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 Swim
Comments: Once I got my breathing under control and remembered that there's a useful reason for practicing bilateral breathing ... I used it. It didn't make the swim any better, but I wasn't drinking as much of White Lake. What is this drafting? Seriously, this is the first OWS where I could actually see other people. The lake is super clear. I managed to spot a bunch of trash on the bottom of the lake. That's a shame ... such a beautiful facility harboring so much trash! Later, someone told me the Navy Seals were down there somewhere. I didn't see them ... but I wouldn't, would I? What would you do differently?: Swim faster? Take up surfing? Stay home and bask in the glory that is me? I'm rating the swim average because ... it was slow ... but it was determined!  Transition 1
Comments: Once you completed the run along the yellow brick road from Kansas to transition ... transition was this giant L-shaped thing, and I was fortunate enough to be racked with the Elites. By the time I got there, there were only a couple of bikes anywhere to be seen. The good news about being that close to the Elites is that the run with the bike is the shortest from that vantage point. I rinsed my feet ... applied socks and biking shoes ... grabbed my helmet, shades and Bridget and off we went. Mounting was less of an issue this time. I managed to get clipped in without killing anyone going out for their second lap ... or myself. What would you do differently?: Attempt to land the house closer to transition?  Bike
Comments: I wasn't expecting the winds. I had been training on hills as much as possible and tried to imagine that instead of winds, I was battling hills. It didn't really work since hills don't run up and smack you without you seeing them coming. Do they? I really wanted to keep this about 16 mph. I know ... low bar for some of you, but for me that was a stretch. I pushed myself but there just seemed to be no end to the wind. You'd think that with a circular lake, you'd eventually hit a tailwind, right? I never found one. I had some lovely headwinds and some wicked crosswinds ... but no help. It's so disheartening to look at your speedo and watch it go 18mph to 9 mph in a matter of a second. I made sure to treat my legs by spinning in the last half mile or so, but I still managed to pass some people. I did notice that people weren't dropping back when they got passed, and with the number of people on the course ... that made it hard. OH OH OH ... and what's up with passing and then slowing down ... at one point I lost 5 mph by trying to maintain my position!! I eventually sucked it up and passed her back, but it was frustrating. I will note that at about mile 10, I managed my first ever successful snot rocket. Thought I should share ... it didn't hit any part of me or my bike. What would you do differently?: Train in a wind tunnel? Nothing really ... I met my goal. Transition 2
Comments: The first thing I realized was that fighting the wind had exhausted some muscles that I wasn't used to using. That or I fell asleep on the bike course and the pod people stole my actual legs and replaced them with a space substance that has the specific gravity of lead and the consistency of pudding. I ambled from my rack to the run start, which was WAY THE FRICK over where I left the house when it landed on that witch that I could only hope was not one of the USAT officials. What would you do differently?: Find another movie reference ... one with stuff that will bleem me from place to place?  Run
Comments: Now look what happened here! I was still basking in the snot rocket achievement when I encountered the alien leg phenomenon. Anyone that's ever been dropped in a lake with those dreaded cement shoes and live to tell will know what I'm talking about! I felt like I was moving like Frankenstein's monster. I decided to stick with the 5 minute run/ 1 minute walk for as long as I could. I felt much better after the first cycle, but apparently I had no idea I was actually making decent time. Sad-but-true PR kind of time. By the time I hit the turn around, I'd found a groove and was trying to stay steady with footfall cadence. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry ... seriously ... was working alot more on left-right-left-right-breathe! Seeing those colored flags helped pick things up a little ... and then I saw Jen and Ryan standing right where we turned to run into the finish ... high fives and a burst of energy and off I went for my big finish! What would you do differently?: See if Scully and Mulder could track down the source of the alien legs and get my own actual legs back ... even though mine are a little slower ... they don't feel all icky and weird. Post race
Warm down: I have to tell you ... nuthouse is a man without equal. Pre-race, I told him that all I really wanted at race finish was a nice cold Diet Coke ... and there he was ... with one for both me and NCTriNewbie! Better than drugs, I tell you! Met up with kapinto and got introduced to thegoddess and captanthony. It's cool to meet people from the board ... I met ADollar79 the day before as I wrote numbers and stuff on his body. I also ran into spot and ellasdad. I'm sure there were others, but my brain fails me. I just hung around the finish chute until Teri finished ... and no, I didn't drink her Diet Coke. :) We listened to a little bit of the awards ceremony and then decided to hit the road. What limited your ability to perform faster: My generous proportions. My fitness level. My unwillingness to cooperate with the aliens. Event comments: I'm still making this a "5-Best" even though I hated the swim. On any other day, the lake would proabaly be perfect. There was about the same number of volunteers on Sunday as there was on Saturday ... enough for a Sprint ... probably not enough for a Half. (In my humble, worked a little too thoroughly as a volunteer, opinion) I was told that the race is flat ... and it is by golly flat. Looking at the finish time, though, I wouldn't count on it being necessarily fast ... just flat. I recommend this race to anyone that doensn't love OWS. The lake is shallow and clear with a white sand bottom. I think many of us walked the last 25 feet to the ladders. :) Last updated: 2007-02-03 12:00 AM
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United States
Set-up Inc.
70F / 21C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 179/238
Age Group = Athena
Age Group Rank = 9/13
Let's see ... does Body Marking, working swim finish, a bike station (32 mile mark) and run course monitoring the day before for the White Lake Half count? Considering the lack of nutrition and hydration that went along with it ... I'd say it counts against any good race planning ... but it sure was fun. Body marking is ... well ... sweet. Anyway ...
NCTriNewbie and I stayed in Clayton, so our day started with driving. Got to the site in plenty of time to park at the FFA facility, check the water, get body marked, set up transition, pick up chips, check the water again, marvel at all the cool people with wetsuits, check the water again and still get down to the lake in time to watch them forcibly remove the surfers from the swim course. I decided that this race was going to offer all of the benefit of an ocean swim without the pesky salt or predators. Yes, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Always the great supporter, nuthouse came over to wish us luck ... introduced us to his dad, who was there as race support. Michelle and the kids were there, too ... which was nice ... a cool adoptive family to cheer for us! YAY nuthouse dwellers!
I had managed to down a bagel with some peanut butter, and I could only hope I wouldn't be chumming.
The temp at the start was about 60 degrees, so it was still much warmer in the water than out. Once I got in, I was pretty sure I had completely lost my mind somewhere along the way. I swam a few strokes. Complained aloud about the whitecaps ... you know ... in case no one else had noticed. We managed a few WOOHOO's and then the horn sounded and off we went into the
sealake.