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 Swim
Comments: Started in 41st position which was kind of on the early side for me, but this was a smaller race. Caught up with folks around 150 yards and there was a pretty good jam up for 75 yards or so, so just flipped on my back and focused on relaxed breathing. Eventually, the folks stopped and last 75 was free and clear. Felt very smooth at the beginning. Little effort but moving well. With the jam up, not expecting a good time, but my new motto for pool swims is "it is necessary to get wet, nothing more, nothing less". Basically, just a nice way to get moving and the most gained or lost is likely to be +/- 15 seconds, so why sweat it. [As it turned out later, my start place was between the 2nd and 3rd overall women, so it was kind of fun to be chatting with some speedsters before the race!] What would you do differently?: Nothing.  Transition 1
Comments: It was okay. Forgot to start my watch when leaving the transition area. Timing during races is not my forte. What would you do differently?: I'm not sure for a sprint if wearing socks is worth it.  Bike
Comments: I think the bike went pretty well. Was able to do seated climbs the whole way (short course, not that impressive). 3 good stretches where I was able to get into aero and really book (passed the 2nd place women's finisher during that part - she hammered me on the following hill though and we won't even talk about the run - her strength). I was more aggressive than usual going into the turns and over the tops of hills. Rode pretty hard up to the turn and then braked as opposed to slowing down far in advance. About halfway through, noticed a slight dinging noise... realized after the race that one of my spokes had broken. Never had that before and kind of ironic as one of the members of our mentor group had just had it happen to her. I'm guessing that could create a major safety problem. Need to look into all that a bit more. What would you do differently?: Other than the spoke issue which did distract me a bit, I think it was a pretty good ride for me. Transition 2
Comments: Felt slow here again. Shoes weren't quite right and so fiddled with them more than I should.  Run
Comments: Legs felt good coming off the bike and was under 8 min/mile pace for the first .6-.7 mile or so... then hit the first hill. The hills were as steep as some of my local ones, but longer... knocked me down to an 11+ pace on the hill itself. And you couldn't fly down the other side b/c it was steep. Really a tough run to find your groove. Maybe two stretches where I got a good stride going again and then, boom, another hill. Overall though, I was able to maintain a sub 9 min pace, which, given the conditions, was pretty good for me I think. What would you do differently?: If I'm going to do this one again, I'll need to a) lose another 10-15 lbs and b) work on my strength for the hills. I really don't know how to rate it... I felt awful on it, but I'd kind of like to see how my relative position holds up. Seemed like everyone was suffering. Definitely would have been an advantage to have run the course prior to the race, but not an option for me. Knowing what was around the next corner would have helped... there were two spots where you made a turn only to find yourself staring at a nasty hill... tough mentally. [Note after getting ranking, I'll give it an average as I was in the top half of finishers, which for me is pretty good]. Post race
Warm down: Just stretched, etc. What limited your ability to perform faster: Prior knowledge of the run course. Better hill training. Event comments: This was the first time this race was held and I think the organizers did a good job overall. The location is really nice for a city with beautiful views of the mountains and nice shade where you could rest post race. So the big surprise was winning my age group. I knew I had a pretty good chance at the podium b/c it was a smaller race, but winning was pretty cool! While I think my age group happened to be weaker than average (obviously if I won..hahaha), I'll take it :-) First podium finish! Met some nice folks post-race. Look for Stacy (43 male) and Fred (60 male) in future races. Last updated: 2011-05-26 12:00 AM
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Overall Rank = 34/84
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 1/4
Saturday pre-race thoughts:
Signed up for this race based on the date and b/c it is in the town where we used to live. Realized yesterday that it has a short bike course, so both the swim and the bike are short relative to their usual sprint lengths. Unfortunately, those are my stronger legs. Since it is relatively short, transitions will also be more important. So, I will use this race to work on my weaknesses, which is not all bad. Based on pre-registration, also looks to be a small field, especially for a VTS event. I've got a fairly early start time based on my swim pace, which is an advantage as it won't be getting any cooler as the day goes on. Need to try to get down there a little early to scout out the bike route as it could easily have either some nasty hills or sharp turns.
Pre-Race Goals: Top half of field for transitions, under 26 for the run. If I do those two things, might have a shot at podium for age group b/c of the small field.
One last pre-race note (actually made post race). Ended up doing power washing for about 4 hours on Saturday and then played at a wedding in the evening. Neither was exactly the plan, but it did make for a long Saturday. That's one problem with Sunday races, really can't afford not to do yard work, etc. on Saturday and then lose most of race day too.
Sunday (Race Day):
Woke up at 3:30 (before alarm as usual), but got in a solid 5.5 hours of sleep which wasn't too bad. Had some coffee and fruit. Had to pack in the morning b/c got home from the wedding and was exhausted and my mind was shutting down. Decided to get up 30 minutes earlier and pack in the morning instead. Hit the road at 5 am to drive to Salem (about a 2 hour drive). Got a little lost in Salem, but found a car with a bike rack to follow - when in doubt, follow the bike rack :-)
Only had enough time to register, set up my transition area, and do stretching. Back was somewhat tender from yesterday, so wanted to spend extra time limbering up some.