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 Swim
Comments: After an hour delay, we were finally off. I ran in as far as I could, then did the front crawl and found my rhythm immediately. My breathing was a little fast, but not uncontrollable. Got "whomped" at least a 1/2 dozen or better times, but nothing to knock my goggles off or cause any damage to the wetsuit, my body, or pride. I veered off slightly a couple of times, but was amazed that I was able to stay with a number of swimmers this time around. I felt humbled again as some of the faster swimmers from the last couple of waves went past me. *sigh* I slowed down a couple of times to catch my breath, to get my bearings on sighting, and had to actually walk for a couple of seconds (that was really weird) to work out a slight cramp. Near the last 150 to 200 yards to the last buoy, I noticed numerous (I'm talking close to 20 to 30) swimmers were heading towards the shore, instead of the last yellow buoy to turn towards shore. There were about 5 that started to turn back and finish it correctly. Before I hit shore, I got up, unzipped and took the top off, sat in the COLD water and tried to slip the legs out. It IS supposed to be easier to take the wetsuit off when it's wet, RIGHT?? It took probably a minute, at least, before I pulled them off, all the while freezing, but didn't get numb. There's no doubt that the swim was short. I can NOT swim that fast if the course was the exact yardage specified. What would you do differently?: Push the swim harder/swim a little faster since I felt quite well. Sight a little better. Don't worry about others coming from behind. DON'T TAKE THE WETSUIT OFF WHILE STILL IN THE FREEZING WATER!! Too many persons passed me because of it. But I was able to catch many of them once I got out and ran towards transition.  Transition 1
Comments: A decent T1 for me. The cheering section was a HUGE help! I actually moved much more quickly getting to my spot - it wasn't a walk, but it wasn't a sprint, it was as very fast jog. Dried my feet off quickly and wiped the sand off, since the organizers didn't have any water left in the plastic containers to put my feet in and get the sand off. Didn't put on socks, which helped with a faster T1 time. Put on everything as fast as I could and hustled out. What would you do differently?: Yell out that there wasn't any water left in the blasted feet rinse containers! ;) Don't worry about placing my wetsuit in my transition bag(?). Have gels/liquid EnervIT in my helmet, which was on my bike, instead of digging for it in the bag.  Bike
Comments: Pushed the bike hard. Got a number of cramps but worked them out. The first cramp I had to stop and get off the bike and work it out on the side of the road. I knew I was pushing it a little too hard in the beginning, but it felt great! I passed a couple hundred people within the first 20 to 30 minutes and caught up to at least 2 waves for sure! I am quite humbled by some of those women out there, though, that were racing by me. There were some outrageously great pace booty out there, but being older with not enough training made it a little tougher sustaining the extra 1 mph with them. JUST WAIT, YOUNG LADIES!! ;) I saw at least 5 tire blowouts being worked on and numerous yellow scrunchies, water bottles, and gels strewn along the route. I bungee'd with a guy that had a Kona jersey on for close to 10 miles, than lost him after mile 35 or so after riding up a small hill that cramped me up a little. (Why do you hate me so, cramps?). Every cramp that I encountered, I just had to slow down my cadence a little and say to myself "remember, for Lucy", and I felt better. As much as I could, I thanked all the officers doing traffic control and all the volunteers along the way. It became infectious to those that were next to me in the race, because after I would thank someone, the person next to me would too! Noticed my bladder started hurting some due to drinking a little more water than normal, being in aero and hitting those trademark county road cracks. Oooooooooooooo. PeterAK was a volunteer at the final aid station, I believe, and he cheered me on! I responded obviously! Thanks, Peter! As I was pushing the final 2 miles, I saw some Donkeys on the run and cheered for them. Before coming down the hill before the dismount, I took my feet out of the shoes and placed them on top of the shoes, slowed down, and dismounted fine! Worked like a charm. Sprinted into transition. What would you do differently?: Get in a couple longer rides, and train a little harder. Pee in my shorts on the bike? Take in a little more water, actually, since I had 1/4 of my Perp bottle left and 1/4 of my water with an Endurolyte tablet left. Stop getting frickin' cramps! Transition 2
Comments: A fast transition for me! I may have been a little faster if I had Yankz, BUT could have been a little slower if it wasn't for maggyruth yelling at me with good advice - "Put the belt on during the run!" ;) Actually, THANK YOU, Peggy! Shoved my small 16 oz water bottle that I had prepared with a dissolved endurolyte tablet into my Donkey jersey pocket, so I could sip along the way when I needed to. Took off running, but the legs just didn't feel like it! I have done quite a few BRICKs during my training, but my legs were not wanting anything of it right away. What would you do differently?: Put the belt on during the run. ;) Get Yankz?  Run
