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 Swim
Comments: I had seeded myself at 10:30, which was about right. I started out very well, but a couple people were drafting off of me, so at about 100/150m, I let them pass and drafted off of them. The swimming was so easy after that, I kind of forgot what I was doing. It was like stroke, glide, stroke, glide. I probably ended up going a little slower than I would have normally. I had to pause a little at the wall for the guys in front of me to turn and get under the rope, but it was still worth it. Favorite quote of the swim: The first guy was finishing his first 25m and ready to turn at the wall and he did a flip turn and splashed all of us. One guy in line yelled, "What the hell was that???" What would you do differently?: I forgot to put my goggles over my eyes before I jumped in. My family was right there cheering me on, and I blew them kisses, stepped over the timing mat, and jumped in. Oops. Water all in my eyes. I quickly pulled the goggles down, but I had a little water trapped for the first 50m or so. It all worked out.  Transition 1
Comments: This should have been faster. I keep beating myself up over these transitions. So far, they aren't costing me a podium spot. I took a few extra seconds to put on a jacket and ear covers. That was necessary with the temperature and wind. I am really sensitive/nervous about wind in my ears when it is cold. What would you do differently?: Be faster.  Bike
Comments: A super fun ride, especially on the way out. I stayed in aero almost the whole way. I got on and off the bike smoothly (with a flying mount and dismount). I came out of the aero bars on the way back whenever I felt like the wind was causing me to lose control. I went come out, get the bike back under control, then dip back onto the aero bars. I'm actually much more comfortable in those than out of them. Favorite quote of the bike: Milk crate guy passed me at about line 11. As he passed he said, "Wow. This is tough." I agreed with him, but what I really wanted to say was, "This would have been easier for you if you had removed the milk crate first." What would you do differently?: After the bike, my neck and left shoulder were sore. I think I was tensed up on the ride back, against the wind. I was working hard trying to keep the bike on the road. I need to remember to relax. Transition 2
Comments: I wanted to be faster. I had a great position right by the bike in/out run out. I removed the ear covers and my jacket. That was the right thing to do, but it took a little extra time. I didn't use my Zoots because I hadn't practiced with them yet. I'm hoping using them will make me faster. What would you do differently?: Zoots. Stop changing clothes in transition.  Run
Comments: This was a fun run, but my legs were toast after the bike. It took forever for me to feel good, nearly at mile 2 -- actually, now that I think about it, I was very thirsty. The water station was at mile 1.5, but they were out of drinks. The volunteer did give me a cup of ice, however, and I think that energized me for the rest of the run. I carried it while running and kept ice in my mouth for much of the last 1.5 miles. There was a steep hill at about mile .50, and I walked it. I was mad at myself for walking, but I wasn't running much faster anyway, and my legs were hurting. I felt like I couldn't get into a groove. I kept telling myself to relax and think about form, but all I could think about was how I wanted a drink and about how my legs hurt. \ I passed a couple pedestrians as they were waiting to cross the street. They were both holding sodas or water or tea or something. I came so close to asking them if I could have a sip, but I was afraid that would gross them out. I kicked it, however, in the last mile. I hadn't done a lot of passing during this run (perhaps evidence of a stronger bike), but I finally started passing people in the third mile. Still, I think this is my fastest posted 5k time, so I can't complain too much. Maybe I will break 29 minutes on a less hilly run and a less windy bike. Favorite quotes of the run: Passed at about mile .50 by a college student who asked me, "Where do we turn?" I told her I didn't know. She groaned and said, "I am in sooo much pain." Passed an older guy at about the 2 mile point, on a hill. As I passed him, I said, "Boy, they weren't kidding about hilly, were they?" He didn't even look at me, but responded sarcastically, "Well, they do call it the Flint Hills." Doh. What would you do differently?: I need a stronger bike to have better legs for the run. Post race
Warm down: Ben ran with me for a 100 yards or so, and then let me run across the mat on my own. He met me on the other side, and I had him jog with me around the track. We jogged a little, walked a little, and then I told him I needed to run again. Walking was too painful. I didn't stretch. I didn't see the massage people, but my husband said they were there. I would have had a massage, if I had seen them. What limited your ability to perform faster: 1) I wore my Danskin training suit, and it's not very good. It doesn't fit right (feels too big), and doesn't dry quickly. I was afraid the road would be wet on the bike, and I didn't want to get my good suits dirty. Next time, I will just wear a good suit. 2) The wind was a liability, but it was also a benefit. I know I was faster on the way out than I would have been, so I think it is a draw. I think my run wouldn't have been as influenced by the wind if we would have ridden against the wind at the beginning of the ride, instead of at the end. It really was exhausting fighting the wind, and then jumping off and running. But everyone had to do it, so it's just a condition of the race. 3) I still need a much stronger bike. 4) Keep working on swimming intervals. 5) Streamline transition. Event comments: No race numbers. That was terrific. One less thing to worry about in T2, and really unnecessary when everyone is properly body marked. Not much support on the course. There were volunteers stationed at the turn around on the bike, but no where else on the bike. One volunteer at the 1.5 mile point on the run, and he was overwhelmed. I could tell he felt really bad that he didn't have anything to give us BOPers something to drink. But the ice was good. Just bananas and bagels after the race. That is fine by me. I usually eat a banana after the race, but I didn't want to bother with any other food. There were probably drinks, but I didn't look for them. No finishers medals, so that will make the haters happy. And I'm fine with them or without them. Overall, it was a nice race. Everyone was friendly. But it was definitely a no frills race. Last updated: 2012-03-12 12:00 AM
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United States
Emporia Track Club
60F / 16C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 83/103
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 4/4
Drove up to Kansas City on Friday afternoon with the family. My husband wanted to visit the new temple before we weren't allowed in. After the temple visit, we went to the Crown Center. We were like farm people in the big city. We had so much fun. The weather started turning a little, so we left Kansas City at about 2:00 and made it to Emporia just as the rain started. Even by 4:00, there weren't many people on the road and the wind was brutal.
