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 Swim
Comments: I positioned myself in the front of the wave figuring I'd go out a little stronger and try to find some feet as they passed me. I started out feeling pretty good but just couldn't get into a very good rythm the first 500m or so. It didn't take long to start passing people in the wave before us and that may have been part of my rythm problem. As we made the turn back I started to feel better and someone passed me so I tried to latch onto his feet. I stayed with him for about 400m and then lost him as we ran into a bunch of swimmers from the earlier waves. With about 400m to go I started feeling a little cramp in my right calf so I had to stop for a quick second to rub my calf. I swam the rest of the way not kicking at all so that it wouldn't cramp. I'm a little disappointed in this swim time as I've been spending more time than usual in the pool because of my injury. I have not done an open water swim or worn my wetsuit since Clearwater in November so I'm sure that had something to do with it. What would you do differently?: More OWS with wetsuit prior to the race, but I figured since I might even DNF this race I'd just go enjoy it and use the race as training.  Transition 1
Comments: Brutally slow T1. There's quite a run from the water to T1 but I knew this would be a slow transition. I decided before the race I would take time in T1 to put my Garmin HRM on. I wanted to use the data to get a feel for where my fitness level is after being off so long. No biggie, I knew this would be a slow T1. What would you do differently?: I would NEVER put a HRM on in transition for a race as I always race by feel.  Bike
Comments: I'm pretty happy with this bike. I didn't feel like I hit it as hard as I normally would for an Olympic but still had a good pace. The last loop was definitely slower as I just didn't have the endurance I would normally have. Bike was pretty uneventful and I'm happy with it all things considered. Transition 2
Comments: Pretty good transition. It was a little slow but that will come.  Run
Comments: I knew this wouldn't be a good run simply because I've only been running for 3 weeks. I started out on a sub-7 min pace but knew I wouldn't hold it. After about 3/4 of a mile I started to get a side stitch that stayed with me for about a mile. I just ran through it. I wasn't sure if I'd do both loops but I figured I needed to be mentally tough as IMFL will be much tougher than this. At one of the turnarounds I saw the guy I always beat for podiums and I was a couple minutes ahead of him. My goal at that point was to at least beat him. I actually started feelin a little better at the start of the 2nd loop. With a little over a mile to go I decided to go as hard as I could and just make sure nobody passed me. This is where my heart rate went from 165 to 176. When I crossed the line a guy in my age group was 3 seconds behind me and said he went as hard as he could trying to catch me but he couldn't. On a normal day, I would say this is a horribly slow run but since I've only been running 3 weeks and my longest run has been 5 miles I'll take it for what it is. What would you do differently?: Not much I could do differently. As I get my run fitness back the runs will be easier. Post race
Warm down: Just hung out and talked with folks. Drank and ate some pizza. What limited your ability to perform faster: Only 3 weeks of bike and run training. Event comments: This was a fun race and the volunteers were great. Last updated: 2008-05-26 12:00 AM
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United States
Capital of TexasTriathlon
85F / 29C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 117/1438
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 10/141
I wasn't really sure what to expect with this race as my initial plan was to DNF after the first loop of the run due to the fact I've just recovered from stress fractures. I've only been riding and running for 3 weeks after 12 weeks off so I really wasn't expecting much.
My pre-race has become a habit. I buy a latte the night before so I can nuke it in the morning. Woke up at 4:15 and ate toast with peanut butter and jelly and a banana. Drank some gatorade on the way to the race.
My usual warm up again. Got body marked and went into transition to get everything ready. I was ready early so just sat around transition for a while until it was time to stretch and warm up.
This was a little different for me mentally because I wasn't really planning on "racing" this event because I've only been able to run and ride for 3 weeks since recovering from my stress fractures. I decided I should treat this race like I would any other race so I put on my iPod and started the pre-race music to get ready to go. I started stretching at around 6:00am and went for a short run to get the heart and blood moving.
I came back into transition and got everything back in place and put my wetsuit on for a warm up swim. I did my usual warm up. Got in for a quick 200m or so and came back to shore. That first swim always feels like crap for me. After a couple minutes on shore went back in for my 2nd swim of 200m which always feels better. I was now ready to go and just sat on the ledge ready for the race. I did forget to bring a Gu with me as I usually take one before the swim.