Swim
Comments: I was very unfocused for the swim. I could not see the buoys well, went out too fast and passed a lot of people, then after the first turn the rest of the swim went downhill. I did some backstroke for a while. Lost the pack that I was with and had some 15-19 AGer climbing up my butt (I was in the "survivor" wave, the first wave out). Not a stellar performance by yours truly. Since I was so "ho hum" about the swim, I decided to experiment with different breathing patterns. This was fun for a while. I usually breathe bilaterally, after every 3 strokes. I tried doing 2 to see if the extra oxygen would help rev me up. It worked but I got off course. What would you do differently?: Basically, I treated this like a dip in the river on vacation that I had to get through before a picnic or something. I would focus on applying some of the techniques that have worked in the pool. I'd do more OWS. Panic in teh water is not my problem, distraction seems to be. I like open water and it puts me into "summer vacation" mode Transition 1
Comments: oh we won't even discuss this transition. I was still in la la land from the swim. What would you do differently?: uh...focus? Bike
Comments: The course was beautiful. I shook off my swim state and got a bit of the eye of the tiger going. Scar was responsive and raring to go, due to the nice bath and lube I gave him the night before the race. I felt great. The course couldn't have been kinder. I passed a lot of people. In general, because I was in the first wave, I didn't have any problems with people riding all over the road on the first lap. The second lap was a dift story, some people do not know how to stay to the right. What would you do differently?: Done more of what I did. I had a lot of 22mph sections going, but distracted briefly in several sections the first time around, and didn't push. I think I have the furthest to go with my biking, I'm not sure I can improve swimming and running that much, but I now have a taste of the way I need to go on the bike. Transition 2
Comments: again, a crappy transition. I was dreading the run and it showed in how long it took me to put my shoes on. What would you do differently?: I dunno. uh, speed it up a bit? Run
Comments: felt like the Bataan death march. I was relatively focused for the first half, but I felt awkward and slow. Legs weak and crampy. Second half I walked a bit, although I really didn't need to. About 100 yds before the finish I did manage to speed up to try to get some final speed in, but a major cramp seized my right inner quad and I hobbled to the finish line. Nice. What would you do differently?: MORE BRICKS. Post race
Warm down: met the Ex-Hubby (and best friend), walked around to get rid of the cramp, ate a bit, sampled the goods, then we left, picked up another friend and ate a huge lunch. What limited your ability to perform faster: Attitude and lack of training. Need I say more? Event comments: Nice race. I think they did a good job and the setting couldn't be better. Last updated: 2008-02-18 12:00 AM
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United States
CGI Racing
Sunny
Overall Rank = 224/723
Age Group = F50-54
Age Group Rank = 12/40
Stayed in a hotel in downtown Phila. Got up at 4:30. For some reason I was not looking forward to this race at all. I did some core exercises, breathing, ate some granola and biked to the race site on my trusty steed, Scar the cyclocross bike.
did a pre-race warmup swim. Yes I wore a wetsuit even tho the water was 77 degrees, BARELY wetsuit legal. Made myself talk to some of the other survivors at the race, even though I'm usually too nervous to deal with conversations pre-race