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 Swim
Comments: Holy crap this swim was ugly. Apparently, there's a current that goes to the left. I think if I were to go back and read last year's report, I would probably find that I figured that out last year. (Note to self - read previous year's race report.) I did some serious zig zagging before I figured out how to compensate. The family said I was not alone, and that LOTS of people were drifting far left. There was also a fairly strong wind and big waves. I swallowed a LOT of water. But, I just kept plowing through. People from the wave behind me started catching me on the way back. But, I also caught some people from the wave ahead of me. My mom counted and said I was 76th out of the water. There were 50 people per wave and I was in the second wave. So, that's not too bad, I guess. What would you do differently?: Remember to read last year's report, and compensate for the current so I could actually keep the buoys on the left. Dork.  Transition 1
Comments: I dropped my swim cap on the run in. Being the good donkey, I stopped for it. I also forgot to set my pedals such that when I went to pull the bike off the rack, the pedal wouldn't get stuck on the down bar (I was in the end spot). The racks were so low that there was wasn't much wiggle room to get the seat out from under it. What would you do differently?: If I have a low rack, just rack on the brake levers and screw racking on the seat. If I have it racked on the seat near a support bar, remember to put the pedal in front of the support bar.  Bike
Comments: The first three miles of this ride, I seriously thought I was in trouble. My legs ached in the worst way and I had nothing in the way of cadence and my speed was seriously about 14 mph. I didn't know what the deal was, but my legs just weren't there. It's a (very) slight uphill and when I crested the hill my legs finally woke up and I was pushing 22-25 mph for a mile or two, which gave me lots of inspiration. I knew I couldn't sustain that, so I settled in to something comfortable and just tried to play it conservative for the rest of the ride. Biking hasn't been my strong suit this year. Most of the ride was fairly uneventful. There was the chick that slowed down and drifted left on every uphill. She was ticking me off for a while until she finally dropped me on some flats. (I'm better on hills than a lot of folks, it would seem.) And, there was the traffic jam at one point where I have no clue if I did what I was supposed to, but I passed all the cars that the cop had stopped, made sure the cop saw me coming, and blew through the intersection. That was right, right? I mean, it's a race - and the cops had "controlled" the intersections. Bikes have the right of way, yes? What would you do differently?: Bike more, and I could have maybe pushed just a smidge more. Transition 2
Comments: This felt fairly good and fast. I had a loooong way to run with the bike. I got the socks and shoes on fairly quickly, grabbed the race number and was off. I nearly plowed into some chica that was meandering around in transition. Lots of sprinters were done already and there was a guy with a bullhorn reminding people that "There's still a race on people! Make way for racers!" I not very kindly shouted, "watch out!" as I did a big side step when that chica stepped right into my path without looking. What would you do differently?: I think I had this one nearly as fast as it could get, with the distance I had to run.  Run
Comments: I couldn't be much happier with this run. My running has come such a long way in the last year. Last year, I would have been thrilled with anything under 10/mile for a 5k. I never would have imagined this kind of pace for 10k. My mantra throughout the race was "don't blow up." I concentrated on keeping the heart rate as close as possible to the blow up point, without going over. I have a fairly small window there. A lot of people can go at LT for quite a while, but not me (not yet anyway). I've done no speed training, so I have no tolerance for it. It also helped immensely to see several donkeys on the run course. I challenged Webs to catch me, and then did my best to stay in front of him. Dave came back to cheer me and Webs on. (Thanks Dave!) Right at the end, I was thinking I had nothing left for a kick, and there was the JMWebs clan, handing out carrots to the donks. I got a surge of energy and passed the woman that was just in front of me, so I could grab the carrot and get across that finish line. Woo hoo! What would you do differently?: I think I played this one about perfect for me. Howsome-ever, I used my racing flats and I've never used them for more than a 5k before. My right foot is a little bit unhappy today, and I'm guessing it's cause of the lack of cushioning on this run. So I should probably get some yanks for my regular running shoes if I'm going to do these longer distances. Post race
Warm down: My family was there to cheer me on for this race - including my parents. So, I met up with them at the finish line and got lots of hugs and congratulations and waited for Webs to come across, as I knew he was right behind me. Then, we mingled with the other donks and grabbed some grub and my results printout (wonderful perk there) and packed up. I probably should have done some stretching but I was fairly keyed up and just enjoying the afterglow too much. What limited your ability to perform faster: I would imagine I would perform better if I actually slept the night before. *sigh* Event comments: They were out of plates and out of a bunch of food, and they really needed bottles of water or something at the end. I guess that's the downfall of doing the Olympic. The sprinters eat it all before you get back. Last updated: 2008-07-07 12:00 AM
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United States
Midwest Sports Events
60'sF / 0C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 167/245
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 12/18
So, we went up to Winneconne on Saturday so my son could do the kids tri. We had a really nice, mellow, relaxing day, and had rented a cabin right next to the park. Woo hoo! No getting up at the crack of dawn. No sleeping on the ground in a tent. Yah. Well, there was STILL no sleeping. What's up with that? I was stupid nervous about not waking up on time or something. I micro-slept all night and checked the clock about every 10 minutes. Ugh. Nice way to prep for a big race. Anyway, at 4:30 I said screw it and got up and ate a bowl of shredded wheat and drank some water. Then, got dressed and curled back up in bed for a while longer.
At 6:00, I decided it was time to go get body marked. So, I walk my bike and gear over to the park (yep, that was so sweet). I rack my bike and some yokel says, "Um, maam, I don't think you're allowed to park there." I look up and it's Webs. Eeeaaaawww! Way to start the day with a donkey sighting. Soon Dave and Clint joined the Oly racks. (Nice thing about this race is that it's mostly sprinters, so if you're doing the Oly, it's fairly easy to find each other.) PJ joined us for a while, trying to decide whether or not to go with the wetsuit. Jesse showed up for a bit of mutual encouragement. Then, we were off to the water. None of us did much actual swimming. But, we all got wet, at least. And, then I stood there shivering. Brrrrr. Davey tried to help by holding my chattering teeth closed. But, yah, that didn't work so well.