Swim
Comments: Good swim. Pre-race swim found the landmarks for navigation, Blockade Runner, channel markers, SeaPath condo tower. Found a steady 4 stroke rhythm, breathing mostly on right side to sight on Wrightsville Beach. Transition 1
Comments: Wetsuit stripper was a great help. Volunteer in T1 bagged my wetsuit for me, nice. Long gloves were slow going on wet hands. Full zip bike jersey was a good call. Glad I had toe covers, cap, and plastic bag inside jersey. Used too strong rubber bands to hold shoes to bike. On flying mount, rubber band launched shoe out the back 30 feet. Crowd laughed, I laughed. Stopped bike, ran back, put on shoe, got back on bike, crowd cheered. Lost 20 seconds, felt ridiculous. What would you do differently?: Thinner rubber bands! Minor mis-step, otherwise smooth T1. Will find long gloves with wide opening cuffs. Bike
Comments: I checked the weather forecast (50F, windy, rainy) so I dressed for 40's. I don't understand the people who were cold. I was fine. I rode to target upper zone 2 heart rate for the first half and lower zone 3 heart rate for the second half. Conditions were cold, so not much sweat, so I made 3 pee stops. In the tailwind I pushed the heart rate +5 bpm and was flying. I got a drafting penalty! No big deal. I was passed and accelerated up behind the guy to tell him his bottle was about to fall out of his rocket launcher. Sure enough, there was the official right behind me! Whatever. Bike fit a month before, moved my cleats back, lowered my seat, lowered my bars - all very slightly. Worked well. My quads were tired, but tired throughout the length of my thighs - no one spot was hurting. What would you do differently?: Arms and neck were sore from riding aero (and new bike position). Just need more time on aero bars. No drafting. Transition 2
Comments: I was tired and not focused at T2. Forgot to get out of my bike shoes, so I handed off my bike and ran in bike shoes to T2 tent. I intentionally took time to get comfortable - complete change to running clothes, dry socks, vaseline on toes and butt. What would you do differently?: Leave shoes on bike. Get helmet off while running in. Run
Comments: Goal 1 was to finish, vertically and smiling. Goal 2 was 12 hours. Started out too fast, settled down after a few miles. As planned walked the aid stations. I knew I had about 4.5 hours, so I could run 10:30's. Ran a little faster in the first half. I sipped Heed and ate a gel every 5 miles. I was watching my heart rate, to keep it under 145. In the second half I was fading and keeping heart rate down wasn't a problem. Keeping going was the challenge. I drank warm chicken broth on the second half which felt good. I recorded my splits with the lap timer on my watch at every mile and I glanced at it, but because of the hills and walking my times were mixed, fast mile, slow mile, etc. In general everything worked fine, especially for a first 140.6. I definitely had a lull in pace and focus. I never got so low as "survival mode", I just let off a little. I knew at mile 21 I needed to pick it up to make 12 hours and I was able to do it. Final time on my watch 11:57:28. What would you do differently?: Next time, focus on keeping a more consistent final 13.1. Post race
Warm down: Warming tent, snacks, water, pizza, beer. Everything hurt so much I was afraid a massage would be painful. I just wanted to get a hot shower and get in bed. What limited your ability to perform faster: First 140.6. I raced to heart rate. I hit my targets. Just need lots more zone 2 miles of training to go faster at same heart rate. Event comments: I had a great day on a great course. No point in whining about the weather. Volunteers were awesome. I highly recommend this race. We stayed 3 nights at Hilton downtown, which was fine and very convenient. I recommend going a few days earlier and staying at the beach. Last updated: 2010-12-31 12:00 AM
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United States
Set Up Events
50F / 10C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 204/750
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 0/
Up at 4:30. Ate a small baked potato, a small bagel, a banana, a cup of tea, a multi-vitamin, a TUMS. Out the door to bus to T1 at 5:10. Sipped 20 oz of water. Ate a gel 15 minutes before the start.