US Women's Tri - Naperville, June 22 (Page 4)

My swim was definitely better than in past years, but I've been working on it, so it wasn't completely unexpected.  And I almost always swim better in races -- in a pool I lounge a little too much on the turns and lose a bunch of time that way, and also all the people provide an adrenaline rush that keeps me pushing a little more, too.

The course was laid out a little differently than in past years, but not dramatically so.  The far buoys were still out about as far as before, and I'm sure that the buoys in the shallow water were at about the same place as well.  A number of my friends who did the race (who have done it in year's past as well) ... mixed bag.  Some did better, some did worse, but not all swam so much better that we questioned the distance.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not inconceivable that your swim time really WAS that much better.  Swimming in a race is completely different than training swims.  Other people being around you, as long as you're completely stopping because of them, will speed you up because you can draft them (speeds you up noticeably!).

I would just take it for what it is and be happy about it - that's a kick-butt swim time!    There will be other races to gauge your swim time on, and each will be different and have different variables that will feed into a slower or faster time. 

Laura,

I guess you  make me feel good, after the doubt I had... we'll see how the next one goes!

The name on the inside is www.lesliejordan.com.

Thanks for the kind words...glad that I helped!  I was totally in your place a couple of years ago -- a million questions and veterans here took the time to answer, so I always try to give back when possible.  This is one of the most helpful, friendly tri websites I've been around and I want to do all I can to contribute in a positive fashion. 

On another note - I'm TOTALLY an over-analyzer of my times, so I do the same thing when I think that there's no way I could have gone that fast... start questioning the course, the timing, anything but thinking that maybe I pulled it off myself. 

In reality, the course might have been short.  Or, it might have been long.  Even USAT-sanctioned races can be mis-measured, especially on the swim.  And it's very difficult to compare between races -- everything from weather to water temp and course feed into how you fair on any given day.  So, what I've come to realize is that you learn what you can from a race, be proud of what you've accomplished and move ahead.  Hey - y'all did GREAT out there!  And you're out there... not many people even get to the starting line. 

SoR was my first HIM last year!  Loved it.  Got REALLY lucky and there was zero wind when the swim started (not so much by the middle of the bike, though!) so Lake Michigan was as calm as it gets.  I'm hoping to get out to Lake Michigan to swim at Ohio St. beach before then -- I've been doing OWS swims, but there's nothing quite like Lake Michigan.  The week before SoR, there's a swim up in Crystal Lake with a 1-mile and 2-mile course -- that's also a good warm-up to get an OWS done, complete with people to draft off of and vie for position with!

I did one of the Well-Fit training rides last year, and though my group got lost, I really liked having a good idea of what the course looked like before getting there.  Gave me the opportunity to put together a strategy of how to attack it.  Hope you enjoy your ride up there this weekend and with any luck, the weather will cooperate a little better for you! 

I'll be out at Crystal Lake!  Doing just the 1-mile course.  There will be a handful of other BTer's as well.

No time right now, but I'll bore with my story from last year's attempt at this race later....

Hey Laura-I forget, since I have never done this race before, but do they close it after a certain amount of people?  I was considering doing it so I could have more OWS practice with actual participants, as opposed to going out to the lake by myself in Lake Michigan where there are other swimmers, but not like in a race, you know?

Not completely sure.  I did this for the first time last year and I believe that I signed up on race day...  the venue certainly wasn't overrun with people, though, since it was pretty crappy out.