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Playtri Half Ironman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Irving, Texas
United States
Playtri Festival
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 58m 31s
Overall Rank = 18/36
Age Group = F 30-34
Age Group Rank = 1/4
Pre-race routine:

Cathy (COgirl) and I drove down to TX together for this race and stayed with my sister and brother-in-law in Allen. It was a 13 hour drive from my house to my sister's. It was about a 35-40 minute drive from her house to the race site. SO MANY stories from the drive (seeing a herd of camels, a tanker truck labled "Animal Fat - Not Fit For Human Consumption," insane cross-winds, and 13 hours of talking), but that would make for a long race report. But we had a good time.

On Saturday afternoon, we went to the race site for a practice OW swim, a quick bike and a run. We ran into Drew (drewb8), Ryan (himself), and Ovetta (infosteward), who all traveled down from Colorado too, so we felt right at home with our usual BT crowd. I also saw Matt who I met through the Trifecta Multisport store, and saw some people from the Boulder Tri Club. Small world! The water was cool but not bad. It was murky and you couldn't see your hand in front of you, and the water was gritty in your mouth. But I've swam in worse. We got a taste of how rough the bike course roads were and how windy it was going to be on the bike, then did a quick run around the lake. We went home and ate a great dinner that my sister made, then went to bed.

On race morning, Cathy and I got up, ate breakfast and were out the door by 4:45. We probably got lost at least once on the way to the race site, because we got lost EVERYWHERE we went on this trip. We realized how terrible we were at navigating when we don't have mountains to the west to help orient us. It got to be pretty funny.

The day before had been insanely windy and we were PRAYING that today wouldn't be. It was quite still when we left my sister's house in Allen. We were some of the first people at the race site, but sat in the car and visited the portapotties before lining up for body marking and getting into transition. The wind was steady by the time we got our transitions set up. My family got to the race site and I gave them some instruction on how to spectate (it was their first race) and where might be the best place to stand for each segment. Got to talk to some CO and TX BT-ers.
Event warmup:

Time seemed to get away from me-probably because it was so dark for so long and I didn't think the race would be starting in the dark! I looked down and it was 15 minutes until transition closed. I did a quick run - about 8 minutes, but it was just enough to get my muscles warm and not feel groggy. I ran back to transition and had about 5 minutes to wiggle into my wetsuit and line-up for the pre-race meeting by the water. Cathy and I shoved a few Clif Blocks down our throats and shared a bottle of water to wash them down with.
Swim
  • 33m 46s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 36s / 100 yards
Comments:

After the pre-race meeting, the Open/Elite wave went off, then they called all the women up. My first thought was "where is everyone??" I've never been in a race with only 36 TOTAL women! It was crazy. All my other swim wave starts have had 100+ starters, so this was very unusual for me. After everyone jumped in the water, they started counting down to the start, which was in 5 seconds. I wasn't even up front yet. The swim started and I just pushed myself between 2 girls who were in the front row. I sprinted for about 50 yards and kind of looked up and wondered "where is everyone?" There were only 2 girls up ahead of me. There was another woman beside me, and I tried off and on to draft off her because I knew we were swimming the same speed, but she would stop swimming and do breaststroke, and I'd run into her, plus the water was so murky, I couldn't see her feet and she was all over the place. Eventually, she pulled ahead of me and was gone, so I swam by myself the rest of the time. A little after I turned the bouy at the far end of the course, I was almost hit head-on by a guy in the wave that started after me. He was way off course! Luckily I saw him in enough time to sit up and stiff-arm his head. Otherwise he would have slammed into me. The course was cool in that spectators could follow you along the sidewalk that bordered the lake, so I could see and hear my family yelling at me the entire time. That was motivating. The lake had straight concrete walls, so they had to lower a ladder down so you could crawl out. I'm used to running up boat ramps, so this was different. My parents told me I was the 4th woman out of the water, so not too bad. I felt strong on the whole swim and really focused on keeping my strokes long and smooth with a strong pull (when I wear a full wetsuit, I tend to not feel the water as well in my pull and don't pull as hard).

