Jul 30, 2007 11:23 AM
Midsummer Tri RR -- I am a triathlete!
Midsummer Triathlon
Fairview, OR
1/4 mile Swim/12.5 mile Bike/5K Run
Overall Time: 1:17:28 (4/45 OA, 1/4 AG)
Swim: 10:36
T1: 3:56
Bike: 38:43
T2: 2:06
Run: 22:07
Did you ever see the movie Groundhog Day? Bill Murray repeats the same day over and over until he gets it right. Today dawned as a repeat of yesterday. Same 5am alarm (and 5:10 snooze). Same breakfast of bagels and peanut butter. Same duffel bag loaded with tri gear and a bike on the roof of the car. We drove to the same park and covered the same triathlon course. Only this time it was my turn instead of DW's.
Pre-Race: I had never set up a transition area before and now needed to get my race day organized. Fortunately I had asked DW for pointers and had a good idea of how I wanted to setup. Bike was racked. Bike shoes and socks laid out on my towel and a smaller towel to dry my feet nearby. Running gear was laid behind the bike stuff. Oops, all of us newbies racked our bikes the wrong way. If not for a more experienced triathlete coaching her SO at the next rack, I would have had to back my bike under the bar or pull it out from the other side had I not re-racked it. Crisis averted, I set out to the men's room and then squeezed into my wetsuit.
The swim: I came into the swim with no expectations. I was pretty confident that I wouldn't drown with a wetsuit on unless my heart decided that I had reached my lifetime maximum number of beats. I skipped any warmup since I figured my heart was good, but I might, in fact, have a limited number of swim strokes in me. No sense in using them up. I waded out into the water as our wave was called and lined up to the inside and back. I knew I wanted to stay away from the outside edge since that was where DW had met up with weeds and shallower water yesterday.
The gun sounded and we were off. Isn't there a wall to push off of or something? I hadn't swam in open water since I earned my swimming merit badge about 18 years ago and forgot just how much harder it can be. I tried to swim freestyle, but found I was taking in more water than air when I tried to breathe due to the choppy waters created by the thrashing bodies around me. I switched to a heads up freestyle, but found that my legs sank like an anchor and I wasn't making much forward progress. Breaststroke was next but I felt like I was expending too much energy and couldn't do the full 1/4 mile that way. Finally I settled into sidestroke and started feeling a bit less panicky. As I passed the first buoy, two swimmers were hanging on and I thought about joining them. I was afraid that I might never get going again, so I kept on, switching sides every 50 yards or so. As I reached the second buoy, I knew that I would make it the last 100 yards or so and finally settled into a rhythm of sorts. While I can't say that I ever really got comfortable during the swim, I do think I could have done the 1/2 mile swim that the Sprint athletes were doing.
I dragged myself from the water, amazingly with dozens of swimmers still behind me and checked my watch. I had hoped to make it out in under 13 minutes. My watch read 10:55 when I looked at it. I double checked to make sure I didn't have it in time of day mode or something and kept going.
T1: Nothing eventful here. I was a bit slow getting socks on over damp feet, but had no wetsuit issues and managed to take a Gu and some water.
The Bike: I pulled a Leipheimer here. I got on my bike cleanly at the mount point and managed to clip in both cleats on the go within two pedal strokes. My gears were all wrong however as my shifter was set to the big front ring, but the chain was on the middle ring. I got things sorted out about 30 seconds later and found a great rhythm as we hit the main road. I have no idea how many bikes I passed, but I know that I passed a lot of road bikes on my lowly hybrid and only bikes with names like Cervelo and higher end Specialized were passing me. The out portion of the out and back is slightly uphill and I managed to ride most of it around 17mph. On the back portion, I was seeing a lot of 21 and 21.5 mph on my bike computer.