After checking into the hotel, we walked over to Golden Corral. We had so much fun -- my 11 year old loved the chocolate fountain. I made him eat real food first, but then he just gorged himself on chocolate. He looked a little like the Nutella Crack guy. It was hysterical.
After dinner, the little boys and I hit the pool -- I needed to get the middle child to work off some of that sugar. We had a great time. Hubby even joined us for 30 minutes or so.
We spent an hour or so after the pool watching the radar for storms back home. A tornado went through our county, just a few miles from our house.
I went to bed at about 10:30 after reading that a tornado was going through Wichita. Here was the weather announcement. The weather service is trying out a new "Impact warning" system in three states; Kansas is one. What do you think? Sufficiently frightening?
"IMPACT... THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. YOU COULD BE KILLED IF NOT UNDERGROUND OR IN A TORNADO SHELTER. COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOODS IS LIKELY. MANY WELL BUILT HOMES AND BUSINESSES WILL BE COMPLETELY SWEPT FROM THEIR FOUNDATIONS. DEBRIS WILL BLOCK MOST ROADWAYS. MASS DEVASTATION IS HIGHLY LIKELY MAKING THE AREA UNRECOGNIZABLE TO SURVIVORS."
A little melodramatic, I thought. Anyway . . .
I went to sleep, and then was awoken by my 16 year old yelling, "Tornado Sirens! Tornado Sirens!" Our home city is extremely cautious about sounding our sirens. They don't set them off unless they can see the tornado -- they've actually been criticized for that practice. One day a few years ago, we were under a warning, sirens didn't go off, and in the paper the next week, was a picture of the tornado --- on the ground --- about half a mile from our city. (We found out after we got home that our city elected not to sound the sirens Saturday night either. People are upset again, so I'm sure there will be controversy regarding their practice. But I agree with our city. One reason people are lackadaisical about heeding the warnings is because in some places the sirens go off every time a county is under a warning, even if the tornado is 15 miles away from parts of the county.) But I digress.
My point is that when we hear a siren, we respond.
So I'm running around the room, trying to wake everyone up, yelling, "Tornado! Tornado! Tornado!" I got everyone up, shoes on (in case of broken glass after), and we're running down the stairs, and I'm yelling, "Don't look at the windows! Don't look at the windows!!" (????)
There was no proper shelter in the hotel, and the windowless bathrooms and hall ways on the first floor were already packed (the hotel was sold out), so the manager offered us the employee break room. The five of us huddled in there with another couple and waited. And waited. And waited. In the meantime, the sirens are still screaming, and finally we hear horrible winds and thunder that shook even the inside room we were in.
My five year old slept through the whole thing. He doesn't remember a thing. My 11 year old was beginning to go into shock, I think. He was pale, shivering, and crying. I sent my 16 year old in search of something to wrap him in, and he came back with a bath towel, which worked.
After about 30 minutes, the sirens stopped, and the manager told us all that we could go back to our rooms. She said to come back again, if we needed to, because there were more storms on the way.
A few storms woke us up (hail, winds, rain, etc), but the sirens didn't go off again. Nevertheless, at one point in the night (maybe at about 3:00?) my 11 year old was standing next to my bed, saying, "I think I hear sirens." But there weren't any.
We found out later that indeed a tornado had been on the ground in that county, quite a ways south from Emporia. Weather spotters/radar lost sight of it, and since it had already done quite a bit of damage in Oklahoma and Wichita, they were playing it safe. Nothing was very near the hotel where we were staying. We didn't even see much wind damage in the morning (just a blown out Taco Bell sign), not like I was expecting.
Sleeping wasn't terrific, but I did sleep some and made it up in plenty of time.
Bagel with peanut butter for breakfast. Hubby, youngest son, and I left the two boys sleeping and drove to the race to set everything up. I was tense and short with everyone. Bad mommy.
In transition, there was a guy setting up his spot with an old 10 speed with a milk crate tied over the back tire. I was thinking he was going to remove the crate (because he had all of his transition stuff in it), but he never did.
As I walked by his stuff, after realizing he wasn't removing the crate, I prayed to God, "Please, Lord. Let me at least be faster than the guy with the milk crate."
I took my bike out for a quick spin and then jumped in the pool for an easy 150m.