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 Swim
Comments: This was an amazing swim!!!! I got my wetsuit pulled up far enough that I didn't have any strain on my shoulders. I started at about the middle of my wave and stayed on feet as much as I could! This race has "race buddies" who are people floating with swim noodles so people can stop and rest so I had to swim around a few of those. My breathing was great from the start and my googgles never gave me problems. Rounding the first corner buoy was a bit of a traffic jam so that slowed me quite a bit but once I got around it I sailing smooth. My pulls felt strong and effective. My sighting was great. I looked up every 8-12 strokes and never went off course. It was my best swim ever and I beat last years time by about 3.5 minutes! I was catching women from the wave 2 ahead of me. When I looked at my watch running through T1 I saw I'd done the swim in under 17 minutes and that set a happy tone for my whole race. What would you do differently?: Abso-frickin-lutely NOTHING!!!!!!! I still need to work on my swim but I am super stoked about my swim performance.  Transition 1
Comments: This race has nearly 2,000 women so transition is huge! Before the race I'd walked my routes and set my landmarks (one was a bucket 2 rows before mine). I was pretty excited when I got to the rack and I wasn't even close to being the last bike out. My sister was there and called out to me. That was cool. Running the bike to the mount line can be challenging at this race, getting around all of the women walking their bikes. But I did ok. What would you do differently?: Nothing really, it went pretty smooth.  Bike
Comments: I got on the bike quickly and peddled up to speed. Got out of the saddle a few times to regain speed after turns and for the hill. I blew my chain at about mile 7.5. The team car must be following Wiggins so I had to fix it myself. Not sure how much time I lost maybe 30 seconds? Once I got rolling I asked my "trusty" steed WTH was that?! She's never done that before. So this was my first race mechanical! My hands were black so I wiped them on my shorts and went on my way. I had to re-pass some people due to the mechanical. Then I came upon a woman with whom I would share (be passed and re-pass) the rest of the race. The roads were mostly not too bad but there were some rough spots and lot of unmarked pot-holes. I got back to the dismount line, unclipped and got off pretty smoothly. Interestingly, my time on the bike this year is exactly, to the second, the same as last year. I'll take it epecially considering the mechanical. What would you do differently?: Not have a mechanical? More T.I.T.S. for more strength on the bike but I am happy with this one. Transition 2
Comments: Again, running the bike around walkers was challenging but manageable. This race is not USAT so I decided I was going to use music for the run. While I was grabbing my phone it dropped out of the case (DOH). I grabbed it and ran (untangling my headphones) out the run-out. My sister said later that she was there again but didn't shout at me because I was "in a zone". What would you do differently?: Maybe lose the music but I enjoy being able to use my tunes for this race.  Run
Comments: As I was headed up the hill I heard my DH yell my name. I knew he was at the race but hadn't seen him yet. I smiled as I showed him my greasy hands and continued up the hill. There is a water stand just as you head on to the Dam Road. I slowed to drink the water and as soon as I sped back up I felt unusually strong. This run was brutally hot last year so I was dreading that but after the first water I just felt calm and cool (literally). So I perked up and continued up the hill. Occasionally trading spots with the woman from the bike. I slowed for each water station then picked back up. I ran steady to the end. For a little while after the Dam Road I felt naseous but I just kept plugging. What would you do differently?: My time was 30 seconds slower than last year. Yet last year I know I walked more. Maybe walking allowed me to run faster when I did run. Post race
Warm down: Drank water ate a banana and a yogurt. Talked with my DH, DS, sister and friend. Packed up my gear and headed back to the car. No massage :-( Didn't want to make my DH and DS wait for me to wait in line and we needed to hit the road back to NM. What limited your ability to perform faster: More training. Event comments: Amy Downing puts together a he!! of a race! I love doing this one and will probably continue to do it. It is a women's only race and has an expo, after party that are top notch! There are volunteers all over the place! There are a few minor inconveniences with the race not being USAT such as women riding 2-3 abreast but they are very minor issues. Last updated: 2012-01-05 12:00 AM
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United States
Downing Events
70F / 21C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 403/1971
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 41/161
Before we left home I couldn't find one of my fave running socks! My DS told me "Mom, it's a 5k, you could do it in flip-flops". So I grabbed another pair of socks and we left for Denver.
While we were in Denver we stopped at REI to look at socks and I bought some a pair of the same brand as my faves. I threw caution and "nothing new on race day" to the wind and decided to wear the new pair as they were the same brand.
Night before was dinner with the DH's side of the family. Had a burger and a wheat beer (and a couple helpings of my SIL's potato salad).
Set the alarm for 4:45. I always wake up about every sleep cycle on pre-race nights. I've considered trying melatonin but need to research it more. So I woke up about 4:30 and got out of bed and tried to get ready without waking the DH. We were at the in-laws so I tried to be really quiet.
Had some raisin toast with PB and a water-bottle of FRS orange on the short drive to the race.
This race has a loooong hike from the car to transition, like probably close to a mile. So I hiked that talking with a woman for whom this was her first tri. She'd done many du's so she wasn't new to multisport, just the swim. She'd only been swimming for 4 weeks but had done OWS. Nice!
I got to transition and found my section/row. I got an end spot!!! I got all set up and made a trip to the port-a-pot. After a while my sister and a friend found me and we chatted for a while then went to watch the elite's and survivors start. After that I headed up to put on my wetsuit and head down with my wave to the start. As my wave was getting ready to go in to the water the survivors were starting to come out so we were able to cheer them on.