Tri for Real #2 - TriathlonOlympic

The race went off in waves, I was in the last wave of 35+ women plus Athena.

I started off and saw a woman ahead of me, who was swimming just faster than I was, I swam fast and got on her feet. She was a GREAT draft. It was awesome. I stayed with her until we rounded the first buoy, then we were swimming directly into the sun and the water had a lot of glare, and I couldn't see her feet that well and kept losing her. I'd catch up, then lose her, then catch up again, etc. Finally decided I was just getting tired out without any real benefit, and got back into a steady pace. Didn't see her again. I tried catching onto a few other people but it never worked as well as it did with the first person.

As a note, it's just mean to be somebody who swims and then stops to breaststroke and then swims again. Especially when you are swimming faster than me.

I felt strong on this swim - although I was getting tired towards the end and some people passed me who I had passed earlier. I also noticed that I am pulling to the right. I am getting stronger in the water, and apparently my right side is getting stronger than my left. I had to site more often than I do normally in order to stay on course.

Not lose the good drafting feet. Push a little harder at the end of the swim.

What the heck was I doing in transition? I remember standing and staring at my stuff like it was from another planet, then snapping in and starting to get ready. I almost forgot to take my swim cap off though... oh well.

Sunglasses on, helmet on, eat gel, put sports drink (still cold yeah!) on bike, shoes on, no socks. Leave T1 - oops, forgot camelback, lay bike down, go back and get it.

ok, NOW I'm leaving T1 (I was MOP out of the swim - T1 finished that thought)

uh - not sure, I felt like I was doing things fast, but apparently I was moving at a pace that resembled that of a turtle.

I get on my bike and push on the pedals and the wheel doesn't turn. WTF? I look at the bike, the rear cog is in the high gear and the wheel is HARD up against the frame. I'm not sure where this happened, maybe when I laid the bike down to go back and get the camelback or maybe when Jeff put the rear wheel on. Anyway, I didn't check it myself (and I didn't go for a short warm-up spin like I planned - my bad) so it was my own fault.

Take bike over to side of road, loosen up the rear wheel and reseat it. On my bike the rear wheel sits VERY close to the frame, so if you don't pull sideways on the wheel when you're tightening it, it will rub on the frame. I check it, it seems good, so I jump on the bike and go.

My plan was to go out medium effort and try and step it up on the way back. The course is always up and down. If it felt just as easy to push in a bigger gear, I would gear up. Downhill sections/flats tried to keep cadence 85+. Uphills, 70-75 seemed more comfortable so stayed there. About 10 miles into it, I realize that the back wheel is still rubbing. I mean, I heard it rubbing all along but I was ignoring it as Weird Race Day Sounds Made by Your Bike - but after the first adrenaline rush wore off I realized that the hills were harder than they should be. Rode for about another mile trying to decide if I should stop or not. Then thought, "This is stupid, you're going to wipe out your legs if you don't stop and you'll be faster if you do." So, I stopped and adjusted the wheel this time making sure no rubbing and was off again. I think it took me about 20 seconds.

This is a fairly small race, so when you're in the back of the pack, you are pretty much all alone. It was good, cause I could totally get into my pace and do my own thing without worrying about anybody else. A lot of people came flying by going the other way. Those disc wheels sound cool when they're coming - I want my bike to sound like that!

Somewhere on the way out, the "Make My Day" event happened. I actually passed someone! Me! I thought she had something wrong with her arm when I came up on her at first because she was riding in this really weird position, but when I passed her I saw that it was because she had one hand on her handlebars and the other hand on her aerobars. But hey, if it lets me pass you, whatever you're doing totally rocks! AND nobody passed me. I thought for sure someone would, there were a couple of people behind me but no one did.

About 2 miles left on the bike course, my bike decides to go for another bit of rebellion and the rear cog shifter stops working like it should. So, I can either have a hard gear or the easiest gear. Whatever. I chose hard until the hill up to the park, then went for the easiest and just spun up it. At this point there are people out on the road for the run course, so I start yelling "Way to go!" and "Looking good!" at everybody. Made me feel better and some of them even yelled back - that part was fun and took my mind off the fact that my butt was not happy with me.

My nutrition was good for this part of the race I think. I drank one bottle of homemade sports drink (with extra salt) and one gel. I think I should have had another gel. I also drank quite a bit of water. Every downhill I tried to get a few swallows in. I didn't feel bloated (good) and I never felt really thirsty (good) but I KNEW I needed the hydration for the run.

I think I could have pushed a little harder on the bike and still been good for the run. Shoulda, coulda, woulda, checked my bike over and gotten on for a short ride before the triathlon. I mean, when you have to take both wheels off and put it in your trunk, this is just common sense!

Ok, way better than T1. No one passed me in T2. Respray sunscreen, and socks on for the run, they were way easier to put on after the bike instead of the swim AND they were dry. I think I'm going to go sockless on the bike from now on. I didn't notice any discomfort or hot spots at all on the bike. Got 2nd bottle of sports drink (still mostly cold - yeah!)

