GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 196)

SteveB,

11/117 - that's fantastic

Denise

Short and depressing update from Colorado. I'm not trying to be dramatic here, just honest.

The Oly kicked my butt and killed my soul. And my bike got its first scratches during the transport home. Huge bummer. In short, not a good day.

I'm off to take a nap and recharge. Race report to follow tomorrow. Unofficial time: 4:33:48.

On a positive note, I got a really sweet bike short tan. It's about time!

Hope everyone else's races went well!

Had a great 5k - I think my official pace was 9:12.

My Garmin said my pace was 8:58 cuz it measured 3.2 miles - I think the Garmin was right - it was pretty crowded and I was running wide.

Obviously started to fast - splits were 8:43, 8:55, 9:20

But makes me feel much better after my horrible 10:50 pace at my last tri.

Got 2nd in age group - around middle-of-the pack overall.

Had a blast - saw a lot of people I hadn't seen in awhile - got a hot pink hair extension and some pink shoelaces.

Denise

DENISE -

I don't know which is better -- your performance, or the vision you will become with the pink hair extensions. Hubba-hubba!

Terrific job, anyhow, atoning for your disappointment at the last tri. And meeting up with lots of long-lost persons is always a bonus! Are you busily pecking away at a race report?

Oh dear - you need some sleep.  It may have kicked your butt but I'm sure it did not kill your soul.  Sleep and regroup.
Denise

KASIA -

Second things first, the bike scratches ARE inevitable, you know. It's all just a matter of when (and to what degree). Hopefuly yours are virtually visble to you and you alone.

First things second........getting one's butt kicked is unfortunate (but also inevitable], but having one's soul killed is tragic. HOWEVER, that is today and tomorrow is something else altogether, and if your soul has about the same number of lives as mine has, it will re-invent itself fully, quite shortly.

The other thing that will happen shortly is that the learning process will begin, and it should overrule any of the brusies form a kicked butt and a killed soul. That's where honesty will really be useful, and that will help you evaluate what happened today and the weeks/months leading up to it, and how to move forward from here.

Your move to the oly was a bold one, and you were aware of that, and it didn't work out all that well today. But that is not to say that it won't work out well in the future. There are an infinite number of paths you can take as you think ahead a month or a year or more
, and many more of them will be good paths than bad ones. Honest!

We should maybe share war stories, cuz I have a few that involve some combination of butt-kicking and soul-killing. To wit:
-- Atomicman '02
-- Muncie Endurathon '03
-- Canadian Duathlon Championship '04
-- ditto, but '07
-- my two DNFs
-- several lesser culprits

In short (so he says, 347 words after the started....), this happens to all of us. Please keep in touch about this (PM works fine!), and don't internalize it all too much right now. I know -- easier said than done -- but just try to keep outside yourself as much as possible.

Illegitimum non carborundum!

CONGRATULATIONS Denise, Steve and Kasia (even though it kicked your butt - I can totally relate.    )

Just checked Shaun's race and he had a great race from the looks of it - swim, bike AND run.   Juding from the people I know personally who raced, it was a very fast bike course today.  

Looking forward to the reports.  

Congrats DENISE, STEVE B, and KASIA.  Way to go!

STEVE, another 1st!!  And 11th overall ... I'm impressed.

Sounds like you had a good day as well DENISE! 

KASIA, you just completed your first oly!  That is a lot more than most can say.  Sorry you were disappointed but you should be proud of yourself.  Get a good nights rest and fill us in tomorrow.  And congratulations!

Still waiting for SHAUN to weigh in.

Good luck tomorrow MANDY!

LISA

Congrats, SHAUN ... sounds like you had a great race as well!!

LISA

Steve, congrats on (another) AG first place.

Denise, awesome pace - I'm jealous!

Shaun, sounds like you had another great race.

Kasia, I'm sorry you feel disappointed by your finish. But in trying to find the silver lining, aren't you glad you weren't a DNF?? And hey, I'm impressed by anyone who can do an Oly. I'm not sure I'll ever get there myself. At least now you have a baseline to work off of/improve on, you know?

Congratulations all!

Tracey

SteveB:

Wanted to report that I had another good run this morning in my Newtons. I ran a little over 3.2m with a pace just a bit better than the other day when I first ran in them (12:28 today vs. 12:35 Friday). I didn't take any walking breaks today, although I had the weather in my favor: I ran today in the morning while the sun was still low, and the temp was around 72 degrees. Friday's run was at midday and it was in the mid-80s. I was feeling strong this morning but I intentionally took it easy because I could feel my calves more than usual. And they are a bit sore now. I guess this is something I'll need to ease into and continue monitoring with the new shoes.

