Austin Danskin Sprint Tri

Short version:
800m swim/12 mile bike/5K run
Swim: 18:48 (a little slower than in the pool, swim rank 245/2601)
T1: 4:37
Bike: 42:11 (18.4 mph – very fast for me on a hilly course, bike rank 392/2601)
T2: 3:42
Run: 33:13 (10:42 mile, run rank 947/2601 – need to work on this!)
Total: 1:42:33 (513/2601 OA, 17/389 in mixed age group, would have been 99/419 in AG)

Frappuccino when I woke up & Clif Bar 1 hour before race

Long version:
Woke up at 5:00. I actually slept REALLY well and woke up 3 mins. before my alarm went off (4:57). I drank my homemade Frappuccino as I do every morning, got dressed, and threw my water bottles from the fridge in my bag. I was out the door at 5:30.

I arrived at the parking lot at 6:00, dragged up the hill with my bag to the shuttles. Transition closed at 6:45, race started at 7:00. I got there in plenty of time, got all set up, then left transition right at 6:45 (there were still people arriving). I ran into a woman that I didn't recognize, but she recognized me. Apparently, I met her at a kid's birthday party a couple years ago. I talked to her for a while and walked toward the swim start. My wave time was not until 8:24, which actually ended up at 8:43 because they started late.

I relaxed for a while, went to the bathroom, talked to a few people, then I went to go see the elites mount their bikes. I felt better when a few of them stumbled. I sat down and had a Clif bar around 7:45. DH finally arrived with the 3 kids after about a 2 mile hike from the car just after 8:00. I gave him my bag (with cell phone and shoes) and headed toward the swim start. I was in the mixed age group, which was last, and we didn't have assigned waves, so I wanted to try to get up near the front so I'd be in the first wave. Well, that didn't work, so I was in the 3rd wave (actually wave 25). DH never did find me, but he took some picture of a woman swimming who really did look like me!

Swim: I got up front, and waited for the start. Sally Edwards gave us our mantra: "I am a great, great swimmer (biker, runner, triathete)" We were supposed to use this when we needed an extra push during the race. They counted down from 10 and we were off!! I decided to just swim hard and get in front since I'm a strong swimmer. That worked o.k. until I was so out of breath I couldn't breathe. I resorted to breaststroke until I could catch my breath. I didn't panic, though, I know my HR was too high for the swim. I finally got into a good rhythm at the first buoy. The hardest part was not running into anyone since I couldn't see them until I ran into them. I swam a little slower than in the pool, but that is to be expected. Not having ever done an OW swim, I think I did pretty well. I exited and ran up, up, up the grassy hill to transition. My bike was in the back, so I had a ways to go. I knew my T1 time would be near 5:00. It took me nearly 2:00 just to get to my bike. I got my helmet, gloves, GPS, sunglasses, socks, and shoes on and took off (I think I'll do without the gloves next time – my bike computer isn't working, so I used my GPS).

Bike: The bike was awesome! I thought this was my weakness, but not in this race. Because I started in the back, I was passing everyone. Being the Danskin, most women just want to finish, so they were not riding fast at all, even on the downhills. They didn't understand that going fast downhill would help them get up the next hill. There were lots of hills, but they were not as bad as I thought they would be. The first part was rolling hills, then we turned right onto a road with potholes and not too many hills. Next was the best part: we are going downhill (fast) and we have to turn right and immediately go up a STEEP hill. They warned us all about it. Well, I came flying down the hill, but I downshifted a few times because I knew THE HILL was coming. I flew around the corner, then kicked it into low gear. Well, there are bikes everywhere! I mean on the ground! Chains had come off, women had just not been able to get up because they didn't get low enough, etc... It was so funny. I flew right past, though that hill was tough. I had to stand up on my bike for about 10 seconds to really get going. There was another hill that was pretty tough too, but I had done hills like this in training. We rode through the construction zone that they just paved yesterday, and it was a little rough in spots, so I slowed some there. I just couldn't believe how much everyone slows down on the turns and swings out! It was so hard to predict what someone was going to do, so I just stayed to the left since I was passing everyone. I only got passed by two women the whole ride! One I passed, then she passed, then I passed, then she passed, and I couldn't catch her. The next one was a woman who I would pass going downhill and she would pass me going uphill. After we did this about 3 times, I yelled at her, “You're a better hill climber than I am” She yelled back, “I only have one gear” That would explain her going slow downhill and then booking it up the hills. LOL I finished the bike strong, but I think I overdid it, but I had so much fun. I had almost nothing left for the run. The temperature was nearing 90 degrees by then, and I was beat. I got my running shoes on and took off after guzzling some Gatorade. I tried to catch my breath some, but it was useless.

Run: The run was HOT!! I thought I could maintain at least a 10:00 mile (my best 5K was 26:30), but I quickly decided that was not going to happen. Since my bike was so fast, I just took my time. I even walked some. I knew my time was going to be great. The run was all on grass through the woods until the last .3 mile. There was no wind and it was hot and humid. The last .6 mile (approx) was uphill, and it was steep. DH couldn't believe it when he saw it, and at the very end!! I walked at the bottom so I could build up steam to finish strong. I ran up it and slowly gained speed and finished going about an 8:30 mile. I could hear people saying, "Wow, she is fast", but that's because everyone else was walking!! My average pace was 10:42. I didn't start the run until 10:00 a.m., so it was super hot. I know that made a huge difference because I have not trained in hot weather much (I've been running less than a year, so I haven't run much in the summer). I'll really have to focus on that if I'm going to do an Oly in Sept. It will be SUPER hot then!

I had written down all my predicted times for DH on the map so he'd know when to go where.  My predicted finish time was 1:42.  I can't believe I got so close!!  I actually told him that was the fastest I would do it in.  The fastest time was 1:08, and that was a 19 & under who beat all the elites!  Compared to that time, I did really well.  When I run races, I usually do it in twice the time the winner does it in.  One of the elites actually had a slower swim time than me!      Only 5 mixed AG women beat me on the swim.

All in all, this was a great race for my first tri. I was VERY happy with my performance, and I know what I need to work on for the next one July 1. Transitions are huge – I don't know how those elites had transition times of 1:14. Their bikes were a lot closer than mine, but still! I wasn't even at my bike in that amount of time. I really need to work on my aerobic fitness. My average HR was 190!! My max was 215, though. I should have been aerobic for the entire swim, but I got so out of breath at first, so I know my HR sailed. Something to work on for next time. I know if I improve that, the run won't be as hard.

It was so inspiring seeing all the different ages, shapes, sizes, and fitness levels of all the women at this Danskin tri. It blew my mind seeing some of those women out there doing it!!

After the race, I had to walk 2 miles back to my car with DH and the 3 kids in the heat – NOT fun! DH got some great pictures. Here are a few:

Me with my daughters before the race

Coming out of the swim

Last stretch (the only part on pavement)

I finished!

I sure clean up well (what I really look like! LOL)


(I hope those were the right links -- they need a preview option on here!)

Kelli

[http://This message has been edited by 3chilipeppers (edited Jun-11-2007).|http://This message has been edited by 3chilipeppers (edited Jun-11-2007).]