Swim
Comments: This swim was almost a minute slower than last year and took more out of me. The water was warmer, but not a factor. I had not swam in over a month, so i was just plain not prepared. I chugged a good gulp of water a few times and my navigation was quite poor. It really felt like a struggle compared to previous years swims. What would you do differently?: Not go on vacation for a week in may, and not throw my neck out during that vacation. I am going to start getting serious about my swim workouts. prolly still only do twice a week, but hit it hard and longer. Transition 1
Comments: this is a long run to the transition. I felt wasted after the swim. I hard time getting my wetsuit unzipped, but once i did the rest of transition went smooth I did not get up to speed and completely in my shoes prior to the hill out of transition. then i started to get up to speed What would you do differently?: not much Bike
Comments: i really was feeling off when i got on the bike. I did not push it hard enough until about mile 12. that is when a 26 year old female friend of my partner passed me. she has only been doing triathlons for a year and this was her first olympic. she was in the water 6 minutes before me but i knew i would pass her in the swim. I nearly fell over when she passed me. so then i was hell bent on not letting her out bike me and/or out run me. It was very difficult to keep her in my sight. and eventually i lost her toward the end of the bike. But it made me go much harder and probably the effort level i should have been going the whole time What would you do differently?: push it harder, and train more hard efforts. Also i need hill work Transition 2
Comments: this transition was 15 seconds faster than last years, so i did something right. Run
Comments: I got out of transition and was attempting to spot the woman who passed me on the bike, but the sprint course people made it impossible. I attempted to keep a decent pace. I figured running was decent of late, so could hold last years pace. I was wrong. I got to mile 2 and started to cramp. I had to walk a few steps and bend over to get rid of the cramp (twice). then when i got to the top of the hill and almost to the turn around i saw the woman i wanted to catch, going the other way. she was about .3 miles ahead of me. then it was on. I walked thru the aid station to try and get as much fuel in me as possible. then the down hill, which i think i am very good at. the rest of the 3 miles i averaged 7:15 . so that is the pace i should have been at. It hurt but i could deal with it. then we had the little side out and back and i had gained on her. so i just tried to keep pushing it. I was under fueled at this point so i took in fuel at every aid station and dumped water on my head. What would you do differently?: now that i think about it, i let my legs dictate how i ran out of transition. I took short quick steps and tried to stay light on my feet. I think that why i started cramping, with my elevated heart rate. I have to force myself to lengthen my strides out of transition. stretch out the legs and get into my stride. I really accelerated thru the last 3 miles, once the cramping was done and i ran the way i am supposed to. Post race
Warm down: stumble around, and wade into the lake, to cool off legs What limited your ability to perform faster: I swear i forgot all that i learned last summer. I need to attack the bike, and run with the right form from the start of the run. ALso not being in the pool and zero open water swims for the last month, was unfortunate. I expected to be over 21 MPH on the bike. so i have been deluding myself on my training. I have many more miles than last year on the bike at this time. However i need to go out and hit the bike hard when i do , except on recovery rides. Event comments: overall i was 1 minute slower than last year. My beginning of the year goal for this race was 2:15. It was a good evaluation of my current fitness level, and a motivator for the future. I also think it is a not cool that they ran out of both finisher medals and water. That really disappoints me. I think the lack of attention to the racers that come in later is upsetting. everyone paid the same entry, everyone should get the same treatment. Last updated: 2012-04-03 12:00 AM
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United States
Buffalo Triathlon
Overcast
Overall Rank = 58/387
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 12/38
this is the first race that jenny did not come with me; to race or cheer on. so i got up at 4, made my usual pancakes. Ate double checked i had everything, packed the car, and went to the bathroom. This is my exact routine prior to every race. A little TMI, but the bathroom was not a good experience, which is quite unusual for me.
I arrived at 6. Got a great spot on the rack, of my choice. there were 4 racks for the 40-50 group. Wow
i walked around and little and had to go to the bathroom again. THis never happens. My stomach was upset. that got me a little worried.
So i just hung out for a while, and relaxed. then i rode about 8 miles on the bike for a little warm up and to check out the beginning of the bike course.