By the way, the neuroma pain is GONE. It's gotta be the new medication. The pain always kicks in after about 20 - 25 minutes of running. Today was just over 40 and there was no pain at all. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the shoes could be at least partly the reason for the improvement and that once I finish this course of medication, the pain won't come back.

Tracey

I am SO happy for you, Tracey!!!! 

Hi guys -  LADU race report:

There were so many things that were great about this race, it is really hard for me to figure out a place to start.  Exceptionally run, and thoughtfully planned, this is a race I definitely will come back to. And next time I am bringing friends.   

It is kind of cool that this race was put on by a museum.  Along with awesome detailed race maps, the swag bag included a historic guide of the course (along with all kinds of goodies).  The volunteers were amazing, there was a smiling flag waving, encouraging volunteer on every corner.  There were also plenty of water stations and the post race food was great. 

On to the race report....

Setting up Transition

I mention this because it was weird not having swim stuff.  Or really needing a towel.  It just didn't feel right - I kept going back thinking I forgot something.

Run 1 - 2.6 miles - 20:36 ~ 7:56/mile

I can't believe I ran that fast either.  Leg felt good. Great course.

It dawned on me that my age group was small (7) and that I might actually place in my AG since I was pretty sure I was within a minute of the leaders. 

Bike - 14 miles - 1 flat tire - 1:08:47

Yeah, that sucked.

I was hammering on my bike, feeling strong, passing people, and feeling really good. All of a sudden, about 2.5 miles into the ride, I noticed my tires were really loud.  I thought at first, "Gee, this is loud pavement."  Then I looked down, and my rear tire was flat. Crap.  There goes my chances of AG placement.  Off the bike, flip it over, dumping out my hydration (Aerobottle).  

Triathetes/bikers/duathletes/people are awesome.  Everyone that went by me asked if I had what I needed or if I needed help, then offered condolences.  That was really cool of you guys, thanks.

I grabbed my kit and took off my rear wheel, ripped out the tube, found the problem (little sharp thing, why do you hate my tire so?? WHY??).  Changed the tube, and got my tire back on.

I covered every part of my body in bike grease in the process.  I wasn't sure what to do with the blown tube, not wanting to litter and leave it there, but it wasn't going back to where I got the old one from easily (Why won't you go to your home little tube? Don't you know where your home is?).  I was rushing and stupidly tied it to to my rear water bottle cage.  I made sure nothing was hanging off and took off. 

Yes, I know, right there in black and white is proof that I am not very smart.  I was just thinking about getting going.

I pushed as hard as I could on the rest of the bike course, but I am not Chrissie Wellington, and you I just can't make up that much time.

About 2 miles away from finishing the bike, (some of you could have predicted this, I am sure) that tube decided to unwrap from my rear bottle cage and wrap itself tightly around my rear cog set.  Yes, I am an idiot and that was completely my fault, I shouldn't have put it there.  

The knife on my mini-leatherman took care of the issue, and I left the tube there, next to an empty pack of cigarettes, a few bud cans, and a pair of sexy pink sparkly undies.  I mention the undies because I actually paused in my ripping up of the tube and thought to myself, "I bet those things could tell some stories." 

I hopped back on my bike and finished the ride.  I noted on my bike computer that my actual riding time was 47 minutes (where I had hoped my time would be), so I spent about 20 minutes screwing around with tires and tubes. 

Run 2 - 3.1 miles - 26:05 - 8:52/mile

 

I was a bit bummed about the whole bike thing and ran the start of this with my head in the clouds.  La la la la out for a jog. Oooooo pretty river... I finally decided I should run harder, and I think the second part of this run was much faster than the first part - which is as it should be I guess, except to say I was a total dub for the first mile and I know it.  Again, no leg issues. 

Post-race

When people saw I was covered with grease, the light came on and they said, "OH! You are that girl who got the flat! That sucks!"  I thanked them kindly for acknowledging the suckage. 

What was interesting to me is that most of these folks said one of two things:

1. I don't know how to change a flat, I would have been screwed.
2. I would have quit and started walking back.

I kind of don't get the first one. 

As for the second comment, I don't see the point of quitting over a diddly flat really, I mean, how do you know you can finish if you quit just because things don't go exactly as planned?  Adjust! Fix it. Do what you can.

Oh, and the age group thing.  I came in 4/7.  The woman who came in first beat me by 18 minutes, two minutes less than the time I spent screwing around with tire/tube stuff.  So I probably would have had her by about 2 minutes without the incidents.  Oh well, next time I am going for it!

