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 Swim
Comments: Farm pond was beautiful, with the sunrise coming through steam on the water. Awesome... I got smashed in the face here last year, so I decided to go to the front and boogie - which also worked with the race plan of hammer the swim/bike. Got out in front with 2 others. Stayed on the second guy's hip until just past the second buoy, then passed as we came through the breast-strokers from the previous wave (they set a perfect pick for me!) and finished strong. I lost my breath mid-course last year and was close this year, as I was trying to really hustle, but focused on form/breathing and stayed comfortably close to puking - but not over the edge. (repeated to self: I can do anything for 6 minutes!). Previous year was 07:29, so I'm very happy with this swim. What would you do differently?: Not much. I *might* have been able to pass the second guy and hang on the first dude's feet and sprinted at end, but I'm still learning how far I can push on the swim. Very happy with it.  Transition 1
Comments: Last year this was 03:19, so I'm both happy with the result and definitely feeling more comfortable with getting FREE TIME. The guy ahead of me in the swim was out maybe 2 seconds before me but did a flying mount (impressive to watch - it was uphill!) and was away. While I do put the shoes on the bike with elastic bands, I still favor keeping my colar-bones intact over the two seconds gained... Maybe next year. ;) What would you do differently?: Nothing  Bike
Comments: Only made one wrong turn... UGH. First time I've done that in a race. I heard the screams after I was heading uphill instead of down and thought, "What dumb bunny went the wrong way?" Oh, that would be me. Great bike otherwise. Pushed hard the whole way and held pretty constant power, despite it being a hilly course. Felt good about "racing the plan," although I might have even pushed harder (wasn't sure what I could hold for this distance in hills, but was close to right). Last year's time was 42:11, so I'm happy with this one, for sure. What would you do differently?: Nothing. Transition 2
Comments: Moved through efficiently. Last year was 54 seconds - FREE TIME! What would you do differently?: Nothing.  Run
Comments: Wasn't sure how this would go, so I set out to run steadily and hoped to be fast enough to stay breathing hard. Turns out that 2-3 weeks off makes staying out of breath without going too fast pretty easy... This felt good, and I focused on form and high cadence (so as not to stretch the hamstring by striding). Managed NOT to kick at the finish (thank goodness there was no one with me, or I **might** have made a bad decision - better to be lucky than smart, I guess). Solid run for me, without any heroics. Last year was 24:11, so I picked up 2 minutes just based on the year of training, about which I am very happy. What would you do differently?: Not go into marathon training mid-plan 4 days after a HIM and tweak a hamstring? Otherwise, not much - this was what I could do yesterday and am happy about "racing the plan." I do think that I could have pushed harder - maybe significantly so - but am reeeaaaalllllly glad I didn't! :) Post race
Warm down: My favorite part of the race! Saw a bunch of friends and their families. Hung out in the sun. ATE BACON. Cheered at the awards (another one where I was "first" by virtue of the other guy in my AG bagging an overall podium - but I'll take it). :) The top 6 finishers were in my AG. All 6 of them (two were pro/elites, 4 were AGers). WTF? Some fast, paunchy, balding guys 'round these parts, I guess. Best. Midlife. Crisis... Ever. :) What limited your ability to perform faster: Hamstring strain. Not training/peaking/tapering for this, as it was an end of season fun race. Probably didn't matter much, as the base was there from the main season... Event comments: I love this race. So scenic. Good cause. Lots of friends. Great breakfast buffet after (did I mention the BACON?). Nice challenge with the hills, but not crushingly so. All in, a great venue/race for a local deal. All that's missing is a beer truck to celebrate the end of the season! Profile Album Last updated: 2013-09-16 12:00 AM
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United States
Dover-Sherborn Boosters
60F / 16C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 4/291
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 1/33
This was to be the last race of the season, but the start was in doubt with a tweaked hamstring several weeks prior. I started back running a week prior and had done a 4-miler and felt fine, so I decided to "swim/bike/jog," but didn't stress about prep. So, a normal night prior, up at 5, coffee/dogs walked/bagel-nut butter-honey, load all my cr@p up and head over to the race (a bit over 30' away) in the cold light of pre-dawn.
Amazing how $ucky early Sunday morning radio is for getting pumped up! Broke out the iPhone and rocked along to the bike drop off...
Decided to try to rock the swim and bike and then jog along at whatever steady pace the leg would permit (I just kept repeating to myself: NO SPRINT FINISH ALLOWED!)
It's a two transition area race, so had to drop the bike, then go set up T2 and leave shoes there, then bus to T1 with another bag, then set up T1. So, no bike or run warmup (I do like a run w/u in a sprint, but whatever). Put on the wetsuit to try and stay warm (about 46 degrees at the start), did 150-200m with accelerations in the pond.
Then it was off in the next to last wave with at least 1/3 of the entire race in it (the organizers realized that "Men 45 and up" is a HUGE FRIKKIN' CATEGORY in the land of the mid-life crisis, but only too late... so it was more akin to a mass start than a wave!).