Swim
Comments: Swim went fine. Dug my feet into the muck on the bottom of the lake to keep my feet from freezing while waiting for start. It was gross but worked really well. I had trouble finding anyone to draft of off. Overall the swim was a calm one. The start was not too crazy. What would you do differently?: I would like to try to draft more but just didn't have many opportunities this time. Transition 1
Comments: These were my longest transitions ever, but still fast overall compared to the rest of the field. (32/86). I had to put on long sleeves and gloves for the bike if I didn't want to die of hypothermia so had to take that time to dry to get dressed while soaking wet. It was not easy! But we all obviously had the same issues. What would you do differently?: Nothing. Bike
Comments: Pouring rain the entire course! Tried not to freeze and not to quit. Thought about quitting every few minutes but reminded myself how much more of a badass I would be if I didn't quit:) Once I hit the turn around it was now or never to give up, but I kept going, onto that 2nd loop even though I couldn't feel most of my body. I did not check my watch or pace the whole second lap. I didn't care anymore. All I wanted to do was finish. I had trouble sticking with my nutrition plan because I just didn't want to move out of aero position! I only had one gel instead of two, but was still able to stay hydrated pretty well. I also had some issues with my brakes not working well. I just had to break early and was fine enough. Luckily the course had very few turns. What would you do differently?: Maybe buy a water proof jacket the day before the race. I did buy the gloves which I think kept me from having to have any fingers amputated, but my attire could have been better. I am sure no one was warm and dry though! Transition 2
Comments: Again a slow transition filled with not being able to feel fingers and toes. I was grateful for a fresh pair of socks to change into though! What would you do differently?: Nothing. Just had to get through it and I did. Run
Comments: This was a great run for me! I run much better in the cold so this was by far my best longer distance tri run. When I first started out I didnt know what to expect but my body was so excited to get some blood pumping and warm up that I stayed under a ten minute pace the entire run. At this time too I also saw that A LOT of people had dropped out. The run was lonely at points but everyone was really supportive of each other because we knew what hell we were going through! For most of the run it was only a light rain. The skies opened up again around mile 7. What would you do differently?: Not sure. It was a good run for me. I had one gel around mile 3 and that seemed to be enough. Alternated water and gatorade at each aid station. Volunteers were awesome btw, especially this group of really loud teenagers at the run turnaround. Post race
Warm down: LOL warm down? It was much more trying to WARM UP! I got out of my wet clothes in the car as quickly as I could and put on a poncho. Then went over for awards and then eventually to throw everything from transition into a garbage bag. Everything was soaked of course!! What limited your ability to perform faster: The weather. That's it! Event comments: First time ever doing a Piranha Sports race. They put on a great race especially under these weather conditions! I hope to do this race again next year in better weather!! Last updated: 2016-05-02 12:00 AM
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United States
Piranha Sports
48F / 9C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 50/86
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 1/1
The night before I stayed in a hotel in Vineland which made my race morning drive 25 minutes instead of almost 2 hours. Woke up at 4:45 for coffee and bagel with PB breakfast. Was out of the hotel by 5:30. I needed to get to race site early because I was switching from the Sprint to the Half Lite. It was an easy switch with $30 additional payment and check in went very smoothly.
The weather was cold and pouring rain. Transition took a long time to set up because of my attempts to keep everything dry and in bags. Also I knew I would need to wear more than just a tri suit for the first time ever so I had a bag of extra dry clothes in transition, two long sleeve dry wick shirts, extra socks and gloves. Once transition closed I still had almost 45 minutes until my wave started so I went and sat in my car with the heat blasting. Once the waves started I walked over in full wetsuit, two swim caps, socks and flip flops.
Jumping up and down to try to stay warm.