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 Swim
Comments: The whole swim was just a frickin disaster. I got a little concerned 350 yards in that I just wasn't going to be able to do it safely because I was having to rotate so much to breathe. Sighting was a mess as I couldn't really lift my head from a good body position in the water. Trying to track with only pulling with one arm--horrible. I started forcefully humming with every exhale--sort of part sigh, part let-me-just-get-the-fach-through-this. The worst part was that the water was really clear to about 6 feet deep and the last 400yds I could see the bottom of the lake, and could really see how slowly I was swimming. Brutal. Get to the bike, get to the bike, get to the bike... What would you do differently?: Well, the "good" news is that I really think I can do this swim sub 1:40/100 when I don't have the neck thing. So that's my goal for next year, and that would save me save 6 minutes right there.  Transition 1
Comments: I'm happy with how this went. What would you do differently?: Learn to do a flying mount and maybe get some tri cycling shoes at some point, but I really like my shoes, so maybe not;)  Bike
Comments: The bike was AWESOME! The first 15 miles it was pouring and my back neck thing was a drag. It hurt and I was more tense because it was really pouring. I kept thinking of Chris saying keep the bike between you and the road--great mantra. It was so much fun to just ride and not worry about getting hit by a car--a luxury I rarely (never?) have. I had so much fun on the bike, shot the chit with lots of people, cheered on fans. One corner had a couple hundred people standing on it and they were very quiet, which I always think is a little weird, so I said "What's up? Are you guys tired? I have an extra gel--anybody want it?" That at least made them laugh. I have to admit, it was very fun passing guys on the bike--especially 10K bikes;) Some of them were really supportive. At one point I said, "On your left" to some guy--and he looked at me kinda horrified. I said something like, "Strong work man" and he said "Damn! I hate hearing a woman say on your left" but he was kinda laughing so I said, "Uh, sorry" made my voice as low as possible and said "On your left" and he broke up. I love doing stuff like that during a race. For me, that's what it 's all about. LOTS of women were really supportive. That felt great! So many strong women out there, which always makes me feel the sisterhood:) I was kinda holding myself back a bit because I didn't know the course, and I have only ridden the distance once before, so I didn't want to do anything too silly, but the last five miles I gave 'er the beans. What would you do differently?: I would not put a new Profile Design bottle on my aero bars that wasn't well secured and then dug into my left wrist for 2/3rds of the ride :) Haha...nothing new on race day? Yeah, I had like 12 new things on race day, most of which were on the bike. Some good some bad. I'll keep the good for next year. I might go a little harder earlier (my first 5 miles I avg 19.7, second to last 5 I averaged 23.6) in the bike now that I know the course, but, overall, I'm happy with how it went. Transition 2
Comments: Missed the rack with my bike and my legs were still trying to figure out what was going on. Was thirsty coming in because of my bottle malfunction on the bike, so took a little time to drink in transition which was dumb, as there was water withing 400yds of the start of the run. Doh! What would you do differently?: Remember my vanilla flavored Gus. I had to choke down blueberry and a faching strawberry banana one (GAG) during the run. I really can only do vanilla--remember the damn gu;)  Run
Comments: My HR was high right away and it took me some time to settle into anything that resembled good running form and a reasonable, sustainable HR. This was most likely because I pushed "too hard" on the bike, but I'm not sure I would do that differently, as I think it's a wash in time, probably. I need to practice longer bikes and longer runs. I really haven't done that at all, and it showed. My stand alone pace for a HM would be ~7:30s right now, so I was thinking I would be able to run a 8:10 or so. Nope. Not a faching chance. Just wasn't there. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/347033560for detailed run info. The last 500yds or so is a steep downhill and I smoked that thing, which probably means I mismanaged my effort on the run and could have pushed harder earlier, but it was nice to finish strong. What would you do differently?: Lots and lots. Practice more long runs after long bikes. Really. I just hadn't done that at all. In theory I'm a runner, but I sure didn't perform like one. Need to figure out the balance between bike and run. Post race
Warm down: Sitting in a tub of ice and drinking a beer--AWESOME! What limited your ability to perform faster: My neck "crick". Event comments: I really have nothing to compare it to, but this seemed like a great event and I would recommend it. I have my work cut out for me for the next year, and I am excited to do this race again. Love, love, love the HIM distance. Profile Album Last updated: 2013-05-12 12:00 AM
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United States
Door Country Triathlon
68F / 20C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 158/834
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 3/56
The night before I was going through my gear and getting everything dialed in. I was really worried about my neck and it was really distracting. Two things happened within 10 minutes of each other that made me think that I needed to pull my head outta my azz and focus on the task at hand. 1) I spent a good 10 seconds trying to push a USB plug into a 3 pronged electric outlet. woah. 2) I put on my aero helmet to get the straps and tension set (it was new, and I had only tried it on in the store), and I thought, "Woah, this feels bad. I wonder if I got the wrong size," and then I realized I had put it on backwards. LOL. WTF? At that point I was broke down laughing at myself. Yikes. Yeah, it's really hard to tell which direction your AERO helmet is supposed to go. Jeez. Warning.
On the way to the race I turned on my Pandora rap station which is heavy on Eminem, Dre and Snoop. What two songs played on that station on the way to my race that have NEVER played on there before and have no business being on that station? Baby Got Back and Hip Hop Hooray. This also made me crack up, as these are two songs that I've been joking about with my fellow "Hard Corers" on BT. It made me think of them and all their awesomeness.
Set up transition. Shoot the chit with other racers. Check out the water.
I swam 200 yards, decided the swim was going to just be something I had to get through to get to the rest of my race, as I couldn't turn my head or extend or pull with my left arm. Lowered my expectations for the day. In a weird way, I probably enjoyed the race more because of it--once I got out of the water and wasn't so worried about breathing :)
Was feeling a little sorry for myself and then I saw a one-legged woman hop toward the water for her start. Yeah, I needed that. That was a little shot of perspective that snapped me right out of my pity party and filled me instead with awe and gratitude, which was pretty much where I was able to stay for the rest of the day.