Friends don’t let friends tri alone
August 14, 2013Still basking in the glow
August 22, 2013
Unofficial results: Total time: 2:56:44. Placed 19/31 in the Athenas and 1382 overall.
Results say unofficial, but they work for me!!
I am so stoked…and a PR. Well it is my first full tri so obviously it’s a PR. I think this may be the highest finish I’ve ever had in my age group (Athenas-MA). I have some goals for the next one, but with this one, I had a blast. I’m very happy with this result!! As of 8/20, my swim split place was 1415; bike split place was 1268(!); run split place was 1402 (not bad considering I don’t think I’m a strong runner). 😀
As of Monday morning I was feeling pretty good. I walked around a lot after I finished, did some light stretching, and put on my compression socks after I showered at the hotel. I kept them on all evening and slept in them. Got home Monday night and foam rolled. Found more trigger points. Good grief – they multiple like rabbits on steroids.
PRE-RACE
Really didn’t have a problem with any nerves, although I don’t think I slept much the night before. I did get 12 hours of sleep on Friday night.
I worked out all the details and clothing issues prior to the race. I had my Team Fight tri shirt, my Kosher Casual swim shirt (couldn’t believe the blues matched!), my HydroChic gray swim skirt without leggings, and my De Soto Carrera Tri Capri with Half-Folding Waistband. As I’ve said many times before, if it wasn’t for De Soto, I wouldn’t be able to do triathlons. They’re the only company I know of that sells tri capris. If you’re looking for modesty while racing/training, you have to check out these capris!
All of my clothes were tested in open water swimming several times prior to the race so I knew I didn’t have to worry about the swim. Plus I’ve been biking exclusively in my tri capris for the last couple of months. They’re so comfortable that I only wear regular bike capris on rare occassions.
I had everything packed up Saturday night so all I really had to do was get dressed, pack the cooler, get in the car and drive to Centennial Park. I ate a Clif Bar and had some water. I was really hydrated from Friday and Saturday so I didn’t want to overdo it.
Less than a 10 minute drive later I was in the park. I got a couple of last minute pointers from Kristin on my transition set up. Went to the port-o-potty (no line, but pitch black inside) [DUH – I forgot I could have used the real bathroom], then headed over to the Team Fight tent. My goal was to get off of my feet and stay off of them. My legs get tired from standing around and I wanted to conserve my energy. After the dedication circle I ate a Clif gel before heading down to the swim start.My De Soto transition pack was ready to go as of Saturday night. There was enough room for everything so I didn’t have to worry about forgetting to bring another bag. That bag has more pockets than you can imagine!At 5:00 am the last thing you need is to worry that you forgot something! This is me just after I set up in transition.
Notes for next time: bring oversize baggies. It rained lightly from the time I got to the parking lot and had burst of showers. The baggies would have enabled me to have had dry bike and running shoes and socks. Also I need to remember to bring a headlamp so I can see in transition and in the potties.
SWIM
I did the entire swim breaststroke, but I didn’t take one break and no backstroke except when I had to adjust my goggles (once) or nose clip (twice). I got in right when they said and had to spend a lot of time treading water. No problem. I put my head under, did some breathing bobs (thank you Anne Johnson!), took some warm up strokes, and got the general lay of the land. I was very calm and not nervous at all. I dialed in on the first buoy and took off at an even pace when the horn sounded. I’m very proud of myself in that I kept going and that I didn’t get rattled as people bumped, kicked, and ran into me. Oh and the lake grass on the back side – I have no words for that. But again, I just kept swimming. I came out of the water smiling and to my coach standing right at the swim finish. My goal was to finish without trashing my legs or having too elevated a heart rate. My secondary goal was to do it 40 minutes. I did it in 39:16 minutes. Bonus!
