Gulf Coast Triathlon
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Gulf Coast Triathlon - Triathlon1/2 Ironman
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Swim
Comments: The announcer had mentioned earlier that the cannon hadn't arrived, and for the first few waves he did a vocal start. But luckily the cannon came in time for my wave. Had it not, I would have felt cheated in a way. For some reason, I really wanted to start with eh cannon since I have never done a race before with one. I positioned myself kinda toward the front, off to the right. I didn't want to have to battle the current carrying me too far to the left. The cannon went off (man that sucker is loud!) and I was in the water. I didn't have to dolphin dive- I was able to dive nad start swimming after running through the breakers. I think I started off too fast because I could tell my haert rate was crazy. The swim wasn't too violent- I never got kicked or antyhing- it was just a little hard passing people. Every now and then I would come up behind the yellow cappers- the ladies who started in the wave ahead of me. They were the ones I call "crazy kickers". They were kicking so much that it annoyed me because when I would try to sight, I would get a mouthful of salt water than pretty much went right into my throat. This happened a few times and one time I stopped swimming and started to gag- not good. I was hoping all the salt water wouldn't upset my stomach later in the race. Once I got to the first turn around buoy I was happy. I didn't have issues with sighting and felt like I stayed on course rather well. On the stratch into the shore, I noticed my left goggle was leaking a little bit. I couldn't decide if I should just deal with it or fix it. I ended up just pressing the google tighter to my face which was a bad mistake. My goggles felt uneven and I could feel my eyelashes pressed up against the left google. I just left it that way because I didn't want to waste anymore time. I passed a few more yellow cap swimmers and finally got close to the finish. I swam pretty close into shore but my hand never hit the bottom. I stopped swimming once I saw the swimmers ahead of me walking in the water. that may have been a mistake because it was really hard walkingthrough all of those waves. I was really hoping that a wave wouldn't knock me over as I was walking to the shore- luckily they didn't. Jon said I looked very smooth coming out of the water. Apparently lots of people were falling over from the waves when they exited the water. What would you do differently?: Not swallow so much water. Pushed myself a little more. Not stopped swimming as soon as I did when I reached the shore. Transition 1
Comments: I never realized how tough it was to run through the sand. This sand was deep and it took a lot of my energy. I ran a little bit, and then had to hop over a steep sand ledge to get to the swim exit. Thankfully I didn't fall. I pulled my wetsuit strap and peeled it down to my waist. Ran with cap and goggles in hand through the swim exit, and heard lots of spectators yelling "GO Team!". I was pumped. I hit the boardwalk and ran under the showers. They weren't really showers- just a quick mist but I'm sure it helped some. I opened my mouth and tried to get some water since the salt water taste was just terrible. Got a little bit and had to spit. Did I mention after the swim I pretty much couldn't stop spitting? My swim finish pictures will be interesting. I finally crossed the chip mat and heard the announcer say my name. spectators were cheering and yelling "Go Team!'- very cool. I'm always so proud to be a part of TNT at races. I was bummed that the chip mat was so far away from the swim exit- I really wanted a more accurate swim time. I was happy to be done with the swim- it seemed very long for some reason. I jogged into T1 and foudn my bike with no problem. Removing my wetsuit took me a little longer than usual- ot got caught at my ankles more than usual but I didn't have to fight with it for too long. I put on my bike shoes without drying my feet very good- it seemed impossible to get everything (sand) off. I put on my helmet and sunglasses and was almost done. I grabbed a bag of Cliff Bloks and stuck them in the pocket of my tri suit and was off. Ran my bike through T1 and got to the mounting line. I always seem to have issues getting clipped in quickly at races- I sorta fumbled getting clipped in. While all this was going on the Atlanta TNT swim coach, Mary was next to me and said "Go Team!". Did I mention how awesome it is to see TNT'ers on the course? I finally got on my bike and was pedaling. What would you do differently?: Practice clipping into my pedals faster. Bike