My yankz are really good mostly, but I might need to loosen them for racing, cause my shoes felt really, really tight at first. I walked out of transition, didn't even try to run, and got some Clif-shots and water from the volunteer.

Not take the clif shots. Gag me.

At the beginning of the run, I felt like I still had a good shot at breaking 4 hours. Saw Eric at Mile 1, he looked overheated and was walking. At mile 2, I decided that going as fast as I could and finishing would be a plenty big achievement. It was HOT, HOT, HOT. Definitely over 100 degrees. I was really, really glad that I have been training in the heat. If I hadn't I don't think I could have finished this race. There were a LOT of people walking on the run course. I heard that 3 people got taken to the hospital due to heat/dehydration. It was brutal.

Began the run and ate the clif shot - yech! I hate those things, I need to remember that. Drank some sports drink to wash it down, but it was way too strong at that point as well. Drank some more anyway, cause I felt like I needed the salt/energy. The out part of the course is on rolling fire roads. I worked on running down the hills and walking up the hills as fast as I could. It was great to see the first aid station at mile 1 (and change.) Drank water, drank more water, refilled sports drink bottle to dilute mixture. Did the Run/walk routine onto Aid Station 2. Got some ice, and more and more water. Sometimes it's great being at the very back of a race, cause the aid station volunteers are SO nice to you - they bring you water and you have your own personal cheering section. I knew there were still a couple of people behind me - so I kept moving as fast as I could onto Mile 3. Mile 3 is down the road and back, and I tried to run all the way down the road. Coming back up was harder. People were leaving at this point and some of them were yelling and honking and saying encouraging things - so that felt good. Met Madkat somewhere along here (she was going out to Mile 3) and she gave me some ice, which felt even better. Back along the course, and now they have you run along the trails by the lake. Definitely more scenic, but also WAY hotter cause there is not one breath of wind. Ok, the fire road is hot, but every once in a while there is a breeze. Not on the trails. Trying to run mostly to the aid station, where I stop, fill my hat with ice, my bottle with ice and dump ice down my top. Aaahhhh! That felt SO good. Onto Mile 4 (still on the deadly hot trails) I was on about 16:30 per mile til mile 4. (I swear there was a little skull and crossbones on the 4 Mile Marker.) After the evil 4 mile marker, I slowed down a lot. I was getting pieces of ice from my hat and rubbing them on my face and arms trying to cool off a little. 20 minute mile for mile 4, but then back to the fire roads and I got a 2nd wind and turned in a blazing 18 min mile for mile 5. More water, on my head and everywhere else. Keep on truckin' and I see some people on the road in the distance. I get closer and hey, it's Jeff, Jeff's daughter, and Eric who came out to check on us (I guess to make sure we hadn't spontaneously combusted...) Anyway, Jeff's daughter came back with me, she easily kept up as all I could muster at that point was a fast walk, then a slower walk.

Finally, the finish line came into view. You run across the grass and then down the asphalt. All total about 200 yards. I thought - I can run to the finish, but nope, that didn't happen. But two race volunteers met me on the asphalt part and ran with me to the finish so that was cool. I told them I was going to jog, so they started jogging, then I'm like "Really Slow!" cause they were totally running away from me.

Finished! Finished! Finished! HOT! HOT! HOT!

Maybe another gel, but I think the nutrition was pretty good overall. Definitely split the sports drink 1/2 and 1/2 with water, cause it was WAY too strong til I got it diluted by putting more water in there.

Biggest issue? I haven't run over 4 miles in training - and mile 4 is where I really slowed down on the run. Definitely need to run the race distance in training.

Lots of people giving me ice and water which I mostly poured on myself. I didn't feel dehydrated - just really overheated. Took off my shoes and poured water on my feet and did the slow walking thing. Cheered madkat on for her finish, then we both stood there and tried to cool off. Got in the lake and cooled off some more. It felt really cold - so I stayed in there until it felt more of a normal temperature. Stretched out a bit.

After we'd all cooled off a bit, we all went off to a Mexican place and pigged out. I was so starving by that point, I was about ready to eat the car seat. I need about an hour for my stomach to feel normal, then watch out. SO THIRSTY! Kept drinking and drinking as well.

After we got back home, I was starting to get migraine symptoms so took some heavy duty painkillers and tried to cool off my overheated brain. I think the combination of the heat and putting ice on my head during the triathlon is what did it. Anyway, I got rid of it finally, and then slept really well.


Weight and running. I need to run more and I need to lose some a whole lot of poundage.

I feel really good about this race overall. I feel like I really gave it 100%. Yeah, I'd like to be faster, but I did as good as I could, I trained, and I put it all out there on the day.


Nice well-run race. Small race, SERIOUS athletes. Be ready for the heat, if you do this one mid-summer.