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 Swim
Comments: This race has three waves- young guys (below 40), old guys (me) and girls. I waited in the water as the first wave went out. One of the first wave guys got in trouble in a hurry- he had to be pulled out about 50 yards into the swim. Even though I can swim okay, it gave me a chill that this stuff is pretty serious. (On a related note, I read that a man died at the NYC Oly this past weekend and a woman is in critical condition- very sad.) Since I breathe on my left, I positioned myself to the right and near the front of our wave. My strategy was to get out as fast as I could and then get in a good pace when the washing machine cleared. That strategy seemed to work. I had minimal contact, and my sighting was pretty good (prescription goggles- Best. Thing. Ever!). I swam until my fingers touched the bottom. Glad I’ve read that countless times here on BT- so many guys were stopping when their feet touched and were trying to walk out- wasted energy! What would you do differently?: I was pretty happy with the swim. So very glad we swam over to the start! I do need to keep working on OWS, but it’s getting better. Looks like I did okay- 55th overall on the swim made me happy, and I passed a bunch of guys from the first wave. That soon changed though…..  Transition 1
Comments: It was a short distance from the swim exit to the bike. T1 was okay, not great, but okay for me. I didn’t even bother drying off. Gulped some Gatorade and headed to the timing mats. I do recall saying “shut up brain!!!” several times.  Bike
Comments: I’ve been working a lot more on the bike doing some weekly training rides. I got on and got going pretty well. I was surprised how fast my breathing was- it took a couple of miles to get it under control. Not fun, but it was worth it to have a good swim. It was a very nice course- only one real hill, but there were several sharp corners. The info says this race is 9.5 miles, but my wife and I both had 9.9 miles on our computers. I know it’s not terribly fast, but this is my best race speed yet. I passed a few, but was passed by many more. I did something unusual as I got near the mats- I decided to stay on the bike as long as possible- maybe too long as I about fell over while unclipping. What would you do differently?: Not much- keep doing what I'm doing because it's starting to show some results. Transition 2
Comments: No real memories here. I have got to get the speed laces on though!  Run
Comments: Legs were really heavy getting out of T2. I’m a terribly slow runner to begin with and the grassy hill to get on the course didn’t help much. Lots of walking. The highlight of this race is all of the volunteers and spectators (run is mostly through a neighborhood). Along the course, there was a guy dressed up as Santa who couldn’t have been more encouraging. I was alternating between running and walking. With a “less than a mile to go!” from Santa, I tried to pick up with pace. I had a good run to the finish- always good for the photos. But, also shows that I leave far too much in the tank. What would you do differently?: Train, train, and then train some more. Post race
Warm down: Walked around, stretched, two bottles of water and a banana and I was feeling pretty good. Happily waited for awards as my wife won first in her age group! What limited your ability to perform faster: Lemme see… 55th overall in the swim, 186th overall on the bike, and 263rd overall on the run….. hmmmm…. I think there’s something I need to work on! I’m 99% over some past injuries, so now it’s time to work on the run! Event comments: I have nothing but positives to say about this race. Very well, run, fantastic volunteers and local people, and nice racers. This race has a small town feel to it. This would be a great first race, and a lot of fun for whatever level. They waited to give awards until everyone had finished. This again proves it’s best to be first or last- the roar from the crowd for the last finisher was amazing! Last updated: 2011-07-08 12:00 AM
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United States
Hamilton North Chamber of Commerce
80F / 27C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 233/286
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 21/23
I didn’t sleep too well the night before- I didn’t think I was nervous, but I guess I was. I waited for the alarm to ring at 4:30AM. Had a Diet Coke, English muffin and a half glass of skim milk. Left the house at 5:45 with my wife who was also racing. One of the major roads to the venue was closed, so we ended up fumbling a bit in the dark getting lost. She finally went into a gas station to ask for directions. It’s against the male nature to ask for directions as we all know, but there was NO WAY I was going into a gas station in my tri shorts and top! Parking was easy once we got there and it was a short walk to transition. We were able to get good spots in spite of getting lost. Walked around a bit to familiarize ourselves with the transitions and sipped water. Did a GU about 15 minutes before the start.
The VFW does a fantastic flag raising. The National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance gave me a chill. The Chaplain also gave a benediction which was very nice. It all made me appreciate how great it is to have the opportunity to do this sport. There are two options to get to the start- walk about a third of a mile, or swim to the start as it is a straight shot. We chose to swim over- great way to warm up.