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Memorial Hermann Bridgeland Triathlon
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Memorial Hermann Bridgeland Triathlon - TriathlonSprint
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 Swim
Comments: Started near the back and off to the left because of warm up fiasco. The first couple hundred yards, even in the back were still pretty physical. My shoulder was grabbed and I was pushed under once. My ankle grabbed and pulled as well; I am sure it was not on purpose but as a result of everyone trying to make their way through the chocolate soup we were swimming in. I took in several mouthfuls of the swamp water. I concentrated on my breathing, body rotation and repeated in my mind “reach, twist, glide, breathe”. By mid-point I was feeling OK but I decided to keep things nice and easy just in case panic set in again. Upon exiting I heard someone call “Dad!” and looked up to see my two awesome kids and Hot wife. What would you do differently?: Not drink so much damn coffee. I really thing that it contributed to the pre-race nerves. I am pretty sure if I had just drank water or juice the adrenalin dump that occurs on race day at the start is sufficient to keep me going.  Transition 1
Comments: T1 time is estimated as time is combined with bike segment. Timing euipmet malfuction perhaps? Still slow in my transitions. Could not find bike right away. You would have thought I would have learned from the last race to walk the transition area from the swim out to the rack. Failed to do that again... What would you do differently?: hurry up.  Bike
Comments: Decent bike. I could have pushed a bit harder but not by much. I know I am not a good runner so I had to chip away as much time on the bike but still keep some gas in the tank for the run. I was a bit burpy after drinking my water while riding. What would you do differently?: Be a bit more agressive and push a tad bit harder Transition 2
Comments: went ok. uneventful What would you do differently?: hurry up  Run
Comments: Good run for me. I'm historically a 10:30 - 10:40 / mile runner. I was please with my run on this day. I probably could have gone a tad faster. Post race
Warm down: Saw hot wife and kids at the finish line. Drank lots of water stretched a bit What limited your ability to perform faster: Poor swim - hot water, too much pre race coffee, nerves. Event comments: I owe my completed swim and the decision to not quit to Houstonrider. Thanks a million! If it were not for his brief pep talk prior to starting here would be a big fat DNS by my name. Despite a slow swim I had a decent race. I had a goal of 1:35:30 to meet and I beat it by about 6 minutes. No more 16 oz pre-race coffee for me. I'll reduce or completely cut the amount of caffeine I consume before a race especially ones with warm water. Last updated: 2009-12-10 12:00 AM
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 2010-08-12 11:57 PM |
Member  237   Cypress, Texas |  Subject: Memorial Hermann Bridgeland Triathlon |
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ON UR Mark
95F / 35C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 300/1000
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 0/
woke up a 4:00am out of the house by 4:20. Drank coffee and ate dry granola on the way to the race site. Set up transition as usual. Said hey to Trin2Bfast (Justin W.) at site but mosly sought out quiet time to myself to try to focus on the task at hand.
I went for a short swim to take the edge of pre-race nerves. Upon entering the water I immediately notice two things. One, the water temps are high. The water is extremely warm, like bathwater or kiddy pool with a ton of toddlers in it on a hot summer day- yuck. Two, the water is very murky and brackish – double yuck. I could not see past my elbow while swimming. About 100 yds out I took a kick to the jaw from a person doing breast stroke. I don’t think the guy even noticed. The kick really rung my bell and I saw stars and started to feel bit light headed. Panic set in slightly, my heart rate jumped and my breath shortened. On my swim back in I could not get my breathing tempo to sync and I was having a hard time keeping it together. I had to side stroke it to shore. Once on shore I tried to keep get it together and rested for about 5 minutes. Then decided to try it again. This time in, I’m still unable to lengthen my stroke and my breathing is labored and short from the start. I only get to the 2nd buoy and decide to turn back. I’m not feeling very confident at this point and the first time in a very long while I doubt my ability to complete even this short swim. My mind was racing and all sorts of negative thoughts were raising their ugly heads. As the waves line up, I’m still contemplating not starting. I was actually pondering if the transition area was reopened so I could get to my phone to call the wife and kids to let the know not to bother coming to see me or to head for the car if they were already on site since I’m freaking out and will not participate in today’s race. Just before our wave is called to wade into the water I bump into Justin P. who’s also racing in my A.G. I tell him I’m thinking of ditching because I’m not feeling it, my mind is not on task, and my heart rate will not come down. He gives me this puzzled look and simply asks “why?” and says to me “your already here, just hang in the back and take it easy. Everyone’s heartrate will spike when the race starts so just thing you ahead of the game.” With this I say thanks and make my way down into the warm murky water and try to get quiet my mind and get my heart rate back down.