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 Swim
Comments: I was psyched about this. I know it's not speedy by most people's standards, but I felt strong this whole swim. That first 50m came so fast. I couldn't believe I was already at the wall. I passed at least one person per length, and no one passed me. Super happy. As I jumped in, I still didn't know what I was going to do with this race. I had been thinking maybe I would just phone it in and treat the day as a long training brick. But when I hit the wall after the first 50m, I dove under the ropes, and was racing. I was into this 100%. What would you do differently?: I've been working on my swim, and I have finally seen some improvement. I'm going to keep working on it over the winter, so I hope to begin next spring faster and stronger.  Transition 1
Comments: Loooong run from the pool to transition. It just takes forever. Because I was wearing a swimming suit with a chamois pad, I had to put on shorts and a shirt in transition. I'm modest that way. It cost me a few seconds, but really not long. What would you do differently?: Run faster after swimming. It always seems to take me a few seconds to get my legs back.  Bike
Comments: I risked a little here. I didn't have water on the bike. I figured it wouldn't take me more than 40 minutes and it wasn't too hot out. It worked out okay, although during the last two laps, I was pretty thirsty, but it wasn't horrible. I decided not to red line this ride because I still needed to run, but I was definitely pushing the yellow line. I decided to take the first turn on the last lap a little faster than the previous laps and just about lost traction on my rear tire. I managed to keep everything under control. What would you do differently?: Just keep pushing the bike. I haven't been able to ride outside in weeks, what with traveling, ridiculously hot weather, and then flooding. I've been riding on the spin bike at the gym. I was surprised how strong I felt on this bike ride. I know it was short, but I really felt like the work I've done on the spin bike has helped my strength on the bike. Transition 2
Comments: I had my shoes tied ahead of time to slip on, but I still struggled with the right one. Too slow. No excuse for this. What would you do differently?: Get with the program faster.  Run
Comments: Not my best 5k. I was faster last year. But I was in a better position this year because I had a faster swim and a little faster bike. I learned something that's probably obvious to other people. Fast people breath a lot harder than slow people. What I mean is that when I'm passing people because I've started behind with a poor swim and bike, the people I'm passing don't really breath very hard, even though they are working hard. Running in a better position, I was passed by a few people, and they were working. harder than I was. I thought about pushing it and trying to keep up with one of them, but thought better of it. I hadn't really tapered for this much -- just one rest day before the race -- and my legs were feeling twitchy. I needed to be able to pick up with run training immediately after this race. So I let people go by me. There were four water stops on the run, one right as we started, so I was able to replenish what I missed on the bike. What would you do differently?: I love to run. But as it turns out, it's my worst leg. I don't know what I think about that. Post race
Warm down: I am finally figuring out what to do post race. I grabbed a water, half a banana, and a package of trail mix, then got to the shower. Why didn't I think of this before? I had time to clean up my transition area, get my bike back on the car, and hang out at the awards to stand on a real podium. Ha! So funny. A friend of mine took a picture for me, but he hasn't sent it to me yet. What limited your ability to perform faster: I'm satisfied. I can be faster. Event comments: This is a local race with a lot of mountain and hybrid bikes. So I saw things that I'd not seen before. 1) One guy walked the swim in the shallow end -- on every lap. 2) One woman shorted her ride. I was just starting my 2nd lap, and I heard her yell out, "This is my last lap." I looked at her number, not that far from mine, and thought "No way." She did pass me, but she wasn't going THAT fast. I think it was all sorted out. Getting the results took a very long time and a few people were called in to talk to the race officials. 3) One woman had a friend pace her on the run. 4) Lawn chairs in transition. Profile Album Last updated: 2013-08-06 12:00 AM
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United States
Hutchinson Recreation Commission
70F / 21C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 82/183
Age Group = 45-54
Age Group Rank = 3/14
The 7 - 10 days leading up to the race were pretty terrible. We had incredible rains and flooding. Not as bad as in Missouri and other places, but bad enough to disrupt our routines and to add stress. There was no working outside to be done. If it wasn't flooded, the mosquitoes were out in droves.
The RD did a great job keeping racers up to speed on the condition of the course. The run route goes right down next to the Arkansas River, so a few times during the week, it was submerged in places. Furthermore, the pictures coming out of Hutchinson were pretty terrifying, and included a sink hole.
My 12 year old was also signed up for the race, and the day before, I asked him if he wanted to do it. He said no. I decided that I wasn't going to push it and was relieved that he wasn't going to be there. I was pretty sure the run course would be fine, and if it hadn't have been, the RD had a plan B. But I didn't want to be worried about him, especially since I was racing, too.
Then I admitted to him that I didn't really want to do it either. My heart was not in it. I hadn't been out of our little town for almost two weeks because I was afraid if I could get out, I wouldn't be able to get back in -- at least not easily. I have never not started a race that I actually signed up and paid for, so I went ahead and got ready for it. But honestly, I didn't start packing my bag and putting my bike on the rack until about 8 p.m.
I got everything ready and was in bed by a little after 10 p.m.
I woke up at 4:00 a.m., before the alarm. I stayed in bed thinking about everything again until about 4:45 a.m., and then just got up. I made a dish of yogurt and a large cup of coffee, and headed out.
It was extremely dark, so I couldn't see the fields, and I decided that was a good thing. I didn't want to know how much water was out there. It was a bit disconcerting to see lights reflected in fields which I knew should be dry. But it was what it was.
When I crossed the 5th Street bridge over the Arkansas near Hutchinson, I could tell the water was very high. I just tried not to think about it too much because one of my phobias is to spin off a road into water and not be able to get out of the car.
Because of the high water, there was just one way into the park and we had to park outside of the park and walk in. Not a big deal for me because I got there early (by 5:30), so I got a great spot in a lot next to the park.
I was doing this myself, so I had everything organized into one bag. I pumped up the tires before leaving the car, so I didn't have to lug the pump along with me, then I walked the bike and my gear to the park. I racked my bike and left my stuff in transition while I walked over to packet pick up. I let them know Ben wasn't coming and picked up his packet along with mine. Got body marked and timing chip and headed back to transition. I swung my arms around a little and walked through the transition entrances/exits to be sure I knew what to do when I got there. Athlete meeting and then it was time to swim. I took in a Clif Shot before walking to the pool . We got in line according to our race number.