With about 2 miles to go, my left calf suddenly seized up completely. It only lasted about two pedal strokes. I quickly dropped down a gear to spin a bit easier and though "Oh F---". I had this same calf seize up during a BRICK workout as I began my run and it was the most miserable mile I have ever run in my life. I knew that if it decided to go here, the rest of my day would be a death march. Fortunately, the tension never came back and I managed to regain my former speed the rest of the way in. I arrived at the dismount to hear DS yelling "Go Daddy!" and managed a big smile to Mom and son.
T2: I got the bike back to the rack quickly and had no issues switching shoes. I grabbed another swig of water and headed out only to find that one side of my race number had come loose from the race belt. I tried to fix it while jogging out to the run course, but finally had to stop. Then as I rotated the belt around to put my number in front again, the velcro came loose and I found my belt lying on the ground ten feet behind me. After a second stop in the exit chute, I was finally ready to roll.
The Run: I immediately started passing groups of runners. It really felt good to pass the runners with the R on their leg. As I neared the turnaround point, I passed another runner with a yellow bib just like mine. I made it my mission to catch him before the finish. About a mile later I did pass him and knew that I had to be near the head of the pack in my wave. After reentering the park grounds, we headed down a paved path towards the waterfront. Just before the water the route left the pavement and headed into a brief dirt section. Just as I passed yet another runner, the trail dropped about 10 feet real quick. I couldn't put on the brakes, I had JUST passed a guy and couldn't let him pass me. My quads were up to the task and I headed for the final finishing stretch. I hit the mat a stopped my watch a little late. It read 1:17:32.
Final Thoughts: I had come into the race happy with anything under 1:25. My stretch goal had been 1:20. To finish in 1:17 was amazing to me. My swim, while still not great was way beyond my wildest dreams. I had nailed the bike portion about as well as I could have ever hoped to and I managed to run the 5K at about 7:06/mile pace. My transitions, while not perfect, didn't really hurt me too much either. In short, I think I got this day right. If I did, I get to sleep in tomorrow. If the alarm goes off at 5am, and I see a bike on the roof of the car, I think I might cry.
Oh yeah, I'll be doing another triathlon someday, but probably not until next summer. I've got a sub 3 hour marathon as my next goal.
Fairview, OR
1/4 mile Swim/12.5 mile Bike/5K Run
Overall Time: 1:17:28 (4/45 OA, 1/4 AG)
Swim: 10:36
T1: 3:56
Bike: 38:43
T2: 2:06
Run: 22:07
Did you ever see the movie Groundhog Day? Bill Murray repeats the same day over and over until he gets it right. Today dawned as a repeat of yesterday. Same 5am alarm (and 5:10 snooze). Same breakfast of bagels and peanut butter. Same duffel bag loaded with tri gear and a bike on the roof of the car. We drove to the same park and covered the same triathlon course. Only this time it was my turn instead of DW's.
Pre-Race: I had never set up a transition area before and now needed to get my race day organized. Fortunately I had asked DW for pointers and had a good idea of how I wanted to setup. Bike was racked. Bike shoes and socks laid out on my towel and a smaller towel to dry my feet nearby. Running gear was laid behind the bike stuff. Oops, all of us newbies racked our bikes the wrong way. If not for a more experienced triathlete coaching her SO at the next rack, I would have had to back my bike under the bar or pull it out from the other side had I not re-racked it. Crisis averted, I set out to the men's room and then squeezed into my wetsuit.
The swim: I came into the swim with no expectations. I was pretty confident that I wouldn't drown with a wetsuit on unless my heart decided that I had reached my lifetime maximum number of beats. I skipped any warmup since I figured my heart was good, but I might, in fact, have a limited number of swim strokes in me. No sense in using them up. I waded out into the water as our wave was called and lined up to the inside and back. I knew I wanted to stay away from the outside edge since that was where DW had met up with weeds and shallower water yesterday.