Comments: I finally got clipped in and was on my 56 mile journey. I didn't particulary care for the first few miles of the bike portion. Coming out of T1, I made a right onto the road and rode for about 2.5 miles until a very sharp turn around. The bike course was very congested and it was hard making such a shapr turn without crashing. The volunteers told everyone to slow down, but there were some guys who just wanted to take the turns fast and didn't slow down much. After the turn around I was on my way back to pass the bike start. I passed Jon on the side and he got a picture of me on my bike. It was at this point in the race when I realized I set up my aero bottle back wards. The straw was farthest away from my mouth- not good. I coudln't do anything to it since I had set it up ghetto style- that electrical tape wasn't going anywhere. So I pretty much just dealt with having to lean more forward to drink out of it. Nothing major- just a little annoyance. I had put a Star Burst on my top tube before the race. I was going to eat it when I got on the bike to get rid of the salt water taste in my mouth. I went to grab it and realized it was gone. I was a little disapointed, but ate a Cliff Blok instead. It did the trick- only it wasn't as tasty as a red Starburst would have been. The bike was kinda boring- I dunno. The first few miles we rode through a bunch of construction. TIt wasn't very scenic at all. There was a lot of sand on the road and I was careful not to slide. I was completely paranoid about getting a flat from all the construction, but luckily I didn't have to worry. I didn't really see a lot of flats during this race, which surprised me. Maybe only 2 people. The roads were extremely bumpy- at times it was hard to stay to the right, because that's where the roads were the worst. I was glad that I used feet of electrical tape for my aero bottle- had I not, I'm sure that sucker would have fallen off with all the bumps and potholes. I usually have problems with it staying it place. The bike was pleasant- my goal was to maintain 16.5 mph, and I pretty much did that the whole race. I was getting frustated though- I was getting passed like I wasn't even moving. Mostly I was getting passed from men who started in waves after me. This was really frustrating. I can only remember maybe 2 people who actually said "on your left. When these guys passed me, they would totally cut me off, like they had no room and JUST HAD to get right in front of me. I mean, c'mon- I was only going 16.5 mph, and they were by far going much faster than that. Like they really didn't have enough time to get more in front of me before moving over. They were really making me mad. I have never been in a race where almost every guy cut me off. Also, the cheating on this course was unbelievable. I had guys passing me in groups of 6-7. At one point I saw guys riding in a double pace line. Where was USAT?? I didn't really see them once we got past mile 10. These guys made me made- not only were they cheaters, but they kept cutting me off- a#$holes! Like that was necessary! I started off with an aero bottle full of my Crank sports drink, with 2 scoops of Carbo Pro. I had an extra bottle of this in my bottle cage, along with a bottle of water. One of my goals for this race was to practice nutirion and hydration for IM FL. I usually take gels like crazy, but this time I pretty much stuck to a liquid diet that worked really good. I had a pack of Cliff Bloks within the first 10 miles of the race. My plan was to go through a bottle of sports drink and water by mile 25. I did exactly that. I kept cool on the bike and at times had to remind myself to drink. I was nearing mile 25 and still had a bottle full of water. I knew if I didn't drink it I'd be in trouble for the run. I was nearing the turn around, and decided to pour the rest of my water into my empty aero bottle, and grab a bottle of water at the bottle drop. Before the bottle drop, I dropped my empty bottle of water, turn around a tight turn and rode by the bottle drop. This part made me nervous because the turn was very tight, and it was very congested. I have a fear of bottle drops- in a race I did last summer, I almost lost control and crashed trying to grab a bottle from a volunteer who hung onto it too long and too tightly. I saw a guy holding a bottle of water, I slowed down and pointed to him to let him know I was coming to him. That was by far the best tri advice I have ever been given becuase it worked out really well. The bottle drop went very smoothly and the volunteers seemed to be really good about letting the bottle dangle from their hands instead of holding tightly onto them. I was happy to get to the turn around and be on my way back. I started drinking more water, and around mile 40 I was getting bored, uncomfortable and sick of being on the bike. I was slowing down a little. I wouldn't say I was boking, but I was definitely losing my enthusiasm. I was wondering how in the world i was going to do IM FL- I kept thinking to myself "am I crazy?" "What was I thinking?" I soon remembered to drink my sports drink and perked up adn those horrid IM thoughts left my mind. On the way back over the bridge- I was so happy to see th bridge and get out of my saddle to climb. I usually hate hills, but the course was as flat as a pancake. I was sick of being in aero position and was so happy to see this bridge. Huengsolo passed me as I started at