$1.79's Mentor Group FULL of fast people (Page 9)

I am still alive!  I can't believe how badly I needed to do this for me.  I had a blast, and I am already kicking myself in the butt for not pushing myself hard enough (especially in the swim).  I was very excited when I heard that I placed 3rd in my AG only to find out there were 3 of us!  Oh well, I did not finish last overall and that was a goal (123/148).  Here are my times:
             Swim: 6:43  (300m)
             T1: 2:57  (I can't believe it took me this long...)
             Bike: 40:32   (13.5k)
             T2: 2:06
             Run: 35:03    (5k)

I really wished that I would have started up front on the swim.  I was nervous about the start, but soon figured out that I should have been up there.  The chaos that was afraid of, ended up being one of my favorite parts.  I was going way too slow at the beginning of the swim when I finally decided that I could start pushing harder, and guess what, I was passing people (regardless of the fact that I kept taking water in my right goggle).  I was pretty frustrated when I came out of the water and feeling that I didn't work very hard. 

The bike...well that was a completely different story.  First off, I forgot to put my number on.  I was only about 20 feet from where my stuff was at, but I still had to turn around to get it.  Just getting out of the parking lot had me doubting that I could do it, but I did.  There were times that I could have walked my bike up the hill faster than I was riding, but I had to stay on the bike. 

I didn't know that my legs were made of so much jello!  The first 1/2 mile or so on the run was quite a challenge.  Had to stop and walk quite a bit to stretch.  Between the cramping and shaking legs, it was rough.  I finally got into the groove (not to mention the incentive of trying to catch the 75 y.o. bent over man who was just 15 yards in front of me!).  The last 2 miles felt great.  I wish that I could have had that pace the entire time.  Overall, I was pretty satisfied with my run because I usually run 3 miles in 30 minutes on a pair of fresh legs.

They are having this again next month, and even though I don't want to spend that much money (I think it's a lot based on what I see others going for), I so badly want to do it again to prove that I can do a whole lot better improve my time, and now that I know what to expect, I can be better prepared.

Thanks to everybody for encouragement and words of wisdom.  I hope everyone had a great weekend.  Oh, I am not terribly sore today, which is frustrating because I figure it's either because of 2 things: 1) I am in better shape than I thought (that's not it) OR 2) I didn't push hard enough! (That's the one!) 

Congrats Jess on a great race!  This tri thing is addicting isn't it?  Sign up for more!  You'll improve with every race.

Hey guys- here is a recap of my race this weekend.  Distance was an Oly (have only done 2 of this in the past) and I have to say this was probably my best race ever since I started doing Tris as far as effort, how I felt, overall results go and everything coming together like it should.

The swim was a time trial start which for this race meant that they started two people at a time every couple of seconds and you ran in from the shore and off you went.  Really helped with space and crowding.  For me this was probably my best swim ever and I only say this cause I had no panic at all (wetsuit surely helped).  My sighting was pretty darn good (our masters swim coach makes us do TONS of water polo which is basically swimming with your head up and this makes sighting during a stroke very easy and comfortable when translated to OW).

Bike was rolling with a few long climbs.  This is my strongest discipline and I had a really good bike – avg was 19+mph! 

Run – When I left T2 I knew I had to go to the bathroom and wouldn’t be able to run if I didn’t.  Spotted porta john after crossing the run mat and started my watch cause I knew time doesn’t wait for those that must pee!  Checked my watch after bathroom break and I was already at 2:30 (bummer).  After that this was my best run in a race I think ever.  First mile or so I felt like my quads were going to lock up cause they were cramping from the bike but somehow I got into a rhythm and just ran.  Mentally I never gave up and just kept pushing.  If it had not been for the xtra 2:30 my time would have been within :30 or so of my stand alone 10K time!

Interesting point – my HR avg for the bike and run were the same (which equated to Z4 for the bike and Z3 for the run).  Which I felt the opposite as far as effort went.  Andrew - does that make sense?  Does this happen to anyone else? 

My overall time was 2:48:xx and this is more than a 20 min PR over my best OLY distance race from last year.  To tell the truth, I shocked myself – thought I’d be lucky to do it in 3:00.  I also got 2^nd Place AG (I would have kicked myself had I missed first by 2:30 but it was more than that).

I have been practicing my nutrition and I think this had a lot to do with my success as I never bonked.  I took a gel about 15 mins before the swim.  On the bike I had about 1.5 bottles of Infinit and took a gel about 2 miles before I got off the bike.  On the run I had a gel at the halfway turnaround point.  On the run I barely took in any fluids (it was maybe 70 degrees and drizzled some) but I know I need to work on this – Andrew – any ideas on this?  

Only negative about the whole day is that I got some kind of tightness in my butt/hamstring and had to stop and stretch it during the run.  That night and next day it was pretty darn sore.  I did a lot of stretching and foam rolling and was smart (took me years to get to this point) and skipped my bike on Sunday.  I’m happy to say that it’s now gone!

Next race is non wetsuit so I need to get other there an practice OWS this weekend without the wetsuit and hope that my first race without will be panic free and I’ll be over the hump!

Congratulations on your great race, Lisa.

Thanks everyone.  It's funny when I read different forums and everybody talks about how addicting this is.  Well, I have to agree.  I can't wait to do my next one.  There are few that I have my eye on, and now that I know I can do it, there is nothing left to do but sign up and train.  Speaking of training, I have done absolutely nothing since the race.  I am going to use the excuse that this time of year is super busy at work.  I plan on getting in four or five days in this week and then summer vacation is here, and I will have no more excuses!

What does t-pace mean.  I was trying to follow along with Cathy and Andrew and I am so lost by most of the conversation.  I am assuming that TT means Total Time.  What about all of this?  Can you translate it for me?

         For instance, I haven't tested in a while.  But when I did, my improvements looked like this:
                                 1/15 TT 1000y 18.01 1.48 pace
                                 2/24 TT 1000y 16.44 1.40 pace
                                 6/17 TT 1000y 16.07 1.37 pace