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 Swim
Comments: Purposely started to the far side of course and to the back since I was a newbie. I quickly seemed to get into the pack and while it was a little unsettling seeing feet kicking in my face and bumping into others it wasn't too bad (it's weird when you breath and look right into the eyes of the person next to you - messes with your head). Got winded about 1/2 way out to the bouy and just got inside my head and focused on my drills (I value the TI drills very much for just this purpose). Once I rounded the bouy it seemed like an eternity to get to the beach. I got a little disoriented and felt like there weren't as many people around me but I didn't see them all in front of me. I still don't know where they went but I was on course. Got winded once and refocused on form. What would you do differently?: I was surprised that this was the best part of my race since I have never been a swimmer. I think I would have started closer to the front and inside of the pack now that I know what to expect. I want to focus on more strength workouts for lats and core.  Transition 1
Comments: I dillydallied in the fresh water shower (my girlfriend kept yelling at me reminding me that "this is a race" and some one actually had to push me out of the way). What was I thinking? I was laughing and having fun and actually trying to catch my breath and get my brain in gear for the next leg. Found my bike okay (good idea to do a pre-race run through on where your bike is). I honestly can't remember if I sat on the bucket or not - I dont' think I did. Had trouble ripping open a packet of Clif Shot Blocks and ate 3 of them and chased them with water. Rinsed my feet w/bottle water and forgot to dry them which made me stuggle with my bike shoes. Put a PowerBar gel in my tri top for the ride. Took 2 bottles of water (only need one). Walked (were'nt allowed to run) my bike out of transition and thankfully my left pedal was down where it normally is for me to straddle the bike and clip in (I should have made sure about this - it was purely by chance). Clipped in fine and slowly built up to speed. What would you do differently?: Pre-race check where my bike is oriented when I go thru the transition gate. Run through the shower. Dry my feet. Have Shot blocks ready to eat.  Bike
Comments: I was surprised that this was the worst of all 3 events for me. I mistakenly assumed that since I'd been biking longer than I had been swimming and running that it would be the best part of the race for me. I think there are 2 reasons why I as so slow: 1) I was intentionally not allowing myself to push and burn up my legs so I couldn't run (this is pure inexperience in not knowing my potential). 2) I was too unfocused. I found myself daydreaming and enjoying the experience and the scenery way too much (this is actually a good thing for this first race since my goal was to ENJOY it and want to do it again.) I can tend to get way too competitive and when that happens and its no longer fun, I tend to quit. I don't want that to happen. What would you do differently?: Carry only one bottle of water. Do more distance and strength workouts to improve my pedaling efficiency. FOCUS-do not daydream. Push harder. Do more bike/run bricks. Transition 2
Comments: Thought this transition went well. I am surprised it took almost as long as T1- Hmmm? What would you do differently?: I'd like to try taking my feet out of my shoes and leaving them on my bike pedals. Don't know how difficult that is...  Run
Comments: I was dreading this part. It was very hard. I focused on the first 1/2 mile knowing my legs would take that long to loosen up. Then I focused on cadence and relaxing my arms/shoulders and keeping my head and chest up. Got passed by one of my age groupers and got bummed but then I passed one and I felt better. Walked thru water stations, drank, splashed and ran. 2nd water station drank a little too much too soon and felt like puking but didn't. Mentally last mile was hardest. Knew I was going to want to quit when I saw the finish line (what is wrong with me?) so broke the last 1/2 mile down into increments. Convinced myself that I wasn't going to die and that it was okay to go anaerobic and go thru the discomfort and that even if I passed out after I crossed the line, that was okay. Picked it up and felt strong crossing the line. VERY uncomfortable but I survived! What would you do differently?: Nothing. For the first race I did the best I could. In future: Run more LSDs. Do more speed work and bike/run bricks. Learn to look forward to the feeling you experience at the end of the race and not to fear it. Post race
Warm down: Drank water. Walked around and celebrated with friends. SMILED AND LAUGHED A LOT! Should have walked more and stretched but I was too psyched up and disregarded it. Ate a 1/2 bagel, watermelon and 1/2 a banana. What limited your ability to perform faster: Lack of experience - didn't know how hard I could push on the bike. Need to do more bricks, more LSDs in bike and run. Event comments: I LOVED IT! I'm hooked and can't wait to train for future events. Last updated: 2007-05-27 12:00 AM
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United States
Crystal River Triathlon Series
Sunny
Overall Rank = 153/209
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 2/4
Up at 5:am. Ate 1/2 bowl Kashi, 1/2 bagel w/pnut butter & milk. (Note: the night before I meant to have a nice tofu/spinach lasagna I cooked but it wasn't ready before we went to watch our high school's graduation so it was 9:pm before I ate dinner. Opted out of the lasagna and had a bowl of cherios and some strawberries instead. Went to bed by 9:30pm.
Ate protein smoothie w/pnut butter and banana at 6:am. Sandy & John came by at 6:15 & on to the beach.
Registered and figured out where to go in the transition area. Thankfully we were side by side. Layed out our stuff and realized when I pulled my yellow "novice" cap out of my bag that I forgot to change my classification to my age group. Got flustered and ran back to the registration desk and switched. They were calling us to pre-race announcements so I got flustered and didn't think through my lay out on the towel. (By the way, Sandy and I shared a bucket that she carried her stuff in - we turned it upside down and sat on it to put our shoes on & it worked well). Met some friends and nervously chatted w/folks.
Mostly nervous jumping up and down and shaking my legs/arms out. Should have walked about 5 min and did some calf/quad and other stretches. Went for a quick swim w/closed fists to focus on full arm pull and body rotation. Tried to imprint my TI stuff in my head. Peed in the water during singing of the National Anthem (never did that before unless it happened when I was a baby). Wished Sandy good luck and prayed!