Webster Lake Triathlon : Official Thread (Page 3)

Idunno, looks like the rain may hold out while we're racing, but set up and awards would be wet-- I wouldn't terribly mind that.  I'm just hoping the wind will hold out more than anything.

Good luck to you, too!

With or without rain, it will be fun.
Good luck & see you all tomorrow!

Just went by the race site to see what all is set up thus far. They have the transition area set up but that's about it. Seems like its going to be a long haul from swim finish to transition. Couldn't figure out the swim course though. Will have to wait till tomorrow I guess.
I am excited and nervous all at the same time. Was hoping for better weather, but oh well, I guess it will just add a little excitement to that steep hill on the bike course. See you all tomorrow and good luck to everyone.

I hope everyone had fun today! I checked the weather report last night, and it didn't look too promising, so I didn't bother setting my alarm, not to mention the fact I didn't get home til around 1 am. Hopefully I can catch up with you guys at the next race/group training event because I'm getting really tired of not exercising!

Excuses, excuses!  The weather was PERFECT IMO: cool, but not too cold, and the rain held off for the majority of the racing hours with just a little refreshing mist on the last leg.  The mild temps and pretty course seemed to put everyone in a great mood and I had a lot of nice interactions with folks along the course.  Really fun, enjoyable morning!!... more deets in the RR to come.

Oh, and Jonah and I got home last night just around the stroke of 2:00.  Wimp. (J/K... we were aiming to be home by midnight, but unfortunately, circumstances dictated otherwise.) That said, it's nap time!!!

And congrats to everyone today!  Especially the newbies.  Tough swim start and a steep, staged hill on the bike made for a challenging course.  Hope you all had as much fun as me! 

CONGRATS to you all! Wish I could have made it out there this morning but my legs wouldnt carry me ( and Seth I had a GOOD excuse). It sounds like it was fun...glad the weather held out!

I had fun today. Congrats everyone.

BUT, I am especially disappointed with FIRM racing for posting an incorrect swim time which added about 12 minutes to my total time:

I emailed them asking to switch from age grouper to clydesdale so I could race with icekreamman (sp?) - they said they would do that. But when I checked in today I discovered they had not done so. They said I could still change and they gave me a gray cap, noted it on the sign in sheet and and said they would update the computer... of course, that was not done and my start time was recorded incorrectly.

It's only a time and not important in the larger scheme of things... but am still annoyed... especially as I wanted to know how well I actually did in the swim and had worked hard at improving all my times.

This is my first post, and this was my first Tri.

Despite dreading the OWS, and not being used to swimming in a (rented) wetsuit, I really enjoyed the entire experience. 

The water was beautiful and clear, the temperature was perfect.  At one point I was wishing I could remove my cap because I was too warm.  As Mina mentioned earlier in this thread, I did end up swimming mostly sidestroke and breaststroke.  I need to learn how to swim freestyle, but I signed up for this Tri without much time to learn and train, so I stuck with what I know.

The biking was challenging, especially because of the hills, but the scenery helped me to concentrate on my enjoyment of being in a new place.  I'm kinda glad that I didn't ride this course before this race, only because of the lush greenery and the animals along the route.  I was very glad to know about the hill because of Mina's reconnaissance. At the bottom of the big hill, I was sad to see that a guy had injured himself, presumably because he didn't slow down in time, and slid on the sand...he was quite bloodied, but standing with his bike, seemingly OK.

The rain was refreshing when I needed it during the run, and though I started out with some minor leg cramps, I kept my pace even for almost the whole run.

I am psyched to do another one.  I can't thank Mina and the other BT-ers enough for the encouragement. 

Your comment about F.I.R.M. does not surprize me at all. I have emailed Wendy at FIRM Racing 3 times trying to get confirmation on my registration to the Witch City Tri and I have yet to receive a reply. I'm not very impressed by them so far........

Hmmm. Well, I emailed them and I hope they fix it. By my calculation my swim result was 30th or 31st place overall (subtract at least 12:34 from the published time)... which would be a big deal for me.

Other than this (significant) snag, I thought FIRM did a good job. 

