Short Version of RR:
Goal time was 2:40 (swim 30 min, bike 1:20, run 50 min) but I was secretly hoping for 2:34. Actual times: Swim 26 Bike 1:17 Run 53:23 for a total of 2:40 which I should have been happy about, but I wasn't because I knew it was due to a really bad run that unfortunately I found every excuse in the world not to really push myself on. They weather was perfect (it had been horribly stormy all the way up until 7 am , race started on schedule at 7:30 am so great job to the volunteers and RD there). The course was a lot more hilly than I had anticipated (there was almost no flat on the run) mostly rolling hills. Lessons Learned:
1) Drafting on the swim is a beautiful thing (just watch out for those nasty toe nail induced cuts!)
2) Aero bottles make it a lot easier to drink while on the bike
3) No one feels like running a 10k after 25 miles of biking, be mentally prepared for it to hurt and don't give up.
Long Version: (just a warning, this is really long!!)
Okay, this was my first olympic distance race and I was pretty nervous. Race Day: After a breakfast of PB&J on wheat toast and last minute check I headed to the race. We were running a little late and my husband informs me that he needs to stop for gas... of course I am thinking, couldn't you have done that last night, but then I realize I am pretty lucky to have a guy that is willing to get up at 5 am, drive me to a race where he will have nothing to do but sit around for a couple of hours and wait for me to run by! So I kept my trap shut. We drove in a very heavy thunderstorm, but it was amazing that as soon as we arrived in the parking lot, it stopped raining and the clouds began to clear. Yeah! the race is on!
Time to set up transition, I never get this right I am alway putting my stuff at the wrong end of the bike or not setting out so that it is easy to get to, so I need to work on that. I also think that a move to avoid wearing socks is a good thing, but I need to build up calluses before I try that in a race. Got body marked, and headed to the lake to warm up for the swim.
Swim Time: I have to say the swim is normally my worst event. Because I had never completed an open water swim this far I decided to not stress about this swim and tell myself "this is just a relaxed warm up. If you need to rest, tread water for abit, if it takes forever, don't worry about it." I don't know if this helped, but I had the best swim of my short triathlon career. The crazy thing about this, is that halfway through I thought to myself, wow this feels really easy, I must not be pushing hard enough, oh well, don't want to burn out, just get through it. I think what happened was that I was drafting for most of the swim and that's why it felt easy and why my swim was faster than my goal (actual 26 min, goal was 30 min). So to eveyone out there, find some bubbles and follow them! When I got out of the water I thought for sure I had been slower than goal (I had left my watch as home, so I didn't know how long it had actually been) so when I heard my husband say "great swim" and since I didn't have my watch I laughed and rolled my eyes like "thanks honey, don't worry I know it wasn't that great". So he has this funny picture of me laughing and rolling my eyes while I run to transition. oops!
Okay T2: It says on the results that this took me 2:21. I know why this took so long... first of all I had to put on socks, then I had to run around the rack to put on my helmet because for some strange reason when I set up my transition area I put my stuff on the opposite side of how I racked my bike. So eventually I got myself together and headed out on the bike.
Bike: The bike felt great, I probably should have pushed it a little harder, but this again was my first oly, so I was a little nervous about having enough left for the 10k looming ahead of me. I had a gu in T1, and had planned on another at the end of the bike (mostly as a mental boost) but the 2nd Gu must have dropped from the leg of my shorts at some point because I never found it (I am thinking about getting one of those flasks that attaches to the bike to avoid this). Also, I made it a point to drink my entire water bottle (aero bottle) so that I would be well hydrated for the run. Bike time was 1:17 which was better than goal of 1:20, but slower than super secret goal of 1:15... I'll get there next time!
T2: All I remember from this is hearing the annoucer talk about how hard this race is... I know he was trying to be inspiring, but all I could think of as I left T2 is "why they heck would I want to do this?!?!" So that gives you an idea of my frame of mind for the run
Run: UGH... that's all I can say. I am used to feeling like crap off of the bike, it always takes me about 1 mile to feel okay again but this was different... First of all it ended up being a 2 loop course (thought it was one loop so this was a little disconcerting to find out during the race) but that wasn't really the problem... I started out with a lovely cramp in my lower left abdomen, this could only be cured by walking and squeezing it really hard. I don't know if this just put me in a bad frame of mind or what, but for the rest of the run I had to play mind games with myself to keep moving forward. I thought of MammaGina and her "keep moving forward" a couple of times so big thanks to her! Every step I had to convince myself to keep running. I tried to at least run from water station to water station, I just could not get out of that funk. What I am taking away from this run is that I need to improve my ability to "race" the run portion and stay mentally focused. I am thinking right now that I will add some longer brick workouts and practice positive thinking. My husband thinks that I bad run was because of the "lost Gu" that I never took on the bike, I don't know. All I can say is that I didn't want to be out there anymore, but there wasn't any apparent problem (like a cramp or something like that).
It was a bummer that the race ended on a downer, but all in all I was proud of myself for even getting to the finish line. I now I have a better idea of what to expect for my next oly race and I have found a refreshed desire to train harder this time. I was really dragging mentally before this race, I was really in a "just get it done" frame of mind, but now I am back to looking forward to training, I am sure the week off from tri specific training due to vacation helped this as well. Vacation was just a lot of hiking and snorkeling and almost no running, biking or real swimming.
Well thanks to anyone who made it this far!! Hope you enjoyed the report and train safely!
Jill
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