Login required to started new threads

Login required to post replies

IMCHOO - Pseudo RR
Quote | Reply
Posted in the "How was your week" thread but also figured I'd throw it in it's own post so I can come back to it with a link if/when I do a longer, full analysis & report. Thanks for indulging.


The not at all short version follows:

Almost came unglued on one of the swim start people who chose after I had crossed the mat to mention my calf sleeves not being allowed (my fault for forgetting a rule that I consider really stupid - "compression" does not help one or provide any advantage in a swim unless it is neoprene or some other buoyant material. Otherwise it's just a more drag to pull through the water....but whatever). I spent about a minute yammering with that asshat as I took them off & shoved them up the legs of my suit. When he tried to tell me that he was going to make me stay with the wetsuits b/c of my suit I lost it - and pointed out the same 4-5 walking by quite emphatically. I then walked toward the start, figuring if he had a real issue someone would follow me. I also figured it would be best to let go of the anger before I took it out on the water with 111mi left in the day....angry swimmers are not usually conservative swimmers...Swim was uneventful, jetted out towards the middle as far as was practical to catch current, did stop to ask 3ppl if they were ok at various times, extended breaststroke & floating tends to draw attention, for the record. Swim 47:00 (116th OA time! WOOT!!)

No idea what the hell I do in transitions that takes over 10:00...but no stresses there. Just preparation & not hurrying. I'm not racing for positions or anything, so I'm not going to spend time worrying about 3-4min. T1 - 10:43, T2 - 11:44 (WTF, did I have cake or something?!)

I love the bike course, even if I whine about some of the hills not being momentum rollers. Knees got achy before I got to 30mi...left foot also with a knot under one of the mets - shimmed my bike shoe a couple of weeks ago & never really had much riding after that, so no real worries. Knees got worse, ankle got tired of the different foot position, but nothing real catastrophic, held good pace, felt great, had fun. Volunteers were awesome - never missed a single hand-up. Guy even gave me his daughter's Starbucks straw to use in my aerobottle, since not having mine was really flubbing up my nutrition - apparently I'm not smart enough to drink/mix in the bottles themselves...There was a fair amount of drafting & some really poor bike-handling, but a lot of it was unavoidable with the volume of riders & to be expected with a large number of triathletes & First-timers. The draft marshalls did seem to disappear after the first loop though. Overall a good ride. Bike 6:40 (16.78avg)

I expected carnage on the run. I anticipated feeling awful & the wheels coming off the bus. My knees weren't thrilled, but seemed to settle in ok. Miles 5-8 were my biggest challenge as my nutrition fell a bit behind (cumulative effect of being a moron the first 3hrs on the bike)...thankful to Matt Miller for interjecting some sense on my salt intake there at around 8-9. I managed to find my rhythm on the salt, fluid, oranges & broth that held through the end. Saved some guy from a total meltdown at the bottom of the hill on Barton by giving him one of my salt tubes (thanks Base!) as his wife tried to get him to stay coherent - he went on to finish in fine fashion waaaaay ahead of me. Walked the uphills, cruised the flats, enjoyed the downhills. Three advil at SN really changed my world. I ran the vast majority of the second lap, felt fanfreakingtastic, was smiling all over the place & laughing with everyone. Although I don't know the times, I'm guessing it was a huge negative split, even if it was still slow. I anticipated this being near or over 6hr. Run: 5:33 (12:44/mi)

CHOO was a great race. Really didn't have many low points, just a couple of about 3-4min on the bike in the later stages & one 2-3mi funk on the run.Great (fast) course, great volunteers, great weather (even with some quality rain for awhile), great friends & family....I'm NOT a WTC-fan & probably won't do another branded race unless there's a DAMN good reason, but I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. TOTAL: 13:24

I didn't wear a watch (unless you count my Citizen dress watch, which I only used the minute hand to rough-guess my gel/bottle intake), I didn't look at anything but my cadence on my bike computer (literally never changed the screen) & I had/have no idea what time I even started the race....I do kind of wonder 'what might have been' if I had really trained more than 8-9wks & if I had even been consistent within that. What could I do if I had a better coach than myself, if I had adequate sleep & didn't eat like a teenage boy? I only did one 104mi, one 84 & one 78mi ride, was maybe semi-consistent 1-2 24mi rides Tues/Thurs (when I managed to remember both my bike and shoes). I maybe did 10 total runs...a couple/few 5-6, one 10 & one 13. I've been swimming once maybe twice a week for about 3/4 of the summer....I really should have just fallen all to hell in this race, but I didn't. Instead I managed my body, my emotions & lived right inside every.single.minute. of the entire day. I may be retired as a 140.6+ athlete (again), at least for a good number of years until I have the mental/emotional/financial energy & ability to devote to the horrendous undertaking....but if ever there was a flipping wonderful day to end on....this was it.

I'm now going back to being a swimmer because I love swimming - in a really weak moment I signed up to do Swim the Suck again (3rd year) a few weeks ago.



AW
Quote Reply
Re: IMCHOO - Pseudo RR [AWARE] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Great job, especially for someone who had a boot on their foot for an extended period of time this summer. You looked good every time I saw you. Like I told Kristi near midnight - the Force is strong. I may or may not have signed up for 2015.

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
Quote Reply