Comments: The sun was out with no cloud in the sky. It was going to be a hot one! Luckily, there was some residential tree shading along part of the route. It took awhile for my legs to gear into running mode - somewhere around mile 3. I took in all the water, HEED, nanners, and, ESPECIALLY, salt tablets that I could. NOTE: WARNING - The next statement is my personal opinion. HEED SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Subtle berry, or whatever the *@#$ flavor they were providing was CRRRRRRAAAAAAPPPPPP!!!! I avoided all the garden hoses, sprinklers, or spritzers that were on the course, just so that I wouldn't get my feet wet. I didn't feel too bad, considering how hot it was getting. I ran as much as I could along the crushed gravel/cinder road shoulder, or on the white line. I couldn't handle the kidney pressure anymore and couldn't drain along the route while running, so, finally, after the 1st loop (mile 6), I waited for a minute at the lone port-a-pottie for someone to come out, and went. That felt GRRRRRRRREAT!! RELIEF!!! Aaaaaahhhh!!! After getting out, I was able to start running better and picked up the pace! THIS WAS THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE DAY - I was able to cheer on ALL THE BTers AND DONKEYS along the course! (well, except for one - sorry, schmize, you're too fast!) Jszat lapped me, which was humbling but at the same time joyous since he was doing so well. Djdavey poured his soul into the race, but didn't get the final result he wanted. :( I'm glad that he recovered well. Sandi would ask me if I was okay - such a sweetie. I was getting worried that Amyjo was going to catch me! Tripletmom looked quite fresh, but later found out that she had bike problems and she decided to do the run unofficially. :( Scoobysdad was gunning for Charles Benson ;) , and mutri looked like he just got back from a walk (dang young kids and that energy anyways ;) ). Cweninger, enFORCEr, and the tall duo of rabkaman and travis appeared to be doing quite well. I caught ajotto on the 2nd loop before mile 3 and walked and talked with him for a minute or so. The heat was trying to take him down, but he wouldn't have any of that! Mr. Everywhere himself, PeterAK, was cheering me on driving back from the aid station, and then again getting a camera shot after mile 2 and before mile 3 (second loop). Another great experience was that several persons along the way would recognize the Donkey jersey and give funny comments or cheer! That's a great motivator! The BTer and Donkey jockstrappers planted at the 3 mile marker gave me the motivation and final drive to sprint the final 50 yards or so, allowing me to pass about 4 people right before the finish (remember, for Lucy)! I took my Garmin with me and never looked at it once! I stopped it at the Finish line and noticed it was 2:17 and change. A decent time, I guess, but I wanted to do better. Apologies to those that I may have not seen or have missed along the route. What would you do differently?: Pee on the bike, or time the port-a-potties better, or DTFU the whole race! Get the walking phases down to 5 seconds less per walking time and/or pick up the pace a little. Add some longer mileage training days. Check the Garmin for time to pick up the pace a little. Post race
Warm down: A very slow walk, and a little stretching. Had an icepack wrapped on both quads. Had a PB sandwich, banana slice, 5 oreo cookies (alright, I caved), a Diet Coke (I never drink that stuff), an orange slice, and a watermelon slice! Met up with grizDAWG, sandi and travis in the med tent, and most everyone else at the jockstrap tent at mile 3 by the finish line. What limited your ability to perform faster: Possibly get in more races, become more dedicated, swim faster, bike faster, and run faster. Being somewhat older with a family, but that's okay. Event comments: Definitely the event was a little under-staffed, but the volunteers that were in attendance did a GREAT job! Weather - what can you do? Plan out the swim course more accurately, but I won't complain about my time! Hopefully, fellow participants will provide additional comments to the HFP and see if the race can improve for next year since there were a number of less than positive feedback. Thank Lucy for "being there" with me. Last updated: 2008-07-22 12:00 AM
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United States
HFP Racing
Sunny
Overall Rank = 1008/1360?
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 133/155
Well, I've read many of my fellow BTers' and Donkeys' RRs regarding this race, and contemplated the last couple of days and nights of how should I write this one up, since there was sooooo much to think about and soooooo many friends that I met during the weekend. Should I create the world's greatest novel? Should I be factual? Should I embellish and try to compete for funniest RR, but shook it off since it would be extremely hard to beat since Scoobysdad's - it's one of the best that I have ever read! Should I make up a lot of shat and just lie about everything? Naw, that jus' taint me.
So, I'll just do the best report I can. Hopefully, one that Lucy would have enjoyed reading (and maybe you, too).
