Things to work on, set up, another couple minutes to rethink transition instead of rushing through it and I would have already had the pump on 50% for the duration of the event rather than remembering that about a mile into the bike leg and having to balance the bike and reduce basal (heard a lot of on your left for some reason during that time). And since I'm setting records for transition speed (or slowness) - item #2 on the list would be having the monitor ready to go - and practicing more with it. Since sprint event #1 a year ago, where I went through about half a bottle of test strips because it was raining, my hands were wet, and as a result the strips were wet (the meter doesn't like that) I did get a self contained unit (strips inside so you don't have to touch them) - but haven't practiced with it enough (note to self - perfect practice makes perfect).
Warm up - what warm up? The water was 86 degrees - isn't that warm enough? Again pressed for time - need to get in the water and swim a bit (even though it was a bit "murky"). Final thought - the nice people in the boats are there for the racers safety - however, I don't wish to stop and see them again. At the start HR was about 35 BPM higher than normal. Also decided to start in the middle of the pack as most people had spread out single file down the shore line. Did alright on the first 200 (of 600 yards) - rounded the bouy, and then I don't know what happened. Lost my rhythm, lost my mojo, had a panic attack seeing the pink swim caps catching up, whatever, but couldn't seem to relax. Headed to the boat at 400 and waited till the HR was below 160 - then finished it out - but by that time there was no catching up to the rest of the green caps. In practice HR is usually in the 140s at tops. Speaking of caps - need to practice with one of those on too.
As noted - transition needs to change - one more question in a sprint tri for a diabetic is to sock, or not to sock? I prefer to avoid potential blisters - but maybe trying it without socks (after practicing this way of course) would help - I can't afford to have double the transition time (twice) in a short race? And for the run - got a pair of Yankz Saturday afternoon. Actually was happy with the bike time, not overly satisfied with the run, but (final lesson of the day) - didn't know what I was getting into before I did it. At least I wasn't last in my age group.
And for icing on the cake - BGs were in the 200s (not where I like them) for both the bike and the run. Morals of the story - practice the way you're going to play (how many times have I said that as a coach?) Learn from your mistakes. Remember there is a bigger goal in mind next May.
And as a PS - congrats to Coach Ed Leibowitz (Triabetes coach) on completing IM CDA Saturday. Lots to learn from the resources we have available - hope this helps someone along the way as well. Next up is a 10k on the 4th of July (with 50,000 friends in the Peachtree Road Race) - then an Oly in Chattenooga on July 11th. In the meantime working on the things that can be improved...May is still a long way off.
Vic, My brilliant suggestion to avoid the panic would have been to put your face into the water and leave it there (breathing as needed) for at least 1 minute to get rid of everyone's natural tendency to panic for the 1st minute with their face in the water, esp cold water. However, your episode came in the middle of the swim. I would only suggest getting very comfortable either treading water or swimming on your back since I am guessing that the panic is based on air intake. Just like on land, when breathing, breathe out fully underwater before breathing in deeply. Start your breath with a "K" sound if you are having a hard time breathing in deeply.
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