Swim
Comments: Better Swim than I thought since this was my first OWS. Sighted pretty well and so no zig-zaging ... swam fairly straight lines. Bad thing happened was I left my swim cap at home, so was scrambling around to find an extra ... had me a little stressed to start the race and prevented me from time to get focused and have last few sips of water. What would you do differently?: Just increase technique and speed, and don't forget my swim cap next time. Transition 1
Comments: Still spending too much time in Transition ... but it was a bit of a run from the lake to T1. Forget to have my socks pre-rolled. What would you do differently?: Not worry about grass on the feet, it probably would have not made a difference at all once the socks were put on. Bike
Comments: Need much more time on the bike - my weakest segment and it ruins me for the Run segment. Need to get my bike 100% prepared ahead of time as well, had a flat when I arrived that morning plus front wheel bent or not true, or front brakes not adjusted correctly. Also lost 1 water bottle - the one with my Heed elctrolyte mixture, and my Gu Chomps going over those blasted speed bumps leaving out of the park. Ruined my hydration and nutrition strategy. What would you do differently?: Get bike fully tuned and in 100% mechanical shape ahead of time. Train more on the bike. Transition 2
Comments: Spending too much time in Transition. Race belt broke, one of the snaps holding on race number broke off ... had to fish around and find a safety pin to pin on the race number. Getting dehydrated at this point and legs cramping ... lost my electrolyte mix and Gu Chomps at those damn speed bumps leaving out of the park. What would you do differently?: Be more carefull putting on my race belt, have extra electrolyte drink and or gels at T2. Run
Comments: My legs never came back to me after the bike, partly because I need more bike fitness and training, and partly because I lost my electrolyte drink and Gu leaving out on the bike ... so was getting dehydrated and cramping by the time the run started. Was fighting cramps in my quads during the entire run, plus working hard to not twist an ankle so badly as to injure myself while running in the gravel and sticks. The run course sucked IMHO. What would you do differently?: Train more on the bike, have extra electrolytes in T2, also need more run training and fitness. Post race
Warm down: Nothing really ... just crossed Finish Line and started walking straight to the water tent. Drank 6 or 7 cups of water, then had a BBQ sandwhich and bowl of red beans and rice ... later an apple, later a banana and few Oreo cookies. What limited your ability to perform faster: Losing my electrolyte water and Gu Chomps, not having enough bike fitness. Event comments: Parking situation was horrible - they wouldn't even let me drive up to transition to drop off my bike and gear - had to walk over 2.5 miles to get to the Transition area. Not much for spectators to do, very little post-race activities. Post race snacks were minimal, drinks were hot - not even placed in ice, only apples, banana, and Oreos, no bagels or other carb foods. The course was pretty decent except for the speed bumps leaving out on the bike (there were probably over 100 bottles lost and lying on the side of the road by those speed bumps), and the run couse had too much gravel for me. Last updated: 2009-02-18 12:00 AM
|
|
United States
Set-Up, Inc.
88F / 31C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 558/579
Age Group = 40-44, MC
Age Group Rank = 117/120
Up at 04:30 a.m., but still got there late, had to walk over 2.5 miles with bike and heavy bag to get to race site. Two mini bagels with PB and blackberry jam for breakfast.
Just humping it into the Park and Transition area. Was fully covered in a sweat by the time I was ready to start the Swim.