Hey, 1143 here. I'm not too shy to say that you whooped my butt. Great job. I think the rain was the best part of the bike, felt bad for some that didn't have glasses but what a rush. Team Magic does indeed know they're stuff. It was all wonderfully organized and everyone was as nice as could be. This was a great first race for me and I can't wait for the next one.

i was there too! leading up to it i ran into illness 3 weeks out. followed by a hamstring pull. i considered not going but went struggled had a good time.
swimming is not my strength, i have worked on it alot since starting tri's last october. well, i could not get organized in my head right from the get go. the spotting thing really through me off and breathing got tough. did some breast stroke, then got the brilliant idea to draft... which got it all together for me. he had to spot, all i had to do was watch his feet and passed the time trying to figure out what number was on his calf. never did make it out. then i realized i could swim faster. so this bikini-like-clad woman was passing close. i took her draft, passed the other and right after i took a last look over at the guy i was previously following, i looked to the front... and she was gone! we were close enough by this time to finish it alone.
the bike went well, really neat that our race lane was on the inside next to the median with a lane of car traffic or two to our right. (chattanooga has your cones if you are missing any) they lined 13 miles in both directions with cones, spaced at each white lane dash in the road.
my run was horrible but tolerable. the ham hurt from the start. got cramps both in the thighs and the hams so i adopted a short awkward stride. i probably appearing to be running on invisible stilts.
a small oriental woman slowly passed me on the bike. i was at first hurt and ashamed, but her muscularity and the VEIN THE SIZE OF MY LITTLE FINGER that ran the horizontal across the middle of her hamstring , put me at ease, as she had obviously put a lot of time into this!

i have never done such a large event, i can't believe such an event could go that smoothly
+2 for team magic

And as long as we are at it... In Ghana everyone said I was 'pink'. In rural Japan people were amazed that you could see the blue veins in my hands... so I was blue. In the U.S. I'm white.

Not sure how come it's white people, African American people, Asian people. Why are people of European ancestry the only people you can describe by color? Actually living where there are African American people (sorry Kansas) I find most of my black friends don't mind the term black. But if you called an Asian 'yellow' that would be obscene.

The next time I hear "play that funky music, white boy" at a wedding reception I'm taking back my gift... bunk of racisits. And when at church the children are singing "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world... Red and Yellow Black and White, they are precious in his sight" I'm going to tackle the preacher and accuse him of a hate crime.

So in closing, it's OK to be offended. But maybe you could have said "Just a little heads up, many people find the term oriental to be offensive. Sure you didn't mean it that way." That's how people of different races get along in a big, diverse country together.

The vein... maybe I'm missing something here. When an athlete is lean and strong their viens stick out. I think he was saying this women is a bad ass. Is there some stereotype about Asians having big veins that I'm not aware of? I'm really not up to date on my racial stereotypes, been spending too much time riding.

singled out... I figured he was singling her out for 1. being old. 2. Being a woman and 3. being Asian. The first two are very reasonable. I'm somewhat embarrased when old women pass me. Lot's of other 30yr old fit dudes pass me, few senior citizen women pass me (it happens though). Young people ARE generally faster than old, and men generally faster than women. Not everytime, but generally. That's why there are masters and male/female categories. These categories are not "age-ist"

Sure, it's a bit tacky to point out her race when that fact is not relevant to the topic. But he made no conclusions based on that observation.

Fine, fine... maybe I'm just easily excited.

keia, and everyone else on this thread,

sorry i have been out of town and didn't think there would even be another response, let alone heated or negative comments.

keia, in your last post you seem to be saying that i find the vein having something to do with the woman's nationality??? not sure but that's how i took it.

I am just really shocked that i offended anyone...

first of all, i spent 3/4 of my life(i am almost 44) studying and teaching kung fu, i have complete respect for asian culture, philosphy, and the people in general. in fact, my sister -in -law is taiwanese.

but i can understand your concern. the thing is, i came into triathlon from cycling and what i was trying to get across was that i was less than pleased that i wasn't maintaining enough speed to keep from being passed by someone who should not have the strength or endurance to do so...
that having to do with 1) me being a man, possessing on average more muscle than woman 2) that if i consider any part of my race as a strength it is on the bike 3) up until that point i had only been passed by large calfed veiny ... dare i say, young white guys
that is until i saw the condition of her body. i was not judging her beauty (in which large veins in some circles may not be admireable... but ironically i find awe inspiring, as they attest to the amount of work that got them that way). her ripped physique that i also mentioned was the other "clue" as to why she was able to. and that is all i meant by it.
now all the fat white guys who left me floating for dead in the swim i can understand... i am not a swimmer...yet.

This thread has really taken a more interesting turn.