Mandy,

Absolutely fantastic race report!  Very entertaining.  And what a great attitude you have.  Congrats on the speed too.

Denise

Denise!

Great 5k pace. I can only dream of a 9:12 (or 8:58) run. And congrats on the 2nd place AG! Love the hot pink hair and shoelaces

Kasia

Congratulations Mandy! I forgot you were racing this weekend. Oops! But aside from the flat tire, it sounds like you had an awesome race.

Kasia,

Is your soul rejuvenating? - you were so down yesterday.

Denise

ps - the pink hair extension is actually a very "tasteful" single strand, not anything wild - I'm leaving it in for awhile.

Shaun,

Your results looked great - but I have to convert to grasp how you actually did.  Wonder if US will ever go metric.  Sorry you have calf problems.

Denise

MANDY, great job on the race ... bummer about the flat, and you still almost placed in your age group despite it, and would have had 1st without.  And, I'm ashamed to say, my response to you would have been #1.  I know ... it's on my "to do" list, along with kagillion other things! 

KASIA, we are all hoping things were looking better for you this morning.  I thought about you during the run portion of my race today when it was so hot and I just wasn't feeling it.  You gave me the inspiration to work a bit harder.

TRACEY, keeping my fingers crossed about the neuromas!  Good job on your runs!

Came in 14/18 in my AG in my race today and had a PB cutting 1:30' off my previous time on this course.  My pool swim sucked, started off badly when the woman in front of me didn't go when they told her to and went about 2" before they called me to go ... ugh, 50" slower on my swim this time around.  More to come later, after a good night's sleep.

Hope everyone has a good week!!  Looking forward to a short work week myself.

LISA

GANG!

Today was a 4:20 wake-up, then off to a loooong grasslands/shrike survey, then a looooong drive looking at potential properties, then into Ottawa ffor the last night of the Fringe Festival. I am wiped out, but will return in full-force tomorrow.

SHAUN! Sounds like a very fine race for you, and hope the claf problem goes away much sooner than what you are thinking about.

MANDY! Oh, I feel your pain with the flat!!!!! But you did great to finish the race, and now you just have to hope that you've had your flat for the season -- and then some!

TRACEY! Great run results, and of course the neuroma news is evn better to hear. I'm hoping that that is more the result of the shoes (as it was for me) than the meds, simply because it will maybe mean (as it was for me) that you can continue to run neuroma-free.

KASIA! How are you feeling today?

I'll try to get my own report up tomorrow.......and look forward to lots of details and/or further post-race thoughts from D and S and K and M.

G'night!

Loveland Lake to Lake Olympic Triathlon
1.5k/30 mile/10k

I have no idea what happened to me during this race. Physically, I was fine throughout. I hammered out the swim slowly but surely. My bike split was faster than the trial run last week. And I probably could've run most of the 10k. But I gave up around mile 20 of the bike and it just got worse as the race went on. I barely talked myself into going out on the run. Midway through, I was completely done. Had it not been an out-an-back, I would've just headed back and gotten a DNF. By that point I didn't even care. So I trudged through it and somehow finished.

That was the nutshell version. Here's the more detailed one. Like my last report, it's also written for me, so excuse the length. And really, it's long, especially the bike part.

Pre-race
We planned to leave the house promptly at 4 am to get there when transition opened at 5. I made the mistake of sleeping in til noon the day before so I couldn't fall asleep that night. Ended up finally dozing off at 2:30 or something, and woke up to my alarm an hour later. I know, 1 hour of sleep before an Oly is probably the worst way to start a day. But since I'm a night person, I'm used to getting only a few hours of sleep before huge athletic events, and I'd also had a pretty restful week. So I figured, no biggie. And once I was up, I felt refreshed and good.

Anywhos, one of the girls I was carpooling with forgot her helmet 15 minutes into the drive, so we turned around to grab it. By the time we left for good it was 4:45, and we had about an hour drive ahead of us with the first wave going out at 6:20. Most definitely not enough time for me. I was pissed off and really stressed. So I think that's where the bad attitude began.

BUT, we made pretty good time (partially due to my erratic driving) and got there around 5:20. We had plenty of time to set up, walk around, and even take a few pictures with our other friends also doing the tri. I calmed down and was really enjoying myself.

