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 Swim
Comments: Something was up with my wetsuit. I put it on the same way as I have the last 40 or so times I used it but it pooled water at the back of the shoulders and top of both arms. So much that I kept reaching around in the middle of my stroke to check if the zipper split open or something. Do wetsuits wear out??? Swim was a little slow for me. I was really pissed when people were walking the ~ 20 yards across the turnaround while I was swimming and we were both going the SAME speed! Seriously, how does that work? What would you do differently?: After 4 years in this sport I really need to take lessons. My average swim is about 34-35 minutes which isn't good enough. I want to be able to get out of the water with the faster bikers in my age group so I have a carrot out on the bike course.  Transition 1
Comments: Being in the last wave meant our racks were right next to the bike mount line. Our swim exit to rack run was long but that gives me time to gather myself, take all my swim gear off, and get on the bike ready. T1 was a little long as you have to pack everything into a plastic bag for them to transport it to T2. Nothing like a river water wetsuit steaming inside a plastic bag all day with your morning dry clothes! What would you do differently?: Starting to think about leaving shoes on bike. Need to see what races I do this makes sense for.  Bike
Comments: Since I was coming from the last group I knew the course was going to be littered with slow people. And yes, these people have an odd attraction to the center line instead of the far right. Had to yell a lot to get through. What I didn't expect was all the garbage littering the course. Holy moly! At all the bumps I had to doge bottles, tires, yellow poofie aero bottle things, and other assorted goodies. Damn - tie your stuff down people. Kept an easy pace all the way through. Fairly consistent 21 mph average until the Chalk Hill area where I dropped to 20. Didn't want to hammer the last 8-10 miles to make up for lost time though. It was a fun ride. What would you do differently?: I think I should have gone harder. Powermeter time?? Transition 2
Comments: Felt good coming off bike and on to run.  Run
Comments: I felt really good running out of transition. Then I got about 300 yards out of T2 and my stomach hit me hard. Ok we are all adults here (mostly) I tried to fart a little to release some stress and "Abort" damn I need a bathroom and I need one now. No way I'm going backwards in a race so T2 port-a-potties were not an option. Mile 1 aid station here I come with a clamped shut rear end. Mile 1 ahhh- "ummm where is the aid station. There is supposed to be an aid station right here!" Turns out the first aid station was at about mile 1.1 around a corner. Now I had another problem - mile 1 aid station LINE. Oh heck, why is this happening. I waited in line for about 5 minutes getting frustrated. When I finally got in basically nothing happened but a bunch of gas. How much does this suck? Back to running now with my momentum all but gone. I had a little below average run as I walked a lot of the uphills. I ran about half way up and then walked to the top as I just felt weak. Looking back on it I was worried about my stomach and did not take in any nutrition on the run. At the aid station I grabbed water and every now and then some cola but no gels. Bad idea. I did finish with my stomach feeling good though :( What would you do differently?: I think I know how to evaluate my nutrition on the fly a lot better now. I've gone to both extemes, over and under, plus I have nailed it. Hopefully I can use this going forward. Post race
Warm down: Played with the kids and watched others come in. Event comments: I didn't have the race I really wanted but I think my mindset has changed about racing. I am not worried about the distance anymore and feel very relaxed like it is just another day out there. I did enjoy myslef a lot which is really the goal. Something odd about this day was I enjoy talking it up with people I pass or pass me, or hang out with for some periods on the run. Not long extended conversations but little jokes and encouragement. Nobody seemed interested. Maybe this is the difference of starting at the front or the back of the race. I guess a lot of the people I passed were having bad days and weren't in such a good mood. Too bad. Competing is too fun for that. Last updated: 2008-04-19 12:00 AM
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United States
Vineman, Inc.
Overcast
Overall Rank = 523/1742
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 113/238
Was in the very last wave going off 2 hours after the first wave so I actually tried to sleep in and arrive at T1 later than when it first opened. I was too nervous to get caught up in traffic so I still wound up getting there about 1.5 hours before wave started. I watched the pros get going up the hill and watched how they actually were struggling to get themselves going with their shoes clipped to the bike. One pro (about 5th out of water) actually ran up the hill and made it to the top at the same time as another who rode to the top. I thought it was an interesting option if needed (didn't need).
One of the benefits of going dead last was I went to the bathrooms right before getting into my wetsuit and there were exactly Zero people in line - that's the crazy thing ever!
Walked all over the beach and transition watching people. Swam a little before gun went off. I really should have ran but with T2 15 miles down the road the lack of run shoes put a damper on that.