Chain of Lakes Triathlon - TriathlonSprint


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Alexandria, Minnesota
United States
Pickle Events
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 10m 33s
Overall Rank = 4/80
Age Group = 20-29
Age Group Rank = 1/24
Pre-race routine:

I got up super early and was on the road by 5:15. Arrived at the race site after getting lost only twice(!) and tried to figure out the transition area. It was totally crowded near the front so I just resigned to have my bike in the back of the lot. Went and got body marked, tried (unsuccessfully) to meet up with the other BTers at the race. Once I was there I had tons of time to just sit around, I wish I had brought a book or something.
It was coooold and windy and threatening to rain the whole time. Everyone was talking about the weather. But once I got out there it really wasn't that bad. I just feel bad for the men racing after me b/c it was raining cats and dogs after I came in and didn't let up the entire time.
Event warmup:

Since it was a pool start they had different heats of women and men: all the women went first, then the men's heats started. I was in the last heat of women so I had awhile to wait. As I was waiting, this dude sat next to me and started asking me questions and trying to engage me in a conversation. I wasn't really pumped about it but was nice enough. Finally I was able to say "see ya!" and head over to the bleachers to sit before my heat. Once I sat down I noticed a girl frmo ym yoga classes at the gym, and saw she had an mdot tatoo! So I totally started tlaking to her, turns out she's done IMWI twice and this year she hopes to qualify for Kona! Whoaaa. So we talked for awhile and I wanted so bad to ask her how old she was but thought it would be kind of petty. So I didn't. Next thing you know we're getting our lane assignments and it's time to race!
Swim
  • 09m 2s
  • 600 yards
  • 01m 31s / 100 yards
Comments:

There were THREE other women in my lane with me. Before we got in the pool we discussed starting order and somehow I agreed to be in the back. What a mistake. First, I lost about 15 seconds letting everyone else start out in a line. And within 100 yards I had to pass everyone. This one lady had me on her feet for a good 150 yards before she let me pass her. Erghh! I am sure I would have had a much faster swim if I didn't have to share the lane with a bunch of slowpokes. Oh well. Anyway, I finished first in my lane and ran out the doors of the pool and into transition without any incident.
What would you do differently?:

Start out in front of everyone!
Transition 1
  • 01m 10s
Comments:

First thing I did was throw on my helmet.Couldn't decide whether I needed something more to wear on top, so I tried putting a long sleeved technical t on, but I was soaking wet and the shirt wasn't budging to get on my arms. So I canned that idea quickly. Jumped into my shoes (didn't feel comfortable enough with the strapping in on the bike), and ran down the looong way out of T1. Clipped in right behind the girl from yoga and off I went!
What would you do differently?:

Get a spot closer to the bike out so I don't have to run in my shoes for so long. Do not try to put on a shirt when I'm soaking wet!
Bike
  • 39m 3s
  • 13 miles
  • 19.97 mile/hr
Comments:

My bike felt good. I wasn't pushing TOO hard but kept an aggressive (for me) pace. I passed the yoga girl about a mile out and was surprised by that, I thought she'd be trucking way down the road from me. Of course, 6 miles in or so she passed me again. She was the first person on the bike to pass me. I did a good job of staying in aero and taking turns as quick as I could without being dangerous. The course was nice, lots of shoulder room and only small grade changes. Part of it was a straight away on a paved jogging course and I really let loose on that. About 10 miles in, the yoga girl's friend, also a Kona hopeful, passed me. I was able to keep her in sight the entire time but just couldn't catch her. Those were the only two women to pass me on the bike! Had one gel during the bike.
What would you do differently?:

Maybe push a liiiittle harder- but then I might not have had the legs for such a good run.
Transition 2
  • 01m 5s
Comments:

