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 Swim
Comments: Water was about waste deep or less at the start. Pretty muddy/mucky bottom and lots of seaweed. Started slow and freaking out like usual, but this time I was able to calm down and settled into a groove and actually swam most of the course instead of lying on my back kicking. I didn't really worry about time or speed, just wanted to stay in control, relax and swim. And eventually I did, which was really nice! What would you do differently?: Try and relax more at the start and get into a groove sooner. More open water practice would help I'm sure, but that's difficult. Overall a big improvement over the last OWS.  Transition 1
Comments: Out of the water it's a decent hike back to transition. I stopped about halfway and took off my wetsuit, which worked out really well, again. I left some flip-flops along the way to transition and at first I wish I hadn't because my feet were slipping, but eventually I was glad to have them. First time putting on my toe socks at T1 and it went pretty well. I'll gladly sacrifice a few seconds to avoid blisters. What would you do differently?: Not much - pretty happy. I'm comfortable with taking my time to a certain extent and making sure I've got everything together.  Bike
Comments: Pretty good bike. Right on my goal pace of 20mph. I wasn't quite sure how this would pan out on the run since it's my first Oly, but I think it went pretty well. I may have been able to push a little harder, but with the hills on the run, I'm glad I didn't. The wind was pretty tough on the way out but produced a nice tailwind on the way back in. I passed some, got passed by more, and overall am happy. I drank all of my water in aero (22oz) and most of a bottle of perform on the downtube. What would you do differently?: Maybe push a little more, maybe some more sports drink. I might try a shot block or something else small for a few more calories next time, but liquids only seemed to work pretty well. Transition 2
Comments: Happy with this. I jogged my bike back through transition - I could have walked since I know I'm not going to the podium, but it's a race, right? What would you do differently?: Not much I don't think.  Run
Comments: Tough run. All trails and grass throughout the park. Most of the first 2-3 miles were in open prairie style areas, making it very hot running in the sun. I brought my handheld bottle with perform in it along for the run and was very glad I did. I still stopped at all the water stations for just that - water. The hills were pretty tough, too. I think it was more the quantity of the hills than the difficulty of them. Got to talking with a guy from Iowa on the last 1-2 miles so probably slowed a little, but overall I'm happy with the 8:00 pace given the heat and hills. It was great seeing my family cheering me on multiple times on the run - definitely helped pick me up! What would you do differently?: Train more in the heat - difficult to do when I work out mostly in the early morning, but I'm trying to get some lunch runs in as it warms up this summer. Post race
Warm down: Crossed the finish line (forgot to throw my arms up!), grabbed water, a banana, so pretzels and a cookie and found the family. Grabbed a banana for my baby girl (of course) then went back for the beer which I took a sip of then gave to my Dad. We found some shade and relaxed for a few minutes. I did some light stretching, then we headed back towards transition, packed up and headed out. What limited your ability to perform faster: The other thing I forgot was my HRM strap. So I had no HR data during the race. That may have helped me understand my pacing a little better. Otherwise, another PR (!) since it's my first oly and I'm just learning and gaining experience while having a blast. Gotta get a post-race massage one of these times! Event comments: They had some stuff for the kids which was nice - a bounce house. Always nice when the race is family-oriented. I thought the race was very well organized and everything went off on time from what I could tell. Very well done! Last updated: 2012-01-06 12:00 AM
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85F / 29C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 67/345
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 12/41
We stayed at my parents' house in Fitchburg (Madison) for the weekend and attended the Dane County Breakfast on the farm on Saturday - carbed up with some pancakes! Tried to stay hydrated throughout the day with the heat and knowing it was going to be hot on Sunday, too. Sunday woke up around 4am, fed the dogs and then myself. The usual powerbar + wheaties fuel + gatorade. Made sure I had everything ready to go in my bag then put the bike on top of the car. New bike rack setup on the roof of the Outback made me un-easy the whole trip - I was not confident in it. But no issues, so I guess I shouldn't worry.
Parking opened at 5 and transition supposedly at 5:30 - seemed like transition opened whenever people arrived. I arrived plenty early and got everything set up. Then I took my bike with me back to the car to drop off my bag and of course forgot my sunscreen (turned out not to be a big deal). Forgot a few other details while worrying about putting the bag in the car, but no big deal again. Did a little warm-up ride out to the park entrance and back, picked up my bottles and went back to transition. Good idea to bring the bottles in a cooler! Got body marked and picked up my chip, grabbed my swim stuff and headed for the beach. Got in the water for a short swim warmup, too, which was great.