login
 Swim
Comments: I was suprised at how far away people were starting from the bouey line; I was about 4-5 people away from it. Started off great, felt good. My breathing was okay, I switched back and forth from free to breast stroke, even did backstroke for a minute. I purpously kept singing the song that gets stuck in my head in the pool... that stupid "Pop Lock and Drop it" rap song, it's a terrible song. But the line I love is "What's your name, girl? Never mind, never mind, do your thang, girl..." Love it. I was really suprised to see my time here, I have never swam that slow in my life. I didn't feel that slow, so I'm wondering if the course was marked wrong? Longer than it said? Maybe I'm making excuses? I don't know. Regardless, I was 3/11 in my age group so that made it a little better. What would you do differently?: MORE OWS PRACTICE! I need to adjust to not being able to push off of walls.  Transition 1
Comments: The transition area was TINY, because it was just a small race. I was happy with my time, I was 2/11 in my age group. What would you do differently?: Bring a water pan for this race, as the exit was pure sand. Even though I tried to wipe my feet off, I had sand in my socks until I got home and in the shower.  Bike
Comments: I had purpously started in a low gear because of the hill to get out of transition. This went perfectly and before I knew it I was on the course. The first part was around the lake and very winding. I'm not too experienced with cornering, so I had to take it a tad slower than I wanted to. Once I got out onto the straightaway road, I got down into aero. Actually felt comfortable on the downhills here, going 25 mph in aero! This course was freaking HILLY. And I'm not talking a huge amount of hills like Shawnee Mission, I'm talking 2 or 3 good, LONG hills. Took forever to get them over with and they pretty much dominated the race. The turnaround was at the BOTTOM of the hill, so so so cruel. We flew down the hill only to have to come to pretty much a complete stop and start back up with absolutely no momentum. That hill almost did me in. I was in my lowest gear, standing, going probably 6 mph. My heart rate was skyrocketing, but I was not going to stop!! Made it to the top of the hill and just spun for a minute to get my HR down. After that hill I tried to get some speed going but just couldn't. I got pretty frusterated when I saw two girls in a row, in my age group, pass me. I finally said to myself "Lisa, you are not going to be as fast as them. Just race your race." It wasn't a defeatist attitude (which I have had issues with in the past), it was more of an accepting attitude. I have come SO far on the bike, it's unbelievable. And I know that. But it's completely humbling when you get out there on the course, regardless of your personal gains. never mind, never mind, do your thang girl... :-) What would you do differently?: It's pretty obvious I need to practice more hills, and keep making those gains on the bike. I will get there. Transition 2
Comments: 3/11 in my age group for T2. Nothing exciting to report here, felt good about this. What would you do differently?: I fumbled racking my bike a bit, maybe practice this before the race.  Run
Comments: Again with the hill theme... since transition was at the bottom of a hill, the run had a VERY steep hill right out of the gate. I knew this and was prepared for it, but I did have to walk up about half of it. No worries, I was feeling pretty good. Part of the run was more of a "trail run," with not-so-paved gravel trails. I wasn't really prepared for this, but it didn't seem to bother me too much. What DID bother me was the lack of directional signs and volunteers on this course. There were none! More than once, there was a fork in the road with no sign or volunteer or anything. There would be an itty-bitty paint mark on the ground with an arrow, but that's it! Good thing I was following people. On the way back I had to give directions to some runners, no one had any idea where to go. Bad, bad bad. The "turnaround" was a TRASH CAN in the middle of the road. No sign. No volunteer. AAArrrghhh. I saw both KCGuy and Mars on the run, everyone was looking good! I really tried to push the run, and I felt like I was pushing it. But after seeing my time I guess I wasn't. Booooo. The finish line was TERRIBLE WEAK! Ran into a little "chute" down a hill into transition and I had no idea I was even at the finish line. No archway, no sign, nothing. And since the race was smaller, NO CHEERING! Boo again. Kind of disappointed with this... I love the finish line. KLM FAILS at the finish line. What would you do differently?: Learn to run faster. Bring a cheering section. Post race
Warm down: Tom wasn't in yet, so I waited at the finish line to see him come in. Talked with KCGuy and Mars. Saw my work buddy cross the finish line with a beer in his hand - hilarious! Waited around to watch the (weak) awards ceremony, cheered for all of the medal-getters. Realized that I want to win a medal. Left the park and of course sniffed out the nearest Chipotle, yummy. I started driving home but had to make Tom drive because I was falling asleep at the wheel. Had a nice relaxing evening and slept like a baby. What limited your ability to perform faster: The hills. My slow-ness. That combination equals 7/11 in my age group. Event comments: This is a small race in a small venue, with tons of HILLS. Transition is set up at the bottom of a hill, so everyhting begins with an uphill. KLM needs to work on getting signage and volunteers on the bike and run courses. When I spoke with the Race Director, he said that they never put volunteers on the bike course because "according to USAT rules, participants are required to know the course." Yeah we know that. But that doesn't mean you aren't allowed to have volunteers or signage. Jeesh. There were no signs or volunteers at forks in the road on the run, which was bad. The finish line was nonexistant and disappointing. Not sure if I'll do this race again. Profile Album Last updated: 2007-07-21 12:00 AM
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK
United States
Midwest Multisport Races
84F / 29C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 113/192
Age Group = F25-29
Age Group Rank = 7/11
Tom (climbin5414) and I drive up to Lawrence the day before, got there around 4:30 p.m. Picked up our super-delux packets, seriously, we got a race t-shirt, water bottle AND a pint glass! Best race packet ever.
Checked into the hotel, which was not that great. We were staying on the "1st floor," which meant the "basement." We had to carry our bikes up and down the stairs as there was no elevator. That was fun.
We decided to drive out to the race site to see what these "hills" were like. It took close to 30 minutes to get out there... we couldn't figure out how the swim started (no beach or anything), but drove the run and bike courses. OMG HILLY! We were going to be in for it.
Ate the lucky fajita dinner at On The Border. Side note: You know when you're so freaking full that all of the sudden your body is like "OKAY I'M DONE..." and you might even say this out loud? I learned that Tom can reach that point and STILL put away a portion likened to a child's meal. Impressive! I tried to count how many times he said "I'M SO FULL" on the way back but I lost track.
Got to sleep around 11 p.m.
Woke up around 4:30 and were out the door by 5:00. We were the only car in the parking lot when we got there, but by the time we set our bikes up there were 5 other athletes there. Early birds.
Got great spots on the ends of racks. Ran into some BTers, visited the potties, ate Clif bar and Clif Shots, drank some Nuun. Decided to practice the bike out of transition because transition was at the bottom of a hill, and the hill looked a little fierce for trying to clip in and all. I practiced this and got worried.
Found some work buddies, listened to music and watched Tom's start. Short coursers gathered at the beach to learn this was a "wading" start, which really meant "treading water" start. Hmmm. I saw the long course people coming out of the water and cheered Tom as he started the bike. He was looking good (as always). Time for me to get in the water - I was in the very last heat.