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 Swim
Comments: The course was a large triangle in the pond and there was no visibilty in the water. The start was a time trial start, every 3 seconds, so no crowds to fight. I took off at an average pace, not too sure how I'd do in open water. Swam real well to the first bouy after figuring out a way to look where I was going mid stroke. After the first turn my ability to navigate went down the drain as well as my ability to swim straight. I switched to the breast stroke about half way through the second leg because I swam straighter and in turn much faster. The rest of the way went fine. Third corner went well and I knew I was almost done. The swim was sure to be my weakest event and I knew it would be all downhill once I got out of the water. Or so I thought.... What would you do differently?: Train in open water...at least swim in it some before race day.  Transition 1
Comments: Swim cap (another first) and goggles were off as I felt the water. Running on asphalt was new but not too bad. A lot of people had used sidewalk chalk to mark were they would find their stuff. I picked one by mine to follow and it definatly helped. I was surprised to see Woody (friend/training partner) still in the transistion area he usually smokes me in the water. Changing went fine although a little interesting as wet as I was. The elastic shoelaces were amazing and probably the best spent money that weekend. What would you do differently?: I felt pretty good about the way things went, practice should make it go a little smoother.  Bike
Comments: The bike portion started slow, had trouble getting feet in baskets, (no clips yet) and I was trying to eat some cliff block which made me pretty slow. Once I got up to speed I was feeling good. It didn't take long for the butt to get tired, the Army PT shorts don't have so much padding. I can say I've never been passed by so many 42 year olds as I was for those 40k. I kept worrying about if I was drinking enough water which I think made me drink a little too much in the end. I finished pretty strong once which I was happy about. What would you do differently?: A few more training rides. School scheduals limited me to mostly just weekend rides which involved way too many stops too. So more longer rides would be good too. Transition 2
Comments: I biked in the running shoes and that definatly made the transition go faster. Grabbed a sip of gatorade and took off. What would you do differently?: I paused a little like I had forgotten to do something...it all seemed too easy..I won't do that next time.  Run
Comments: The run started off great, long strides, good pace, flying past people; this was going to be my best event. At about 3/4 of a mile I developed a very painful cramp. I couldn't get it to go away and was forced to walk, I was pissed. I tried to run on and off but never got back to a constant run. I had trouble cooling off and had put my number on my shorts and taken off my shirt. Saw woody about a mile from the turn around and lost all hope of catching up with him. Felt a little better coming back and managed to run all of the last half mile. Crossed the finish line with a complete desire to find some shade and lay down. I had finished the run over 20 minutes slower that I hoped. What would you do differently?: I think I drank a littel too much water and then started out a little too fast determined to make up some time. I also hadn't run in the heat much and that drained me pretty fast. I need to train in more situations besides the cool morning air. Post race
Warm down: I tried to keep walking after I finished and eventualy got in line for the free food. Most of it made me sick to my stomach but the cold watermelon was great. I found Woody who came in about 10 minutes before me who looked as tried as I was. We finally had the stomach to go back and have some real food. The girls drove us home and we slept until dinner. What limited your ability to perform faster: The new task of swimming in open water slowed me down but not as much as just not swimming straight. Biking was limited only by a lack of training rides and time in the saddle, the back and the butt were definatly not used to it. The heat killed my running and inexperience with eating and drinking during a race hurt as well. Event comments: The race was a lot of fun and I would definatly go back. It was very well organized and all of the routes were very well marked. Great volunteers along the way and great food at the finish. Last updated: 2007-01-16 12:00 AM
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United States
Start 2 Finish, Inc.
80F / 27C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 690/1264
Age Group = 20-24
Age Group Rank = 37/41
Got up around 5am, ate a cliff bar and drank some gatorade. Drove to the race sight, about 20 min from the hotel. Parking wasn't too bad since we got there kinda early. Got all of our gear ready and headed off to set up our transition area. I must have had some butterflies in the stomach cause I spent a lot of time in line for a port-a-potty throughout the morning. Didn't really know how to set everything up to transition but got some good advice from the folks around us. The girls that came with us took some pre-race pictures and my buddy and I posed like idiots. Watched the elite start the swim...and finish the swim.... I was impressed. In the end I just stared in awe at what I was going to try to do.
Decided to try swimming in the open water a little since I never had before race-day. Swam out and back about 200m total. The water was real nice except you couldn't see anything more then a couple inches infront of you. Jogged a little around the warmup area and the stretched everything out.