Swim: 47:23
I felt really good throughout. I was much more relaxed than during the sprint last month and just powered through it. My roommate was about a pool length ahead of me and swam around the same speed, so it was really nice to have a pace buddy within seeing distance. Kept me consistent and persistent in my swimming. I probably could've gone faster but I wasn't really racing this race, but rather going for a solid finish. And, I didn't want to come out as dizzy as I had last time. So, I did good

There was about a quarter-mile run to transition which I did as a slow jog and then headed to the bikes to get ready to ride.

T1: 2:26
Most of the bikes were already gone by the time I got there, which is fine. Other than that, I took my time and made sure I had everything I would need and headed out.

Bike: 2:04:27
These were the most demoralizing and lonely 2 hours of my life. I wanted to cry at least 10 times and I'm not a crying person. I think I may've shed a tear or two towards the end, and then promptly told myself to suck it up and keep going.

From the beginning I could tell I was a bit tired. I think I used my legs too much during the swim or something, because they felt a bit heavy in the beginning. That feeling went away pretty quickly, so I probably just needed a warm-up.

My roommate and I are the same bike pace too so we stayed close to each other and chatted for the first few miles. Other than that, there was no one else around. Eventually she went ahead leaving me to chat with the voices in my head.

Somewhere around the first hill around mile 8 (don't know the mileage since my bike computer wasn't working) it hit me that this race sucks and it's going to be a long day. I had been one of the last people out of the water and now even my roommate, who I'd hoped to be on par with, had left me, making me really far behind. With all the curves and ups and downs in the road, I could only see other bikers every once in a while. And even so, they were super far away and probably impossible to catch. I couldn't talk myself into thinking I was racing, since there was no one within sight to catch, and then I tried saying it's like a group ride, which it wasn't since I was alone. I had run out of positive things to compare this to or convince myself of, so I sank into despair.

There have been very few times when I've felt so low and alone, and powerless to change the situation. This bike leg is now added to the list. There was absolutely nothing I could do about the situation besides keep pedaling which, thankfully, wasn't too hard. But it took so looooong...

Even now writing about it is pretty hard and brings tears to my eyes, so apparently I'm not over it and it wasn't a fleeting thought, but a true soul bruising. In fact, it's taken me all day to write this report. I don't know what sparked that initial feeling, but it all spiraled from there.

The long hill wasn't bad biking-wise and going down was super awesome...except for the fact that I couldn't see another biker for at least a few miles ahead. The rolling hills were much easier to conquer (physically at least) this time around as compared to last week when we scouted the course. I wasn't cursing them or the course at all. Maybe I was too wrapped up in my own feelings to notice the difficulty of the hills. But at least by that point, I could see 5 miles down the straight road and there were plenty of people to keep me company, even if they were a spec on the horizon.

Every time I saw a light-colored jersey up ahead, I hoped it was my roommate so I would be able to tell I hadn't fallen too far behind. But as soon as I got closer I realized it wasn't her. After 3 or 4 of these disappointments, I resigned myself to the fact that she was way ahead and I stopped getting my hopes up, which helped. The bright side of this was that I was passing people, and never got passed during the whole 30 miles. Yay for small successes

Anywhos, it was around this time (rolling hills, mile 20-ish) that the thought of not finishing crossed my mind. All along I had been aware of the difficulty of running 6 miles after all this. Even though it was daunting, I knew I could push through it and somehow finish, even if I had to walk the whole thing. By the rolling hills, it seemed impossible. Every time I felt that way, I would try to push the run to the back of my mind and just focus on getting through the bike, but eventually I just couldn't shake that feeling. I had no idea how I was going to continue on.

Once closer to civilization, there were more volunteers to cheer us racers on. Some of them looked bored out of their minds which exacerbated everything I was feeling, but the vast majority were genuinely enthusiastic so I put on a smile and yelled out "Thanks" because I really was grateful. The aid stations got an extra shout-out due to the kids' ridiculous excitement and encouragement.

T2: 2:42
Had my roommate not waited for me in transition, I would've quit. No doubt in my mind. To add to the feeling of being the last racer on the course, I literally had to wade through the people who were getting their stuff out of transition to go home. No joke. And thus began my anger towards race management. But more on that later.

Some volunteer realized I was still racing instead of going home (like most everyone else in transition) and yelled some words of encouragement, which was nice. I got all my stuff and jogged out with the roommie, who apparently was feeling the exact same way.

Run: 1:36:55
Umm, I should've labeled this as a walk instead. Going out, there were a ton of people heading back in, kinda weird to see after being alone for a couple hours. We ran most of the first mile and then did the rest of the 10k as a half walk, half jog, not because I was tired and couldn't run any more, but because I was done with this race. So over it.