T-1
Loooonnnnng transition — 8:09 minutes. I did a good job of getting out of the lake and doing a light jog most of the way up the hill. I was soaking wet and cold, and had to clean all of the grass off of my feet. Plus I wanted to make sure I ate a gel, drank some Hammer Nutrition HEED, and took two salt tabs before I biked. I also have more clothing changes than my fellow races so that takes some extra time too. I put on a dry skirt and my bike garters from Bird Industries to keep my skirt from flying up as I ride. I made my way carefully up the hill as the grass was slippery and out to the bike mount area. There was a bit of a log jam, so I gave the women there some space. I didn’t want to get a penalty right as I started.
BIKE
I finally got on the bike and was a happy camper as I knew I would make up time on the bike. I had to slow down a lot because the roads were wet from the rain and pretty slick. I also wanted to make sure I had space to read the other bikers correctly in case they weren’t in control of their bikes. I think I got some good speed on the down hills and biked up all of the hills. I can’t tell you how fast I went on the down hills because Garmin said I maxed out at 123.9 mph (getting that looked into). And you know that big uphill after the left turn that scares everyone. Well it was the easiest it’s ever been for me. I was even joking with some of the other riders, but honestly it barely registered (thank you Ben Bartlett for making sure I could ride that hill). I had a steady pace for the entire ride and I think I kept up a good cadence, although it took probably 5 miles for my legs to warm up. My muscles were not only cold, they got colder from the air and wet capris/skirt while biking. I managed my HR and it shows in the results! My average speed according to the race results was 12.3 mph. All in all I have to say everyone I was around did great. They were courteous, supportive, and communicative.
T-2
Had an awesome second transition – 2:09! Got out of my helmet, bike shoes, changed to running shoes, grabbed a bottle of HEED, and off I went. My legs were feeling pretty good. I jogged through transition and then out onto the run course.
RUN
Once I got on the run I realized I still had on my bike gloves and forgot my sunglasses. Oh well. I got the gloves off and velcroed them to my race belt. I probably looked stupid, but whatever. I was feeling pretty good and for some reason can run better off the bike than just running alone. My left hip wanted to act up, but I told it to shut up until Monday. I did walk/run based on feel, but ran quite a bit – more than usual. Walked some of the bigger hills, but ran all of the down hills and most of the flats. I decided to save my calves and hip a bit on Gatorade hill and of course saw my coach as I’m walking to the top. After that I ran all the way until the mid-point on the small hill at the parking lot. I saw a friend from the swim clinic I did and we walked some of the uphill on the back side and then ran together for a while. I realized about 2 or 2.5 miles into the run that I had the opportunity to break 3 hours if I focused so I decided to laid it all out there (at least to whatever extent I could). I walked up about â the way of the second side of Gatorade Hill and then got my butt in gear before I got to the top. Thank you Larry Stern for the “what are you doing walking comment. It was a great motivator. I was doing pretty good until I twisted my ankle on the side of the bike path on my way to the back stretch. Just like with my hip I said “ankle I’ll deal with you on Monday. In the meantime, shut up!” I kept going, dialed in and broke 3 hours.
TriColumbia results say 48:50; 14:22 avg pace. I think this is an awesome pace for after swimming and biking for 2 hours.I really happy with this run. My best run paces are unreal and my average pace dropped after mile 2!! I ran strong all the way in so I’m really happy. I was trying to run down my friend Denise, but she was just ahead of me. I probably could have caught her if I started my kick a little sooner, but I waited until I was in the chute. I also think I did a great job of running while managing my HR. I only spiked at the end probably with the increase in speed. Also broke a lug on my Newtons after I got done, but luckily I bought a new pair at the expo on Friday. I love my Newtons. I met Juda from Newton Running at the Iron Girl Half Marathon expo and she fitted me for the Newton Gravity. It’s totally changed my running. After the run I had at the IG Columbia tri, I owe her a big hug the next time I see her!
AFTERMATH
I am so hooked on triathlons it is unreal. My friend Kim (who was a super spectator) asked me to do the bike leg as part of a relay team at Eagleman next June. Of course I said yes. It’ll be a birthday present from me to me.
Thanks again everyone and yes, I can now say officially ; I Am A Triathlete!! [HUGE grin!]
