All season I've been using my Ironman Stealth suit, but today I used my Team in Training Orca suit. The last time I used this suit in race, I was miserable because I was a little heavy, and I was having trouble breathing. Since I've lost weight I figured I'd try the suit again in a race. I've been using it in our TNT open water workouts, and haven't had issues. Since I'm mentor I feel like I should be wearing the team "colors" in our TNT race in two weeks. Our chapter hosts the Westchester Triathlon. Today was a wetsuit rehearsal.

I probably started too close to front and center so I got caught up in the frenzy at the start, and started hyperventilating. I dropped it back a notch until I got my breathing under control. It was crowded wave, and never really felt like I got clear of people until about the mid-way point. That didn't last long, as I started catching the previous wave, and had to get around slow guys.

This was supposed to be a 1/2 mile swim, but then they said it was 1000 yards. Based on all my other race times this year, and being familar with my pace I think it was more like 1200 yards. All the swim times were signicantly slower then last year's. Even the top finishers had slow swim times. The fastest swim split was 14:04.

Not start front and center.

This was the transition from hell. The actual changes went smoothly, but finding my rack was a whole different story. I usually bring pink surveyor tape that I tie on the ends of my rack. I forgot to pack it. I found a good landmark to help me find my rack. However I ran in from the swim, and could not find my bike. I must have run around for about 30 seconds looking for my stupid spot. I felt like a moron.

Add surveyor tape to my checklist so that I'm sure to remember it.

This was a fun and very pretty course. I was actually glad we had driven the course yesterday. I had a better idea of what to expect. My start was a little sloppy. I think I was still aggravated from getting lost in transition. Once I got going I started my usual "fishing expedition" of catching cyclists. One guy riding a disk wheel went blowing by me like I was standing still, but for the most part I was the one passing. Since this is not a USAT sanctioned race it tends to be anything goes in terms of positioning. There were many pople riding out to the left. I tried to do my passing to the left, but sometimes it was easier to pass on the right.

At one point I see a guy up ahead who keeps looking back at me. It looked like he was trying to stay ahead of me. That made me more determined to catch him. Finally I caught him, and passed. In the mean time a woman is chasing me down. She finally catches up with me, and we do the usual sizing each other up. I try to get away again, and she chases me down again. We talked for a little bit, and commented on the fact that we don't get passed by many women on the bike. Based on her number I knew she was in one of the younger age groups. A couple of guys passed us near the end, but at this point I'm winding down for T2 by getting my feet out of my shoes.

Nothing

Since we came into T2 from a different point, I got lost again. That was a combination of not knowing the entry point, and not having a good landmark to my rack. Once I found it, the change went okay.

See T1 comments.

My legs felt heavier then usual. I think that's where I felt the 43 mile bike ride from Thursday. I tried pushing as hard as I could, but I was still getting passed a lot. With it being open racking I had no idea if I was leading in my age group or not. I watched the numbers of people around me. All the women who passed me had lower numbers. I got a little nervous when this one woman went blowing by me. At first I thought her number was near mine. I was going to try to check it out on the way back. The turn around is in parking lot, and there's a spot where you can't see who's coming back so I didn't get a chance to check out her number. I like the races where they put the age on the calf.

I need to get my legs moving faster. I shuffle too much.

Walked around for awhile before getting food.


I trained through the race so probably my 43 mile bike ride on Thursday took a little bit away from leg speed.