![]() Swim
Comments: Alot more churn in the water than I'd anticipated. Not material to the race, just not what I'd expected. I was somewhat overwhelmed by the start of the race and wasn't thinking clearly about what I needed to do - save my legs, use my arms, and try to breathe more than usual. What would you do differently?: Think about what I'm doing in relation to the rest of the race. Try to save my legs more, I definitely did too much kicking-wise. ![]() Transition 1
Comments: Time for T1 included in bike. I put shoes on and ran with the bike, then mounted. Getting the socks, jersey, helmet, race belt on was OK, but certainly slower than the other people coming out of the pool behind me. My sunglasses popped out of my rear jersey pocket when I was putting it on so I rode without them (and found them during T2 so got to run with them). What would you do differently?: Try mounting shoes on the bike once I get some triathlon-specific shoes, and doing the mount/dismount barefoot. ![]() Bike
Comments: Again, I wasn't really thinking about the race, just doing it. My climbing sucks, and I tried staying in a higher gear and climbing out of the saddle rather than bearing down in a lower gear early in the bike. By 2/3 of the way through my legs were just shot. The downhills were a blast though. What would you do differently?: More biking in training. More climbing in training. More biking in training. More climbing in training. Get my bike fitted - I think I'm too stretched out and my cleats don't feel right. I am also considering aero-bars. ![]() Transition 2
Comments: T2 time included in run. This was fine - got out of the bike shoes, popped on the running shoes, grabbed my sunglasses and off I went. What would you do differently?: Not put the front tire over the rack and scratch the paint on my pretty bike. Try getting out of the shoes while on the bike, but not with my current shoes. ![]() Run
Comments: This was miserable, and reflected the absolute lack of running that I've been doing for the last two months after a back injury. Running after the bike felt awful, running up hills felt awful - my hamstrings were way too tight and my back hurt and my calves were cramping. I grabbed some water at the beginning of the run and that helped some. What would you do differently?: Do BRicks. Do more BRicks. Start running again, at least a little every week to get used to it again. ![]() Post race
Warm down: Stretched hamstrings, didn't do any jogging to get the acids out of my legs which I will do next time. What limited your ability to perform faster: Lack of bike ability. Lack of run training. No experience with transitions. No training running AFTER biking. No experience with triathlons. Not thinking about what I was doing on each leg, until I got to the run and the only goal was to get it done. Event comments: I'd never done a race before, so its hard to evaluate. I had fun though. Last updated: 2006-05-22 12:00 AM
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United States
FIRM Racing
62F / 17C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 46/246
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 3/14
Nerves about my first race kept me from sleeping more than 2 or 3 hours Saturday night. Woke up at 5, got the bike into the car and drove out to the site, got there about 6:15.
Dinner the night before was pasta with some grated cheese, and I drank lots of water. Drank more water and ate a Clif bar on the way over.
Set up bike and transition area. Realized I forgot my goggles. Bought some, tried to fit them, failed. Spoke with people in my transition rack about the race, the course, etc. They were very helpful in terms of hints and tips.
Stretched, light jog (1/2 mile), swam ~150 yards just to check goggles and get a feel for the pool. Then more stretching.