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Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon
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Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic
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 Swim
Comments: Words cannot express how much I hated, and sucked at, this swim. Pretty much from the moment I was in the water the wetsuit felt too tight around my chest and everytime I came up for a breath water kept slapping in my face. The first 1/4 or so of the course was the worst. I interspersed minutes of telling myself "calm down, relax, it's just like a training swim" with minutes of various freaking out. First thought was to give up, like one of the women behind me did, but there was no way I could go back and face everyone, or myself if I gave up in the first 10 minutes. Plus, if I gave up in the swim, I wouldn't get a chance to do the bike and run, the only things I had a chance at doing a decent job at. So I decided not to give up, then I thought maybe I'll just do one loop and throw myself in the sprint, but that was basically like giving up to so I decided that even if I was dead last I was going to finish. I remember Dolores saying at her olympic that she swam sidestroke so that's what I did for pretty much the whole first leg. Things got a little easier once I finally rounded the buoy and I was able to swim freestyle for most of the way down the second side, which gave me a little confidence. The crowd was pretty thin at that point and I was getting lapped by some of the people in the first wave, I wasn't too far from part of my wave though so I kept going. Started the second loop and the chop was back, switched between sidestroke and breaststroke and managed to keep up with then pass a women from my wave, we stayed pretty close the rest of the way though. I finally rounded the corner and headed down for the last leg and swam freestyle the whole way. Looked back and only saw a couple people behind me, but looking at the times later there must of been a few more. There was a group of 7 or 8 in front of me that I almost caught up with which made me feel slightly less awful although I was still in a pretty foul mood. What would you do differently?: an open water swim at least once before the race, remembered to try breathing on my left instead of my right, which I inexplicably forgot to do once I was in the water since I'm used to right side being my strong side.  Transition 1
Comments: Tried to run up the beach in order to gain a little time, gave up, ran some more, gave up, finally did a slow jog into the transition. Saw some people starting the run already and spazzed for a moment before realizing they must be the sprinters. Managed to get my wetsuit off fairly quickly given that I'd only taken it off once before. Got everything on in the right order, unlike Ironbruin. Before the race I told myself I would have a gu in transition since I knew I wouldn't be able to get one open on the bike. Was already freaked out about my slow swim time though and wasn't hungry at that moment so I decided to skip it and run out with my bike (I will regret this later) What would you do differently?: eaten the damn gu! maybe gotten my wetsuit off faster, not sure how I could have done that without practice though so doesn't really matter.  Bike
Comments: I went out on the bike pretty fast, again, still freaked out about the slow swim. I had a lot of fun going down that first hill, and it wasn't long before I started catching up to and passing a few people. Everyone was really nice and encouraging on the course and I tried to say thank you to all the volunteers and policemen. I was going pretty hard the whole time, averaging around 18-19 mph on the flats, tried to slow myself down since I knew this would probably bite me in the butt either on the second half of the bike or the run, but I just couldn't slow down knowing how many people must have been ahead of me after the swim. Caught up with Yanti right at the beginning of hill at the end of loop, where the aforementioned fast pace caught up with me. Made some joke about granny gears to Yanti, got about halfway up the hill and just died. Went down to about 5 mph and said, ef it I'm getting off before I fall over. So I walked up the hill, a few of the people I'd passed early pass me, including Yanti (although they were all very nice, complimented me on passing them on the flats, etc.). When I got close to the top I hopped back on and hammered the hill as hard as I could, passing the others again. Took me a little bit longer to pass Yanti as she kamikazed down the hill and took off but I caught up with her near the beginning of the second loop. Passed a guy going up the hill who I'd spend the next 20 minutes or so playing cat and mouse with. Loved the downhill again the second time. I got up to 33 mph and I even passed a car! It was an SUV pulling a boat and we were going about the same speed, but it made me nervous to be in between the boat trailer and the curb so I kicked it up a notch and passed him, way fun. A mile or so after that I see a guy walking his bike back and ask if he's ok, he says he's got a flat and asks if I have a cartridge, I do, so I get off and give it to him while the guy I passed on the hill passes me. Figure at this point good karma is better than worrying about my standings. Get back on the bike and catch up to him in a few miles anyways. I make a decided effort to go slower this time around now that I've passed a few people because I don't want to eat it on the hill. At this point, I am famished and kicking myself for not eating that gu. Pass a guy in one of those fancy giro aero pointy helmets and feel good about myself. Hit the hill the second time, manage to make it a little bit farther but still can't do it. Feel like an idiot, but get off and walk and try and make the best of it by finally eating that damn gu. Felt much better at the top and hammer it all the way home. What would you do differently?: not go out too fast at the start, eat beforehand, train on more hills Transition 2