T2 was much better for me. I took ym shoes off while on the bike and was able to jump off and keep my momentum going into transition. Ran allllll the way down to my bike, threw my shoes on, threw my race belt on, threw my hat on, and off I went. I had to run alllll the way back to the bike out area b/c that's where the run out was. In my opinion that was a little poorly planned b/c I had a lot more distance to cover than the people in the front of transition. They should have had the run out on the opposite end to make things fair.
What would you do differently?:

Get a spot closer to the front of the transition area!
Run
  • 20m 15s
  • 3 miles
  • 06m 45s  min/mile
Comments:

I was just behind yoga girl's friend for the first mile of the run. Boy she was fast! I had to stop to tie my shoe lace (doh!) and that gave her enough of a lead that I couldn't catch her. My legs felt very funny and my feet were numb from the cold (it was pretty chilly out but I would take cold over being hot any day) so it took awhile to get a good smooth cadence going. I tried to keep my legs moving as fast as I could. I had a bunch of women from earlier heats to pick off along the way. Didn't get passed once, but did a lot of passing!
I was really tired the last mile, I had to talk to myself to keep going. I want to stop and walk SO bad! I've never felt so compelled in a race to walk. I guess when you run fast it hurts, haha.
Soon I saw the high school and promise land, so that kept me going. I was finishing strong just as the skies opened up and started pouring. The last 100 yards of my race I got soaked. But I saw the time and figured that I was in under 1:15! Wahoooo!
What would you do differently?:

Nada! Best run of my life, hands down.
Post race
Warm down:

I walked around for awhile, got some crappy post race food (guys seriously, banana halves and orange slices is NOT enough). Had to wait around forever for the results to be posted, ince they were up and I saw how well I did, I wanted to jump up and down and hug everyone. I wish I had someone there to celebrate with. I won the 20-29 AG, which was a total shock, and my total time was WAY faster than I'd hoped. I called my mom and she did a great job of being the enthusiast supporter (although if I had said "I finished in three hours!" she would have reacted the same, haha).
Got a massage and the lady told me my left hip is out of alignment. No wonder it hurts after long hard runs. She suggested going to a chiropractor to get adjusted. I'm going to look into that.
Had to wait for HOURS for all the men to finish so that they could do awards. I was obviously going to stick around for them since I won my AG (and fourth woman overall, thank you very much!) but I was so bored.
And then who comes up to bother me but the annoying dude from earlier that morning! Ughh. Seriously, I need to bring Soren or another guy friend with me to these races, whenever I go to a race by myself I get asked out. And the asking out is done by men that are NOT exciting. This guy kept tlaking about how he's so new to the sport and sooo slow and wow I'm so fast. He actually did the bowing and "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy" when he asked about my time and I told him. He insisted on sitting next to me during the award ceremony. Ughhhh. I am too nice to be outright mean to these guys. He gave me his business card (he works at a car delaership, how fitting) and told me to call him. Um, yeah. No thanks.
Anyway, got my awesome little trophy and scooted out of there as fast as I could.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Need to work on my transistions more, they are soooo slow compared to the other top performers.

Event comments:

The course was great, but the transition was kind of annoying. And the post race activities SUCKED. Food was crappy and they didn't have any sort of informatin for what people were supposed to do while they were waiting for the awards ceremony. I don't like the heat starts, but I guess with a pool swim that's all you can do.
Anyway, it was a good season opener and a great race for me.
1/21 AG
4/80 overall women
34/167 overall




Last updated: 2007-04-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:09:02 | 600 yards | 01m 31s / 100yards
Age Group: 1/24
Overall: 21/80
Performance:
Suit: none
Course: 8 lane 25 yard pool
Start type: Inside Pool Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 01:10
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:39:03 | 13 miles | 19.97 mile/hr
Age Group: 1/24
Overall: 50/80
Performance:
Wind:
Course:
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills:
Race pace: Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:05
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
00:20:15 | 03 miles | 06m 45s  min/mile
Age Group: 1/24
Overall: 29/80
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities: Bad
Race evaluation [1-5]