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 Swim
Comments: Lined up kind of on the inside at the front. The course layout was a bit odd so the people on the outside had a straighter shot. Being up front worked though. I had clear water ahead of me and all of the guys in my age group that were faster were already past me before we merged at the turnaround. Okay, scratch that. I had to figure it out manually, but I just realized I was FIRST in my age group for the swim. I know one guy was ahead of me at the buoy. In fact, he screwed the turn up and slowed me just a hair. He must have been the one that came out literally one second behind me. I can't let the AG position go to my head too much, though. I was one of only a handful of people that were wearing wetsuits. Still.... What would you do differently?: Nothing. I'm a bit disappointed in the 2:01/100m pace. I really thought it would be faster than that. Then again, only 6 people were under 5 minutes. So maybe it was the course? I'll continue working on the speed.  Transition 1
Comments: Transition was okay for my first live one. I didn't really fumble anything and did everything pretty efficiently. I just did too much. Getting on the bike wasn't great. My cleats were a bit wet so they were slick and I wasted 7-10 seconds trying to get clipped in and going. What would you do differently?: Didn't need to rinse off my feet, so that was a waste of time. Drying them was too, even though it was just a couple of seconds. I should have went sockless for this, that was another few seconds. A shorter T1 could have given me about 5 spots overall.  Bike
Comments: Bike went pretty well. I was aero pretty much the whole time except a couple of turns and one hill were the wind was coming pretty strong from the right/rear. It was blowing faster than I was moving, so I sat up. Again, a bit disappointed in the speed. I was figuring I'd be on the other side of 20 mph for my average. What would you do differently?: Nothing again. I think I rode it as well as I could. I didn't go to hard and blow up, but I felt like I gave a solid effort. Transition 2
Comments: Took my feet out of my shoes a couple of hundred yards short of the dismount line. At about 30 yards, I swung my right leg over and coasted while standing on my left. I jumped off right at the line, so I doubt I could have done it better. Went straight to the rack and everything went smoothly. I can't see how the elites cut 20-30 seconds from what I did. I had to tie my shoes, but that's 5 seconds tops! What would you do differently?: Can't think of anything.  Run
Comments: Was quite a bit slower on the run than the people I beat on the other 2 events. Even so, I was fast for me. I'll take sub-7 miles even if it was just for 2 of them. What would you do differently?: Nothing. I finished strong and felt like I had nothing really left to give. I was hating life at about 1/2 mile, so I know I wasn't going too easy. Post race
Warm down: Not much of one. Walked and stretched a bit, got a couple of bottles of water. What limited your ability to perform faster: On the swim, I don't know. Technique, maybe? I think that's just a matter of time. On the bike, it's power. I've got a lousy power to weight ratio. I don't climb well because of it and flats are so-so. On the run, probably the same as the swim. I just need to do more speed drills. Event comments: Great first triathlon overall. The event was well run, though it started about 5 minutes late because they were waiting for confirmation that the bike course was ready. There were plenty of volunteers and they were very friendly. Can't wait until my next race. Last updated: 2005-05-07 12:00 AM
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United States
Overcast
Overall Rank = 63/486
Age Group = 35 to 39
Age Group Rank = 8/43
First triathlon! The Rookie Triathlon in Texas: 300m, 11.1 miles, 2 miles.
Got up at about 5 am and got ready to go. That consisted mostly of putting my contacts in and getting my trisuit and a sweatshirt on. My preferred breakfast for the morning would have been a bagel and egg sandwich, but Einstein brothers wasn't open yet. I had to settle for a cinnamon roll from the gas station where I filled up. Not optimal.
Arrived at the race site at about 6:20. Transition opened at 6:15, so immediately racked my bike. Got the end spot about 3 rows from the bike exit. The pre-race meeting was at 8:15 and it amused me how many people showed up at 7:55 that then got offended when the early arrivers wouldn't park their bikes on top of each other to give the late comer room.
I wanted to do a little bike warmup, but for some reason they wouldn't let you take your bike out of the transition area once you brought it in. I did some easy jogging and then stretched. About 15 minutes before the meeting was supposed to start, I pulled on my wetsuit and got in the water. Temp seemed perfect to me for a wetsuit swim. I did the whole 300m course since it was short.