Comments: I'm pretty happy with my T2. It wasn't lightening fast, but I didn't waste any time looking around feeling like I was missing something like I did at Ironbruin. Threw my cycling shoes at my backpack, I remembered to untie my running shoes before so I got those on fairly quickly. Skipped the visor as it was still overcast, grabbed my little water bottle (probably didn't need it) and went. What would you do differently?: eh, probably nothing, maybe could have moved a little faster in general, but I'm not quite that hardcore yet.  Run
Comments: Went out just behind a woman maybe in her 30s and a guy maybe in his late 40s/early 50s? The woman took off but I stayed just a bit behind the guy for almost the entire run course although he got a little farther ahead of me in the end. My legs didn't feel to bad, but I'd never really caught my breath on the bike so I was breathing hard from the start. I saw Tim about a mile in I think, I almost missed him but he kind of waved and said "hey". I never really felt warmed up in this run and I think it's because I took it a little hard on the bike, usually after 3 or 4 miles I hit a groove where I feel like I can keep running forever, but that never happened. I saw Matt around mile 2, then Verna near the turnaround. It was nice to see everyone out on the run because I'd felt pretty behind for most of the rest of the race. After the turnaround I saw Yanti somewhere between miles 3 and 4. There was a girl behind me who I could hear encouraging everyone she passed, whether they were going her way or the other. I took a little walk break just after the turnaround and she said something to me about not giving up. She stayed about 50 yards behind me for the rest of the race, until the last 50 feet when she sprinted past me which really pissed me off, although I can't really be mad at her for pacing herself better than I did. The rolling hills on the way back were pretty rough and I wanted to walk about a dozen times, but I didn't want the chick behind me to pass me (futile effort, obviously, but it kept me going which is good). Seemed like every marine on the way back told me "you're almost there", which was nice that they were encouraging but not so nice when I wasn't really "almost there". Finally rounded the corner and saw the transition area and the finish. Matt, Verna and Time were all there cheering me in and felt pretty strong when I finished, although not sprint capable like surf city. I wished I could have gone a little bit faster since I know I can but having never done this distance before there wasn't really any way for me to know how the other events would affect the run. So I'm going to stop beating myself up now :). What would you do differently?: Not done the bike so hard, not carried the water bottle since it wasn't that hot out. Post race
Warm down: Started coughing like I do when I overdo it on the run. Grabbed some water/sports drink stuff and a half of a banana before following the others over to the barbeque where I grabbed too much food. I felt a little sick afterwards and couldn't really eat much of it. Stared at the results for a while, than sat with everyone waiting for Yanti when I though I heard them butcher my name on the loudspeaker. Jogged over to the little awards table and asked if they'd just called me. They said "yes you got first place", I said "what?" and they were like "yes" here's your medal and box of sports tablet things and I was like "I was the only one in my age group wasn't I?" and they said "we don't know they haven't come in yet". So I took my medal and went back to the group. Turns out Tim and Yanti were right I WASN'T the only one in my AG, there was one other girl :). I still think I could have done better and don't expect it to happen again but getting a medal in my first olympic was pretty awesome so I'm trying not to be so negative about it. Had lunch and 3 cups of coffee with the rest of the cool kids in Perris before driving my clown/bike orgy car back to LA. What limited your ability to perform faster: my swim performance kind of caused a snowball through the other legs, so more open water swim practice would be good, and more hills on the bike. Last updated: 2008-05-12 12:00 AM
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 2008-05-13 12:24 AM |
Regular  87 |  Subject: Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon |
| 2008-05-13 2:12 AM in reply to: #1398385 |
Extreme Veteran 459 | Subject: RE: Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon Oh Faeron! No need for any negativity at all. You did awesome! I loved your race report too. This is my favorite part: "but I'm not quite that hardcore yet" I beg to differ - |
