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 Swim
Comments: Usually, I have issues with my breathing during the swim. I think the anxiety of starting the race, combined with the whole not-drowning thing has forced me to breathe every other stroke. This race, however, being a little more chilled out must have helped because I held onto my normal breathing for about 1/3 of the swim. Lots more body contact than I'm used to but nothing violent, just a little grabby here, grabby there. I hugged close to the buoys. It amazes me how wide some people's paths around the buoys are. It leaves a whole lot of space on the inside, which is great for me, since I am a left breather, I used those guys to help guide me on the clockwise course. Came in to shore just right, not standing up too early and losing time trying to wade in on my short legs. What would you do differently?: Nothing as far as race day goes.  Transition 1
Comments: Uphill onto the boat ramp right off the bat got my HR up, but I think it was sky-high already. I ran up the ramp at first, then walked about 30 feet, then ran the rest of the way into transition, which was pretty cool, since I usually have to walk. T1 kinda congested, since the first waves were already coming in off the bike and had to weave around us. What would you do differently?: Had some trouble getting into my shoes without almost falling over. Maybe next season I'll try the shoes on the bike.  Bike
Comments: I've always dreaded the bike, just because I don't spend enough time in the saddle (re-read the first part of the sentence). Since we drove the course yesterday, I knew there weren't too many hills I couldn't handle, so I figured I'd be okay. Started out with my HR way too high and had some trouble bringing it back down, since the hilliest part of the course was first. This was the first time I ever had to worry about the drafting rule, since I was actually passing poeple! Wha? Luckily, most everyone stuck to the right and no major issues came up until mile 17, when I came up behind a guy, who was coming up behind another slow rider. I didn't want to get carded (because apparently marshalls were out in full force), so I called out to him, stood up on my pedals and passed them both. Where did that come from? What would you do differently?: Nothing on race day. Transition 2
Comments: This was by far my best T2 ever. The only reason it is as long as it is, is because we were made to run all the way around transition to the other side where our racks were. I was the only one I saw running with my bike, so style points for me! I slipped my running shoes on, and snapped my race belt and put on my hat on the run. Yay me! What would you do differently?: Nothing...best ever.  Run
Comments: By this time, it was approaching noon, so the shaded course was exactly what we needed. The volunteers on the course were phenomenal. Very supportive and attentive with Amino, water and cold towels. I got one little girl to throw 2 cups of water on me as I chugged by. There was even a misting tunnel-type thing about halfway through. My feet and calves were hollering at me from the get-go, so I knew this would not be one of my best days running. But apparently, not too many people were having a great day either, because I passed about 6 people on the run, including 3 girls from my AG. I kept having to walk, but I made more efforts to at least try and run in lots of short spurts, rather than try and run a long distance and walk further. The downhill run into the finish was a little scary on the grass, but I got a good laugh when I heard the announcer say "From Metairie, Louisiana..." Oops! Forgot to change the address! What would you do differently?: Try and suck it up more and ignore the pain in my feet. Post race
Warm down: Tried to get a massage, but they shut it down right after I finished...*&%$#@!! Sat on the ground with the Bears and ate a chicken sandwich and passed on the Twinkies and Ho Ho's (???) What limited your ability to perform faster: New state, new house, new career just 10 days prior to the race. Event comments: This was a fantastically well-run race by Sportspectrum. I guess after 26 years, you tend to iron out a lot of issues. It was well-staffed, organized and lots of fun. Because of all the life changes we've gone through over the last few weeks, I had no real expectations of myself going in this race except a poor performance. But I really surprised myself by having one of my best performances ever. Like I said before, I felt more relaxed during this race than I have in the last 8 weeks. I always say I'm trying to compete in triathlons for fun. This is the first race I can truly say I had a blast from start to finish. Last updated: 2006-04-25 12:00 AM
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United States
Sports Spectrum
95F / 35C
Sunny
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = Athena
Age Group Rank = 12/20
Considering we had moved to Texas and I started a new career in the days leading up to this race, you would think I'd be a little stressed about my lack of training. Not really! In fact, I was more relaxed prior to the race than I have been all week!
Drove up to S'port Saturday afternoon and met up with Derek (whom I hadn't seen in a week) and The Bears for packet pick-up. The goodies...WOW! A rolling duffel, 2 t-shirts, hat, socks, sunglasses, poster, Clif bars. Verrrrry nice. Scoped out the course with Derek, Jeremy and John. Very happy to see the hills weren't too bad, now that I have a Texas prespective on what a hill really is! Dinner at Macaroni Grill with Rugbykid, Biseman, jjweav, Bear, Mrs. Bear, Little Bears, and Mrs Mnewton was wonderful. It never ceases to amaze me how nice people we "meet on the internet" can be. Went back to the smokey Days Inn for a good rest.
Really didn't want to get out of bed, partly because I needed the sleep, partly because I knew I wasn't prepared for this race. Got dressed and ready pretty early and luckily got to the race site prior to the major traffic jam. Didn't eat my clif bar until well after I set up transition, since my wave wasn't going until much later.
Speaking of my wave, it was extremely disappointing to see participants who clearly did not fit into the Athena and Clyde mold, happily smoking the participants these classifications were made for (like me). Ok, dead horse beaten again.
Since I was in the last wave, I had lots of time to warmup...almost got sunburned watching all the other waves go off. Lots of fun watching Derek come in from his swim. Finally, 50 minutes after the first wave got started, it was my time!