Swim
Comments: Swim was fine. Really wanted to do the full swim though. What would you do differently?: Nothing. Transition 1
Comments: Since the transition area was such a disaster, I carried my bike instead of rolling it through the mud. Hard to get traction through there so I took it slow so I wouldn't wipe out. Once out of the mud bath, I took some time to find a puddle and get the mass of mud off my feet before jamming them in my shoes. What would you do differently?: I'm not sure. Bike
Comments: I came as close to bonking here as you can get and still come back alive. I didn't plan on hanging around for 3 hours before racing so I didn't plan additional nutrition/water. The ride was pretty much a disaster but I drank enough stuff to relight the fire. Finished the ride pretty strong. I think all the standing around and shivering in the morning probably didn't help my legs either. They felt heavy and hard to turn for a good portion of the ride. I willed myself through this. What would you do differently?: Plan on everything going wrong before the race. If it doesn't, then it's a happy surprise. Transition 2
Comments: I have A LOT to say here. Mud, mud, mud, mud, mud. That said, by my row in the transition area it looked like a bomb went off. Trash bags were everywhere, water bottles, goggles ... it was ridiculous. My stuff too ... I was no different. I couldn't find my gel for the run and I WAS NOT LEAVING WITHOUT IT. I ran through transition barefoot and put my shoes on once I got out of the muck. What would you do differently?: Hard to say. I was completely off my game the entire race so ... Run
Comments: By the time I got to the run I was so happy to be doing something I KNOW I am good at. The first couple of miles were good but I just couldn't hold the pace the whole way. I walked the uphills during mile 4 (there were a lot of them) but managed to run the rest of the race at a pretty good clip. What would you do differently?: Bring more gel ... Post race
Warm down: I stopped, drank water, ate some watermelon, drank more water. Showered at the beach house ... shower is a loose term. Washed the mud off and put on clean, dry clothes. What limited your ability to perform faster: The wait in the morning just killed me. I didn't bring additional nutrition or have enough water to last the whole extra 1'45" until race time. Lessons learned: 1) Bring the refrigerator and take home leftovers. I'll never be caught w/o enough fuel for the fire again. 2) Bring a rainsuit for hanging out in situations such as these. I spent a lot of energy shivering. 3) Bring gallons of water instead of bottles of water. Who knows what might happen. 4) More gels, more HEED, more race fuel. Event comments: Here are my thoughts, less the misery of the day. 1) Needs more porta-potties. There were 3 for the crowd of 1000 racers. 2) If the race is delayed, get the kids some water. I realize they couldn't control the weather and REALLY wanted to have the race but the updates were mostly "We're on the mic to tell you that we'll tell you something in 5 more minutes." The race time just kept getting pushed back and pushed back in teeny tiny increments. Last updated: 2007-07-15 12:00 AM
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United States
Precipitation
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 7/10
Routine is an interesting word to use here. I've never raced in the POURING FREAKIN'rain before. Nothing I did was what I would normally do because circumstances were so very odd. I stood around and shivered waiting to hear whether or not the race would happen or not.
They didn't make the race day call until about 7:30. At that time, I went and set my stuff up in transition as best I could. It was a mine field of garbage bags and umbrellas. I got in a quick swim before the race.