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 Swim
Comments: This was the second swim in a row where I was able to do the entire swim freestyle! There was lots of progress from previous swims: - swam much faster - got a lungfull of water and was able to relax, pull up for one stroke to breath, and then keep going - I swam much better in a group - Sighted well All ratings for 200m performance, breathing, etc. are relative to me. I need to improve, but things went pretty well. Thanks very much to my coach and BT's DeweyLittle for all of the help! What would you do differently?: I will seed myself a little more towards the front based on my performance here. I'm not fast, but I swam through quite a bit of traffic since I stayed well back of the wave based on past performance and not wanting to add additional pressure on myself until I got a little more experience. I will be working on getting faster (like all of us), but this was a good result for me. Based on this, I'll be more comfortable heading out a little more aggressively and trying to find some faster feet in the next race.  Transition 1
Comments: I ranked somewhere around 20/133 for T1 so I'm very happy with that. I'd gone through the steps in my mind over and over and it paid off. I got my bike shoes on quickly and my time was helped by being racked close to T1 exit, but I'm very pleased. What would you do differently?: I will start practicing running starts with my shoes already clipped onto the bike.  Bike
Comments: Kept thinking I might have been going a little too hard, but my breathing felt fine for most of the bike. My goal was to average 21mph and I didn't quite get there, but it was a good effort. I took on GU about at the turnaround at mile 10 to get ready for the run. What would you do differently?: Looking at the splits, I went 22mph for the first 3 - 4 miles and then I slowed down a little - that may have overcooked me a little, but don't really know how much 1 mph over my goal of 21mph would have really mattered. Transition 2
Comments: I overshot my rack space by two spaces and it took me a second to realize it..."wait! Those aren't my shoes!". I slid down two spaces, got racked, and changed into the shoes. I was about 10th out of 133 for my age group here so again, am pretty pleased. What would you do differently?: Pay more attention coming in to avoid racking my bike in the wrong space.  Run
Comments: Whew! This is where it got HOT!!!!! I started the run fine and didn't really feel like I'd overcooked the bike, but I might have based on how I felt during the entire run. I felt like I'd run 1.5 miles by the time I got to the 1 mile marker and it went downhill from there. My goal was to run 9:00 min miles and I did 9:07 so it's not that far off - especially considering the heat, but it was one of the longest 5k's I've done in training or in a race. I kept telling myself not to stop running - slow down if you have to, but don't stop. I managed to do that and still talk to/encourage a few participants even though I thought my lungs were going to explode! Thank you to whoever the guy was spraying people at around mile 1.75 - that was a life saver. What would you do differently?: Don't quite know what I'd do differently, I don't need to feel fresh as a daisy at the start of the run and to make any difference, I'd have had to go significantly slower on the bike that it wouldn't have made much, if any, difference in my time. Post race
Warm down: Thank you, thank you, thank you for the ice baths!!!!! I headed straight for them, got my legs in, and once I was used to that, got the whole body in - it makes such a difference. Got a beer and watched my daughter play on the bounce house for a while before heading home, taking a shower, and heading to Chuy's for a "Comida Delux"! What limited your ability to perform faster: Training was good coming into the race and it's just my fitness level that will need to keep trending upward that will help with my speed. The heat was tough also, but everyone has to deal with it so it's not like it didn't affect everyone also. Event comments: One more thing to add - I did use my Garmin, but I taped over the display for the race. I think I wind up paying too much attention to it and thought I'd race by feel to see how it went. Overall, I'm happy with this decision and will be employing that at all upcoming races. I seemed to have done a pretty good job on the bike, and I might have slowed down unnecessarily once I saw my heart rate spiking. It's a sprint for goodness sake - and I didn't show up to have a stroll in the park! I'm not fast, but this was fast for me. A great race and one that I'll be doing next year. Last updated: 2012-05-30 12:00 AM
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United States
Onurleft Event Management, LLC
85F / 29C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 353/1179
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 61/133
This was my 4th race so still pretty new.
Up and at 'em at 3:30 with Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" on the alarm. This is the song that plays in my head right before the swim start and it keeps me in the mind-set to stay relaxed.
Had a BonkBreaker at t-2 hours and again at t-1 hour(Blueberry Oat is my favorite, but they're all good) and one Jet Blackberry GU 30 minutes before the race.
I had everything laid out and my home-made checklist checked off from the night before to make it as easy a morning as possible.
If you do not already have a system where you keep a race folder and checklist - you should do that. I'd have forgotten a few things if I didn't have it.
Ran around the neighborhood for about 10 minutes and stretched. Found an old college friend and saw some people I'd met at Kemah. Also saw a competitor's Flo's up close - can't wait to get mine in September.
Went to the bathroom...a lot. My digestive tract goes hyperactive right before a race. It's not upset, but I need to go a lot - I need to figure out how minimize that. At least it doesn't bother me during the race.