Swim
Comments: I bought a DeSoto speed tube to use this year in wetsuit legal races. If you're not familiar with these, it's basically a pair of wetsuit pants with a drawstring at the waist. I think these things are great. A little flotation with none of the constriction of my admittedly poor fitting sleeveless suit. Anyway, I was fighting with a couple of guys for the same water for about 100 meters, but after the first turn everyone else died a little and I had smooth water the rest of the way. The course was 2 loops, so I did start catching some 2nd wave folks on my 2nd loop, but it really wan't a big deal. What would you do differently?: Nothing at all. I went out hard and then maintained a strong pace (at least for me). Transition 1
Comments: Kind of a slow T1. I stumbled a little putting my bike shoes on. Usually I leave them on the bike, but the start was uphill enough that I didn't want to try that this time. What would you do differently?: Practice putting on my bike shoes while tired from swimming. Bike
Comments: I was in the lead after the swim and riding scared. The course was one big loop, so I had no idea where people were behind me. The bike course is the best part of this race with a section on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Very pretty. No one caught me on the bike, so I'll count that as a good day. What would you do differently?: I could still use a little more strength on some of the steeper hills. I was pretty tired coming up the last big hill before transition. Transition 2
Comments: T2 was a little better than T1, but still could have been faster. Run
Comments: First of all, the run was not 5K. It was substabtially shorter. The first 1/2 mile or so was on a single-track type trail followed by 3/4 of a mile of uphill (and only uphill). It was pretty hard. After the turnaround, I realized that I only had a 45 second or so lead on the first woman (started in the 2nd wave) and I had better pick it up to the end. Turns out she was or is an ITU pro, so I wouldn't have felt bad losing to her. Luckily, I was able to hold her and everone else off and cross the line in first place. What would you do differently?: Run a little harder up the hill. Post race
Warm down: Walked around and waited for my wife to finish. What limited your ability to perform faster: Genetics Event comments: This is my second overall win in a row, so I'm pretty darn excited about that. I've got one more sprint in a week and I'm hoping to go 3 for 3. If that happens, I may just have to retire from the sport and go out on top. (I don't have any delusions of grandeur, I know there are lots and lots of people out there that would crush me, it just so happens that none of them have been at the last 2 races) I've said it before and I'll say it again, setup events puts on great races. And I mean great. If you ever have a chance to do one of theirs, take it. Last updated: 2007-06-24 12:00 AM
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Set-Up, Inc.
Overall Rank = 1/100
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 1/5
My wife and I woke up at about 5am, ate breakfast, and left for the race at 5:50 or so. Driving through the TN and NC mountains wasn't my favorite pre-race activity, but I managed to get to the race site with plenty of time to spare.
After getting transition set up I rode about 1-2 miles, ran about 5 minutes, and then swam around a little just before the start. Nothing very structured. I've been thinking that I need to be a little more rigorous with my pre-race warmup. Maybe I'll have a better plan at the next race that I do.