All the CO-BT people had swim PRs today, so we all tended to think the course was short. We don't think we all got miraculously faster.
What would you do differently?:

Try to draft better.
Transition 1
  • 03m 30s
Comments:

There was a 300 yard run from the swim exit to the swim-in gate of transition and to my rack. It took forever!!! This transition was a joke. The wind was blowing so hard, it was in the 40s and I knew I was going to freeze, so I decided to put on arm warmers. Um, arm warmers don't go up wet arms so well. I basically just got them on over my hands and figured I'd pull them up later on the bike when I dried out a little. I contemplated putting a bike jersey on over my tri top but ended up not doing it.
What would you do differently?:

Not have to deal with warm clothes? Not have to run so far to transition? Not really sure.
Bike
  • 3h 05m 8s
  • 56 miles
  • 18.15 mile/hr
Comments:

I realized after I left transition that I had forgotten to turn my Garmin on before the swim start, so when I got on my bike, I had to turn it on and wait for it to find the satellite signal before starting the clock, so I knew my ride time was going to be a few minutes off. Once I got on the course and my arms dried out a little, I was able to get my arm warmers up.

It was SO WINDY. WIND was the word of the day. Have I mentioned the wind? Because it was really really windy. I've never raced in conditions like that and it was miserable. Plus it was cold. My feet were numb for about 1/2 of the ride. The first 30 minutes were uphill into the wind. I looked at my Garmin and it was a constant 2% or 3% grade, and into the wind I was going 13mph. And this course was not as flat as I thought it would be. Depressing. I kept on looking at my heartrate and I was just working too hard. I felt good, but I knew that my exertion level was harder than I wanted it to be for a training race. I just really focused on practicing my Ironman nutrition plan, getting in my Perpetuem, Clif Blocks and water, and I took a few endurolytes. I even took in my emergengy backup nutrition (2 gels) because I knew I was working harder than intended. I tried to make the most of the tailwinds for recovery and making up time. The roads of this course were terrible. I was petrified of hitting a pothole, crack, gash, etc and getting a flat. The course was pretty empty and lonely until about 20 miles in and then the men's waves started passing me. Starting on the 2nd lap, the wind was even WORSE and it felt like that lap took forever and I would have to stand up to go over the road hazards to keep from beating the crap out of myself. About a mile from the bike finish, I was almost blown off my bike from a gust, and seeing that transition area made me happy.
What would you do differently?:

All-in-all, I don't think I could have done much more on this course. I couldn't change the conditions, so I just had to deal with it and keep going.

The race website said the bike course was 54 miles instead of 56 like a true 1/2 IM. Drew's Garmin said 54.5. Regardless, it was short.
Transition 2
  • 02m 25s
Comments:

I was a little wobbly while trying to get my running shoes on and had to hold onto the rack. Helmet off, visor on, fuel belt on and I ran out of transition. I didn't need to pee on the bike, but realized I needed to the minute I stood up, so I stopped in the portapotty right at the start of the run.
What would you do differently?:

This was way too much time spent in transition. The bike finish seemed to come up really quickly, and since I was riding into the headwind, I didn't feel comfortable taking my feet out of my shoes and do the moving dismount. Normally, I would have taken my feet out.
Run
  • 2h 13m 39s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 12s  min/mile
Comments:

I started the run and felt pretty decent until I had to turn into the FREAKING WIND. Because it was windy. Really windy (just in case I haven't stressed that enough). I tried to keep a decent pace into the wind, then push it harder with the tailwind to make up time. Overall, I felt pretty good on this run. It's amazing what running a marathon will do to your perspective on pain. I just kept telling myself "you ran a marathon and that was the worst pain ever, THIS is nothing compared to that" and that kept me going! Saw all the BT-CO crew on the run, and everyone looked good. I took in about 4 gels on the run and kept the water going in. At the last aid station, I drank a little Accelerade and started pushing the pace more to get to the finish. I was hoping for sub six hours, and when I got to the finish chute, I saw the clock and knew I did it. I was happy. Even though the bike course was a little short, I know I could have gone sub-six in a regular-distance 1/2 IM minus the FREAKING WINDS.
What would you do differently?:

Honestly, I probably could have run harder. That's the first time I've ever said that about a triathlon run. Normally, I'm on the edge of death :) so this was very different for me.