Well! Despite all my fiascos during the race, I did finish. The weather wasn't too bad, glad it wasn't raining during the bike course. Although I do think that the weather had something to do with the lake conditions. I was the one absolutely dead last out of the lake. Out there, I thought I was going to die. Couldn't breathe. Was too scared to put my head under water so all the technique I had been practicing during my pool swims just pretty much went out the door. The waves from buoy 1 to 2 were just too much for me to handle. That kind of did it for me for the entire race. I came out crying, out of breath and extremely nauscious. I was sooo embarassed of being the last one, almost gave up and didn't want to continue. My lovely husband though wouldn't let me quit and stayed with me the whole time from the swim finish to the transition area and held me when I was crying. He wouldn't let me quit. So with tears and utter embarassment I decided to continue.
The hill on the bike course was much worse than what I rememebered from last Saturday's ride. I think I had left my lungs in the lake. Ended up walking my bike a couple of times on the hill. Once the hill was over though, I started feeling pretty good. Saw the accident at the end of the hill that kind of scared me a little. Saw this guy/gal on the stretcher with neck braces and bloody face. Hope he/she recovers soon.
After that I started to sort of feel a little better. I knew that even though there was a possibility that by the time I finish there might not even be a finish line, but I could finish. Then I saw a few other stragglers on the course, and then a few more by the time I came to the run course. I think there were 3-5 people that finished after me. Overall, despite everything, I am glad I did it and I am glad I finished. I know the areas I need to work on for my next triathlon.
Checked the race results yesterday evening and realized that FIRM screwed up my bike time. They have my bike time as 0 and T2 as 1:06:07. I will have to email them to see if they can somehow fix. Not that it really makes a difference.
Overall - need to learn how to swim in open water. Any ideas gang?

Thanks MAV.

Does anyone here know of any OWS clinics or training sessions in greater springfield area? I definitely need some training and hand holding in this department.

Congrats, Lina!  Way to stick it out!

That crazy start where people spread out all over the beach - just the movement of bodies from all directions made a lot more unpredictable chop than the few other OW races I've done.  It seemed much more chaotic since no one really knew where they were going after hearing the directions given by Charlie Brown's parents on the loud speaker.

Just getting in OW more is important to getting more comfortable.  Find some BTers to swim with or an OW clinic - I know Max Performance is still doing a couple more this summer, but it's in Sharon, MA which I guess would be quite a hike for you.  If I come across others closer to you, I'll let you know.

Or you could train like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYeDF7eQ_Dg 

This OW clinic is at Chauncey Lake in Westborough, MA which I think is a little more than an hour drive from Springfield: http://sites.google.com/a/mpstraining.com/services/open-water

Looks like July is sold out, but Aug is still open.

Thanks Mina. I wish I knew about this before, would have signed up for the July session. Unfortunately I will on vacation in August so can't attend that session. Darn. This sounds like exactly what I need though.

That's just wrong at so many levels. Hahahahhahaha.

Hmmm... maybe email HEAT folks to see if there's anything there?

Lina, I can relate.  Part of the reason that I'm still running, and now starting to train for Triathlons is that I came in dead last in my first 10K.  I knew that I could do better, so I signed right up for another...and did much better after some training.  I'm still a slow runner, but it feels much better now, and I can keep things in perspective because of what I wasn't able to accomplish before.

I have a question...sorry if I missed it in the posts above...did you have a wetsuit?

I was very slow in all of the events, but having a wetsuit gave me some confidence in the swim that I lacked just two weeks before the event...when I tried swimming across the narrow part of Walden Pond, I panicked, and felt like I almost didn't make it across.  I tried laying on my back and floating, but the water was so cold that it was freezing my brain as it got in through my ears.  I was attempting this, my first OWS without a cap and no wetsuit.  Both could have made a difference, by keeping the cold water out of my ears, and by not freezing my body...the latter made my muscles tense up...and I ended up using way more energy than I needed to use.

I also attended an open water swim clinic in Sharon, and it helped, though I still swam slowly, I got a chance to try swimming in the wetsuit before race day.  The instructors were very patient, and knowledgeable, but regardless of anything they said, my body needed the time in the water to get used to the feeling of the wetsuit: its restrictive qualities, and its added buoyancy.  

At the Webster Tri, I still came in last (AG) swimming, and second to last in my age group for each event, but it felt great to finish.  I know that if I can get my speed up in the water, and switch to crawl for even half of my swim, my overall time will be better...because I won't be as tired from all of my splashing around.

One goal I have is to be able to complete an OWS half miler without a wetsuit...but that is  long term goal right now.  I know that I will need a wetsuit while I get comfortable with swimming crawl.

regardless, congratulations Lina, it sounds like you were able to push though some difficult challenges. 



Edited by jonahjay 2009-06-22 10:32 AM

Linawalton... congrats... you pushed on and finished, and that's what really matters for a first triathlon. What do do about the swimming? Stick with it, the swimming will get much better before long. As others have mentioned, make use of the offers for OWS training and swimming with other BT'ers.

P.S. Wendy at Fiske is going to correct my swim time at Webster... very happy about that; can't wait to see the real result!!

Congratulations, Lina!!  I am so, so impressed that you stuck it out!  Just think, you can put that experience in the bank, so to speak, and draw on it when needed in future races. 

Way to go, triathlete!  

Webster was a great race for me...after two weeks of not training and a week of salmonella food poisoning in Asia, I think the time off allowed me to actually peak for Webster...although my HR was higher than normal.  Back in the game!

Looking forward to Cohasset this weekend.

Jed

Thanks for the encouraging words Jonah. Yes I did have a full wetsuit on. I had rented it from Quadmultisport. It would have been way too cold for me to even get in the water without it. The wetsuit did help a bit, but like you mentioned, I just need to get out there and practice in the open water.