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 Swim
Comments: I decided to go with no wetsuit for this swim. I really don't like my wetsuit and I'm pretty much convinced it saves me no time, primarily because it doesn't fit right. I was pretty cold standing waist deep in the water for 15-20 minutes (delayed start), but other than that I really didn't regret my decision. Once I got going, I didn't even notice the water temp. On the way back in, sighting was pretty tough. Not a lot of buoys and a long way in between each one. Came out of the water just under 32 minutes, which is right where I needed to be. What would you do differently?: Nothing really, except maybe sight a little better. No wetsuit was definitely the right call.  Transition 1
Comments: Kinda slow, but the rain had me thinking that this wan't a PR type day anyway. Saw my wife and said hi. Told her I'd see her in 3 hours or so. What would you do differently?: Nothing  Bike
Comments: This was a great bike leg for me. I told myself not to go too hard on the first loop (of 2) and just see where I was at the turnaround. I nearly fell off my bike when I saw 1:22 on my watch. This is probably where my day started to turn around. I was actually getting into it a little. The second loop was similar to the first, maybe a touch slower, but I wanted to have something left for the run. I developed a little bit of abdominal pain during the second loop, but nothing that slowed me down all that much. What would you do differently?: Looking at the splits tells me that I still need to work on my bike leg. I did several 3-3.5 hour rides during training, but I think I need to increase my time in the saddle even more to improve. Transition 2
Comments: I put my running shoes in a plastic bag earlier in the morning. This was the best decision I made all day as they stayed mostly dry despite lots of rain.  Run
Comments: This is really my strong suit. I tend to run better than the average triathlete. Coming off the bike I realized I need to maintain about 7:30s to break the 5h mark. I was able to do this for about 9.5 miles, but then intense pain in my stomach (remant from the bike) caused me to slow by about a min/mile and probably cost me the sub-5h day. I really started to lose it a little at the 4.5 hour mark, which is also the longest training day that I had. I think there may be a correlation. Still, my goal was to run the entire run, which I was able to do. All things considered, not a bad run. What would you do differently?: I probably should have run more than 12 miles in a single training run at least a couple of times. Post race
Warm down: Walked around. I really wanted to lie down and just stay there for a while, but I knew this wasn't the best choice. What limited your ability to perform faster: A little more endurance training would probably help me get under 5. Also, I tend to notice that the people who beat me are alway quite a bit stronger looking. Maybe I should spend some more time in the weight room. Event comments: This was a great race for me and a really nice way to end the season (30 minute PR). It also gives me a nice goal for next season. For now though, it's time to eat some nachos, drink some beer, and watch as much football as humanly possible. Last updated: 2006-09-06 12:00 AM
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United States
Race Day Events
72F / 22C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 32/173
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 5/21
My wife and I drove down to the race the day before through some torrential rain and thunderstorms. I was starting to wonder if the swim would be cancelled as the forcast called for more of the same the next day. Even though this race was my last for the season, I couldn't seem to get too fired up about it. Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was dissapointing race results over the last couple of months. I'm not sure.
Anyway, checked into the hotel (only 2 miles from race site) and rode the bike a little in between bouts of rain. Went to dinner at a really good Italian restaurant in Lenoir City. Back at the hotel we just watched a little TV and I fell asleep about 9:30 or 10.
Woke up around 5:30 or so, ate some grape nuts (which contain neither grapes nor nut, kinda strange) and a banana and got the gear together for the race. We arrived at the race site at about 6:45 and set up my transition area. The more tris I do, the less stressful this part of the day is. I used to really worry about arranging things just so. Now it doesn't seem all that complicated.
I still wasn't all that fired up to be there. Rain was intermittant throughout the morning. Didn't really warm up. I figured I'd have 70.3 miles to do that.