For starters, I would like to give a SHOUTout to the terrific, entertaining group of crazy BTers and DONKEYS that I had the pleasure of associating with (in no particular order) (please hang on with me as I go through the list, and apologize if someone was missed):
First, a BIG special thanks to Firstnet911 for allowing me to crash at his pad, about 40 minutes away, Sat. night! You da best, my friend, but, no more wrestling wit' da' woman, 'K? ;)
amyjotris (you need a navigator, ma'am?), maggyruth, pjgrande, "I Wanna" aidana, schmize, HEAD DONK jszat (and his top-notch co-pilot), lara, djdavey (you're so bossy) ;) , the inseparable sandi and travis, the perpetual smiling scoobysdad, enFORCEr, ajotto (is your name OTTO?) ;), whizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, grizDAWG, misskelly, cweninger, joerunner (flighty) ;) , FREAKIN' TALL rabkaman ;) , cindyk and mark (thanks for getting that dinner engagement!), tripletmom, wildee, jniekrasz, jenndocmartin, and that man on the go, PeterAK (NOT from Alaska) ;)
Amyjo wakeup call around 4:30 a.m.(?) or so.
Ingested a couple of energy bars and some water with a dissolved endurolyte tablet.
Did my morning constitutional, got all packed up, made lots o' noize so that Craig (firstnet911) HAD to wakeup. hehe.
Got all packed and amyjo followed me down the road. Did take a couple of wrong turns but realized them immediately and got back on track. Parked on Kewaunee (one road North of Barker one road West off of Main, where the race would take place), which is about 3 blocks from transition.
Took our transition bags down and met some Donks immediately. Weird that I walked right in to transition without having a mark, so went right back out and got bodymarked. Mark was one of the markers (that sounded funny) and said "Hi" to him. A lady waved that she was ready to mark the next person, so I went to her. I told her that I wanted "4 Lucy" marked on me, too, so she marked "4 Lucy" on my right leg on the right front side.
I went to the port-a-potty line for the first time, and noticed that the lines were getting long, but did move fairly fast.
I met enFORCEr and Scoobysdad and travis. Jszat smacked me from behind out of nowhere and we talked a little. I haven't seen him in awhile. He reminded me that his co-pilot was with him and I was allowed to make it move and make noise! Thanks, Joe. It started my morning off on a happy note. ;)
Waited, and waited, and ..., well, you know, waited.
I prepared my spot, wiggled into my wetsuit, donned my poly-urethane cap and official red swim cap over that. I bought a new set of goggles the day before the race at the expo and was going to use them. They are a "panoramic" set, with 180 degree vision, unlike the small goggles that go over the eye sockets. These helped me see better, and covered more of my face.
I waited in line for a final toidy release and heard a lady sing the "Star-Spangled Banner" (not that well though, IMHO).
Wiggling into my wetsuit, mentally relaxing while waiting in line for the port-a-potty use, stretching my legs out while waiting in line for the port-a-potty use, and talked with friends (but not in the port-a-potty waiting line).
After an hour "roll-over" delay, we FINALLY were given the go ahead to walk down to the swim start. It took about 15 minutes or so and was peaceful.
There were hundreds of triathletes venturing down the beach in their poly-urethane wetsuits, some with their friends, some with their family, and some with their loved ones. There were lifeguards NOT in wetsuits but red swimsuits (I feel a little bad for them since they would have to go in without a wetsuit!). There was a dead seagull floating on the shoreline (gross). There was a thick fog, so thick that I almost didn't see the buoys. They were actually brought in closer due to safety reasons (the water was 48 degrees F where they were initially supposed to be placed). The water temp at start was around 55 - 56 degrees F. I waded in and out of the water during the trek down to the start, to see how it would feel. Yep, feet became cold quickly. I winced. I thought, "well, I came here to race, so no backing out. HTFU, DTFU, and find some fun out of this!". So, no matter what anyone tells you, wearing a wetsuit in 55 degrees F water is still COLD!
Ajotto, cweninger, sandi and travis, and I ventured in and swam around for several minutes, getting accustomed to what Lake Michigan was offering us today. Taunting us. Mocking us. Informing us that even though it looked calm, it had a surprise for us. It was going to punish us, despite wearing silly black, red, blue, or white poly-urethane material. Despite wearing head protection or silly little black booties, that some participants were wearing and I wasn't. I was a little worried, but after 15 minutes, it really wasn't that bad. I felt okay with it. I said something that would be repeated throughout the day, especially during the times that I felt like I was losing confidence or was hurting - "Remember, this is for Lucy". I felt better and became calm.
I went to my wave, let out a Donkey bray, saw Scoobysdad and yelled to him, and waited for the sendoff.
After a countdown and a good luck from the director and his helper, the horn blared, and I just went with it, unlike last year where I deliberately(sp?) held back and took my time.