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The Fantastic Nantasket Beach Triathlon
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The Fantastic Nantasket Beach Triathlon - TriathlonSprint
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 Swim
Comments: Well...where to begin? I intentionally started in the back of my wave to avoid the washing machine. waded in, and started to swim. Stroke felt good, but for some reason I had some of the OWS 'panic' set in. Not sure why, but it did. So I switched to the breast stroke, and a bit of backstroke to get myself under control. Didn't stop moving, and just did what I needed to do. Once I reached the bouy, I made the turn and switched back to the crawl stroke. Moved well in the water, but got a mouthful of seawater, and did a bit of backstroke to clear things up. A bit more crawl, and then I was up and heading up the beach to transition, a good 200 yard run across the beach, and up a ramp. If there were any positives, it was I finished the swim, maintained some sort of forward motion, didn't get passed by anyone in the following wave, and when I did use my crawl stroke, it worked pretty well. What would you do differently?: More OWS practice. Try not to freak out.  Transition 1
Comments: Took a couple seconds to mentally adjust after getting out of the water. Wetsuit came off OK, although one heel stuck. Used Body glide on ankles/wriste, and it helped. Cap & Goggles stayed in my sleeve, as planned. Since I was riding in my running shoes, I put sock/shoes on, shirt (no tri top, so, yes, I put on a shirt.), sunglasses, helmet, and off I went. What would you do differently?: Practice a bit more, and get a new tri top or two.  Bike
Comments: Took the first 1/2 mile to get the legs moving. My goal was to keep the speed at 15+ MPH. Since I was riding my Trek 7200 road hybrid, going much faster probably wasn't in the cards. The course was pretty flat, an out & back on a peninusla along the ocean. I felt good riding, and managed to hit 25+ on one of the downhills. I didn't push too much since I was thinking about the run, and wanted to be sure I had enough gas. My cadence and speed felt good, althought I was passed by about everyone. I did manage to pass 2 folks, but they were both riding knobby tired mountain bikes which were, I believe, the only 2 bikes slower than mine :). Started to think my name was "on the left" given how often folks said it to me. What would you do differently?: Get a new bike. push more Transition 2
Comments: This felt faster than the speed says. Racked the bike, picked up hat & number, and was off. What would you do differently?: Nothing  Run
Comments: Had a bit of the 'bike legs' feeling, but it went away quickly. settled into a decent pace, and away I went. Couln't help the feeling of "Holy crap, I'm really doing this!" as I made the turn back. Coming down the finish chute was AWESOME. I was so psyched as I approached & crossed the finish line. Let out a few war whoops as I did, and it felt great. Fantastic. was nearly immediately mugged by the race chip collectors, and let them do their thing. What would you do differently?: Run harder. I think I could have picked up the pace, based on how I felt after I was done. Post race
Warm down: Grabbed some food (bagels, bananas, fruit, gatorade, etc). Got a massage, hung out w/ some folks. Watched awards, waited for bike raffle - I did not win. What limited your ability to perform faster: Since it was my first race, I think I was probably too conservative in my bike and/or run pace. I probably could pushed both, and I'll condiser this a lesson learned. Also, more OWS, and get a different bike. And train more. Event comments: Overall, an incredibly positive 1st tri experiece. I'm hooked. The adrenoline at the finish is worth getting there. Glad I did this, and it won't be the last one. Thats for sure. Worked my a** off to get to this point, and I'm not giving any of it back. Looking forward to a full 2011 season, and more races & fun. Last updated: 2010-07-16 12:00 AM
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 2010-09-27 8:21 AM |
Master  3195     Just South of Boston |  Subject: The Fantastic Nantasket Beach Triathlon |
| 2010-09-27 2:13 PM in reply to: #3118995 |
Expert 1099 Bedford, NH | Subject: RE: The Fantastic Nantasket Beach Triathlon Congratulations Triathlete! You did a fantastic job with your first race and that is a very well written race report as well! As far as the swim goes, yes, I totally agree that some more open water swimming will get you more comfortable out there. Just stick with it and you'll be doing the crawl the whole race in no time. Its too bad you didn't win the bike. I was routing for you! A bike upgrade would help you make some significant improvements on the bike. There is simply no comparison between a hybrid and a road/tri bike. Nonetheless, 15.80 mph is quite respectable, especially on a hybrid. Given that you used to run a lot, I'm sure you're run speed will significantly increase as you keep adding on the miles. Yes, it sounds like you could have maybe gone a bit harder out there, but you did the right thing holding back a bit considering this is your first race. I'm glad you such a good time at the race and you'll be back for more! Crossing that finish line sure is an incredible feeling huh? Job well done Mike. You should be very proud of your self and lifestyle changes you have made. Keep working hard and I can assure you that you will see results. If there is anything I can do to help you along the way, please let me know. Congrats once again!!!! |
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The Fantastic Nantasket Beach Triathlon
65F / 18C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 350/490
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 34/37
The backstory: Back in Feb of this year, at a doctor appointment, I was stunned to see where my weight had reached. Heaviest ever in my life. Too many years of not exercising as I had in the past, driving a desk for a living, and eating like crap. Stewed on this, and in mid March, I got off the couch. Started daily workouts at the Y doing cardio & strength training. I also started a class called "boot camp fitness" that was a great motivator.
Come mid may, I was asked to be the bike leg on a relay in a local tri. I accepted, and after that race, I decided I wanted to do this myself - it seemed like too much fun to only do a part of it. That was June 26th. Over the next week, I found BT, and started to figure out what I'd need to do to get ready for a tri. Also found this race on 9/26, and set it as my initial race goal. I've had to learn to run again (was once a daily 5-7 mile guy ages ago), swim properly, and work on the bike. I started the journey down Tri road on July 5th. Since march I've lost nearly 50 pounds, and feel as good as I have in decades, and have found a new source of challenge and fun I never knew about. So....on to Sunday....
Was able to get a decent nights sleep, and woke up at 5:30. Had packed everything up the night before, checked the bike, etc, so I was mostly ready. Got dressed, had a normal breakfast - bagel w/ PB, had some water, a banana. Race was only 5 miles from my house, and my wife gave me a ride to the site. Checked in, got marked, and set up transition. Had a good marker for where my stuff was, so that helped. Family showed up as well, so I had a small cheering section near the finish line. Overall things went well. One cool thing pre-race -- the PA annoucer for the race was the same guy who does the PA for Red Sox games at Fenway.
Did a bit of swimming to get used to the temp, and felt OK.