Webster Lake 2007
Webster Lake Tri
Ok, so this is the 6th year I have done this race, amazing…I think I have done it every year.
This year the weather was MUCH better than last year!! Sunny skies and decent temps, beats pouring rain any day. It was only 45F when I left my house (it’s New England), but it warmed up quick and wasn’t too hot.
I got to the site around 6:30 and found they had changed transition from last year, and shortened the run a bit in doing so. Plus, they changed the finish line, so I think the run was probably ~0.2 mile short. I parked, grabbed my stuff and went to rack my bike. Saw Suzy in the rack in front of me, so we chit-chatted a bit while we set up our transitions.
We went down to the water to check out the course and to hit the ladies room. The lake looked really nice and calm. Jogged back to transition to see if my legs were awake yet and met the family of a friend from town. She was there doing the relay. I headed over to my bike, used my inhaler and got my wetsuit on. Talk about feeling like a stuffed sausage…sheesh.
Suzy and I ended up in the first wave: elite (of which there were 4), women 40+ and men 50+. What the? I’m NEVER in the first wave. This ought to be interesting, I thought. I got in and took a good long swim as a warm up. I finally figured out that by doing so, my breathing is calmer once the race starts (only took me 4.5 seasons to figure that one out!). The RD called everyone out of the water and asked which way we wanted to swim due to the sun. The majority (actually I think it was just the loudest people near the RD) won with a CC direction…idiots…that meant we were swimming into the sun on the LONGEST leg of the swim, instead of the 1st and shorter leg. Oh, goodie.
So, I lined up on the outermost left and somehow found a pocket right away. (again that NEVER happens) The swim wasn’t too eventful and I was able to sight every 20 strokes or so and for the most part swam pretty straight. The 1st big buoy came up fast, but the second leg felt long, and I felt like I was struggling a bit, but not too bad. By the time I hit the final turn buoy, I was by myself (which was kind of weird) and I stayed that way for the rest of the swim. I needed to sight more often as there were less buoys on this leg. I swam until I hit bottom, got up, unzipped the wetsuit and jogged out of the water.
Swim: 12:47 (HOLY CARP!)
The run up to the bikes took forever! We were racked just about at the entrance to the park, past the guard shack and on the opposite side from last year. As I was running up , I remembered I forgot to give myself a landmark! Oops – as it was I went down the wrong aisle, not too far though – rookie mistake #1. Turned around and up one more to my bike. Decided to use socks for the bike this time and wouldn’t you know, they DID NOT want to go on. Sheesh…finally got them on then the shoes, grabbed my helmet, glasses, and out I went. T1: 4:40 (too long)
Hopped on my bike and dang…forgot to put it in an easy gear when I set up my transition – rookie mistake #2. Adjusted that and away I went.
Having ridden this course many times, I knew what to expect. The hill, well what’s to say??? It’s a tough one and is actually a series of climbs. My left leg was fatigued for some reason and I couldn’t push as much as I wanted to. The backside is always nasty – but at least not wet like last year. Once off the hill, it’s a fun rolling ride and I really tried to stay aero. Funny though, the left side of my back developed a stitch (cramp?) and couldn’t stay down as much as I wanted. Felt like it was going to spasm (ACK!), but fortunately, while I was playing out all the possible scenarios in my head (walk the run, DNF, etc), it started to loosen up. Phew! Only a few women passed me and only 1 in my age group. I stayed right with a 61 year old man – he was doing great! Bike: 40:28 (18.1 mph, a little slower than last year)
Ok, knew where my rack was and was able to do T2 better than in years passed.
T2: 0:49
Ah the run! The worst part for me…did not get into a good rhythm for quite a while this year. The run was almost ½ way over before I could get my stride out and breathing under control. Ugh. But, I passed a few people and was passed by many! I developed a stitch, but was able to slap that away. I skipped the water stops and just keep on going. I saw Suzy on her bike on her way into the park and I gave her the thumbs up when we crossed paths again on the run. They changed the finish to make it more of a straight shot and I think we lost a bit of mileage. But at that point, I really didn’t care!! Lol
I picked it up on the last bit to finish it off. Run: 23:10
Total time was 1:21:56
After looking at my times over the years I have been very consistent. I took ~6 minutes off my time from last year, but my ’05 race is by far the fastest. I am bit suspect of the mileage for the swim and run…I usually swim ½ mile in ~17 minutes in the pool. Can a wetsuit take ~5 minutes off your time?!?!
I wanted to be in the top 10 in my age group (40-44), and made it this year!! 10th! But boy, these ladies are fast! The winner in my age group did it in 1:10 and change. 2nd and 3rd place were 1:11 and change and only separated by 15 seconds I think. Sheesh.
Overall a great race – and good company! Suzy you are doing awesome!!
