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 Swim
Comments: As soon as I pushed off and rolled for my first breath, I felt great! I had never gone under the lane ropes before and bumped my head and got hung up on the second one. I then began trying to hit the wall just under the rope and come up on the other side. After my third length, the guy 2 behind me had caught me. He didn't tap my feet, but I let him pass me at the wall. He didn't push off well, so I ran into his feet and I had to pull up to recover. He did pull away quickly after that. I don't look forward much while swimming and was worried about bumping into someone. Over half way through I did. I don't know what this guy was doing, but somehow my head hit him somwhere in his mid-section. Three people were clumped together and he was the last of them, he must have been trying to pass, but it seemed like he was back or breas stroking. He apoligized, it didn't hurt, I waved and got back into it. At the last turn someone let someone else pass and then me. I ran into the legs of the girl in front of me near the finish. Then she got on the ladder and stopped! I had no idea if I was allowed to climb out on the side, which I would rather do even if someone wasn't in my way. She finally got out and I made it out and got my PowerBar. It was hard to open with wet hands and I took extra time stopping at a trashcan, I should have carried the trash with me and left it in my bag. Took my time on a fairly long run to transition so I could eat. What would you do differently?: Eat more before the race. Climb out past people if I have to. Run like I'm in a hurry to transition.  Transition 1
Comments: Hadn't planned on eating, hope my running shoes weren't too dirty a plate. :) My bag was kind of under my back wheel so I had a little trouble unhooking the nose of my seat and getting the bike underneath. The rest went as practiced. What would you do differently?: Move my bag. If I wasn't eating I could have focused on running in and out more. At this point I was still very worried about being hungry. I don't plan to jump on the bike, but I would like to get comfortable starting off and then swinging my other leg over.  Bike
Comments: Everyone I passed was riding a hybrid or mountain bike, everyone who passed me was on a road bike. I wish they had a fat tire division. :) First qtr was heavy traffic, but no one scared me. Second qtr had a head wind, the third qtr a little less. 4th qtr is where the big hill is. I saw Billy behind me starting at the big downhill on Medlin. We were being deliberately non-competitive, but I did try to hold him off as long as I could. :) We were both beat when he caught me. He passed very slow and I was worried about staying too close and drafting. My memory is hazy here, I went to pass him and his chain came off or his chain came off and I passed. He did not fall so I kept going. A guy from work passed me shortly after that, I called him by name and said something like "looking strong," he ran off the road looking back to see who I was, corrected and took off. Oops! Once I got back into Riverwood, I coasted and stretched my calves. I dismounted by swinging my right leg off and coasting on the left side of the bike, hit the breaks hard before the line and let my body keep going, twisting my left foot out of the pedal. What would you do differently?: Not ride the first 3 miles choking down a PowerBar! I really need stronger legs, hills are so difficult for me! Transition 2
Comments: I was sure I would have to pee by this point, but I didn't! I kept losing focus that I was racing. I paused when Billy got in and then got back in gear. What would you do differently?: Remember its a race.  Run
Comments: Surprisingly my best event as far as ranking. My calves only tightened a little in the first 5 minutes, although on one downhill I thought they might spasm and leave me on the pavement. I saw Billy just after the turn around and really thought he could catch me. I even wanted him to so we could finish together. I promised him I wouldn't slow down, I wouldn't want him to wait for me in a race, so I didn't slow down. Later I yelled at him accross the pond, don't know if he heard me. This will make me look like a pig, but I was gaining on this girl walking, in just a swim suit and shorts with DUKE written on them. She took off running before I caught her, I was a big Duke fan for about 5 minutes, completely distracted from the pain of running. To my credit, when she slowed to walk again, I didn't hesitate to pass! One of the houses had put their sprinkler on the street, which was nicer than the pace booty! The final few turns were annoying, I was very tired and the people kept saying almost there, but around every turn I couldn't see the finish! It was a strange feeling coming to a stop after the finish line, but I felt great! Just a little disoriented. What would you do differently?: Run faster! Post race
Warm down: Walking around and chasing my son, Zack. Walking back to the transition area. Lucky for me my wife had Gatorade for me. The drinks were a long walk away. I wonder if she would have given it to me if she had known about the pace booty! ;) What limited your ability to perform faster: Nutrition mostly, experience, and maybe equipment (my bike). Event comments: I really liked the race as a beginner. No one was too uptight. There were very few drinks left at the end and I heard they ran out! Last updated: 2007-02-06 12:00 AM
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United States
Set-Up Inc
70F / 21C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 234/267
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 30/32
Woke-up after 3 or 4 hours of sleep at 5:20 (Loud neighbors and nerves). I ate one egg and two pieces of toast and drank some Gatorade. I had packed the night before, just had to load the stuff and my bike into Billy's truck. We probably arrived at Riverwood about 6:40. We each got end spots on our racks. My morning of constantly going to pee started, then I got my chip and body marking with no trouble. Caught back up with Billy and we set up our transitions. After the pre-race meeting, we met Amanda, Keith, and his wife Julie; then the insanely loud speaker ran us off. I drank about half a Coke to settle my stomach.
No warm-up, just walking around being nervous. I had a SlimFast shake about an hour before my start. I'm focusing on what I ate so much so that I'll read this and do a better job next time. When I got the SlimFast, I also brought my Powerbar out of transition and put it in Billy's mom's bag. Shortly after my family got there, I went to transition and stripped down to just my trishorts for the swim, forgot to leave my sunglasses and ran back to put them in my helmet. While standing in line, 10 minutes before my start, I realized I was hungry. Not just, "I probably didn't eat enough" but, "I'm starving, where's breakfast," stomach growling hungry. But my PowerBar was in the wrong place and they can't hand me something on the way by or get into transition to put it in my bag. I saw my wife and asked her to call Billy's wife to get her to try to find a racer who had awhile before start that could put it in my bag. I even suggested throwing it over the fence as close to my spot as they could. While my wife went to call I noticed Billy's family accross the pool, perfect position! I asked the lady checking us in for the swim start if I could put it at the pool exit and pick it up on the way out. She said it was fine, so I quickly walked around the pool, but oh crap, they left their bag outside! My wife was already on the phone with Billy's wife and Billy's mom went and told her the new plan. Luckily Billy was starting 4 minutes after me, so they had time to do all this for me. Billy's wife got the PowerBar and laid it at transition with just over 30 seconds until my start. I'm not confident on the rules, but my understanding is no outside assitance during the race. So she couldn't hand it to me as I went by, but me picking something up that she had laid down before my start should be okay. I wonder if she had not made it until after I started, if that would be against the rules. Anyway thanks to her for saving my race! It was a protein one, not carb, so it lasted me; I might not have finished without it. Next year I'll have extras, so I can put some in transition and keep some with me.