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 Swim
Comments: Water was unfortunately too warm to be wet suit legal, so I just swam in my tri suit. It was an approximate rectangle, but you wouldn't know it from my watch swim path. The picture looked more like a shaky old man's drawing of a foot. I couldn't seem to stay on course very well. Every time I got into a rhythm with my breathing and stroke, I would sight only to see how off course I was. Almost very time I sighted, I wasn't exactly where I wanted to be. Also, I couldn't get in a good drafting zone to take advantage of others around me. What would you do differently?: I really needed more OWS practice and practice sighting specifically. Overall I am fairly pleased with my time, but if I would have had a better line and been able to capitalize on drafting I could have performed significantly better.  Transition 1
Comments: After getting out of the water and heading up the carpet, I saw a few familiar faces. It was nice to get a few cheers of encouragement while running the long transition from the water up to my bike. 30 OA in T1; 4/14 in AG - pretty pleased with this time What would you do differently?: Not much different to do here. I could have moved faster, but I am pleased with this performance.  Bike
Comments: I remember reading this course was supposed to be fairly flat. I guess these locals have never been out to west Texas. There were many rolling hills, but the slight wind on the way out was nice to help add a little speed. One monster hill at the turn of the bike had to be the steepest hill I have ever ridden up. I slowed to 5 mph trying to get up this thing. Luckily we got to turn around and ride down after the climb. After the hill, i had a sudden sting in my left big toe. I thought I had been stung by a bee! It hurt so bad I stopped and took off my shoe to check if something was caught in there. I didn't find anything so i got going again. I prayed for relief and continued on my merry way. The roads were rough early on the bike then again toward the end. Overall a challenging bike course. What would you do differently?: I was close to the middle of the pack, which is typical for me. I could have pushed harder at times, but I was conserving energy for the run. Ultimately I wouldn't change this bike on race day, but I could have trained more in preparation. Transition 2
Comments: I was slowed getting into T2 as there were a couple of bikers walking their bikes in through the funnel into transition. After making it in, the racks were really close, creating a difficult path to my spot on the rack in the middle. After racking my bike, I had to squeeze by a few others in transition to make it out. 16 OA in T2; 3/14 in AG - I'm very happy with this. What would you do differently?: Request more room! I took an extra few seconds to make sure all my gear was off the ground. This event was a "clean" transition where everything had to be kept in bags. I wanted to make sure I left my area clean so I didn't get penalized.  Run
Comments: Now for the fun. This was a trail run plain and simple. Over 3 miles of this 10k run was on a trail that I would have trouble riding a four wheeler through. Some of the hills were over 45 degrees steep and both up and down had rocks and even steps. I was able to traverse the trail run, although I was completely ill prepared. I even slipped while trying to lightly jog down one hill. I wasn't hurt and was able to pop right back up off my hands, but it was precarious running on gravel. At every aid station I poured water on my head to keep cool and drank at least one cup of water. Hydration was good. However, after struggling through a lot of the trail run I was exhausted by the time I hit the pavement. I was able to run most of it, but at a pretty slow pace. Regardless of how much energy I had, I picked up the pace the last quarter of a mile and sprinted hard through the finish chute. I love hearing the announcer appreciate my strong finish. What would you do differently?: Practice trail running. Post race
Warm down: After crossing the finish line, I accepted my medal and put a wet towel around my neck. Then I walked down the finish chute to watch the always entertaining KP finish. I drank lots of water, ate some orange slices and then had some chocolate milk. Later KP and I had a beer and got a burger. We caught up with a few other Abilene finishers and chatted about the race. What limited your ability to perform faster: The trail run was definitely my Achilles heel of this race. I was on track to perform as I had hoped until I began traversing through the mountains of PK. Event comments: After completing the race, I realized it wasn't poorly organized. However, before the race there was much confusion. I can't imagine doing this race as a newbie. I rated this race as average because I don't think the trail run was well advertised for what it was. The post race activities, aid stations and volunteers really made up for a lot of the negatives of this race. Profile Album Last updated: 2013-09-17 12:00 AM
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United States
Cadence Sports, Inc.
Sunny
Overall Rank = 87/174
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 12/14
My racing and travel buddy, KP, and I arrived Saturday and got checked in and signed up for the pasta dinner. After trying to figure out the transitions and where everything was located, we tried to find a place to camp. KP and I have camped prior to a tri before, but this experience was unique to say the least. KP acquired a tent attachment for the bed of his Chevy Avalanche. So we loaded the back with sleeping bags, lots of padding and a couple fans. Don't worry, we slept in different bags with heads at either end. No funny business! After enjoying the pasta dinner and meeting lots of people from Abilene, we went to our newly found "camping spot", set up the tent and found a place to borrow electricity to power our fans. We set up our camping chairs and watched a movie to pass the time.
After a decent nights worth of "camping sleep" (you campers know what I mean), we woke up about 5:15 to tear stuff down and get to transition. This tri had a different transition for T1 and T2, so we dropped off our T2 bags and made sure T1 was set up. I ate a banana and a cliff bar with some Gatorade. I attempted to stretch on a park bench, but it was unfortunately covered with sapp from the nearby tree so I became fairly sticky. My only option was to spit in my hands and try to "rinse" a few spots clean.