Litchfield Hills Aquabike - Aquabike

After 3 years of feeling calm at all my tris, last sprint in Minnesota I had some anxious moments. Not sure it was the unrecovered body that was near our dock at the island for a few days, or what. Patriot HIM AB I did in June was first open water swim since IMFL and I was fine. Once I had issues, played in my head a bit last month. I did couple ows at the island without my wetsuit and felt better.

I wore my old wetsuit (which fit better) and didn't have any anxious
moments.

Caught a blue cap or two. This one guy I was with for about last 40%. He swam so crooked. He would sight realize he was off track then go off a different wrong way. Once he was swimming about 100 degrees off track actually going sideways and slightly backward. It was amusing to track his crazy progress.

I swam pretty straight only slightly off to the right which is my norm.

Kevin encouraged me to hurry over the timing mat as they had a 44' cut off and he knew it was close...I figured that out..he told me my time which I dislike knowing...I understood his encouragement to move a bit faster.

Swim time is what I earned with lack of consistent training.

In thinking about this swim vs. sprint and other swims. Sprints are usually more chaotic, with folks going fast, lots of waves and I'm overtaken by following waves. IMs and races I do ABs I'm either in last wave or only one way which means after short time only athletes near me are about my ability. With the sprint last month, I started more in the front, waves were close together, and I was passed by both folks in my wave and those in following waves.


Train more consistently last 4 months

It's been an interesting hiccup in my life not being able to run and observing how I've dealt with it. Some ways have been good...others like eating clean not so good. I am a stress eater.

Pleased I felt comfortable swimming. I did think about the body in the water at Cass Lake but didn't effect me.

2/10 mile gravel road/path to transition with much of it up hill. My knee doesn't like running or hills or uneven terrain so I choose to walk to transition. I could have run but the 3-4 weeks of pain and swelling really itsn't worth saving 2 minutes

Took my wetsuit off at top of beach and put on my crocs. Kevin walked with me up towards transition. I said to the volunteer easy to pick out my bike and more bikes to chase down.

Quick in transition and long walk to road to cross mount and off I go.

Have a good knee

Bike I missed starting my Garmin so time/distance is short. I found easy
to push watts well, on the slight down hill on 44 with nice wide smooth shoulder while racing, Guessing I would have thought my vi was higher than it was at 1.05. I did first 40' and second 40' and my power was slightly higher second half by about 4 watts. This was probably one of the more challenging hill courses I've done...similar to Mooseman and tough as the climbs are all at the end.

I think I rode most of the miles/time in either 50-11 or 34-32. Glad I swapped out cassette on my Zipps as hills were steep at times. Passed lots and lots of men and women...usually going much faster than they were...even up hills. Knee was talking a little on certain parts of the course but not for long, so thought it okay to keep on going hard.

Funny how pushing hard on the bike, I tolerate the discomfort of that zone 4 effort better than swimming or running. Bike time seemed shorter to me than swim perception wise which probably reflect my passion for cycling.

Downhill portions of race were a blast..hit 50.8 mph. I love a slight down hill as my RPE for power is lower than climbing hills.

4th women of the ABers not bad for racing at 50, bum knee and above my ideal weight on hilly course

Goal was higher watts, but about 11 watts lower than sprint I did month ago that took 33' so overall content. VI was good, watts went up and not down which indicates pacing was what I had in me that day.

Based on riding and driving the course the day before I was faster than I expected I would be...always a plus.

Crossed the finish line and volunteer was there checking off ABers to make sure we turned in our chips. He said thanks Kathy for turning that in as I put it in the bucket...pretty darn organized. We didn't get medals that the tri finishers did. Not that I care but I bet some of the ABers it was a big step/race for them.

One thing I struggle with at this race and Patriot that spectators yell at me when I walk, encouraging me it is only xx far or I can do it. Yes I can do it, fitness is not the issue but physical limitation. It's tough on my pride to walk the finish chute or end of the race. I know it is smart so I can continue to bike and swim. I don't want to keep my knee as long as possible. If I am forced to get knee replacement long distance cycling may not be possible...so I walk.

Last few races I haven't been motivated to write a RR as I've felt more like a participant than a racer (racing against myself). Accepting my current self, abilities, limitations, and being happy that I can participate and my race goals can be adjusted. Being excited to be involved even if I'm slower than my old self, is important as it may be the new reality. I still hope to make some swim and bike gains....time will tell. Posting a race report is a step into accepting the new reality.

Not running in a race, makes recovery faster. I was less sore than Kevin was running a training 10K.

Enjoyed being out there racing in a tri environment. The excitment and vibe

This race was a step into ABing...now I'll be USAT ranked, and even started daydreaming about which ABs I want to do next year as I feel a bit more excited than in the past where I viewed ABs as not exciting, cool as tri and disappointing option. Oly distance AB are interesting as the bike length is such that effort level can be higher but relative swim is higher percentage of time than HIM AB.

Saw Kevin as I was packing up as he ran the 10K route while I was on bike

ART on both knees

Chocolate milk and bagel from post race food


Lack of consistent training especially on swim

Knee issue


Very well organized; nice tech t-shirts; great bike tech; good post race food, announcer was good

Long distance between swim and bike out makes it challenging for those who don't run or walk well