the bottom of the bridge- it was good to see him. I made it up the bridge and was cruising back to the bike finish. This is where it seemed to get windy. I think it was a head wind-not sure but it was getting a little tough. I was focusing on finishing my 2nd bottle of sports drink. Thank goodness for my nutrition/hydration plan because that kept my mind off how boring the course was. The last 5 miles of this race seemed to last forever- I mean, FOREVER. I kept seeing a bunch of hotels/condos along the beach, and kept thinking I was almost there, and then realized I hadn't gone even a half mile yet. I honestly didn't remember passing so many hotels/condos on the way out. I was antsy to get off the bike- my knees were hurting. I kept standing up to stretch my legs. I had to do something. I finally made it to T2- happy that I met my goal time and happy to rack Sherbet. What would you do differently?: Nothing- my nurition/hydration plan was successful. I usually start feeling like crap around 25 miles, but in this race I pretty much felt great. It would have been easier if I installed my aero bottle correctly and had the straw closer to me, but that wasn't a deal breaker. Train to be stronger on the bike so I can shave off some time. Going into this race, I wasn't sure how the bike would go since the farthest I had biked in training was around 45 miles. I mentally felt good coming off the bike, which is unusual. The only problem was that both my knees were achy- I think I need to get a bike that fits me better. I wonder if I should have pushed myself harder- I made sure to stay in a gear that I didn't have to push hard and maintained an easy spin. Transition 2
Comments: T2 was smooth- my rack was the first one coming into the TA so finding my spot wasn't an issue. I had to wipe off my feet to put on my running shoes since I still had sand on them from the swim. T2 went well for me. I took some extra time applying sublock. What would you do differently?: Nothing. Run
Comments: The run- oh where to begin. I always seem to bomb the run portion. This time I was convinced it would not happen since I went somewhat easy on the bike. It was going to be agood runing day- that's what I told myself coming out of T2. I ran out of T2 ready to run. I saw Jon on the side and he tried to get a picture of me. I saw it later, and he ended up getting up my butt- ha,ha. Guess my digital camera isn't quick enough. My legs felt heavy, just like they always do. Shortly after running out of T2, an Atlanta TNT'er ran up next to me. He told me that he would start off running with me. I was glad because my legs weren't feeling like running. I felt soo slow. I checked my 1 mile split- I was at a 10 min/mile pace. My goal pace for this race was 11 min/miles. I was happy at my mile 1 pace. Mile 2 was slower- I had to stop at a porta potty. I passed one earlier on but it was occupied and I didn't want to wait. I ran by one and it was unoccupied so I was glad that I didn't have to wait. I was relieved that I finally had to pee. Had I not gone, I would have worried that I wasn't properly hydrated. My left underarm was getting chaffed- I noticed after the swim it was chaffed a little from my wetsuit. I wanted to apply bodyglide on it in the transition, but realized I left my bodyglide back at the condo :( I was hoping one of the aid stations would have vasoline. Around mile 2, I got some vasoline only to find that I had lost my TNT running partner. Can I just say that aid station at mile 2 was my all time favorite station? A bunch of young cheerleaders were at this aid station, and they were absolutely awesome. They weren't cheesy at all- they were very cute and were totally on top of things. They had it together which really surprised me because most kids at aid stations have no clue what's going on. But these girls did. And they were really encouraging and had tons of enthusiasm. I really appreciated it. By mile 3 I was in a groove- I was settled into a pace and was running around 10:45 min/mile pace. I was happy with that and was hoping that I could maintain that pace. I was comfortable. I made sure when I passed people to tell them good job. There was a lot of cramping occurring on the run course. I passed a TNT'er from Atlanta- it was his first tri. He was walking and I asked him if he was ok- he said he was cramping up. It was then that I realized I left my endurolytes in my bento box- crap! I might need those later. I offered him a gel but he didn't want one. Now this was a guy who blew by me on the bike- made me appreciate my measily 16.5 mph on the bike. The run course felt hot and dry. There just wasn't any shade on any part of the course. I kpet cool by placing a sponge in my hat. When I got to aid stations, I would add a cup of ice to my hat- it was a nice cooling effect and worked well. I pretty much mastered this strtedgy for the entire race. I saw Brett (rocketman) around mile 4 for me- he was already on his way back in. I was jealous. I had carried some gels with me in my race belt number holder. I wasn't sure if I would need them