login
 Swim
Comments: Got a clean start at the beginning of the swim and once I was in the water all of my nerves went away. I did really well on the way out to the first buoy...found a lot of clean water and was feeling really confident. After the first turn, I had a little more trouble finding a clean line, but I really stuck with it. It was terribly hard to sight on this long straightaway because the sun was right in the eyes. I just followed the feet I could find and hoped I was heading in the right direction. Before I knew it, I was on top of the last buoy and heading for the beach! I couldn't even believe it! I was so proud of myself because this was my first OWS race of more than 400M. I never felt even one moment of panic and I honestly have to say the swim ended up being my favorite part! I had a little more trouble sighting on the way back to the beach because we were heading on a weird diagonal, but it wasn't horrible. Got to the beach, looked at my watch and saw that I beat my swim goal by about five minutes! I was shocked! After the race found some nice claw marks on my back. Somebody actually drew blood! What would you do differently?: Not much. This was a fantastic swim for me. I just need to do more speedwork in the pool and hopefully my times will continue to get better.  Transition 1
Comments: Now I knew this transition was a little slow, because I got so excited about my swim that I was completely unfocused on taking off my wetsuit...but I had no idea it was this slow. This is just unacceptable. What would you do differently?: Lots. Focus. Maybe not wear socks under my bike shoes?  Bike
Comments: I had a really great time on the bike. This was a beautiful course that was relatively flat. I was really worried the night before about the 10-15mph winds, but they didn't bother me as much as I thought. My game day plan was to take it easy the first 6, hammer the middle 12 and then slow it down to get ready for the run. I pretty much stuck to my plan and it helped keep my heartrate down. One challenge was nutrition. I race in a TYR tri bathing suit that doesn't have pockets to put any food. So I used electrical tape to adhere CLIF bloks to my top tube. It worked okay but it was a little difficult to get them off so I kept putting off eating. As a result, I only had 3 CLIF bloks on the bike and about a half bottle of Gatorade. Not enough. What would you do differently?: I definitely need to figure out a new nutrition plan (because I really like racing in my bathing suit). Maybe get a Bento Box. Also really need to get aerobars. Thinking seriously about a newer, lighter bike before next season. In hindsight, I also could have pushed it more. I could have and should have averaged at least 18.5mph. Transition 2
Comments: Not a bad transition, but again a little too long. Can't remember what held me up here. What would you do differently?: Just move it quicker!!  Run
Comments: Felt surprisingly good at the start of the run (probably because I didn't push enough on the bike) and hit a 9:15 on my first mile. This scared me that I was going to run out of steam before the end, so I slowed it down a little. I was having so much fun. I saw jowisc at about mile two and we screamed back and forth at each other a bit. That was a huge boost! Also saw John(hangloose), my friend Brad and Laura(startingtotri). Even had a few random conversations out on the course. Maybe I should have concentrated a little less on socializing and more on running faster...but I was having fun! I did start hurting quite a bit at around 4, but pushed it home. I walked through a few of the water stations just so I could drink and ate half a gel at one point (I think just before four). Just before mile six I turned it on and had a great finishing kick at the end. What would you do differently?: I definitely could have pushed it harder on the run (although I don't feel like it today!). My heart rate was pretty comfortable and I was just way too worried about blowing up. I finished strong, but still had a little too much left at the end. I probably could have come a little closer to that 3:00 mark. Post race
Warm down: Crossed the finish line so happy and feeling great. Reunited with jowisc and our friends Brad and Kate. Also saw some of his co-workers and of course the other BTers. It was great fun. As usual, I started feeling really sick about five minutes after I finished. I tried to take in some Gatorade and other food, but it really didn't help much. Not until I downed a full Gatorade and some salty pretzels on the way home did I really feel better. What limited your ability to perform faster: I definitely need to get better at nutrition. The fact that I felt so ill after the race tells me that I didn't keep my blood sugar high enough during the race. I also didn't push as hard as I probably could have because it was my first OLY and I didn't know how hard I could go. I often underestimate my ability because of a lack of confidence and I think this race proved that I can be a good triathlete. I just need to believe in myself and start training like one! Event comments: This was a great race and I'm glad I picked it for my first Olympic. I'm already looking forward to next year's PP OLY Challenge!!! Last updated: 2006-02-26 12:00 AM
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK
United States
JMC Partners
Sunny
Overall Rank = 478/661
Age Group = F35-39
Age Group Rank = 47/69
Headed up to PP on Saturday morning with jowisc. We arrived at the expo just as it was opening, got our race numbers and racked our bikes. Since we were early, we got pretty good placement on the racks. Went to the course talk at noon, which is when I got my first scare of the day. The race director nonchalantly mentions, "the water temp is about 79 degrees, so we won't be needing wetsuits tomorrow." What?! I can't do my first OLY swim without a wetsuit?! I don't think I hear one more word that man said. After it was cleared up that we could wear wetsuits if we wanted to "disqualify yourself from age group awards...then that's your decision" I felt better. Not a chance in he** of an age group award, so I was good. Then went to dinner with the PP OLY Challenge crew that evening. It was a great time. Got home and went to bed early, although I didn't get much sleep. I was SO nervous and worked up for this race I'm surprised I even made it to the start line. Sunday morning got up at 4am and headed to the race site. After remote parking, we arrived at transition and got set up. I was set up in plenty of time, but jowisc was having a bit of a rough morning so I got my wetsuit on and went for a little dip without him. It was fun to know so many other people at the race for a change. Spent some pre-race time talking with Laura(startingtotri), Scott(schmize) and John (hangloose), as well as Cindy(cindyk) and Laura(whizzz). Really helped calm the pre-race jitters. Only had about three CLIF Shot Bloks and some water before the start. This could have been a mistake.
Only about a 100-150 meter swim to get acclimated to the water. This will be a MUST for me every event because it really helps me settle down and I'm much less nervous at the start.