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 Swim
Comments: I am not a strong swimmer. I got to the back of my wave and when the airhorn sounded, I waited a couple seconds and dove it. There was some contact, but nothing bad. Sighting was fairly easy with the huge markers along the course. I was shooting for a swim time between 40 and 45 minutes. This is my first 70.3, so I had nothing to really go off of for goals. I was happy with my 42 minutes, and will continue working on getting a little faster!  Transition 1
Comments: I stumble out of the water, having a hard time getting my feet under me. As I ran up the hill toward T1, I can't get my damn wet suit velcro undone at the back of my kneck. I pull and yank and can't get it open. Finally right before I hit the wetsuit strippers, I get it undone, and zipper down. Flop down, and off came the wetsuit. Ran to my bike, threw on my helmet, race belt, shoes and sunglasses. The morning condensation has my sunglasses all fogged over, and I don't have anything dry to wipe them off. So I just wore them on the edge of my nose and looked out overtop of them for the first 15 minutes of the ride until they dried on their own. As I ran out of T1, I see the guys putting sunscrean on the racers. I think "I don't need that" and off I go. DAY AFTER: BIG MISTAKE What would you do differently?: Have something dry to wipe off my glasses and Get sunscrean.  Bike
Comments: During the swim, the wind was almost non existant. But somewhere during the bike, we got this nice south wind that made the back side of the course really challenging. This course was rough. Nothing against the race organizers, but the road conditions were bad. The worst part was toward the end when we had not much more than the shoulder to ride on. This made it difficult for those passing and those being passed. And of course all the cracks... I have heard some say that because the cracks were so bad, they will never do this race again. I don't think I would go that far, but they were pretty bad. Chip seal is one thing. No matter where you ride on the road it is going to be rough. But with the cracks, you had to keep dodging them. But, road conditions aside, I felt pretty good on the bike. Since I didn't have my computer, I was just kind of guessing on how I was doing. Chances are I was probably riding a bit too hard (as I would find out on the run). I was also riding a road bike with aerobars. Even down in my aero position, I think I was at a real disadvantage to those on aero bikes. After the race, I commented to my wife that I thought every Cervelo P2, P3 and P4 on the course went by me. I know that was an exageration, but not too much. What would you do differently?: Use my computer better judge effort and speed. Nothing that could be done about the road conditions or lack of an aero bike. Transition 2
Comments: Good transition over all.  Run
Comments: So, I leave T2 and begin my run and my legs don't want to cooperate. Thats alright I think, they will come around. Never did! I had hit a wall and couldn't get over it! So I run the first couple miles at about a 9 min/mile pace. Wished it were faster, but was happy that it wasn't worse. Well, it got worse. Second lap was hard. I was trying to keep motivated, but couldn't see much to be happy about. So, I walked and ran as I could. Then as I was starting my third lap, I realized my total time at that point was 5 hours and 20 minutes. I thought if I can get this last lap done in 40 minues, I can break 6 hours. So, I get this sudden rush of energy and off I go. I feel like I am flying as I am passing everybody. Then I realize I am only running about a 9 min/mile pace. Oh well, if I could keep that up, I could still finish in under 6 hrs. Then on the backside of that last lap, the wheels came off and I had nothing left in the tank. I did my best to get back to the finish as fast as I could. As I entered the final stretch, I picked up the pace as much as I could (was still slow) and ran accross the finish line. The finishing area was great and really provided me with that last bit of motivation. Post race
Warm down: Sat down and ate food! Thought how much that had sucked, but how much fun it was. My whole body hurt with a nice sunburn. My clothes were caked with salt. But it was awesome. What limited your ability to perform faster: Really wasn't trained properly. Definately now that I have done one, I can draw on this experience. Sprints and Olys can only give you so much experience. The distance of a 70.3 needs a different plan. Event comments: I actually enjoyed this experience. The road conditions could not be controlled by the race organizers, so I won't hold them responsible. Thus I rate the race excellent. Will probably do this again next year after I train a bit better. Last updated: 2011-05-10 12:00 AM
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United States
World Triathlon Corporation
80F / 27C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 903/
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 180/
Woke at 4am, ate a peanut butter sandwich and drank some water. Got my wife and kids up and drove to the race site. While driving there, I thought, "OH CRAP, where are my swim goggles and cap?" I had no idea where they were. So, when we arrived, I asked my wife to look for them while I went to T2 and put my drinks in my fuel belt. While walking to T2, I thought, "OH CRAP, where is my timing chip?" I guess I relaxed a little too much the day before. So, I get back to my car and my wife says, "I have no idea where the goggles and swim cap are!" So we start to tear the van appart and find them under one of the seats. Then I find my timing chip and put it on my ankle. WHEW, everything is good.
We take the bus to T1 and swim start and I take my bottles to my bike and get T1 all set up the way I want. Check my bike out, have my gear possitioned and start to leave. I know I am forgetting something, so I go back and look everything over. Don't see anything wrong. I hear a guy next to me swearing, so I ask, "everything OK?" He responds, "I forgot my fluids!" That sucks! So I start to walk away again, and I think there is something I am forgetting. So, I go back and check everything out, but don't see anything wrong.
I left transition and relaxed with my family, then about 15 minutes before the start (transition was closed), I think "OH CRAP, I forgot to put my garmin on the bike!" Oh well, I guess I will just ride by feel. In the end, it is hard to say if that really affected anything or not.
None. Just hung out with the kids.