Ok, so this is the 6th year I have done this race, amazing…I think I have done it every year.
This year the weather was MUCH better than last year!! Sunny skies and decent temps, beats pouring rain any day. It was only 45F when I left my house (it’s New England), but it warmed up quick and wasn’t too hot.
I got to the site around 6:30 and found they had changed transition from last year, and shortened the run a bit in doing so. Plus, they changed the finish line, so I think the run was probably ~0.2 mile short. I parked, grabbed my stuff and went to rack my bike. Saw Suzy in the rack in front of me, so we chit-chatted a bit while we set up our transitions.
We went down to the water to check out the course and to hit the ladies room. The lake looked really nice and calm. Jogged back to transition to see if my legs were awake yet and met the family of a friend from town. She was there doing the relay. I headed over to my bike, used my inhaler and got my wetsuit on. Talk about feeling like a stuffed sausage…sheesh.
Suzy and I ended up in the first wave: elite (of which there were 4), women 40+ and men 50+. What the? I’m NEVER in the first wave. This ought to be interesting, I thought. I got in and took a good long swim as a warm up. I finally figured out that by doing so, my breathing is calmer once the race starts (only took me 4.5 seasons to figure that one out!). The RD called everyone out of the water and asked which way we wanted to swim due to the sun. The majority (actually I think it was just the loudest people near the RD) won with a CC direction…idiots…that meant we were swimming into the sun on the LONGEST leg of the swim, instead of the 1st and shorter leg. Oh, goodie.
So, I lined up on the outermost left and somehow found a pocket right away. (again that NEVER happens) The swim wasn’t too eventful and I was able to sight every 20 strokes or so and for the most part swam pretty straight. The 1st big buoy came up fast, but the second leg felt long, and I felt like I was struggling a bit, but not too bad. By the time I hit the final turn buoy, I was by myself (which was kind of weird) and I stayed that way for the rest of the swim. I needed to sight more often as there were less buoys on this leg. I swam until I hit bottom, got up, unzipped the wetsuit and jogged out of the water.
Swim: 12:47 (HOLY CARP!)
The run up to the bikes took forever! We were racked just about at the entrance to the park, past the guard shack and on the opposite side from last year. As I was running up , I remembered I forgot to give myself a landmark! Oops – as it was I went down the wrong aisle, not too far though – rookie mistake #1. Turned around and up one more to my bike. Decided to use socks for the bike this time and wouldn’t you know, they DID NOT want to go on. Sheesh…finally got them on then the shoes, grabbed my helmet, glasses, and out I went. T1: 4:40 (too long)
Hopped on my bike and dang…forgot to put it in an easy gear when I set up my transition – rookie mistake #2. Adjusted that and away I went.
Having ridden this course many times, I knew what to expect. The hill, well what’s to say??? It’s a tough one and is actually a series of climbs. My left leg was fatigued for some reason and I couldn’t push as much as I wanted to. The backside is always nasty – but at least not wet like last year. Once off the hill, it’s a fun rolling ride and I really tried to stay aero. Funny though, the left side of my back developed a stitch (cramp?) and couldn’t stay down as much as I wanted. Felt like it was going to spasm (ACK!), but fortunately, while I was playing out all the possible scenarios in my head (walk the run, DNF, etc), it started to loosen up. Phew! Only a few women passed me and only 1 in my age group. I stayed right with a 61 year old man – he was doing great! Bike: 40:28 (18.1 mph, a little slower than last year)
Ok, knew where my rack was and was able to do T2 better than in years passed.
T2: 0:49
Ah the run! The worst part for me…did not get into a good rhythm for quite a while this year. The run was almost ½ way over before I could get my stride out and breathing under control. Ugh. But, I passed a few people and was passed by many! I developed a stitch, but was able to slap that away. I skipped the water stops and just keep on going. I saw Suzy on her bike on her way into the park and I gave her the thumbs up when we crossed paths again on the run. They changed the finish to make it more of a straight shot and I think we lost a bit of mileage. But at that point, I really didn’t care!! Lol
I picked it up on the last bit to finish it off. Run: 23:10
Total time was 1:21:56
After looking at my times over the years I have been very consistent. I took ~6 minutes off my time from last year, but my ’05 race is by far the fastest. I am bit suspect of the mileage for the swim and run…I usually swim ½ mile in ~17 minutes in the pool. Can a wetsuit take ~5 minutes off your time?!?!
I wanted to be in the top 10 in my age group (40-44), and made it this year!! 10th! But boy, these ladies are fast! The winner in my age group did it in 1:10 and change. 2nd and 3rd place were 1:11 and change and only separated by 15 seconds I think. Sheesh.
Overall a great race – and good company! Suzy you are doing awesome!!
posted by zojmn151 | 3:55 AM
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