Evergreen Sprint Triathlon - Triathlon

Found some good open water quickly and hardly touched a soul. Sighting was good. I love my swim mask; it really helped with the navigation. I expected that the altitude would affect my breathing but it didn't bother me at all. I sighted every 4th breath and found that my sighting was disrupting my rhythm--something to work on. About 250 yds. in, I took a bit of a break to readjust my nose plug and catch my breath. As I neared the first buoy, the sun finally peeked over the trees. Not having the sun in my eyes for the whole swim was a real treat! About 10 yds. from the first buoy, there was a cold spot in the water. Really? As if the water wasn't cold enough?!

I rounded the first buoy well, hit another cold spot (or maybe just went through part of one big cold spot again), and kept on truckin'. There were lots of boats and kayaks available for swimmers and I saw a lot of people using them. I think the cold was hard and scary for some people. One kayak was getting kind of close to my line after I rounded the buoy. Not sure if he thought I needed help or what, but I really just wanted him to get the heck out of the way!!

I don't really remember rounding the 2nd buoy, I think it was more of a "just slide past" than a turn because the 1st one had been such a tight turn. Anyway, I finally made it to shore and stood up in the mud. The mud, oh the mud. I sunk in to my knees several times as I was running out of the water. Then I hit the rocks again. What the heck is up with the rocks?! My feet were totally numb so I couldn't feel much more than that I was banging them, so I just kept going and hoped for the best.

More OWS to get used to not having a wall to push off and hang onto periodically. Also, I didn't push too hard, my sighting was disrupting my stroke, and I had to keep reminding myself to r-e-a-c-h and keep my elbows up. Bottom line: more swimming work needed.

Hands and feet were completely numb. Got out of my suit really quickly, then fumbled around getting socks, shoes, and helmet on. Wasted a LOT of time with the shrug. My hands were more like lobster claws and I couldn't get the dang thing zipped. The woman next to me even tried to help. She couldn't get it either. I then tried to put on my running gloves so at least my hands could warm up, but also couldn't get those on. I finally decided to hell with it, grabbed my bike, and went. Without my sunglasses. Oops #2 and #3.

Give up on the shrug as soon as I figured out that I couldn't get it zipped. I probably lost almost 2 min. on the stupid thing. Also skip the gloves and put sunglasses by bike shoes, not with running stuff.

This course was really challenging because of old injuries. It's one of the hardest sprint bike courses in the area due to the altitude and amount of climbing and I was really intimidated by it. It took me 3 recon rides to make it the whole way. Having done that, I knew I could do it during the race but that I'd be pretty slow. I taped a piece of paper on my top tube with the mile points for the turns onto Witter Gulch and Stagecoach, as well as the high point of the climb so I'd know how to pace myself.

As I exited the park, a volunteer said to watch out for elk in the first mile. I didn't see any, but I did see deer, a rabbit, a chipmunk, and lots of wildflowers. I started out at a good pace on Upper Bear, knowing that I shouldn't push too hard so I'd have something left once I got onto the harder parts. Despite my concern about being cold, I didn't feel too bad except for my still-numb hands and feet. My quads were a little stiff but they warmed up quickly and didn't cause any problems. After a good pace up Upper Bear (I think my cadence stayed in the 90's?), I turned onto Witter Gulch, which was steeper. I had planned to stop as needed to regain my breath, give my hip a break, and drink some Skratch. I'd also planned to bring some Shot Blocks, but forgot to put them in my jersey pocket after the swim. I got off the bike at about mi.5.5 and walked a bit, then got going again.

The turn onto Stagecoach was a steep hairpin and I got up out of the saddle to take that one. After the turn, it flattened a bit but still kept climbing. My cadence had dropped into the 60's but I didn't care. I knew that I just had to put my head down and keep peddling. Having just been watching the TdF, I figured if Froome could climb that way, so could I. (Yeah, that's like comparing a flea to an elephant, but whatever works.) Hopefully I didn't look as ungainly as he does!! I also sang, "I won't back down, I'm gonna stand my ground..." After the top of the first hill, there was a winding descent before I hit hill #2. Not sure how fast I was going but it was SO much fun!!

Alex was at the bottom of big hill #2. He'd ridden his bike up so he could be there to cheer for me. He's the best sherpa ever! I got off the bike a couple of times to walk, but I never stopped moving. I hit the high point at mi. 7.3 (I had marked it as 7.4) and knew it was going to be a blast from there. Some winding downhill, another short up, more winding downhill (whee!!), then a turn onto Evergreen Parkway. The course until then had been open to cars (who were very respectful, BTW), and Evergreen Pkwy. had a lane just for us. There were a few gradual climbs but LOTS of straight downhill and I'm pretty sure I got up to almost 35 mph. I passed a number of riders who had passed me on the climbs and I might even have gotten a few bugs in my teeth while I was grinning and enjoying it. I'd gotten my brakes adjusted so they weren't so stiff and it made a huge difference. My hands didn't get nearly as sore from braking as they had before.

As I got close to the turn onto Upper Bear, there were several volunteers warning riders to slow down. The turn was really tight, down a little hill and had some gravel on it so the potential for wiping out was really high. I navigated it well, cruised down to the park and back into the transition area. For the last 4 mi. or so, I was wiggling my hands and feet to get some sensation back into them. It didn't help my feet, but my hands did warm up a little.

Ride the course sooner and several times more. Also get in more hill drills instead of just riding at a steady pace on the trainer. Even so, I was 5 min. faster than I was the 1st time I rode it, so I was relatively happy with my performance. Remember sunglasses and Shot Blocks.

This went well, despite my feet still being numb and my hands being cold. Tying my shoes was a little slow, but not bad. I discovered that I'd forgotten my knee strap. Crud. Oops #4. Oh well, guess we'll see how it goes without it.

Get speed laces for shoes.

Oof. It's really hard to run uphill with numb feet. Also, I hadn't run the correct route on recon so I wasn't expecting the big hill in the 1st mi. Oops #5!! I ended up walking some. After I got up that hill, though, everything went really well. I passed a lot of people and finished strong. Despite not having my knee band, it didn't hurt at all, I'm glad I've been doing stairs on a regular basis. Even though I didn't run up them, they didn't slow me down much.

Recon the right route so I know what to expect!! Also, slow down instead of stopping to walk; it's a lot harder to start running again after walking.

Walked around, ate some watermelon (yum!!) and a burrito (also yum!!), drank some Skratch, and chatted. Hung around for the raffle and got a $15 Road ID gift certificate.


Lack of training on the swim and bike, stoopid glute/hammy pain on the bike, frozen feet and poor recon on the run. Things to remember/avoid next time: trust my packing and check all the pockets in my bag, put sunglasses and fuel (if needed) with bike stuff, remember to pick up fuel if needed, put knee strap on packing list, and recon recon recon.


Considering that I wasn't even sure that I should enter this race because of the difficulty, I'm really proud of myself. I made it to the start, I made it to the finish, and I wasn't even last!! I learned a number of things about strategy, planning, coping with the unplanned-for, and I was reminded once again that when I decide I'm going to do something and I'm in it, I'll finish, no matter what. I never once thought I'd quit during the race and it was a wonderful experience overall.

This was a super race in a spectacular venue and very well organized. Even though it started an hour early, the water was freakin' cold and the bike was really hard, I want to do it again.