you kicked butt all over that place! | 2008-05-13 10:31 AM in reply to: #1398385 |
Veteran 166 Douglas County | Subject: RE: Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon Great job on your first Oly and congrats on the win! It was a tough swim out there, for sure, so don't beat yourself up over it too much. You totally made up for it with solid bike and run splits.....so once you dial in your nutrition and get some perfect swim conditions, you're going to be knocking this distance out of the park. Congrats. |
| 2008-05-13 12:44 PM in reply to: #1398385 |
Melon Presser 52116  | Subject: RE: Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon CONGRATULATIONS, BIG ROCK BIG OLY BIG CHERRY POPPIN' FIRST-PLACE ROCKIN' TRI-GODDESS!!! That is all, other than that I laughed out loud pretty near every sentence, Eeyore. You did phenomenal, and I suspect there are many more podiums to come, Faroon Meldumb-Taylor. This is a distance where you really shine, and it seems like you've fingered (WHAT?!) exactly what to do differently next time. Your OWS was excellent, especially considering large segments not done freestyle. Super job, Blondie. |
| 2008-05-13 1:15 PM in reply to: #1398385 |
Veteran 174 Columbus, GA | Subject: RE: Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon Hey!! Nice RR girl!! I'm the same way that you are and tend to beat myself up over poor perormance. Oh well...lol. Thing is, you actually did do pretty damn good...and you had fun which is the main thing here. I know I had a blast and I know we're going to both have some amazing races in the near future. :D |
| 2008-05-13 3:54 PM in reply to: #1398385 |
Master 1281 Long Beach, CA | Subject: RE: Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon Great job Faeron! It's hard to bounce back after a tough swim, but it's great that you did. Considering that it was your first OW swim, you can't beat yourself up too much about it. It gets better! I think it is great that you put helping out another person ahead of your time. I try to help when I can, because I've had people stop for me and it's awesome. As far as the gels, I saw a guy once tape the top tab thing of his gel to the bike so that he just had to rip the bottom part off. Cool idea! Congrats on the hardware! First in AG! Woo hoo! Doesn't matter how many were there...just as long as you were the fastest! |
| 2008-05-13 5:19 PM in reply to: #1398385 |
Champion 5345 Carlsbad, California | Subject: RE: Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon Great report Faeron You sure made up a lot of time on the bike. I will look it up when I get home from work but I think you passed quite a few folks out there on the bike and moved up more than a few spots. Both of your transitions are perfect. I kept track and so was able to separate out the run up the beach from T1 but I bet it was under 2 minutes for you. The run out there was tough. Those little short choppy rollers definitely put the hurt on us all early and late. Again, I think you made up a lot of time here. Oh, Clown Car??? ROTFPMP :D |
| 2008-05-13 5:43 PM in reply to: #1398385 |
Expert 709 | Subject: RE: Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon Faeron, Congrats on your first Oly! First in your AG is awesome. Don't be so hard on yourself, yes i'm the pot, you're the kettle. Great job and keep up the great work! |
| 2008-05-13 7:28 PM in reply to: #1398385 |
Champion 5781 Northridge, California | Subject: RE: Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon Congrats on a successful first Oly! (And an entertaining RR!) |
 2008-05-13 8:58 PM in reply to: #1398385 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2008-05-14 1:20 PM in reply to: #1398385 |
| Expert 892 | Subject: RE: Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon Nice job, Faeron. Congrats on your first Oly.... pretty damn cool! |
| 2008-05-15 9:49 AM in reply to: #1398385 |
| Pro 3932 Irvine, California | Subject: RE: Big Rock Olympic Distance Triathlon Whoa, first place in your first oly?! Dang! Way to rock it, Faeron! Who cares if there was only one other person in your AG? Sounds like you put together an awesome race. I think I'll have to consider doing this race next year.... Good job! |
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SAW Sports Productions
Overall Rank = 93/111
Age Group = 20-24
Age Group Rank = 1/2
Sorry this is kind of long....
Got up just after 3 so that I could put on sunscreen and have time to eat breakfast and pack everything before picking up Yanti. Sunscreen turned out to be fairly unnecessary but better safe than sorry. Had a cup of coffee and a cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter. Picked up Yanti and we were on our way! Got to Lake Perris right about 5:30, checked in, unpiled my clown car of mine, Matt's and Yanti's gear and set everything up. Us, Verna and Tim all stood around talking for a bit, can't remember what about now. I was a little nervous about getting the wetsuit on given how much work it took the first time but I was able to get it on pretty much all by myself, and in less than 1/2 an hour, which was good, then headed down to the water with Yanti.
Swam for about 30 seconds in the lake as the first wave went off, got out and followed Yanti around to the start, she told me "follow those guys" and pointed to some guys heading out way to the side. I pouted for a second but knew it was best for me to stay out of the way of the main fray.