The gun sounded and we were off. Isn't there a wall to push off of or something? I hadn't swam in open water since I earned my swimming merit badge about 18 years ago and forgot just how much harder it can be. I tried to swim freestyle, but found I was taking in more water than air when I tried to breathe due to the choppy waters created by the thrashing bodies around me. I switched to a heads up freestyle, but found that my legs sank like an anchor and I wasn't making much forward progress. Breaststroke was next but I felt like I was expending too much energy and couldn't do the full 1/4 mile that way. Finally I settled into sidestroke and started feeling a bit less panicky. As I passed the first buoy, two swimmers were hanging on and I thought about joining them. I was afraid that I might never get going again, so I kept on, switching sides every 50 yards or so. As I reached the second buoy, I knew that I would make it the last 100 yards or so and finally settled into a rhythm of sorts. While I can't say that I ever really got comfortable during the swim, I do think I could have done the 1/2 mile swim that the Sprint athletes were doing.
I dragged myself from the water, amazingly with dozens of swimmers still behind me and checked my watch. I had hoped to make it out in under 13 minutes. My watch read 10:55 when I looked at it. I double checked to make sure I didn't have it in time of day mode or something and kept going.
T1: Nothing eventful here. I was a bit slow getting socks on over damp feet, but had no wetsuit issues and managed to take a Gu and some water.
The Bike: I pulled a Leipheimer here. I got on my bike cleanly at the mount point and managed to clip in both cleats on the go within two pedal strokes. My gears were all wrong however as my shifter was set to the big front ring, but the chain was on the middle ring. I got things sorted out about 30 seconds later and found a great rhythm as we hit the main road. I have no idea how many bikes I passed, but I know that I passed a lot of road bikes on my lowly hybrid and only bikes with names like Cervelo and higher end Specialized were passing me. The out portion of the out and back is slightly uphill and I managed to ride most of it around 17mph. On the back portion, I was seeing a lot of 21 and 21.5 mph on my bike computer.
With about 2 miles to go, my left calf suddenly seized up completely. It only lasted about two pedal strokes. I quickly dropped down a gear to spin a bit easier and though "Oh F---". I had this same calf seize up during a BRICK workout as I began my run and it was the most miserable mile I have ever run in my life. I knew that if it decided to go here, the rest of my day would be a death march. Fortunately, the tension never came back and I managed to regain my former speed the rest of the way in. I arrived at the dismount to hear DS yelling "Go Daddy!" and managed a big smile to Mom and son.
T2: I got the bike back to the rack quickly and had no issues switching shoes. I grabbed another swig of water and headed out only to find that one side of my race number had come loose from the race belt. I tried to fix it while jogging out to the run course, but finally had to stop. Then as I rotated the belt around to put my number in front again, the velcro came loose and I found my belt lying on the ground ten feet behind me. After a second stop in the exit chute, I was finally ready to roll.
The Run: I immediately started passing groups of runners. It really felt good to pass the runners with the R on their leg. As I neared the turnaround point, I passed another runner with a yellow bib just like mine. I made it my mission to catch him before the finish. About a mile later I did pass him and knew that I had to be near the head of the pack in my wave. After reentering the park grounds, we headed down a paved path towards the waterfront. Just before the water the route left the pavement and headed into a brief dirt section. Just as I passed yet another runner, the trail dropped about 10 feet real quick. I couldn't put on the brakes, I had JUST passed a guy and couldn't let him pass me. My quads were up to the task and I headed for the final finishing stretch. I hit the mat a stopped my watch a little late. It read 1:17:32.
Final Thoughts: I had come into the race happy with anything under 1:25. My stretch goal had been 1:20. To finish in 1:17 was amazing to me. My swim, while still not great was way beyond my wildest dreams. I had nailed the bike portion about as well as I could have ever hoped to and I managed to run the 5K at about 7:06/mile pace. My transitions, while not perfect, didn't really hurt me too much either. In short, I think I got this day right. If I did, I get to sleep in tomorrow. If the alarm goes off at 5am, and I see a bike on the roof of the car, I think I might cry.
Oh yeah, I'll be doing another triathlon someday, but probably not until next summer. I've got a sub 3 hour marathon as my next goal.
