Swim
Comments: The waves are self seeded according to how fast you swim. I was debating on whether or not to swim in the first wave because I was worried that I would get beat up by a bunch of guys. I had settled on going with the second wave but no one wanted to go out in the first and they needed more people to fill it up. I decided to bit the bullet and go. Since I crossed the mat at the very end I couldn't get a space at the front of the pack so I decided to sit back and wait a couple of seconds after the horn went off to find an opening. The wave went off pretty fast and surprisingly I did not get kicked or hit at all. There were a lot of really fast swimmers for me to draft off of and I only had to sight a little bit. I swam into the shore as far as I could and then sprinted out of the water. I ran up the slope and passed a girl along the way. I even remembered to unzip my wetsuit before I took off my swim cap this time. What would you do differently?: I would like to get faster but all in all I think this was a good swim and it was over a minute faster than my time last year. Transition 1
Comments: My wetsuit came off easily. I put on my shirt, shoes, helmet and was off. I tried to spend as little time as possible cleaning of my feet. What would you do differently?: I think I can still improve here. I my time in T1 was about mid pack. Bike
Comments: The first part of the course is a gradual uphill climb. I felt really good starting out and I even passed a few people. (A car honked at me at one point when I was passing someone. I am not sure where they thought they were going because there were a lot more bikes in front of me for them to pass but whatever.) Then it seems like the course is all downhill and it seems to never end. I felt really comfortable flying down the hills and picked up a lot of speed. This was my third year doing this race so I was fully aware of the horrible hill ahead of me. I tried to keep my legs spinning so I would be prepared to use them on the hills. When I finally hit them I think I did a good job. I passed some people and I even made it up the steepest hill that I have had to walk my bike up both times I did this race before. It was tough but I did it! What would you do differently?: Other than needing to get more saddle time I am pretty pleased with my performance. I was almost 10 minutes faster than last year. Transition 2
Comments: I felt really wobbly after getting off my bike and it took some effort to keep myself balanced. I am glad I racked close to the bike finish so I didn't have to run very far. What would you do differently?: I need to work on faster transitions. I was about mid pack here. Run
Comments: I ran most of the course but I did walk some of the hills. I know I could have done better. I think I have a mental block when it comes to running. I don't think that I am any good at it so I set myself up to do poorly. Not good. The last half of the run I really got into a groove and paced myself off some guy that was running a good speed for me. Once I rounded the last corner I really kicked it up and sprinted to the finish. I passed three or four people on the way in. It felt good to really push myself. This really showed me that I can give more during the run than I think. That said, I was almost 10 minutes faster than last year. What would you do differently?: Don't give into my negative thinking and run more. Post race
Warm down: I grabbed some water and walked over to talk to Toni who came to the race to cheer on some friends who came over from Eastern Washington to race. I stuck around to watch the awards and then left. What limited your ability to perform faster: I need to work on biking and running but those have improved a lot since last season. I can see that my hard work is paying off but I still have a long way to go. Event comments: This race is one of my favorite races. The course has just the right amount of challenge for me and it is a good race to gauge my training progress. I actually did very well at this race. I was a whole 20 minutes faster this year as compared to last year! I am very happy with my performance. Last updated: 2007-05-31 12:00 AM
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United States
City of Bellingham
Sunny
Overall Rank = 79/174
Age Group = F25-29
Age Group Rank = 14/27
I drove up to stay at my aunt's house in Sumas the night before. One thing that makes this race one of my favorites is the fact that it starts at 1pm. I tried to sleep in as late as possible but I ended up waking at around 7. I took a shower and lounged around for a bit. I decided to get to the race pretty early so I could watch the competitive race for a little while. I stopped at Haggen's on the way to pick up a little breakfast and headed to Lake Padden. I got there at around 10 and even got a parking spot fairly close to the transition area and along the run course. I sat in my car and ate and watched people run by. At around 11:30 I gathered up all of my stuff and headed toward the transition area. They weren't supposed to open it to the recreational competitors until noon but they were letting people in so I went in too. I set up my stuff near the bike in/out so I wouldn't have to run very far in my cycling shoes. After I set up everything I milled around for a bit then grabbed my wetsuit and headed to the lake.
I got in the water and swam a little bit before the pre-race meeting. The water felt a lot colder than last year but no too cold. Soon everyone was called out of the water for the pre-race meeting.