US Women's Tri - Naperville, June 22 (Page 2)

Ditto to what Jen said -- some of the AG's will have multiple waves.  And definitely around the mid-30's age groups, there will even be some waves that are just one age (I think I was in a wave with all 35 year olds three years ago).

This really is a great first-timer race.  If you're a little freaked out about the swim (which is definitely one of my claims to fame), get over there beforehand and swim to check it out.  The pool will be open on Saturday (though before 5pm it's $10 to get in, I believe) and it wouldn't hurt to at least go there and take a look at it, if not actually get in and swim.

I'll be out at the expo sometime around 10:30 or so meeting some friends.  If I have any left, I'll put one of the BT tattoos on my calf, so if you see it, come over and say Hi! 

Tri clothing isn't exactly flattering, is it?! 

I wouldn't worry about putting a t-shirt on over that after the swim... it's hard putting clothing on a wet body, and there will be so many other women there, all shapes and sizes, that you'll blend in with everyone else. 

Envision the swim as an "M" with an extra hump in it.  And every time you come back towards where you start (on the lower left side of the "M", the water is 4' deep and many people will walk at that point around the buoy.  Swimmers will tell you that it's quicker to swim (and I'm sure it is), but it certainly is nice to know that there's a reprieve at least twice during the 750m!

FYI:

If you go to the website and choose to Confirm Your Entry, you can find out what wave you're starting in.  Thought I'd mention that since some of you had asked!  Looks like waves go Elites first, then oldest to youngest.

Oh - I'm in wave 16. 

Depends on what kind of person you are.

Me?  I'm early for things.  I LIKE being early.  I'd rather wake up at an insanely early hour of the morning to be assured that I'll have time to do nothing more than putter about the transition area, sure that I'm ready to go.  I also have friends on the other end of the spectrum, where all the waiting around stresses them out.  (I'm not sure how we're even friends. )  But - take that into consideration.  Even after transition closes, you'll have a good hour of waiting around, most likely.  If you're really organized, you can be from your car to set up and ready in probably 30-45 minutes, but I wouldn't push it that far (and I'd have a nervous breakdown, without a doubt).

Since we don't rack bikes the night before, there's a good reason to get there early -- so you have your choice of where to rack your bike.  There will be racks assigned by wave numbers, but you can choose within that rack where to set up for the day.  There's an advantage to being able to pick the end of a rack (usually means a bit more room), or a spot on the rack that has a very easily identifiable landmark (by the flag, by the big tree.... something you can easily spot when you're coming into transition).  And - typically the racks are crowded, so you won't have a ton of room to spread out your stuff.

A side note:  make sure you make time to walk the transition after you get set up!  There's nothing more nerve-wracking than coming in from the swim, seeing the sea of bikes and not remembering what rack your bike is on.  Or coming in from the bike and not being able to remember where to rack your bike.  Make sure you've got landmarks and other cues so you know what aisle to go down.  Go to where you come in from the swim and actually walk to your bike, noting what rack.  Then go from your spot on the rack to the bike exit.  Then from the bike entrance back to your spot.  And from there to the run exit.  Walk the entire thing multiple times - you'll be glad you did.  The transition area is fairly large and can get confusing in the middle of a race, and knowing where you're going without having to think/stress about it really helps.  Some people will bring balloons or chalk (to mark the ground) to mark their spot on the rack... I usually figure that someone else will do it and I'll use theirs ("I'm one rack over from the Nemo balloon!"

That said, I'll probably be planning on getting to the area around 5:00-5:15, perhaps a little earlier if I can coax my friend out that early.    That'll get me into transition no later than 5:45 (by the time I get my stuff together and walk from the car to the transition area). 

Yes - you will come out of the pool on the far right side (when looking from the beach down to the deep end), go directly up and then out that gated fence and run the path that goes kind of between the two parking lots to the far end of the parking lot that's on the west side of the pool, closest to jackson.  It's probably a good 300-400m run. 

This is what I do. I research the heck out of things. And I like to make lists. I have a list for each day starting today and ending Sunday. It's a problem I have . I should mention that I have never swam at Centenntial Beach. I have only played with my kids there in the shallow area. I have never been out in the "deep" area.

I do lists too.    And here's a good link right here on BT for the list-inclined:  Interactive Race Gear List

The run to T1 is fairly long (maybe 300-400m?)... you'll come up the beach (and where they have water, grab 2 cups to pour over your feet to wash off the sand!), through some grass and then on a concrete path.  At some point they had a thin mat down on the concrete, if I remember correctly.  They really try to sweep the area really well beforehand, but of course, it's not impossible to have rocks/pebbles/other debris on the concrete.  And once you get into T1, you're running through an asphalt parking lot which is reasonably well swept, but inevitably there are rocks in there too.

You can put a pair of flip-flops or other shoes at the end of the swim to pick up on your way out -- a number of people will do this -- though I never have.  A friend of mine has a foot issue right now, and because she's not supposed to even be running, much less barefoot on concrete, she's going to stow a pair of shoes there.