Jim McDonnell Lake Swim - Swim


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Reston, Virginia
United States
Reston Masters
68F / 20C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 30m 54s
Overall Rank = 54/199
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 6/18
Pre-race routine:

The pre-race routine started the night before the race when we had some of the neighbors over for a BBQ. I made the unwise decision of having too many beers and staying up until midnight. I definitely didn't want to get up when the alarm went off at 5:30. I slowly trudged around getting my stuff together and headed to the race site.

I had a bagel on the drive over and this helped my stomach but I had no interest in swimming especially after doing a 10k race the day before. I waited til the last minute to put on my wetsuit and form up with my wave. I did check out the course as it was different then the practice the week before.

They sent waves off in 30 second intervals with 20 people in a wave. I was in the fourth wave, so the wait wasn't long once the race started.
Event warmup:

Stayed as still as possible to avoid additional damage to the brain.
Swim
  • 30m 54s
  • 3520 yards
  • 53s / 100 yards
Comments:

The swim went suprisingly well. I started out with a nice pace and with the small waves I didn't get knocked around too much. I managed to stay straight to the first turn. Going to the second buoy, I found myself in open water and was pretty happy until I realized I was a good 10 yards off course. I ended up swimming two legs of a triangle to get to the buoy. The rest of the course I did pretty well staying on course because it followed the shore line.

I managed to keep my pace, control my breathing and maintain technique through most of the race. So, I was pretty happy overall with the race.
What would you do differently?:

Not drink the day before the race. Learn how to draft.
Post race
Warm down:

Drank 2 or 3 bottles of water. Talked to Paul (Grems)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Poor physical condition

Event comments:

This is a great race for practicing open water swimming. It would be great prior to doing a tri. The waves are small, the lake calm and you don't have to do anything else at the end.




Last updated: 2006-05-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:30:54 | 3520 yards | 53s / 100yards
Age Group: 6/18
Overall: 54/199
Performance: Good
Suit: Full wet suit
Course: The course was almost star shape around the perimeter of the lake.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 71F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Average
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4