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 Swim
Comments: So Bill on BT had suggested that I practice OWS before the race, saying that it's a whole different animal, and I took that to heart. However, I was out of town for the past week and a half, so I didn't get a chance to do those organized practice swims he told me about. I wish I had, because, damn! You can't see anything in there! Between that and getting kicked in the head continuously, I was beginning to question why people called this "fun". So I decided to mostly breast-stroke it, although my frog kick hitting the guys around me seemed to piss them off. What would you do differently?: Build up my swimming distance. Be able to swim at least a mile non-stop in the pool and practice OWS (although at COMBAT in May, that's not an issue, being a pool swim, heh heh)  Transition 1
Comments: Got of the water, wasn't if it was inappropriate to sprint up the carpet and to your bike or something as everyone in front of me was doing this leisurely jog. Then came the wetsuit strippers! Those guys rock! They got me out of my suit in like 2 seconds, and off I went! Found my bike, threw my wetsuit down, put on my socks, bike shoes, and helmet, and trotted off to the bike start. What would you do differently?: Ask some experience triathletes how they set up their transition and get through T1 so damn fast (some of those guys did it in just over a minute!)  Bike
Comments: Decent tailwind on the way out, so I was doing 21-ish, but had to slow down significantly on the way back (16-ish). Felt good, passed lots of people and cheered on any BT'ers I saw along the way. Decent time for my first triathlon, but overall think I should be able to do 12.5 miles fast than sub-19mph. What would you do differently?: More training on the bike, push it more while racing. Also, for this short of a distance, consider just pedaling in my running shoes to save time on transition. Transition 2
Comments: Too slow on the dismount. Legs felt really weird when I first got off, which was pretty disorienting. Otherwise, decent T2 time. What would you do differently?: More bricks. Brake later and hop off right into a run.  Run
Comments: Decent pace for the run, started raining in the middle of the second mile (thank God I made it through the bike before the rain came). What would you do differently?: More bricks. Post race
Warm down: Huddle in the post-race tent, trying to keep warm while scarfing down pizza (yum!) What limited your ability to perform faster: Training, novice triathlete status, lack of practicing OWS and transitions. Event comments: This is a really great race to do, especially if you're a newbie like me. Very well organized and lots of post-race activities (it's a shame that the rained pretty much ruined so much of what they had planned for after the race). Being part of an entire "Triathlon Festival" makes it even greater as you can check out the more experienced triathletes compete in the Oly/HIM the following day. Profile Album Last updated: 2007-02-22 12:00 AM
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70F / 21C
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Overall Rank = 102/721
Age Group = M25-29
Age Group Rank = 12/45
Woke up at 5am, although I wouldn't say "woke up" exactly as I never really slept. I wasn't super-nervous or anything, my mind was just racing and I just couldn't seem to fall asleep. Anyway, I got out of bed, had some cereal and a banana, followed by half a Moutain Dew Code Red (hey, it worked for marathons, why shouldn't it work for triathlons too?). Got dressed, loaded up the car, and my dad and my girlfriend and I all headed down to Moody Gardens. It was nice living on the island, as it was only a 15min drive to the race.
Got my body marked, finally figured out what that adhesive race number was for (goes on my helmet, duh!), and proceeded to set my transition. Having never done this, I sort of looked around and got a better idea. Apparently my bike was facing the wrong way as some official came by and told me as much. Little embarrassing, but oh well. I briefly considered "warming up" for the swim, but then I remembered that so far the furthest I had swum continuously was only 200m, so I figured I should save my energy for the actual race. Ran into a bunch of people from UTMB, so I hung with them, Laura, and my Dad until race start.