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 Swim
Comments: In this race last year the swim was really hard because of a fast current and a lot of chop. This year the wind was down and current was not too bad. This is a counter-clockwise course and I have tendancy to drift right when I swim. This meant I needed to stay near the bouy line to have any hope of staying on course. I seeded about 3 rows back on the inside. It was a little rough for about 500 meters and I got hit a ffew times but it soon spread out. I also had 3 or 4 people swimming to my right which kept me close to the straighest line. I hit the turn around and realized we had been fighting the current. This resulted in a fast swim back. Had someone drafting me almost the whole leg. I've never had anyone draft me before. I came out of the water feeling good and not out of breath. What would you do differently?: I could have swum a little faster on the way back but I didn't want to come out the water stressed. I ended up beating last years time by over 10 minutes. Some of that was due to the conditions and some from being a better swimmer.  Transition 1
Comments: I'm not sure how far it was from the water to my bike but it had a water stop. I'm guessing 300 yards. I felt like I went pretty quick. What would you do differently?: I could have run harder from the water to my bike. I was in the middle of my age group for T1 time.  Bike
Comments: As usual I got passed like a stop sign on the bike. Things started out pretty well, as I was averaging right at 20 mph and even got up to 22 for awhile. I was still getting passed during this. At about the half way point we turned into the wind, which wasn't that strong. My speed started dropping more than I thought it should and I looked back to see if my brake was rubbing. I felt strong but couldn't pick up the speed. Finally about mile 40 the bike felt funny handling in a slight turn. I looked down and the front wheel was about half flat. I'm guessing I rode about 10 miles with a slow leak. I got off and quickly got the new tube on. I use a CO2 gun for air and had two cartridges with me. Something was wrong with my dispenser and it wouldn't load right. The first cartridge went off and didn't get any air in the tube. I was starting to get a little nervous. I got the second cartridge to load right and finally got the tire inflated. Using my bike computer for my ride time (3:01 versus 3:12) I spent 11 minutes fixing the tire and lost who knows how much time riding with a slow leak. But, that's no excuse because others had problems and that's part of racing. Without the lost time I would have finished middle of the pack for my age group. My nutrition on the bike worked really well. Switching to Hammer products has made a big difference. Getting rid of all the sugar has helped a lot. What would you do differently?: Not get a flat tire. Transition 2
Comments: It went smooth and I was 50 out of 157. What would you do differently?: Nothing  Run
Comments: I wanted to break 6 hours for this race and after the swim and first half of the bike, I thought I would break it by a lot. The flat threw those plans out the window. Coming out of T2, I knew that I needed to be below 2:10 on the run. I had run 2:01 the year before and thought I could beat that. Usually the run is my best part of the race but I didn't have it for this race. I think I pushed too hard on the bike after the flat. For the first 6 miles I wasn't coming close to 9 minute miles. I think I also drank too much at the first couple of water stops. Anyway I cut back the next couple of water stops and picked it up for the second half of the run. At this point I needed to run a 10k in less than an hour. I hit 10 miles and now needed to run a 5k in less than 35 minutes. I was feeling confident at this point. I ended up at 2:02, a little bit of a disappointment. What would you do differently?: Not try to drink the water stops dry. Post race
Warm down: I must have looked bad because the people at the finish kept asking if I was ok. I didn't feel bad. Walked around a little, had some watermelon and talked to a few people. Listened to Michelle tell me how she cut herself with her bike in transition. What limited your ability to perform faster: Learn to ride the damn bike, not get a flat, be faster fixing flats Event comments: They've been doing this race for a while and they have everything down pat. Also, a lot of people do this race over and over and they know what to do. It attracts a lot of the top notch triathletes on the East Coast and is very competitive. I thought the swag was lacking for an expensive race and didn't think the post race stuff was very good. It was hard to find something to drink. Last updated: 2007-01-07 12:00 AM
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United States
Columbia Triathlon Association
82F / 28C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 845/1170
Age Group = 45-49
Age Group Rank = 97/157
I drove to the race site the day before the race, picked up my packet and took my bike through the bike inspection. The inspector said that I might want to check the rear brake because it was sticking. Not a good sign. It seemed a little tight but not bad. So, I hung around the regristration area as the pro's were going to do a question and answer session. I saw a bunch of BTers at the expo and then listened to Kristin and Michelle (Shelly123) tell me how hot they think Chris Legh is. I don't see it but Deseriee Flicker looks pretty good. I then took my bike over to the bike drop off at T1. When I got there and realized that the rear brake was locking shut when squeezed. Right then I saw Rick (Daremo)and asked if he could take a look. He's a former bike mechanic and hoped he could help. He was off to dinner with his wife but he graciously took the time to look at my bike. Thanks Rick. He thought something was kinked or sticking in the front cable housing. He said putting some lubricant in there might help. He went off to dinner and I went to the hardware store. I bought some spray lubricant and spayed it into the housing. I also released the cable and pulled it back and forth. This worked and so I had a rear brake for the race. This race is so flat I could have gone without a brake.
Then went to campout at the high school after eating a real bad Calzone at an Italian resteraunt. I slept well and got up at 4:30.
Staying at the high school is great because it's only a 10 minute drive to the site. I was there a little after 5 and got a pretty good parking place. I set up my transition space and got lucky because the two people that were next to me didn't show up. I had a lot of room. My wave didn't start for almost two hours so I walked around and talked to BTers. It was also cool to see all the bikes and the athletes. This race attracts a lot of top athletes.
Did the porta potty wait and then got into my wetsuit. My wave was 5th or 6th. We were right between the 30-34s and 35-39s. I figured I wouldn't catch many people but may get caught by the following wave. I did manage to pee in my wetsuit waiting for the start while we were wading in the water. First time ever.