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 Swim
Comments: Overall I think it was a pretty good swim under the circumstances. What would you do differently?: Start at the front of the pack  Transition 1
Comments: I think this one went pretty well. The wetsuit slipped right off my ankles, and this year I had actually figured out where my bike was in relation to the swim exit so I had no trouble finding it. What would you do differently?: Nothing!  Bike
Comments: Covered the first 20 miles in an hour, breezed to the turnaround, and hit the wind on the way back. The road was pretty bumpy and torn up from the turnaround to the main highway, so I got slower as the bumps got more frequent. I wish they would pave the rest of that road! On the way back south, the wind seemed to have picked up and it was rough until the turn east to the transition area. What would you do differently?: Overall I think I did pretty well on the bike. I felt better than last year and it seemed to go by pretty quickly. Transition 2
Comments: Off with the helmet, on with the socks, shoes, hat, garmin, and race belt. I picked up my shot bloks and off I went. What would you do differently?: Nothing  Run
Comments: I think "disaster" pretty much sums this one up. I got off the bike and my stomach felt fine (it's been a problem at this race and at IMAZ). I had decided to try Gu2O this time instead of Gatorade on the bike. I know, don't try anything new during a race, but what I was doing wasn't working so it can only get better from there. It seemed to be ok, too. I headed out of transition and immediately felt it. I was just exhausted. Not the kind of exhausted you feel during a long ride or run, but the kind you feel when you just want to curl up into a ball and sleep. My eating had been fine, my drinking was fine, I was just not rested enough and it was taking its toll. I ended up walking early on, trying to make the lightheadedness and sleepiness go away. At mile 2, I made peace with the fact that this just wasn't going to be a PR race. I tried to run as much as possible, and found a few bursts of energy that got me through a few miles, but by mile 11 I was already way past my goal time. I tried to enjoy the view, thank the spectators and volunteers, and keep my head in the race to at least finish as strongly as I could muster. As I approached the finish line, I passed someone in my age group and celebrated a tiny victory with that. Right before the finish chute, the girl who argued with me about her bike position came up behind me and almost passed me. She was holding hands with her friend and they were running down the chute together. It took everything I had, but I broke into what felt like a sprint (but probably looked pretty slow!) and outkicked them in the last few yards. If those girls are on this board, sorry...it's not personal...I had to do it! What would you do differently?: What wouldn't I do differently? This run was very mentally and emotionally taxing and I'm still trying to figure out why it happened that way. Post race
Warm down: As I crossed the line and slowed down, my quad was screaming in pain. I don't even know where it came from, but it had started hurting in the last mile or so. I got my medal, found my friend, and went to the medical tent to try to get some ice for my leg. They offered me a place to sit and chill, but I opted to put the ice in the leg of my tri shorts and head to the food tent for some pizza. What limited your ability to perform faster: I'd love to find a concrete explanation for it, but I think it's probably a combination of not being fully recovered from IMAZ, not resting enough the day before the race, heat, humidity, etc. Lessons learned, I guess, but I'm still a bit upset about my performance. I just need to suck it up and move on and take something valuable from this experience that I can use in future races. Event comments: Great venue, great volunteers, great afterparty and awards ceremony! Last updated: 2008-05-12 12:00 AM
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United States
80+F / 27C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 897/
Age Group = W25-29
Age Group Rank = 39/63
A couple days before this race, I had requested to take leave so I could relax in the air conditioning, rest, stay off my feet, and take my time getting to the race. No go. My commander was angry that people were trying to skip out on that afternoon's squadron picnic and he denied my leave. He wanted me to show up for as long as I "thought appropriate to demonstrate my commitment and officership" and told me I could leave after that. All for a picnic (btw, he ended up leaving early)...I was livid. So, after doing PT with the group that morning and unsuccessfully trying to make it an easy run, I did some work, then headed to the picnic to hang out for a while, then left for PC Beach to try to beat the traffic.
Race morning, I woke up, had some coffee and a bagel w/ pb & banana, got my stuff ready to go, and waited for my friend to get her rear in gear. And waited. And waited. Did I mention she's always late? Thank goodness I knew this beforehand, because I suggested we get up 30 min earlier than she had planned. We ended up only leaving a couple of minutes late.
Got to the race site, got body marked, and went to the transition area to set up my stuff. When I got to my bike, both bikes on either side were facing so that I had no space for my towel. I asked one girl, who was standing there, if she could turn her bike around so the down tire was on the other side and we'd both have room for our towels. She argued with me for a minute about why her bike had to be on the other side of the rack, and finally relented and moved it. I had even heard the day before that people would be given penalties for racking bikes incorrectly, so I thought I was helping both of us out. Anyway, I hated starting the race feeling like the mean person, but I had to put my stuff down. After that, I stopped at the potty and then headed down to the water.