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 Swim
Comments: Seeded myself to the left and several rows back on the beach. Figured I'd be about MOP in the wave so I was a bit more aggressive on holding my position than last year, went out pretty quick (for me). There was some thrashing and bumping, but not too bad. Found some feet in the first leg, but lost them rounding the first buoy, never to regain any decent draft thereafter. Thanks to a tip from Wildee, sighting along the second leg was a breeze - look at the power plant. Even with the tip, I rounded the second buoy WAY too tight. The last leg was fine, just trying to stay on-form. Came out of the water about 2 minutes faster than last year. What would you do differently?: Based on the pace, I suspect my form suffered with the adrenaline of the race conditions. I lost and did not regain any decent draft after the first leg. Time in the pool has decreased since finishing the Master's swim program in April. Will have to re-start this Fall.  Transition 1
Comments: My rack spot was on the end, three rows deep from the water exit. I probably spent a good five minutes on Sat. mulling over this choice and figuring out how I was going to get to the bike mount line while wearing my bike shoes (I'm not practiced enough on the art of the flying mount). Finally decided to run to the exit of transition in my socks and put on my cleats just prior to the mount line. Clipped in and secured the straps while riding. Pleased with the effort and a big improvement over last year. What would you do differently?: Consider a different rack spot (it was close to the swim exit but a LONG way from bike out/in and run out/in).  Bike
Comments: I planned on experimenting for this event. I wanted to see how hard I could push, particularly the bike leg. The first loop I rode somewhat conservatively, but found a spot where the terrain and wind direction allowed for a bit of speed (made mental note of that for the second loop). Racer traffic was light on the first loop. Rounded the turn-around for lap two and the sprint traffic began to fill in. The course was very crowded for lap 2, with many riders way too far to the left, making passing a challenge and a bit more dangerous. Whizzer's RR adds comments on this too. Had one dude pass me at the end of lap one, about which I was displeased. Picked up the pace, caught him at the top of one of the overpasses and just kept on goin'. Saw Wildee about a quarter of the way on lap 2 (he kicked a$$ on the swim leg) but nobody else, no other Donks. Consumed one bag of shot blocks and 1 1/2 bottles of GE. What would you do differently?: Given the swim effort, sunny skies, warming temps, and some wind, plus the second loop pushing, could have done with a bit more hydration. Transition 2
Comments: Had a bit of a struggle with the yanks - they are too long and I have to double them back or the pull tab bounces around too much. Couldn't seem to do that quickly. T2 was slightly longer than T1, which brings me to the topic of rack location with respect to the swim, bike and run exits. I was at a disadvantage from the get-go. This was a topic of discussion post-race with Cweninger and Wildee - the fact that bike out and run out were on the same end of transition put those racks furthest away at a disadvantage. Yes I was close to swim exit compared to most others, but for both the bike and run legs, I had the longest travel. What would you do differently?: ???  Run
Comments: The bike pace affected the run. Felt sluggish and overheated until the second-to-last water stop. Just sorta melted and had to drag it in. Heard a few "go donkey" calls coming down the final chute - thanks! What would you do differently?: Nothing, considering I was trying to "redline" this event to see what was possible. Post race
Warm down: All the normal stuff - medal, timing chip, some food (bagel, banana) and liquid. Cheered Wildee to the finish and then jawed with some other Donks and other BT'ers. Got to meet Mr2Tony, Crowny and Dave-with-numbers for the first time. Saw Schmize and heard about his blazing performance - nicely done. Cruised down the run course to cheer in AmyJo and Joe Runner, then Cweninger and I caught up with MaggyRuth to bring her on home. She made it clear that we were not to expect much in the way of conversation - a lesson in "opposite sex communication" we both had learned already...the hard way. Packed up the bike and rode back to the parking lot - actually was a good "recovery" activity. What limited your ability to perform faster: Run fitness. My run mileage up to this point in the season is light. Provided I can stay healthy, this will be an off-season focus, starting now! Event comments: This year's event marked the one-year point in my triathlon career. Came back and showed improvement. We'll see what the next year brings. Last updated: 2007-11-05 12:00 AM
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70F / 21C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 196/634
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 40/92
Up at 3:45a, make and eat a PB sammy, gather the water bottles and transition bag and into the car for the drive down. Arrived at transition at 5:00a, saw MaggyRuth and jawed a bit. Set-up transition, listened to some tunes, jawed with some more Donks as they arrived: CWeninger, Joe Runner, Wildee, and finally AmyJo (who arrived at one-minute to transition close).
Hitched up the wet-suit and took a quick swim with some other Donks. I really didn't NEED to warm-up physically, but I did have to pee and this afforded the quickest solution.
Milled around in the pen at swim start with the Donks. PJGrande came by to wish us well, as she was doin' the DU. Jawed with a work colleague and his son who were also doin' the DU (this was their first multi-sport event) and they were jacked! Wished them well and it was time to cheer the earlier waves.
As was the case last year, us older dudes went in a later wave. In reviewing the wave sheet the day prior, it was not lost on this red-blooded American boy, that four waves of females (from 19 through 39) were scheduled IN FRONT of my wave.....what more need be said?