but had them just in case. I would drink a few sips of Gatroade Endurance at the stations, followed by a few sips of water, and maybe a quick bite of an banana or orange. This worked for about the first 5 miles, and then it seemed like I was hopeless. Later in the race the aid stations turned into a all you can eat buffet for me- I tried to take a bite out of everything they had, in hope that it would help me run faster. I was pretty much with it, both mentally and physcailly until I entered the State Park. Up to the point when I enetered the park, I was enjoying seeing other TNt'ers ont eh course and exchanigng words of encouragement with them. The miles seemed to click by pretty fast. Until I entered the time warp. We only ran about 2 miles through this State Park, but those few miles seemed like an eternity. The landscape through the park was mentally draining- just some vacant sand dunes. I seriosuly never saw any traces of animal life in this park. It seemed like I was just baking running through this park. I hated the park- it sucked every ounce of mental and physical strength I had. I'm not sure what happened here. I caught up to a group of 3 TNT'ers and ran with them for awhile. They started to walk but I kept running- I wanted to get out the park and didn't want to prolong my visit there any longer. There was a lone photographer situated in this park to take pictures- that's pretty much the only form of civialization in this park. I made sure to pose by throwing my hands in the air and smiling- just to try to convince myself that I was having fun. There were a line of cars entering the park, and I was surprised that nobody in the cars really cheered for us or anything. They kinda just looked at us like we were on crack or something. I finally finished the loop in the park and got to an aid station- what a relief. I had to get more vasoline because my left arm was rubbing on my tri top. I also got some sunblock and a volunteer offered to put it my shoulders and made sure to put it on my ears- I thought that was very sweet. The volunteers at this race were just awesome- they were so on top of things. As I was running out of the park, I saw Rich coming in. I gave him a high five and told him to be strong. Not sure why I said that cheesy line, but seriously- it was tough going through that park. I was just glad to be out there. That park was just evil. I thought I might pick up the pace and get back into my groove upon exiting the park, but I never did. Around mile 8, I was feeling very discouraged. By mile 10, my miles were very heavy and tight- I wasn't cramping, but they were pretty tight. I could feel my hip flexor aching a little. The 3 TNT'ers caught up with me- the ones I ran with briefly in the park. I knew that I was having issues. At this point, nothing I ate or drank helped. I decided to stay with them- I needed encouragement. We pretty much just milked the aid stations. We'd walk through them, and then walk a little extra nad then run. It wasn't too bad. I did this for about the next 2 miles. One of the guys dropepd back because he was really struggling. He said that he would never do another tri again- i just laughed, because I knew that a few days later he would change his mond :) Another TNT'er caught up with us, and decided to stay back with him. So me and Belinda (the other TNT'er) ran the rest. It was nice having someone to talk to. We kept telling each other 3 miles is nothing and that we were in the home stretch. I kept saying that i couldn't wait to get to the TNT tent, where everyone would be cheering for us! At one of the last aid stations, they had some flat Coke. I tried it- it wasn't bad. It was something different so it tasted good. Within the last mile I picked up the pace- Belinda said that I could go ahead if I wanted to. I got my groove back- it's too bad it didn't come back sooner. I could see the tops of the TNT tents- I was so happy to almost be done. I passed the TNT tent and had what seemed like a million TNT'ers cheering for me and giving me high fives. It was awesome- there were so many people that I couldn't make out who all was there. It didn't matter though- I was just happy to receive that kind of support. Finally made it to the finish- saw Jon on the side. After crossing the finish line, a lady asked me if I was ok. I told her that I was fine but I couldn't bend over to take my chip off. She sent me to someone to have my chip removed. Exiting the finihs line chute, I saw the lady who has leukemia- her husband was the guy who spoke at our pasta party. He did the race with the DC TNT Chpater. She smiled and thanked me. It's too bad I felt kinda crappy- I would have loved to chatted with her. What would you do differently?: Maybe wore my fuel belt with my own sports drink with carbo pro in it for the run. For some reason, I think that I didn't take in enough calories on the run. Post race
