![]() Swim
Comments: In the weeks leading up to this event I had been swimming about 6500 yards per day so I knew the swim was not going to be too much of an issue. Of course none of the swimming I had been doing was in open water, it was all done in a pool. I hadn't done any open water swimming for about seven years so the waves were a big of a shock. Overall I was very pleased with my swim as I performed much better than I thought I would. Also, I think I might have gone a little too hard on this section. As it was only my second triathlon and I STILL had done NO research into race technique whatsoever I had no idea what I was doing. Since swimming was my best event by far I naturally went balls to the wall. What would you do differently?: I would definitely work on technique swimming at that distance. Most of the swimming I had done was short distance, high yardage type sets. I had only done one practice mile and that was in a pool. I feel like I really should have tried to work more on swimming at the actual distance that I was going to perform. ![]() Transition 1
Comments: Up to this point I had still never practiced transitions. As such, I didn't really know what to do/how to make it faster. The pedals on my bike don't need shoes that clip on so I just wear my tennis shoes that I'm going to run in. This makes T2 faster but T1 much slower as I have to stop to put on socks and shoes before heading out. What would you do differently?: I need to invest in some good biking shoes that clip on to the pedals of the bike. I've really been neglecting this fairly important aspect of the bike portion. ![]() Bike
Comments: This bike was brutal for me. Most of the training I had been doing was on a flat course with little to no hills. The gears on my bike were not suited for serious hills (or perhaps it is user error!) so I struggled tremendously while I foolishly tried to keep up with all the people passing me (remember, I was third out of the water in my wave for the swim portion). I fried my legs during the bike portion of this race. What would you do differently?: TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN! I had not biked NEARLY enough in preparation for this triathlon. Like my first, it was more of a spur of the moment sort of thing and I had signed up only a few days prior to the race. It was pretty clear during the bike that I needed to prepare before I took on another race at that distance. The sprint triathlon I had done prior was easier because it was shorter and I was able to muscle through it. The international distance really opened my eyes to the importance of proper preparation. ![]() Transition 2
Comments: My legs were absolute jelly and I knew that the second I got off the bike. I struggled to run my bike in to my rack and was fairly slow to get going back out of transition. What would you do differently?: Again, it's all about training. I'd never practiced the transitions before and I'm sure with more bike practice this would have been a much easier transition. ![]() Run
Comments: The run was abysmal; there is no other way to describe it. My legs were absolute jelly from the bike and there was little if anything left for the run. I was purely in survival mode at this point. The only highlight of this run that I can claim is the fact that I ran (albeit trotted at points) the entire time -- no walking! What would you do differently?: TRAIN! I'm finding a pattern here. I did not run enough in preparation for this race. I only ran immediately after biking ONCE! TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN! ![]() Post race
Warm down: I hobbled over to the food stand in my post-race stupor. I felt like I was on the brink of passing out for about 10-15 minutes. As a result I did not get in an actual warm down. What limited your ability to perform faster: TRAINING! I don't even need to explain that one anymore. Event comments: This event was very well organized. I just wish I had trained more! Last updated: 2012-03-29 12:00 AM
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United States
Set Up Events
55F / 13C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 163/454
Age Group = 20-24
Age Group Rank = 5/12
I tried to bump up the amount of sleep I was getting during that week as well. On race day I made sure to allow plenty of time to get to the venue early as to set up my transition adequately. Once I got set up I spent a lot of timing just resting in the car (it was a little cool and breezy outside before heading over to the start of the swim portion.
The only warm up I did was a quick swim out to the first buoy and back to test out the water. This was my first triathlon with an open water swim (only my second triathlon ever) and I had rented a wetsuit just in case. After my warm up I was confident that I could do the swim portion without a wetsuit (the water temp was 73 degrees).