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 Swim
Comments: I was very happy with my swim. I did a strong front crawl with a good pull the whole way. After being told a million times to get to the back rear, I'd also been hearing people say that the Danskin group were a sorry bunch of swimmers. So I got near the front middle. It paid off, I hardly got passed at all and mostly passed people frog kicking. I did get whacked hard in the mouth at one point and I re-chipped a previously chipped (and veneered) tooth. I actually don't mind all that much. A snaggly-toothed look goes with my rugged athletic look. :-) What would you do differently?: Mouth guard?  Transition 1
Comments: Darn it, I forgot to pee in the water. By the time I remembered it was near the end of the swim and I couldn't relax (and slow down) enough. It was a really long run to the TA and I left water shoes along the route so I diverted to take off the wetsuit and put on water shoes before running the rest of the way. My run was pretty pitiful, and when I got there I realized I had forgotten to get out my sunglasses and the powerbar (they were still in the Transition bag.) So I fumbled around way too much. We were supposed to walk our bikes in transition and I was grateful for the rule. It was a miserably slow transition. I thought about stopping to pee but didn't want to make a bad scene worse so I didn't. What would you do differently?: Set up my TA. Learn to run. (That'd come in helpful later, too.)  Bike
Comments: I spent most of the time in my big chain ring really pushing it on the bike. There's a hill called "Mount Daniels" in this course. I did it. I didn't enjoy it, but I topped it in better shape than last time and really made some time going down the back side. I hit 35 mph at one point. I was passed about three times on this course and spent the entire time yelling "on your left" and later, when people were just lolling along on the center line, I started yelling, "please get to the right, I'm on your left." I swear, I talked through the entire bike ride. "On your left, on your left, on your left." I finished 416 out of 1747 and I think I recall passing all of those people! I ruled on the bike. I really didn't expect to do that well. My hill training, my group rides, my dedication to picking up this sport are all paying off. I hadn't been on a bike in many years before April 15th of this year. What would you do differently?: Be in a race with less newbies? Transition 2
Comments: I was scared about falling at the dismount, either from still being clipped in or not being able to get my leg over the bike. I managed to survive both hurdles. I barely recall T2. I got in, changed shoes, put on my race belt, grabbed a drink of gel & a drink of water, and decided not to use my hydration belt. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too sunny. That was a good choice, there was enough water on the route and I didn't need to carry one gram extra on that run. What would you do differently?: Practice the run exit. I had done the other ones a few times, but I nearly forgot where the run exit was. I also only had a vague idea where the run finish was. I should have practiced that in the pre-race time.  Run
Comments: Road running. Uggh. My hip felt every footfall. I really need to figure out how to not be crippled. Being in pain affected my training and it affected my run. I knew my heart rate wasn't high enough, I knew I could push this, but darnit, it hurt to run! It was demoralizing to have all the people I passed on the bike blow by me on the run. I passed nearly nobody. But I should note that I did most of the run with a smile anyway, because, guess what, I AM A TRIATHLETE! I knew that nothing short of falling down and knocking myself out was going to stop me from finishing! What would you do differently?: Be younger. Learn to run. Do trail runs. I don't know, this is the eternal dilemma. I want to run but I'm bad at it on every level. That's what brought me to triathlons to begin with. Post race
Warm down: Put ice on my hip. Did a few stretches, ate a bagel I had the forethought to buy at Dunkin Donuts at 4:30 in the morning, drank water & then a recovery drink. What limited your ability to perform faster: Unhealthy hip. Event comments: It's a very, very, very big race. 2100 registered people (not all of whom were timed) and 1500 of them were first-time triathletes. Last updated: 2005-04-28 12:00 AM
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United States
Overall Rank = 864/1747
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 165/264
Met up with BT'ers MomX3, Miko, Abakak, Nikki, Fitby40, K8Holland, Lobstergirl & Celeb-ithil at the Pre-Race mandatory meetings on Saturday. Went to lunch with Fitby40, Miko & Celeb-ithil and then we walked the run course. (We cut it too short, though, as I found to my sorrow on race day when they wanted me to budge a single foot farther than I thought I had to.) Then Celeb-ithil & Miko and I drove the course and I provided a running commentary about where I'd shift into the big chain ring (i.e., everywhere not uphill) and they pleasantly pretended I was being helpful.
I had decided to stay at my in-law's house because it was closer and I'd escape the work-a-day problems of my own home. In honor of me and my daughter being, there, though, they threw a party. 6 teenagers, 2 little kids, 15 people in all. And so much for carb-ups, they had shrimp & steak and salad for dinner. I was secretly sneaking banana bites. It was hellish trying to escape to get to bed at 8:00, and useless as well since I could hear ordinary speaking voices in the next room from my paper-thin-walled guest bedroom.
4:00 AM came very early. Very, very early: actually it came at 3:30 when I woke up in a panic thinking I had overslept. I lay there trying to make myself fall back asleep for a coveted extra half hour of sleep, but I was too worried that my two alarm clocks would fail. So I got up.
Another problem with my in-law's house: I can't really make coffee there. I desperately needed coffee. I had scouted out a 24-hour Dunkin Donuts the day before so I got my stuff together and headed out. Oh, first I made my bagel with salmon & cream cheese because that's my everyday breakfast and I didn't want to change it. I couldn't face eating it at 4:30 but by 5 am I was okay to nibble on it as the coffee started to reach my system.
At 5:15 I saw a car on the interstate with a bike on top. Another one entered right behind it. I got all teary-eyed. I was going to show! DFL beats DNF beats DNS and I was going to at least show. Showing up was taking guts because I was outright freaked out about this.
I got there at 5:45 and parked near the lake in the secret parking place us BT-ers had scouted out behind the bowling alley. I woke my kid and we hauled too much stuff down to the beach. I brought my air pump, for example, and a chair for the kid. I was freaked about my always-low back tire. I know it lost air while in the hot car, but every time I'd check it it'd be a little low. Maybe because every time I checked it I let air out of it in the process of checking it? Duh, I know, but did I mention that I was freaked out?
We got to the TA and I realized I'd forgotten my helmet. Sent Squire (daughter) back for it. I had to run around a bit explaining that I wasn't going to wear the latex cap because I thought going into anaphalctic shock during the bike ride would be bad. No one argued with it and I'm not sure why I had to tell anyone. I just looked funny wearing my purple Tyr cap in the green wave.
I went to the port-a-potties once around 6 AM, but resisted the urge to go before the race because I absolutely intended to pee in the water like a real triathlete.
I did several runs back and forth to the TA, getting water for my foot basin, checking entrances exits, obsessively checking tire pressure... about 15 minute before the race I went and swam 100 yards or so, let water into my wet suit, got air out, then jogged back to the TA. That was my warm-up.