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 Swim
Comments: The swim threw me off. Running shirtless from the outside T2 (to be fair, it had warmed to 40F by then) to the indoor pool area that was about 70 degrees made me want to lie down and sleep. Then jumping in the water was like a full body shock, with the water even hotter! The first three laps I couldn't get into a groove at ALL. Technique was horrible, was kicked repeatedly and swam over a couple times (kicked a few people behind me for good measure though) and never established the TI system I'd been practicing. I ended up dog paddling the last 4 yards each lap because of the pile up. Eventually I let the people I was kicking go ahead of me and established a sort of swim stroke the last three laps. Finished strong, but bad technique. What would you do differently?: PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. This is my worst discipline, which is ironic because I love the water. But teaching myself to swim properly and Un-learn all the stuff I do incorrectly is difficult to say the least. I have ot be ready for the 750 meter sprint this May!  Transition 1
Comments: Don't know EXACT time T1 was Run to Bike. I decided to not change shoes just to clip in so that I would save some time on Transitions. (I killed it in transistions!) I kept my running shoes on, grabbed a swig of water from the bottle, then helmet and bike and out in about 1 minute. I couldn't jump on the bike, but I got off to a great start. What would you do differently?: Learn to transition into clipless shoes. I noticed that I didn't have the same power with just regular platform pedals, so before May I'll practice set up and change into clipless.  Bike
Comments: The bike was GOOD. I was surprised at the speed I kept up with my old Schwinn "high Plains", seeing as I tuned it up the day before. (that and it's a rigid steel frame mountain bike with road slicks) Of course, now I can't justify getting that road bike since it performed so well.... maybe I can have an "accident! Cornering was fun. I tried to keep my speed up and take it wide and angled, which I think I did pretty well. What REALLY slowed me down was the occasional car on the road. I also didn't realize how the "no drafting" rule is hard to comply with. I couldn't measure out bike lengths, so I'm sure I was farther back than I needed to be. (I also didn't realize how close I ride to my mates when we are MTBiking.) What would you do differently?: Raise my seat a little bit, go clipless instead of platform. I didn't feel proper extension because my seat was lower than usual. Transition 2
Comments: T2 was bike to swim (since this one was in reverse.) I got a GOOD jump off the moving bike since I wasn't clipped in. I swung my leg over about 5 yards from the dismount line and ran it in, racked it cleanly and then stripped down for the swim. I was delayed by taking off and putting on my watch, and then getting halfway through the T area without realizing I didn't take my run shorts off over my tri shorts. What would you do differently?: Not wear shorts over the tri shorts next time. But because of the chill, I think it was good I did this time.  Run
Comments: I started in the back of the pack, using Ben's advice to pick people off by starting slower than I thought I could do. And then I tried to keep pace with Richard, but about halfway up I went back up to my regular pace and kinda left him behind. I finished strong, but not quite as fast as I wanted. What would you do differently?: Keep my pace instead of slowing down too much. I was comfortable with my pace throughout, although I wasn't used to my new running shoes (switched from cross trainers.) Post race
Warm down: Bagel and energy drink, and walking around, and cheering everyone else that was coming in! What limited your ability to perform faster: Inexperience, and fear that I would push too hard too fast. Being my first Tri, I just wanted to finish, even if it was a mini tri. Event comments: I didn't really feel the need to hydrate too much, actually, so there were just enough drink stations for me. Maybe that's why it took 40 mins. Last updated: 2008-03-31 12:00 AM
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United States
Tri It Now
34F / 1C
Overcast
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 0/
I had a bowl Special K cereal for breakfast, with one cup of coffee (how healthy am I?) I still had some leftover bike prep to do, so I was up early, 0500, but I had gone to bed early so I was well rested.
I had a huge adrenaline spike at about 630 when I was getting everything out the door, everything got hot and flushed and I got the "fight or flight" shakes REALLY bad. So nervous for the first (TINY!) Triathlon!
I met up with Ben and Richard and Robin and JR halfway before the race. What a great group of people, and having their support and knowledge helped me get over the nervousness enough to start cracking bad HTFU jokes about the weather. (It was COLD, I was in Shorts and my UA shirt. Cold.)
Ran a lap or so around the Transition area, but between then and the start of the run they had a gathering inside, so I cooled off a little bit then, but not so much to affect me too much.