Gulf Coast Triathlon
-
No new posts
Gulf Coast Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman
View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Swim
Comments: I LOVED this swim! Being my first tri with an ocean OWS, I was nervous up until the Friday we TriDads did our group practice. I'm so glad we did because it helped me know what to expect, and to learn stroking and breathing between swells of water. It totally paid off on race day as I never felt any panic and stayed very comfortable. That's why I put GOOD down for everything. In fact, the only time I wasn't drafting was when my draftee was sighting wrong and I left them to stay on course. I didn't catch any mouthful of salt water, and even coming to shore went OK. What would you do differently?: With how comfortable I was I could have stroked a little stronger. I would have loved a 38 or 39 minute swim. But I've never been near top half of my AG for swim, so this was a great accomplishment for me. Transition 1
Comments: My T1 went OK just because I did take my time and get my bearings before taking off with my bike. I'm much faster than this normally, but for a HIM I slow down a bit. The best part about T1 for this race was that in the running shoot past the showers I stepped over and removed my suit there rather than in the crowded bike rack area. Some others saw me and sat down to do the same. I stopped at the first guy I saw, told him "I got it!", and stripped his wetsuit for him. He yelled a big "Thanks!", then I heard him doing the same for the next fellow racer. That has to go down for good racing Karma. What would you do differently?: Nothing. Bike
Comments: The most powerful and comfortable bike leg of my triathlon career. It just felt good to not be passed by tons and tons of people, but rather keep up and do the passing (especially the hard cores with the disc wheels). Here I was actually in the top half of my AG, so a complete victory there. Beat my previous best HIM bike by about 30 minutes. This race had good bikers as the etiquette on the course was top notch. And the aid station volunteers actually ran with me for bottle exchanges. What would you do differently?: Eat more nutrition ( see Run Report). Transition 2
Comments: Rocked! 8th in my AG. But it did little in comparison to what was coming... Run
Comments: The last part of The Gulf Coast Triathlon 2009 that felt good to me was running over the T2 timing mat onto the run course. Quite simply, the wheels came off. My IT flared up at the first mile marker, and walking became the only way to move forward. That turned a two hour run into a three hour sauna walk in the heat and I was MISERABLE. I beat 20 guys in my AG and I feel sorry for each of them to finish longer than I did on a day like that. I was reduced to trying 60 seconds of jogging followed by 60 seconds of recovery walking, but even that was too much for my body. So I walked all the way in from mile three, except the finishers' chute. I did see my first complete pass-out by a racer. A Clyde fell over like a sack of rocks out in that State Park area. A few of us were right there to help him sit up until a cop came very quickly. Scary stuff to see a person just fall over. What would you do differently?: Hydrate and nutrition intake plans had to be better. Post race
Warm down: Sat down immediately after the finish line trying not to pass out. Got my medal, took my phony finisher picture, and found a shady spot to sit and breathe deeply. Brett found me to get my run down on the race, and in true professional style, still was able to give me some positives to take from the race. Five minutes after he left to find some of his other athletes, I went behind some little shed and vomited up a bit of water/Gatorade. Incredibly I felt instantly better, and proceeded to have some pizza, beer, and water. Then I stumbled back to the condo for a three hour nap after cleaning up transition. What limited your ability to perform faster: Heat training and my nutrition plan. Event comments: I loved this race and will be back to kick some A next year. I owe this course a big FU! This race was superbly run, the volunteers rocked, and the quality of athletes racing was top notch in the personality department. I met more new triathletes here than all my other races combined! Oh, and the after party, award ceremony, and video were all awesome! Last updated: 2009-01-02 12:00 AM
|
|
{postbutton}
2009-05-12 7:30 PM |
|
2009-05-12 7:47 PM in reply to: #2147104 |
2009-05-13 11:51 AM in reply to: #2147104 |
2009-05-13 11:54 AM in reply to: #2147104 |
2009-05-13 12:57 PM in reply to: #2147104 |
2009-05-14 3:37 PM in reply to: #2147104 |
|
2009-05-15 8:36 AM in reply to: #2147104 |
General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
{postbutton}
United States
Gulf Coast Triathlon
87F / 31C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 594/1045
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 78/117
Arrived Thursday night with my mini tri group from Atlanta. We ate our risotto carbo meal that night and got up early Friday morning for our group swim in the gulf. We did 20 minutes which was enough for me to get a feel for my first OWS in the ocean with swells and currents. We checked our bikes in around 6 pm, then chilled at Mellow Mushroom for a lite dinner. Everyone was asleep by 10 pm, and claimed to have slept great.
A couple of us got up at 4 am to start coffee and oatmeal. I had a cup of Joe, a Greek yogurt, banana, and started on the water. We all then went down to get body marked, do final gear checks, and put nutrition on the bike.
Nothing except get wet in the suit and goggles. I spent time with my coach, Brett Daniels, walking from transition over to the beach. It was our first time seeing each other in person in a while, so it was good to get some face to face time with him and listen to some of his wisdom and encouragement.
I will add that it was a bit unnerving to be waiting to watch the pro men come out of the water and realize how long the swim was taking them. It freaked out a couple guys in my group to think about the kind of swim we had ahead of us. Oh, well. Everybody's got to do it...