Swim
Comments: As mentioned, on my last tri, I had the OWS panic and almost let it ruin my race. I was determined to keep calm and go at a nice slow pace... not worry about different color caps passing me, not get over-confident. The swim was really good. I kept a good pace, was able to keep my face in the water, and generally felt calm and confident the whole time. Official time was 16:52--- my watch time indicates the 80 second run from the lake to T1. I agree with another race report that this swim might have been shorter than posted... Otherwise, this time was smoking fast for me (and highly unpredicted)--- I sure didn't feel like I was swimming faster than I do when I train. Maybe I was. What would you do differently?: Get more used to OWS and be more competitive Transition 1
Comments: Fine-- I may look into a race belt so I don't have to have my number on the front of my shirt. Bike
Comments: Biking is my weak area. I had been riding an old junker I bought off CraigsList, but it was so frustrating to work so hard for such little speed. I sold it at a garage sale the weekend before the tri and gave my wife's old road bike a spin. Not much newer, but a lot better. I did pick up the pace and did about 6 minutes better (for this distance) than my previous 2 tris. I still don't train enough on the bike... so I know that it still needs a lot of work. I did enjoy the ride though. I had such postive energy coming out of the water that I was in good spirits and just did my best. I did see hellacious drafting though.... very blatant and for long distances. It was on the back half of the course and I didn't see many race officials around... so maybe this happens more than I thought. In my first 2 tris I didn't seen much at all. What would you do differently?: Train more... get a new bike. I am actually "shopping" around a bit now with my eye on a new road bike by the end of the year. Transition 2
Comments: Just fine. I have been eating a Hammer Gel during T2, but each time it leaves a bit of a brick in my stomach for the first half of the run. What would you do differently?: I will try some different gels or some other nutrition to see if anything works better for me than Hammer Gels. Run
Comments: Usually my run is my strongest area. In the two other tris I've done my times were almost 2 minutes faster. I just did not feel like I could pick up any speed once I got going. I think maybe that for the first time I actually had a pretty good swim, and a faster bike, so maybe I was just more tired this time. Plus, like I said, I have not run much this summer, so maybe I was off for that reason. I think the Hammer Gel in T2 is not sitting well with me. I just have kind of a rock in my stomach feeling for the first mile or so. Nothing major, I just don't know what else it could be... What would you do differently?: Will run more. Work on speed. Maybe a brick here and there. I will experiment with other nutrition other than the Hammer Gel. Post race
Warm down: None really... drove home. What limited your ability to perform faster: Lack of training. Event comments: I had a great race. I was really low in self confidence after my June race, so i needed this to get me back on the horse. I had hoped to race one more time this year, but scheduling is not lookin good based on family stuff... so, this was as good of a race as any to end my first season. Last year at this time I announced my goal to complete a triathlon in 07, and I've done 3. So I'm pretty pleased. Last updated: 2007-08-06 12:00 AM
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United States
HFP Racing
75F / 24C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 89/169
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 10/16
I was undertrained for this race... I raced twice at the beginning of the summer, but I got busy/lazy and have not been very disciplined.
My last tri was something of a fiasco with the dreaded OWS freak-out and a very demotivating bike. So, I borrowed a better bike and worked on mentally preparing for the OWS and just looked to gain back the confidence I lost back in June.
Up at 5:30 to drive 45 minutes to race site. Bagel with peanut butter, OJ, and coffee.
Ate a Clif Bar, set up transition. Picked up packet the night before so I didn't have to wait in any lines.
Set up transition.... much less stressed out/nervous energy on my third tri.
Ate a banana, checked water temperature, sipped Gatordade.. visited the toilet a few times
It was a chilly morning. Kept moving to try to keep warm.
Swam about 5 minutes, hoping to avoide the OWS freakout come race time.