like they were running on stumps, I felt like I had gravel in my shoes. I resisted the impulse to check, and the sensation faded after a few kilometres. It had stopped raining by this point and I was running in singlet/shorts - quite comfortable. What would you do differently?: If it had been warmer, I would have taken a water bottle for hydration. Otherwise, wouldn't change anything. Post race
Warm down: Drink hot chocolate. Go get cleaned up and have lunch. What limited your ability to perform faster: Too many layers to deal with due to the weather. Event comments: 1) "real" transition bags (like Ironman) are needed, and there needs to be at least two. 2) There needs to be mats in T1 3) Traffic control was excellent Last updated: 2010-09-16 12:00 AM
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Canada
Subaru Western Triathlon Series
6C / 43F
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 123/375
Age Group = M4549
Age Group Rank = 8/24
Up at 5 AM, PBJ toast and banana for breakfast, shower, go for a short walk to get the Garmin synced up. Hunt for a parking spot (too far away to walk and way up a hill) - race package and briefing gave no suggestions about parking on race day. Annoying. Wander in to T2, drop shoes off in a bag I had brought with me, and get on the shuttle. My partner went off to a coffee shop to try and kill as much time as possible since it would probably be around 11 AM before I rolled in to T2 on the bike. I owe her for this one.
Ignoring advice at the race briefing, I hit the water at 0845 along with a handful of others. I knew the temperature would be brutal and previous experience at similar temperatures tells me that I need to do a swim warmup. By 0900 I was ready to go and felt comfortable, but had to wait for the Olympic men wave to start. This is when I started having trouble. Started to shiver, and the only way to stop was swim some more. Avoided getting out of the water because of the rocks on shore (and close to shore) and because it was theoretically warmer in the water.