Festival of Flowers Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

This was an average swim for me. I am capable of going faster- I never went anaerobic. Maintained 4 stroke breathing the whole time. I kind of wish I had pushed it a little more but was looking to keep HR down. Swallowed some lake water by accident. That was gross. Tried to draft but couldn't find any feet that I could latch onto for more than :30 or so.

I had clear goggles on. We swam into the sun for the first 300 m. I really wish I had tinted goggles. I also need to cut closer to the bouys. I probably swam an extra 50m or so because I didn't have tight corners and straight navigation.

Still, I beat last year's swim by 4 minutes and change, so that's good.

Pretty decent T1 for me. Only had an issue getting my helmet on. Other than that it was smooth sailing. I love my tri shoes. They are much easier to get into than my straight cycling shoes.

Nothing.

I can't believe I held that kind of pace. I stayed aero most of the bike (save for some hills and when I drank) and stayed in the big chain ring 90% of the time. At the one hour point I had averaged 18.5 mph so I kicked it up the last :15. I have no idea of my cadence, my bike computer is not registering cadence for some reason. So I just went by feel.

Last year there was a water hand off at mile 12. So I packed a polar bottle of gatorade and a small bottle of water. Well, my plan was to drink the water with my gels and the gatorade the rest of the time. I took a gel at mile 4 and was going to take another around mile 20. When I got to the aid station at mile 12, all they had was gatorade endurance (which gives me stomach problems). No water. At all. Great. I wasn't sure I had enough water left to do another gel. I took a chance and did it. Hoping it was enough water to keep my stomach from acting up. Turns out it was a good risk, as it was evidently enough. I finished off my gatorade and really did need about 8-10 oz more water, but had to make do.

Carry another bottle of water just in case.

Ok, so when we racked our bikes, there is a specific order, right? Well, when I came back, the dude next to me didn't rack his on the right side of the rack, so I had to move his bike so I could rack mine. Grrr. And I hope that didn't mess anyone else up. That was the only other bike back in transition.

Fumbled a bit with the race belt, but otherwise was a good transition. I was trying to put the belt on as I was walking/jogging to the exit.

Nothing

Man, by the time we were running, the temp was in the mid 90s. Hot as blue blazes. My HR kept spiking (based on feel, I don't race with a HR monitor)as I could feel it pounding in my chest, so I had to take a couple of walk breaks during each mile. I tried to only walk long enough to drink water and when I felt my HR calm I would run again. Most breaks were probably only :30 or so. I am capable of running a faster 10K but I had to go with what the race was dishing out. And that was heat. At one of the aid stations they had cups of ice water. I drank the water and was left with the ice which I prompty poured in my sports bra. That kept my core cool until it melted, which was about a mile. When I ran you could hear the ice cubes jingling. It was pretty funny.

I kept playing leap frog with this dude who was 37. I remember passing him a few times on the bike, then he would pass me, then I would pass him. This happened on the run too. Back and forth, back and forth. At one point when I was passing him I contemplated telling him that he had a 8 min head start on me (because of the swim waves) but decided that would not have been motivating for him, but obnoxious on my part. So I keep my mouth shut.

Just after I made the turn around on the run as I was heading to the home stretch I saw a regular competitor who is normally much faster than me. She was behind me in the run! Which means I was faster in the swim and on the bike. I couldn't believe it. This was my first clue that I was having a kickass race. Of course, she passed me with about one mile to go, but still... I was happy (she's not in my Age Group.)

Also passing me with one mile left to go was a girl with a big 36 on her leg. My age group. She said "nice job, keep it up as she was passing." I was like "oh hell no, I'm coming for you." so I tried to keep pace with her. I managed for about 1/2 of a mile and then she pulled away. Turns out it was ok though because she was racing in the novice category and not my age group. Whew!

My coach decided after the first 3 minutes of the run to not finish. She had not been feeling well all weekend and had some issues race morning. So she was hanging out with Derek and was a great cheerleader. When I saw her I thought she was already done (she's pretty fast!). She stayed and cheered and when I came back and was about done she and another one of her athletes were yelling for me. Definitely helped me with my final kick!

The run finish is up a 13% grade incline. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun THAT was. But hey, it didn't matter, the race was over at that point!

nothing

Just walked around and got water.


The heat.


One of the interesting things... I finished about 1:30 ahead of the 4th place girl. Had that novice female that I thought was in my age group not passed me and triggered my competitive side into digging deep that final mile, I probably would have taken another walk break and I might have lost that 1:30. So, in essence, her passing me and me trying to keep up with her probably is what gave my my 3rd place finish!

I decided to stick around for the awards ceremony, not because I thought I had chance to podium, but because I thought they might do some cool give-aways. I saw the visors up on the table and thought they were really cool and I wish I could have one.

They did do some give-aways, I got a cheapy visor that will be good for pool time and yardwork. Then they started doing the awards. I saw the lady take the results and post them up on the porch of the clubhouse, so I decided to mosey on over there and see what my official time was. When I looked at it, they already had the age groups broken down. I saw that I was 3rd. I asked her if these were the final results and she said yes. I turned around and mouthed to Derek "OMG, I got third."

I was suddenly very glad I stayed for the awards ceremony. My last name is not one that is easily forgettable, and Jeremy with Set Up events always pronounces is correctly (which is pretty impressive). He's friends with my coach and has noticed that I've never been up to the podium before. So as I collect my visor, he manages to whisper "nice job" to me. I'm sure my dimples looked like they were about to puncture my cheeks.

My coach didn't hear the results as she was packing up her bike , so I had to go find her to squeal with delight my good news. She was so happy for me. She's a good coach and friend! I'm very lucky to be working with someone so knowledgeable. She's brought me a long way. I started working with her March 2007 and I've pretty much PRed every race I've been in except for one (Half mary with stomach issues but was only off my PR by 1:10)

She's taught me so much and has so much enthusiasm for the sport and all her athletes. She totally gives 100% of herself towards seeing us succeed. She actually told me she was going to surprise me and rent me some Zipps from Inside out Sports since they were going to be putting my bike together and tuning it up at the IM but then changed her mind because she thought me not knowing how to fix a flat on zipps would stress me out (which it would). But the fact that she even thought about doing that for me speaks volumes. Totally a giver!