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 Swim
Comments: I started out feeling pretty strong, and continued to feel good throughout the swim, but I did notice that I have lost some speed from not swimming this summer. The main pack left me, and I was mostly by myself with a few other stragglers. After looking at the swim times for my wave, I actually finished MOP, but I felt like I was way behind. I tried to not let this discourage me, and told myself that there were still two legs of the race left, and that those were my stronger disciplines. I kept pushing to the end, and came out of the water running hard, passing people on the way to transition. What would you do differently?: Just swim more, and work more on my kick and stroke turnover.  Transition 1
Comments: After looking at my watch and realizing that I had swam a little faster than I thought, I was eager to hit the bike course. I found my bike quickly, put on my shoes, donned my helmet and sunglasses, slid my gel flask in my pocket, and ran out of transition. I mounted pretty quickly, and set off to ride, immediately passing people. What would you do differently?: I really want to practice a flying mount this off season with shoes attached to the bike. This will definitely make things quicker.  Bike
Comments: I immediately started passing people on my way out of transition. I had been excited for this bike course all week, and wanted to get out and have some fun. There were a few uphills that slowed my pace down, but overall, I was able to keep my speed in the mid to low 20s while hitting in the 30s on a few of the downhills. The scenery on the bike was pretty nice, and the ride through the state park was very pretty. At the water bottle hand-off, the guy in front of my dropped the first bottle and reached hard for the second one. He got it, but he ended up swerving and hitting the deck hard. He popped up quickly, and I could see his back was covered in road rash. It also looked like his bike might have broken. Thankfully, he got up, and no one else was involved in the crash. I had been trying to decide between Hammer Nutrition HEED and Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem on the bike for this race, and made a race morning decision to go with the Perpetuem. It was the right call, as I learned later on the run, and I drank an entire aero bottle of it on the bike. I also took two hits off my gel flask; one at mile 10, and one at mile 20. I used Chocolate and Vanilla Hammer Nutrition Gel mixed in a flask. It's delicious. I was really happy with my nutrition choices for this race. As I was coming back into transition, I pulled my feet out of my shoes on the downhill back to the park. I jumped off the bike at the dismount line, and hit my heel hard. I didn't notice how bad it hurt until we got home. What would you do differently?: Just get in more bike time and start strength training again. Transition 2
Comments: As I was running into transition a guy leaving for the run was walking slowly in front of me, I managed to get around him and make it to my rack. I racked the bike quickly, and dropped the helmet. I got one shoe on easily, but I had a little trouble with the second one. Once it was on, I grabbed my number and hat, which were clipped together, and ran out. What would you do differently?: Just be a little more careful when putting on shoes. I was trying to go too fast, and wasn't paying attention.  Run
Comments: I really wasn't expecting much from my run, but I felt great coming off the bike. I settled into a good pace and just kept going. I had plenty of energy, no cramps, and felt strong. I grabbed water and HEED at aid stations, drinking all of the HEED, sipping part of the water, and then dumping the rest on my head and back to keep cool in the late morning sun. The large hill was tough, but I still had my legs under me, and was able to power up it and rest on the downhill that followed. As I finished my first lap, I saw Emily and she made a joke about blinding me with her ring. I laughed, and grew even more in confidence about my run. I had a great second lap, and finished strong on the run around the track. What would you do differently?: This was a great run considering my lack of training. This is also a tough run course, and some of the guys that normally go sub-40 didn't. I'm really happy with a 47 for this run, but I know that if I had been training consistently, it would have been better. Post race
Warm down: Stretched, ate the provided food, and drank some strawberry Hammer Nutrition Vegan Protein. What limited your ability to perform faster: Lack of training. Plain and simple. I have been busy, and got lazy. As a result, I have put on some unwanted weight and gotten a little slower. All that considered, this was a good performance. Event comments: Great race! I had a blast, and I'm already considering returning next year. Set Up Events always does a quality job. That being said, I was a little disappointed in the quality of the finisher medals. They look cheap, and are not up to the standard that's been set at other races. Bring back the pint glasses! Also, as a vegan, I would really like to see more vegan-friendly food options at the end of races. I was thrilled that subway catered, but all the subs had cheese. I pulled the cheese off a veggie sub and enjoyed it, but it would be nice to have more options. Last updated: 2013-02-10 12:00 AM
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Sunny
Overall Rank = 67/208
Age Group = M 25-29
Age Group Rank = 7/22
This summer has seen my training volume drop significantly. At the beginning of June, we moved into a new house. Then in July, I spent two weeks instructing an Outward Bound course. And now, we're planning a wedding. Between Ironman 70.3 Raleigh and Mission Man, I probably only swam 5 times. My runs were probably only a few more, and biking really got reduced to once or twice a week. In short, I got busy, and as a result, I got lazy. I had PRed the course at Mission Man somehow, but I wasn't really expecting a great performance at Stumpy Creek. I was looking forward to the race, but went into race week with more of a "just finish" attitude, which is not really my style. I like to always come away with a respectable time, so as the week went on, and the race got closer, I changed my attitude to "give your best effort and leave it all out on the course."
I did a couple of hard rides, including climbs of Bass Mountain, Mickey Mouse Hill, and Herron Hill, just to see if I had my climbing legs under me for the "hills" in Mooresville. I took a cycle of Hammer Nutrition Race Day Boost, and endeavored to stay hydrated all week long.
When race morning came, the alarm went off at 3:00AM. We live around 2 hours from Mooresville, and opted out of a hotel room, so this was going to be a long day. Pulled out of the driveway around 3:45, and hit I-40. We made good time to Stumpy Creek, and managed to get a great parking spot. I picked up my packet, and made some last minute bike adjustments while Emily got in a little more sleep. After setting up transition and waiting in the long line at the port-a-johns, I got in a very brief warm-up in the lake and waited for my wave to start.
Brief swim just to make sure I still had the feel of the water.