We talked to a Team in Training lady for a while who walked the entire run because she'd badly broken her leg in a fall off a 30-foot cliff (yeah, crazy!) recently and was just looking to finish. There were lots of interesting people on that course, and because we were so slow we got to talk to a few of them, including the group of old ladies who was doing a garden tour down the streets we were running. Incredible landscaping, I gotta say. Even gave us some ideas for our own garden

Back to the race...as we were heading back to the finish for the last 1.5 miles we saw absolutely no one racing or working the race. No volunteers, no racers, nothing. Just a bunch of cones and some beach-goers by the reservoir. It was as if we were going for a Saturday jog by the lake instead of participating in a race. Some dude was putting away football equipment into a shed so we asked him if he knew where we were supposed to go, since by that point we were already back to where we had started and the route took a different turn. It was completely ridiculous that all the volunteers and race officials had left their posts and essentially abandoned the course.

We kept following the cones like the guy suggested and eventually we ran into a finisher chilling by the water who told us where to go. Soon after that our friends spotted us and pointed us in the right direction and for the last half mile we were rounding an inlet so we could tell where the finish was.

It was absolutely ridiculous that there was no one telling the runners where to go. The race was far from over as there were at least 10 people behind us, with one lady going out as we were coming in. We talked to a few people after the race and one late finisher said she got lost and ended up running around the high school thinking that's where the course went, instead of turning away and going along the lake.

I know that people get tired of cheering after a few hours. I most definitely did last week when I volunteered, and that was only a sprint! But that doesn't mean they should leave. The run photographer had even left by the time I was coming back around. I paid just as much for this race as the guy who finished in 2 hours so why do I get shafted with poor race management? Not cool. And I understand that an Olympic race is long and it's hours until the last biker comes in and people want to home. But I shouldn't have to dodge finishers when I'm trying to get through transition. There has to be a better system for that. And I definitely plan on writing the race director about all this, especially the run part.

Back to the race again...for the finish, the roommate and I sprinted the last few yards, even though I wish we had crossed hand in hand (seriously) since neither of us would've made it through the run to the finish if we weren't together. So that's my only regret.

Post-race
Nothing special. Since most racers had already left and the awards ceremony was finishing up, the line for the massage tables was super short. So I got a massage. And a beer that a friend had saved for me.


Official time: 4:33:56
Overall: 701/715
Females: 306/317
Division (Athena): 5/6
AG (if I was in it): 53/55

Results (Bib 622):
http://results.active.com/pages/searchform.jsp?rsID=94918


Positives:
- NUTRITION: Spot on throughout the whole race. I wasn't hungry at all the whole morning. The Shot Blocks were delicious and kept me full and energized, even though I didn't use that energy for much during the run. The extra Gatorades at the two bike aid stations were much needed and I'm really glad I grabbed some. But then again, maybe my emotional break-down was due to not enough nutrition. I don't know.
- RUN OFF THE BIKE: Well, I should rephrase that to "my legs off the bike." Felt great. Seriously. I could've definitely run most of that 10k, but just didn't want to. My legs didn't feel heavy at all even during the first mile (which I did actually run), and felt somewhat fresh throughout...probably because I walked the rest of the way. That is probably attributed to the last 4 miles of the bike being downhill, but I also made sure not to push too hard earlier on the bike course either. And it worked


What's next? I don't have another tri scheduled or in mind until at least September. BUT, I want to try the Oly distance again this season. It needs to be conquered, and I can't wait a whole year. So we'll see how training goes throughout the summer and take it from there.

For now, I'm taking a break from formal-ish training, and just enjoying swimming, biking, and running without any structure or planning at all.


All in all, even though the bike was soul-crushing, I'm glad I did this race. I have no idea how anyone who does a HIM or IM pushes through a whole race. So STEVEA and STEVEB, wow. Major kudos to you.


Edited by augeremt 2010-06-28 1:40 AM

Shaun,

Great race. You are one speedy biker. And it would've been pretty neat to get the same place as your bib number. I tend to have numbers in the 600s (two tris now, with both bib numbers in the 600s) so I guess I need to start looking at big races to have a chance at that happening.

Heal up quick!
Kasia

STEVEB,

Congrats on yet another 1st place AG group finish. You're a rock star.

MANDY,

Your attitude towards racing is infectious. Especially the smile. I used that strategy yesterday and every time I saw a photographer, I smiled even if I was crying on the inside. So when the pics come up, I better have a good one on the bike.

And wow, your run time was amazing! Congrats on a great race and near-AG placement.

Kasia

Edited by augeremt 2010-06-28 7:31 PM