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 Swim
Comments: Around 8:40 I changed into my new wetsuit and headed down to the beach. What a suit, wow! During my warmup I pretty much felt like I was floating in the water. It was a huge difference vs. my pool swims. After that I waited around a bit for my wave to start...I was in the third wave and we started at 9:08. Jumped in the water and once the horn sounded I was off...what a great swim. I took my time and sighted often. I only had minor contact with the other swimmers and only got off course just a bit here and there...overall a great swim until the end. A couple hundred yards from the beach there was pretty dense seaweed so I swam for a bit in it and stood up to walk about 50 yards from the beach. It took me a bit to get to the sand so I likely should have just kept swimming a little bit longer. What would you do differently?: Not much...I could swim this distance a little faster but I don't think I need to. For my second OWS ever I'm very happy with everything except drafting which I'll make more of a priority next year.  Transition 1
Comments: Nothing major...suit came off pretty quickly and I was off. I need to get some tri shoes and work on mounting with my shoes already clipped in but that hasn't happened yet. But it will!!! What would you do differently?: Learn to mount my bike while it is moving and with my shoes attached.  Bike
Comments: Off to change and I was on the bike before I knew it. I knew the bike course was pretty hilly so I tried to hold back a bit. The first section going out was great and with only a minor hill or two. Made the first right and prepped for the first big hill...and luckily it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be and I got a really nice long downhill for my effort! Made the next turn and kept on pushing through some nice farms and minor hills...about three-quarters of the way I got passed by two people in my AG so I started to book it. I pushed hard and passed them both and for the rest of the race I went back and forth with them until we were off the bike. I did let them finish ahead because they were pushing a little faster pace than I could handle without bonking on the run. It was tough to let them go but I had to be smart and hope I could pass them on the run. But I'm getting ahead of myself, let me mention the final hill which was brutal. To the point that I was in the my easiest gear and was pushing as hard as I could! Great, huh...right before running I get the hill from hell! What would you do differently?: Train on more hills and more time in the saddle...I'm going to use and abuse whatever trainer I get this winter. Transition 2
Comments: Off the bike and run to transition. Dump the bike and helmet and put my right shoe on....only to have the insole bunch up...take it off and check it, only to have it happen a second time. So, I put on my left shoe and then my third again and it bunched again. Now time is ticking away and I'm pissed it is taking me so damn long so I decide to say eff it, grabbed my race belt and took off. It sorted itself out but holy shit was I pissed! UPDATE: This little snafu caused me to be the slowest in T2 in my AG. That minute would have moved me up about two spots to sixth!!!! What would you do differently?: Get some better shoes!  Run
Comments: The run was hilly, then there were even more hills. None of them were that bad but short steep hills feel pretty monstrous at that stage! I pushed as hard as I could, taking water at every stop. I didn't get passed by many and did pass several in my AG. Before I knew it I was at the finish and pushed as hard as I could but got passed by one guy at the end ;-( What would you do differently?: Train on more hills... Post race
Warm down: Wrapped up, tracked down Lisa and ate a boatload of food. I checked the results and saw that I was around the top 50 and in the top 10 AG so I stuck around for the awards to see some of the winners and relax. Then took off and headed home... What limited your ability to perform faster: Overall time on the bike and my shoes in T2. UPDATE: Now that I have my overall results the glaring weaknesses are the bike (which will improve with time) and my transitions. My swim and run are coming along nicely and I'm happy with those results. But transition speed has got to improve dramatically...by at least 40-50% before next season. Event comments: Overall I'd say this is a great race. It is tough, the hills on both the bike and run are a lot unless you train on hills often. But it was well organized and there were plenty of volunteers to make sure everything went off without a hitch. The only negative was that there wasn't a sole checking the bikes as we left transition after the race. I'm not sure what happened but I always hate it when security is that lax! Last updated: 2008-02-27 12:00 AM
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Sunny
Overall Rank = 44/281
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 8/30
Race Day, Yahoo!
Up at 5:45 to do my normal morning routine. Eat a banana, cliff bar, etc. and got cleaned up and ready to race. I left the hotel after packing up the car around 6:30 am. Talked to Lisa on the road and she was on the way down with Brek...and they sounded like they were having a pretty good time and were even less awake than I was ;-)
Got to the race site, checked my tires, unloaded the car and headed over to get my chip and get marked. Oh and before I get to far, let me say that it was a gorgeous morning, sunny and likely in the low 70's by the time the race started. So, I got marked, etc. and headed over to transition...I always do this to myself. I'm in transition spot by 7:30 for a 9:00 start and setting up takes me like five minutes! Took care of setting things up, tracked down some water and took a quick run in between bathroom breaks. Lisa and Brek showed up just as I got back to transition and it was absolutely great to see some familiar, friendly faces.