Tiger Tri - TriathlonOlympic


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Colville, Washington
United States
Colville Recreation Department
100+F / 38C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 19m 43s
Overall Rank = 108/138
Age Group = F 40-49
Age Group Rank = 8/12
Pre-race routine:

Here we go with another novel - kudos to anyone who gets through the whole thing!

Had to drive 2 hours to race site. One daughter was up at 3:15 needing something (thanks honey for taking care of it), then the alarm rang at 3:45. Sunscreened, dressed, made instant oatmeal in the thermos with a spoon each of peanut butter (food of the gods) and honey, and out the door. Everything was loaded in the car the night before, so drove out about 4:00 to pick up the best ever tri-brother and race supporter to jockstrap today's race. Had a package of Clif Bloks with caffiene in the car since I don't drink coffee on race day, then choked down the oatmeal about 5:30. For some reason my stomach was kind of queasy, which almost never happens, so I skipped my normal pre-race banana. We got to the race site, got checked in, marked and set up. The bike was a point-to-point, so I had to load all my run gear in a bag and give it to the volunteers to take to T2. Those little bags put those of us with big feet at a disadvantage! The site was beautiful, a little lake nestled in a valley between wooded hills.
Event warmup:

Got in the lake and swam around a bit. At first, I couldn't get my face in the water without the old familiar freakout symptoms and ended up breathing water up my nose while trying to calm the demons. I've had successful lake swims in two different lakes to date, so I was pretty sure I could get over it, and I just kept paddling around a few strokes at a time until I felt like I could swim again. Got out in time for the pre-race meeting at 7:45, ate a gel and we all got back in the water. They held the start for a few minutes for two people who were running late. Personally, I was glad they did ('cause what if it had been ME?)but there was a lot of grumbling around me about it.
Swim
  • 21m 50s
  • 1056 yards
  • 02m 04s / 100 yards
Comments:

This is my longest OWS race to date. (In two weeks I'll double the distance at my first-ever HIM.) The course looked really long from shore, but ended up being fine. I waded in almost last (as usual) then swam wide to get around the stragglers...what can I say, it works for me and I avoid the crush. I was in more swimmers this time than ever before, though, and got bumped and jostled a bit - it was actually kind of fun, it made me feel like a hardcore triathlete. Partway to the first buoy...crap, forgot to turn on my watch, so I did it then...no clue about my time for the rest of the day until the finish. My goggles were leaking and either the sunscreen on my face, the baby shampoo that I used for defog, or the lake water was burning my eyes. I had to stop three times to try to reseal the goggles. I guess the good news was that with the water sloshing around, they didn't fog up. On the first leg, one lady swam perpenducular to me and I went over her legs - when I looked up I was still heading toward the buoy, maybe she had a cabin on the side of the lake or something, but she was sure pointed in the wrong direction. During the second leg I caught up to someone with a huge splash from their kick - I'm not sure what happened to them, either they calmed down, went under of I passed them because after a while they disappeared. There were two buoys on both the first and third legs, but only the turn buoys on the middle leg going across the lake. I had trouble seeing the second turn buoy and followed the crowd until I spotted it. At the second buoy we were close enough to shore to see the bottom, which surprised me and threw me off a little. On the second and third legs I found some feet to follow - that's hard to do! It would be going fine, then I'd look for them and they'd be way off to the side...hmmmm, perhaps I need more work swimming straight? And on the third leg, someone was drafting ME! ME! Whoa, does that mean I'm a swimmer? They kept bumping my feet then they probably found faster feet and disappeard. I swam pretty straight, but seemed to want to pull to the right (away from the buoy line) on the last leg. Luckily the finishing arch was very easy to spot, so I could correct without having to stop to get my bearings. I still felt pretty good at the end - not too out of breath or worn out, which was my goal. I've learned to barely kick in my wetsuit which saves lots of energy, but makes it hard to go back to the pool!
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I felt good and when I started to get out of breath I let my arms kind of float more through the pull until my breathing caught up.
Transition 1
  • 03m 43s
Comments:

Had to run up the hill on some carpets to the main road - part of the pavement was uncarpeted and I kept expecting to step squarely on a rock but it didn't happen. I ran a little, then walked, then ran the final bit to the bikes. My wetsuit stuck a little on my heels, but came off pretty quick. My chip strap is neoprene, too, so I worry about it coming off with the wetsuit. Like the last race, T1 seemed to take a long time. I really didn't feel like I was kicked back in an easy chair or anything, but it seemed to take a while. Gloves and the Garmin took the longest. Had to load the wetsuit and everything up into another bag to be brought to the finish, and as other competitors were doing it, I threw my bag to my brother to bring back...thanks BB.
What would you do differently?:

I'm not going to race with the Garmin anymore, or if I do, it'll only be for pacing on the run. It takes a long time to get on, then the Multisport display doesn't tell me what I want to know (pace, leg distance, etc.) AND the HR reading is way too small for my old eyes - I can't even see it on the bike and have to squint and adjust my wrist to see it while running. I'll just wear my Timex with the BIG numbers. :)
Bike
  • 1h 27m 4s
  • 28 miles
  • 19.30 mile/hr
Comments:

What a blast this ride was! The net elevation loss was fantastic and I took full advantage of the downhills. Unfortunately, there were some stretches that looked like downhills but felt like uphills - these were kind of hard. Once again forgot to turn on the Garmin until I'd headed out, then realized I'd also forgotten to reset my bike computer. Duh. So I got them started and squared away in the first mile or so. My stomach was still a bit dicey, but my Perpetuum/HEED mix went down really easy so no problems. I did cramp up a bit on the bike which is really strange for me. I had the outside of one thigh twinging as well as my calves, and some weird ones. The weird ones would start in the front sides of my pelvis, work around the inside of my upper thighs and end up in my lower back. At that point I would stand up and stretch and be fine until they started again - what's this about? I rode by myself for quite a ways, but about halfway through there were three people that I caught. I played leapfrog with those three plus one more 23-y-o guy for the last half of the ride - I'd pass them on the downhills and they'd all pass me again on the uphills. I'm a much stronger hill rider than I've ever been before, but those extra 25 pounds or so could have something to do with getting passed so easily on the uphills. I drank one full aerobottle then refilled it out of my extra water bottle and drank part of that, and had about the right amount of the fuel mix according to my plan. All my stomach problems were gone by the end of the ride. I probably could (should?) have had a bit more water given the heat, but I ended the ride feeling good.
What would you do differently?:

Figure out the cramping and get rid of it. Practice more on hills. Drop some more poundage. Otherwise, this was a good ride.
Transition 2
  • 01m 30s
Comments:

Ah, this time's more like it! They had bike catchers and people to hand you your run bags. It's always a bit of a struggle giving my bike up to a stranger, but I managed. They had a bench to sit on to change shoes, they took my helmet and gloves and even helped with the run bag. As I was changing, a volunteer came over and dumped out the rest of the bag, asked what I wanted, and packed up the rest with my bike shoes for me. I wasn't sure where to go - didn't see the benches right away, couldn't tell where to run out, but they pointed me in the right direction. Had some water on the way out to run.
What would you do differently?:

Not sure - just keep practicing the transitions.
Run
  • 1h 25m 36s
  • 6.55 miles
  • 13m 04s  min/mile
Comments:

OMG it was hot. And OMG I'm so slow. And OMG I'm a troglodyte! I once again forgot to lap my Garmin until I was out there, AND I'd set the alarm for every 15 minutes to remind me to sip on my calories. The first time the alarm rang I was all by myself on the gravel road with tall grass along the sides and I spent the next 15 minutes trying to figure out the sound I had heard. What kind of animal lived in tall grass and made that funny noise? Snakes? Ground squirrels? Crickets? When it alarmed the second time I looked around the grass again and happened to glimpse the Garmin and finally figured it out. Sheesh. I passed the HoneyBuckets in transition thinking I could make it at least one loop, but stopped in the one by the golf course a little way into the run. Whew, that was one hot, stinky little room! At least I figured I was getting enough to drink if I needed to pee, but this was from partway through the ride and I didn't have to go again for a long long time. I carried my Amphipod fuel belt with one small bottle of Perpetuum/HEED mixed thick and one bottle of water - thinking that on such a hot day I might need water more often than every 1.5 miles. It takes me a long time to go 1.5 miles. :) That worked well with the added bonus that when I tried it on the day before, I had to take it in a good two to three inches from the last time I wore it last September! Hooray for tri training!!! I drank water at every aid station and with the exception of the first Garmin alarm took a sip of 'feed' every 15 minutes or so. I also needed a bit of my own water from time to time. Boy was I glad to see those aid stations. And isn't it funny how d@mn cold lukewarm water feels when you pour it over your head? Brrr - felt good only I wished I could have just soaked in a tub of it each mile and a half. I walked a fair bit on this run, mainly I think because of the heat. I did bring my metronome and used it for the first time. I had it pre-set to the cadence I wanted and when I finally remembered to turn it on I was able to run farther between walk breaks than I had with slower cadence and longer steps. The grass and gravel was fairly forgiving to tired feet, but I was SO incredibly happy to make it over the big hill and onto the track. After running for so far it seemed almost cruel to have to go around the track before you could finish, but I finally made it!
What would you do differently?:

Sunscreen. I burned a bit where my tri top is cut in more on my shoulders. Also I should have used bodyglide on my toes before I put on my run socks. I had Sportshield powder in my socks but I got two blisters between my toes on one foot...Ouch!
Post race
Warm down:

The volunteers handed me a bottle of Gatorade which I drank on the way over to the tents with the misters (what a great idea THOSE things were!). Probably should have stretched. Picked up my t-shirt and another bottle of water, stood in the mist some more, cheered on some more finishers. Gathered up all my stuff and packed it up. And to top off a great day, they had the gym showers open! What a luxury to get to take a shower before getting in the car. Me taking a shower was probably even more of a luxury for my tri-brother who had to sit in the car with me for another couple of hours! Of course I hadn't brought any soap or anything, but there were a few drops of the industrial high-school shower soap left - at least enough so I felt more human. I got a little dizzy a couple of times while I was walking around, but just slowed down a bit and was fine. They had some food cooking that smelled wonderful, but I just couldn't bear to eat at that point. Had PB&J in the car on the way home, and stopped for coffee - yum.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The heat. I wouldn't have been much faster even if it had been cooler, but I would have been more comfortable. Cramps on the bike - gotta figure those out. My snail-slow running pace...still working on that. Now that I feel like I can swim a bit better in OW, I'm starting to feel the lack of speed on the run - while I increased my run distance quite a bit over the winter my real focus was on learning to swim, so maybe this winter will be more on maintaining the swim and bike with a run focus.

Event comments:

This is a fun race. Each year there are about 100 competitors, so it's a nice size. They had lots of volunteers, but I heard that at least one station ran out of water and only had Gatorade for awhile - they all had water when I went through. I would recommend this race, and hope to go back again next year.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2006-07-18 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:21:50 | 1056 yards | 02m 04s / 100yards
Age Group: 7/12
Overall: 105/138
Performance: Good
Suit: Sleeveless BlueSeventy Reaction
Course: Triangular, counter-clockwise. Each leg about .2 miles. The start went out along a dock where the spectators could stand and watch, but it was kind of narrow. At the end, there was a big step up from the water to the shore, but a volunteer was there grabbing hands and pulling us up out of the water.
Start type: Wade Plus:
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:43
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
01:27:04 | 28 miles | 19.30 mile/hr
Age Group: 8/12
Overall: 92/138
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: Left the resort on the main highway, went about 2.5 miles to a turnaround at the BOTTOM of a hill so we had to turn around and climb back up it...yuk! Then straight down the main highway 'til the finish. The first few miles were on chipseal road (Yay for carbon fiber!) then on to smooth pavement. There were some drainage grates in places that you had to watch out for, but in general a nice shoulder. Road not closed to traffic. One kind of big uphill, but a net elevation LOSS - Hooray!
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 85
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Average Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Not enough
T2
Time: 01:30
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
01:25:36 | 06.55 miles | 13m 04s  min/mile
Age Group: 11/12
Overall: 126/138
Performance: Average
Course: Two figure-8 laps with the first little loop around the high school field on grass then out on a gravel road for the second loop. There were some short but steep hills on the field and on the gravel road. On the grass, you had to run across some of the steep hills, which seemed like a twisted ankle waiting to happen. At the end of the second loop, they routed you around the high school, up a BIG steep grassy hill and down the other side to the track, then about 3/4 of the way around on the track to the finish.
Keeping cool Bad Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4