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 Swim
Comments: Ladies went off first. Exactly 6 minutes later, the guys went off. I picked a spot on the inside, and in the middle of the pack. I was afraid of veering off if I started on the outside. We were about knee deep at the start so as the whistle went off, I slowly walked in a little further and started. For the first 3 minutes or so, my proper breathing (I breathe to one side) was under control. Then I got pushed and someone kept hitting my legs from behind. It totally threw me off, and resorted to exhaling with my face half way in the water looking forward, and turning to the left to breathe. Obviously it was choppy, splashing everywhere, and people pushing you. Once I got to the buoy, it was pretty much breast stroke to get around the chaos. I never veered off and stayed MOP the entire time. At this point, it was still congested, so I just stuck with the routine of half face in the water and turning to breathe every other stroke. It actually worked, and it kept my breathing under control. Only problem is, the sun was now directly in my eyes every time I turned. It was great to touch bottom and run into transition. What would you do differently?: Ummmmm, get more swim time in.  Transition 1
Comments: I don't know what my swim transition was. But I knew my HR was up there. Body Glide is a great thing. Wetsuit slipped right off. Dried the feet real quick, put on socks, then shoes, Garmin, helmet glasses and off. I have the Specialized Expert road shoes, so they have dials on them. Pretty much click, dial, and you are good to go. What would you do differently?: Maybe learn to run and ride without socks. I thought transition went ok. I am sure it wasn't extremely fast, but not bad.  Bike
Comments: Legs felt really good coming out of transition. You have to exit transition, then run through some grass, and small sandy area. You can not mount until you hit the pavement. The first mile was just a matter of easing the muslces into the bike. HR was in the 160's and never really got it down. Time to pick it up. I passed 3 people on the longer hill, and made sure to drop to the smaller ring, push up the hill, but not too hard. Once I got to the top of that, I picked off a couple more on the bike. There was one guy on a Cervelo that would stand up, sprint by me, then get back in the saddle and peddle. Ok, I'll let you do that. I kept my pace I wanted to keep, and eventually passed him before the start of the second lap. For some reason, he didn't like that, and thought he needed to stand up and sprint by me again. I caught him again within 1 minute. So know, I knew he was pushing too hard on the bike, but he kept doing it a couple more times. I was able to pass quite a few more on the bike, including Mr Red Cervelo guy that kept standing up. I know he was going to blow up on the run. Overall, he finished almost 10 minutes after me. I entered transition, which is the same grassy and sandy area you have to cross. Seemed to be a long run to transition, but I haven't experienced anything different. What would you do differently?: Just more riding time, and more experience with tri's. Transition 2
Comments: Racked the bike, helmet off, shoes on. I used regular laces today. The Yankz I had experienced, seemed to hurt the top of my feet when I wore them. Maybe they were too tight, or maybe it was just a freak thing. I know if I can get used to those, I can save more time. Official results include transition times What would you do differently?: Yankz laces!!!  Run
Comments: Headed out of transition, legs inititially felt ok, but as soon as I hit the pavement, I had a little cramp in the right calf. Ughhh ohhh, maybe went too hard on the bike. But I knew this was common coming off the bike, or heavy legs are at least. I was determined to just get through it. By .25 miles, it was gone. Time to pick it up again. As mentioned, small hill at the start. Got up that strong, passed 2 people. Noticed there was one guy walking at the top. Hit the flat, and I felt awesome. This was not what I expected. Maybe my training has paid off. HR was in 160's again, finally agreed I wasn't going to get that down unless I slowed down significantly. I was amazed at how many people I kept passing. Girls and guys. I just felt great on my run tonight. There was another pretty short hill in the middle, but it was STEEP. Def spiked the HR, but I sprinted up that as I knew there was a downhill I could recover on. People were so friendly on the course saying "great job" etc. So I was sure to do the same. There was water at the 2 mile mark or so, grabbed that on the wy by, keeping my pace, so pretty much spilled most of it as I took a sip. As that happened, a guy, wearing just about nothing, sprinted by me, looking very strong. I am happy to say, that is the only person that passed me, until I made the turn to the finish. One other guy came out of no where, slowly went by me. I was feeling the stomach cramp by then. I pushed to catch him, but just didn't have it! He finished about 5 seconds in front of me. What would you do differently?: More speed work I guess. I felt better than expected on the run tonight. Post race
Warm down: Grabbed some water, protein bar, and waited for a few people to cross the line that I met there. Chatted briefly, packed up and made the 45 minute ride home, feeling really good that i completed my first Tri. Pumped for Niantic now!!! What limited your ability to perform faster: One word, SWIMMING!!! Maybe passing that many people means my swim sucks, or it truly means you don't lose a race on the swim. Who knows. Bottom line is, I was happy with my results, and am ready for the next one. I do realize, although my HR was higher, it's a sprint. If it were an Olympic, I'd def back off a bit. Event comments: I would reccomend this race to any beginner, or elite. It is very organized, course was marked perfectly. No awards etc. People are there just because. I'd def do it again. Last updated: 2011-07-29 12:00 AM
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United States
Pig Iron Sports
78F / 26C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 68/203
Age Group = 30-39
Age Group Rank = 23/40
This would be my first Tri ever, and felt pretty good going into it when I decided last second (day before) to try this weekday series. Before I get into the report, I will reccomend anyone to do this weekday event. Very organized, but also pretty informal. And I met nothing but super friendly people.
So after I posted here that I was going to try this event, and use it as a practice race for Niantic Bay next week, I had some GI issues late Wednesday afternoon. It definitely was not nerves, as every so often, I just get this stomach cramping out of the blue. It lasted all the way up until the swim start. Very frustrating. Either way, i was dtermined to do the race.
I ate light throught out the day knowing my stomach was hurting. Oatmeal and banana for breakfast, apple for snack, Turkey on Rye for lunch, banana for snack and Power Bar Energy at 3:00, 3 1/2 hours before race time. I arrived about 4:50, and the parking lot was just starting to fill up. Unloaded all my equipment, topped off the tires with air, and off to registration.
I was able to get an end spot on of of the racks closer to the bike exit, which I was happy about. Got everything setup, and just started chatting with everyone I DIDN'T know. As mentioned earlier, people are very friendly. The guy on the side of me, also a BT member, was good to chat with for a while. His advice was to pace myself on the swim. Also chatted with Pam, another member of BT, and all her friends. This would be Pam's 2nd Tri, and she did great.
I wasn't really sure what to do for a warmup. So I just watched what others were doing. It seemed like most were doing NOTHING. Seriously??? I know myself better than that, it takes a bit for my muscles to warm up. So I just did a 10 minute light jog. Then came back to transition, relaxed a bit, put the Body Glide on, then the wetsuit. Took a Roctane Gel. I know I prob didn't need it, but I used it for the 2x caffiene in it. Swam for about 200 yards, chatted with another guy I didn't know, and his female friend who just qualified for Kona, but wasn't doing tonight's race. Then I realized people were lining up. Here we go!!