Warm down: After finishing, I walked around trying to find a bottle of water to drink-I was super thirsty. There was a huge line for food, and I wasn't sure if they had water or not. I was a little irritated that they didn't automatically hand you a bottle of water when you got your medal or something like at other races. I met up with Jon, and luckily he had a bottle of water for me in his back pack. I traded my running shoes for my flip flops- it felt great to take off my shoes and then ventured back to the TNT tent to cheer on other runners. Grabbed a huge piece of pizza from the TNT and sat around cheering other TNT'ers in. It was so fun and awesome to see the amount of support this program offers. Went back to TA to get my stuff and went back to the condo. Took an ice bath, then laid down for a nap for 1.5 hours. Couldn't sleep- I was mad because I knew I was tired. Woke up and went to the post race party. Saw rocketman, talked with Rich, met Steamy and Joann. I didn't stay long becuause the awards ceremony started. It was crowded and i couldn't see much. Went back to the condo, sat in the hot tub and chatted with 2 other riathletes about the race- good times. Got back and went to bed. What limited your ability to perform faster: I am not sure. I went into the race unsure of what to expect. It was pretty much practice for IM FL. I thought the bike would be a HUGE struggle for me. Surprisingly, I felt great on the bike. I obviously need to do more long run and BRICKS. Eventually I'll get this run thing down. It seems like the run portion of tri's have always been a problem for me. I can run great but when it's after swimming and biking, I really struggle. Event comments: This race was great and I would definitely race it again. Being able to swim in the ocean with breakers at the shore is a great experience. And...the course is so flat and open that it's mentally and physically challenging. I was pleased with this race, despite the fact that I didn't run as fast as I had wanted to. I pretty much took it for what it was- I couldn't change anything at that point and made the most of it. Hopefully I can learn from this experience to better my performance in future races. GC was a success in the sense that I was able to figur eout nutrition for the bike. And this is the first race that I didn't use a single gel at all, and didn't have any stomach issues during or after the race. And I never once felt bloated or super full, like I usually do. That itself was worth a crappy run! The volunteers at this race were absolutely amazing! I highly recommend this race! Last updated: 2006-01-09 12:00 AM
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2006-05-17 7:57 AM |
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United States
Sunny
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 48/59
The alarm went off at 4:10am- TA area opened at 4:30am. I got up and showered- I figured that would help wake me up. I slept great and had issues falling asleep or sleeping through the night. I got dressed, and ate a small whole wheat bagel with all natural peanut butter. I took my swim stuff out of my transition bag and laid it on my bed- I planned to come back to the condo after setting up transition since my wave didn't start until 6:30am. Got body marked and wentinto the TA. Ran into a slight issue. The girl next to me racked her bike on the wrong side of the race. So there wasn't any space for me to set up. I asked a volunteer if they could rack her bike properly and the lady didn't understand what I was trying to tell her. Finally a differet volunteer came over and moved the bike. Had I known it was going to be a big deal, I would have just moved it myself. But I also didn't want to mess with other athlete's stuff either. Anyhow, after that ordeal I was able to set up. It took me longer than usual to set up due to issues with my aero bottle. I couldn't find one of the velcro stips and had to rig it with jmy elecetrical tape. I ended upwrapping hte tape around it in a figure 8, and after several layers of tape, that sucker didn't move. It looked so ghetto, but hey- I didn't really have much a choice and made best of the situation. I would later fiind that my ghetto water bottle set up was the bext invention ever! I left TA and went back to the condo. I ate a banana and drank some Powerade while Jon was getting ready. I applied bodyglide and subnblock and then it was time to head down to the beach. We left the condo around 5:45ish and walked down to the beach. My wave started at 6:30am and was like the 4th wave to go off or something. I'm not used to starting before the men, so this was kinda weid. I am used to having to wait around forever, but not this morning. I got down to the beach- "We Are the Champions" was playing- it was very inspriing and I started to get pumped! I chatted with some TNT'ers, saw huengsolo, and then I was ready to put on my wetsuit. I sprayed my legs with Pam and put on my wetsuit and was off to swim in the ocean. I got out, and my wave was being called. I said bye to Jon and was off- met up with other TNT'ers in my wave until the cannon went off.
I got in the water and swam a little- I don't even think it was 5 mins. I just mostly wanted to get wet and take a few strokes.