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 Swim
Comments: Reason to stay in Clydesdales…they just have more fun. Starting as the last wave, the cow mooing and other banter was just hilarious. Even a shout out from one monster of "get in my belly" (taken from Fat Bastard in the Austin Powers movie) could be heard throughout the herd of Wildebeest migrating to their entry point. It was at this time when I questioned my decision to join the Clydesdale 185 40+ Division rather than age only as I could see being on the smaller size of this group was going to be interesting. I tossed out the recommendations to start from the outside as too many seemed to be moving in that direction so instead I stayed in the middle of what soon became a classic mosh pit. The kicking, pulling, crossovers, and plain collisions were as advertised so I held back in a pocket to let the field open up. This kept me in a group that swam well but did not allow me to break free. Much time will be spent reflecting on this part on the race in the future as similar conditions cannot be duplicated in training. What would you do differently?: Need to work on sprint swimming and breathing recovery. I need to either settle for this type of performance time or get out to the front of the pack and stay there. I will perform differently in the July race.  Transition 1
Comments: Before you think I baked a cake in T1 note that the time includes a run over the beach and through a couple of parking lots before you even arrive at the transition area. This distance is about .2 miles so around 90 seconds should be added to your usual T1 time. The balance is all on me as I needed socks due to blisters from walking in sandals along Ocean Dr. the night before (smoooooth) and the sand collected from the jog took time to wash off. Mistake number three continued to amuse the family as I adorned myself with a backward singlet which made it through the whole bike and run (see photo). I was wondering why the nips were so irritated on the drive home, ouch. What would you do differently?: Get the lead out, put my shirt on the right way, and practice the little things (helmet, glasses, gloves, etc.)  Bike
Comments: Another reason to change out of Clydesdales would be due to the single file line that you need to transfer out of in order to mount your bike (all on bike time). Remember those wildebeests? You cannot traverse around a tractor trailer on a two lane road with in bound traffic! Since I only started biking two months ago I was thrilled with my ride. The benefit to stay in Clydesdales is that nobody starts behind you and you literally get to pass a couple hundred people struggling in their divisions and as well as your own. The climb over the great causeway hill was not bad at all after shifting down. Four riders passed my going up as I played safe not knowing what to expect and I quickly dropped three on the decent and the second time up had the wind to the back and I flew home from there. What would you do differently?: Still not totally comfortable with keeping in the tuck position and aero bars. Obviously it makes you faster so keep training like this. Transition 2
Comments: Since I was already in socks, the conversion from bike to running shoes went well especially due to the homemade bungy and toggle shoelaces I installed. Not much more to add here except they had the aid station immediately outside of T2 which served as the same on the one mile mark return. What would you do differently?: I need to practice leaving the shoes on the bike.  Run
Comments: One last reason to maybe move to age group over Clydesdale is the day’s heat added by the late start. By this time (8:50am) the sun is up and the heat has reached the beach. I made use of both aid stations (1 and 2 mile marks) and cruised through without much bother. I wondered why I was able to finish so well in the last mile and that was because the first two were mediocre. I am not used to calculating time under duress so I was unaware of the weak pace but I will blame it on the heat and maybe the effort spent on the ride. What would you do differently?: Force myself to kick it up on the start. I know I can hang on toward the end but cannot make up for a slow start. Post race
Warm down: None. I went right for the drinks and oranges and felt fine in 10 minutes. What limited your ability to perform faster: Preparation in Transition 1 is an obvious area to work on as well as swimming. Other than that my training should improve the bike and run times. Event comments: I thought the race was great and the venue perfect. I hope to be back for the remaining Trilogy races. Profile Album Last updated: 2009-06-01 12:00 AM
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United States
Key Biscayne Triathlon Trilogy
hotF / 0C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 296/777
Age Group = 40-44 (185+)
Age Group Rank = 5/10
This was my first Triathlon so jump on to the next report if you are a pro looking for precise feedback or bear with me if not. I decided to give myself a Tri for Father's Day and force the family to watch. We drove up to Miami the day before to load up on items needed for my bike (again, gifts for me) and nutrition. Living in Key West is great but you will only find Conch Cruiser bikes in town with beer can cup holders as the primary accessory. Being unsure of what to expect I geeked out all week by tweaking my race checklist several times which included carbing up on pasta at Prime Italian in SoBe the night before (highly recommend it but pricy) and waking up with coffee, OJ, banana, and a bagel. I thought I gave plenty of time to arrive and check into the race but found half the race participants waiting in line to pay to park and simply enter Crandon. I will call this a rookie mistake but even my kids thought this to be ridiculous. Race idea; pay $5 at registration for a County parking pass so we can get waived in.
I could not warm up since the entrance issue and body marking/timing chip pick up took so long. Any remaining warm up time elapsed with a second rookie mistake when I entered the T area and found a great spot right up in front for me to set up. I was wondering why they just did not number the racks 1, 2, 3, etc. when it dawned on me that the 350-400 meant rows by race number. Yeah, my spot was clear on the other side and there was my family bent over in laughter at my gypsy style “pre” transition from one spot to another. At least I know that a blunder like this can only happen once (take note newbies). Note: Arrive early, set up, take a ride and a jog and return to T area to make sure no dingaling has set up on top of you.