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 Swim
Comments: This was my first swim ever in a race! This was the part I was most nervous about in the week leading up to the race but - namaste - it was actually fantastic. I felt like I was swimming great through the whole thing. It was an out and back course and the way out was great. I focused on good technique and sighted well. Many people were wading, but I only stopped once just to touch. After that, I swam and swam, probably 70/30 Free to Breast. Other than bumping into a few folks, I couldn't have asked for a better first half. Made the turn and saw a handful of people hangining onto the last buoy. Once I turned and headed for home, it became instantly obvious that the last half was going to be tough. The sun was DIRECTLY in my face and with the glare I couldn't even see the next buoy. So I headed where I thought was the right direction, stroke still going great. I found the buoy and headed for it. Unfortunately later I found out that it had drifted...A LOT. I'll bet I swam an extra 100+ just because I hit that buoy, couldn't find the next one but saw a bunch of swimmers. Guessing they were ahead of me I was wrong...they were a later wave coming out! So I knew I had to go left and swam back. Finally found the next buoy and eventually made my way back in. This was probably more 40/60 Free to Breast. Navigation issues aside, all-in-all I was ecstatic about my swim. What would you do differently?: I probably would've warmed up a little better and tried like mad to find a landmark on land to sight on. With the buoy drifting way off course, it added a lot of time and energy.  Transition 1
Comments: T1 was fine, just had some trouble getting my wetsuit off over my watch. It got caught underneath. I don't think it really slowed me down though since I did have the top half off before I hit transition spot. What would you do differently?: watch under wetsuit. Catch my breath going out the bike. I think I have a lot of opportunity to build on this time.  Bike
Comments: Well, this is where I'm most disappointed. My bike in Pewaukee was my strongest and I felt great (18.8 MPH there). That course was longer, more hilly and had a lot more wind. Here I just felt that I was fighting the race the entire time. I never got a good rhythm going and while I was passing a lot more people than passed me, this simply wasn't a good ride for me. I suspect part of the problem was I didn't train very hard the 2 weeks leading up to the event and I ate very poorly during that time as well. I didn't drink as much as I'd like and it was just a battle.In reality I see no reason why I shouldn't have gone over 19 on this. Disappointing. What would you do differently?: Train more intensely the couple weeks leading up. Transition 2
Comments: T2 was no problem. It could've been faster, but other than chatting with the guy across from me for a few seconds it was just fine. I setup well for this one. What would you do differently?: Nothing.  Run
Comments: Well, as disappointing as the bike was this time surprised me. Don't get me wrong it's slow, but I'm a pretty slow runner. I typically use 10:00 miles as my benchmark but I think I need to re-adjust that seeing as how my 2 races have been below that. Coming off the bike I was a bit frustrated and tired. There were several lengths during the run that I saw people walking and that even crossed my mind. But I never did and the first mile was also a battle. I came around the turn and headed back. Saw CWen and DJDavey, gave an EEEEAAAAWWW to 'em both and Clint's retort gave me the boost I needed to finish off the last 1/2 mile strong. I was at an all-out sprint the last hundred yards, passing a guy at the end. This was surprising but I can definitely do better. What would you do differently?: More training leading up to the race. Post race
Warm down: Found my wife and got some food and drink. Waited for the other donkeys (all were doin' Oly's except for PJ) and video taped them. Hung around with cwen, JoeRunner, DJD, JMWebs, DeannaS, PJ and families for a bit. It was great to see them all. Packed up and headed for home! What limited your ability to perform faster: I think the biggest limiter was not enough training the last 2 weeks. That probably hurt me quite a bit. Event comments: Good race, great people and fantastic company. Overall as my first "Official" Tri, I'm satisfied, but eager to improve. Last updated: 2008-07-14 12:00 AM
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United States
55F / 13C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 307/710
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 0/
Didn't get much sleep the night before. The place we stayed in wasn't terribly comfortable and there was some sort of fishing tournament going on with the anglers boozing it up until about 2 AM. Still, got up at about 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. Ate a bagel with PB and packed up all our stuff. Headed to Winneconne but, given the cold temps stopped at Walgreens first to buy a hoodie (poor planning on my part). Got there about 5:30 and got chip, marked and set up transition. Then went to find a couple of the Donkeys, bumping into Jim and Deanna. Chit-chatted with Deanna's husband at the start line of the swim as I saw the donkey flag and knew it was him.
Swam a few lengths out to the first buoy and back just to get a feel for the water. Given this was my first ever swim in a race, I felt really, really good. I thought I'd be nervous as hell but that just wasn't the case!