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 Swim
Comments: Standing on deck, watching the swimmers in front of me, I was intimidated at first because the lead-off swimmers were beasts in the water. However, as it got closer to my start time, I felt like I had seeded myself correctly. There were 3 swimmers that went off ahead of me that were wayyy out of their league being seeded that high. I caught 2 of the 3 at 175 yard, they were swimming one behind the next - I had to sit up in the water for a second to make a decision on when to pass. We were coming into the wall and there was noone coming at me so I sprinted for the wall and got around them. Finished out the swim "long and strong" - passing 2, didn't get passed. Came out of the pool feeling good. What would you do differently?: Looking back, I feel like I could have pushed each leg harder - just totally killed myself and collapsed at the finish line. But I wasn't sure how much gas to leave in the tank for each leg as this was my first race. I was really happy with the swim overall.  Transition 1
Comments: Times are included in the splits from the Bike/Run legs. First was the shirt. I had put it one and rolled it up before the race so I could put my head/arms through and roll it down over my wet body as I knew putting a dry shirt on was going to be a pain. However, I had a shout out on it to Mom for mother's day so I wanted to wear it and figured a couple extra seconds wasn't the end of the world. Struggled with it, finally got it on. Helmet was next then shoes...shoes gave me problems too. Ran out of transition (actually more of a jog as running in Look cleats...sucks :) Did a moving mount...wasn't really a flying mount by any stretch of the imagination - or even a running mount for that matter. Struggled to clip in at first as I was a little dazed from the commotion of swim to bike. What would you do differently?: In a pool swim I won't wear a shirt again or get a singlet/tri suit. In a wetsuit swim this won't be a problem. Put body glide on the opening of the shoe. Practice getting into them with wet feet. Learn to transition with shoes clipped in.  Bike
Comments: Once I got my shoes clipped in, quickly got into a rhythm. Got passed in the first 1.5 miles by 3 people on Tri bikes. Felt pretty good, spent most of the time on the drops. As I made the sharp corner to come back towards transition on loop one, I passed a rider, looked down to see my speed and realized my computer wasn't working so I fumbled with it for a second to try to get it to read and it popped off and fell on the side of the road. So I had to quickly hit the breaks, run back and get the computer then get started again. A couple more people passed me here (including the guy I had just passed). Got back on the bike and started again - quickly got back into my rhythm, got through the second lap passing a couple more people. Overall, I would have been really happy with the bike if I hadn't dropped the computer. I got passed a handful of times only by people on tri bikes and passed almost as many. Drank the 3/4 of the bottle that I had loaded on the bike, which sustained me for the rest of the race. What would you do differently?: Ignore my computer if it isn't working - fix it after the race. Transition 2
Comments: The course had a very short but pretty steep climb right before the last turn that brought you back to transition. From the top of the climb to the dismount line was probably only 100 yards or so that included 2 90 degree turns. I tried getting out of my shoes and putting my feet on top as soon as I crested the hill but it didn't leave me much time. Fumbled getting my feet on top of my shoes a little bit, which slowed me down coming into the dismount line. You then had to jump up a curb to get into the transition area which didn't go very well as I didn't pick up my bike effectively. I racked the bike alright, slipped into my shoes without much problem and then headed out only to have a very nice volunteer yell "HELMET" at me...OOPS! :( can you say Newbieee!? Ran back to the ran, dropped my helmet (and sunglasses because they came off too and ran out of transition. Forgot my race belt too. What would you do differently?: Rerack the bike by the handlebars, take off the helmet before putting on shoes, remember race belt.  Run
Comments: I wanted to run 8:00 to 8:30 pace and I did that. I think the run course was shorter than what they said but only by a tenth or 2, so my pace would have still fallen close to my goal. As expected, I got passed by a bunch of people that were cruising. Caught one lady at the 1 mile water stop and that was it for me passing people. I got passed by one guy in the last mile that then stopped, removed his shoes and then proceeded to run away from me like I was standing still...barefoot! I honestly thought/felt this leg was much slower than this time. Didn't feel good about it coming across the finish line but was happy with the split. What would you do differently?: Push harder. I finished with fuel left in the tank and I know I could have pushed through more discomfort on the bike/run. I hit my goals though and that was the most important thing, especially since the splits included my slow transitions with all my stupid mistakes :) Post race
Warm down: Had a couple chocolate milks, walked around/kept moving, stretched a little, and fought the crowds by the results board to see the sheets as they periodically posted updates. What limited your ability to perform faster: My first race, wanted to conserve some for later because i didn't know how much I was going to have left. Finished with more to give so I should have pushed harder. Event comments: I've heard mixed reviews about FIRM events. Overall, I thought it was well run and I had no problems. I would definitely do this race again and recommend it to others, especially if it's your first race and you're not a confident swimmer. The pool swim was great, didn't have to deal with getting kicked or punched in the "washing machine"...i'll leave that for Mooseman ;) Profile Album Last updated: 2009-02-22 12:00 AM
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United States
FIRM Racing
65F / 18C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 68/494
Age Group = M 20-24
Age Group Rank = 4/9
Woke up early - alarm went off at 4:45. Toasted a bagel with peanut butter and had a banana and some gatorade. Went through my list one more time to make sure I had everything then relaxed for a half hour while eating breakfast. Headed out to the race site at about 5:45, I wanted to get there early to get my bearings for my first Tri. I pulled in, FIRM was there with their trucks just starting to set up, and there were a dozen or so other cars in the parking lot - perfect. No line at registration, able to get my packet & get body marked no problem. They didn't ask for an ID or USAT card which I thought was weird because I've heard so much about how important it is to have it on you. I went back to my car, checked my tires, grabbed my stuff and headed to transition. They assigned racks based on race number, 5 or 6 numbers per rack. I was there early enough to get an end spot! It was awesome, we were the 4th rack in, closest to the swim in/bike out and I had the end spot. Set up my transition area went through them in my head then went out for a quick warm-up on the bike/run. Came back and my Mom met up with me. Wished her a happy mothers day :) then double checked my transition area before heading into the pool area to finish my warmup.
Took the bike out for a quick spin to check the gears, make sure everything was working correctly. Did a quick out and back run to make sure the legs felt good. Then got in the pool and did some laps.