When I finished, I realized that I will be ready for IMCDA in June.
Post race
Warm down:

Stood and talked to my family and other BT-ers and waited for others to finish. Cathy finished and we were standing around talking and I touched her shorts and asked "what's that from?" She had an orange stain on the side panel of her shorts. It looked like gatorade or something. "It's PEE! Don't touch it!" she said. Oops. I touched Cathy's pee shorts. Lesson learned. Don't touch people after races and assume the worst!!

The family had a lot of fun at their first triathlon spectating experience, and it was good for them to finally see the end result of all this crazy training I do all the time. And it was great to finally have a cheering section!

Cathy and I heard them announce the age group awards, and we went over because we were curious. I certainly wasn't expecting hardware, so I was beyond shocked when they called my name for first place. Granted, there were only 4 women in my AG, but hey, whatever - I beat them all. Then Cathy got called for 3rd place, and she was shocked too. I'm more impressed with how I felt in the race than I was with the hardware though. Nutrition seemed to be spot-on, which is great.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The wind. Because it was WINDY. Just sayin'.

This was just a training/tune-up race for me, so it wasn't in the plans to go all out and kill myself.

Event comments:

I wasn't a fan of this race because of the bike course. I'm used to more rural bike routes, so riding in a corporate park on crappy roads wasn't fun. The race organizer didn't do a very good job of marking road hazards. They marked them on the first few miles of the course, but then that stopped for some reason. I found myself having to watch the person in front of me to see what they swerved to miss in the road. The volunteers on the bike course needed some instruction to OPEN THE WATER BOTTLES before handing them off and to NOT RUN with the bottles. Ripping off the water bottle cap with my teeth while trying not to crash because of the wind was not ideal. I almost got hit by a couple of cars on the bike course because either the police let cars through that they shouldn't have, or people disregarded signs, cones, or police instruction. I didn't think there were enough volunteers on the bike course.




Last updated: 2008-02-27 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:33:46 | 2112 yards | 01m 36s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/4
Overall: 0/36
Performance: Good
Suit: Ironman Stealth Full
Course: Basically a counter-clockwise swim in a corporate park lake. The course was sparsely marked with small triangular bouys, and you could really just pick the fastest/shortest route to get around the course. If they had been smart, they would have added more buoys to control that.
Start type: Deep Water Plus:
Water temp: 64F / 18C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:30
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:05:08 | 56 miles | 18.15 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/4
Overall: 0/36
Performance: Below average
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: Riding through a corporate park on the worst roads I've ever raced on.
Road: Potholes Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 02:25
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Below average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:13:39 | 13.1 miles | 10m 12s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/4
Overall: 0/36
Performance: Average
Course: Mostly on a concrete bike path. Mostly flat.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3

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2008-04-15 12:39 PM

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Extreme Veteran
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Denver, CO
Subject: Playtri Half Ironman


2008-04-15 1:03 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Expert
762
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San Antonio, TX
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

Awesome job chica!!!

You are more than ready for CDA.  Keep up your training and we'll be there.

I was pretty happy with my nutrition and everything too.  I just need to focus on my running now that I seem to be without excuses at the moment.

Oh...and thanks for bursting my bubble about the swim being short.  Here I thought I got fast or the drafting actually worked. LOL

It was great seeing you and Cathy again.

Congrats! 

2008-04-15 1:13 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Pro
4228
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Broomfield, Colorado
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

Well my dear, I haven't laughed and stressed about bikes so much in a 4 day period as I did this weekend with you....and I had a GREAT time!  LOL!  You had an excellent race....congrats on 1st in AG!  That is so cool, and you have a case of Accelerade to prove it. 

Lesson learned on the pee shorts!  Don't ever touch peoples chip strap or shoes either.  LOL!

2008-04-15 1:21 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Expert
833
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Adrian, MI
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

It was windy huh?   STILL that looks like a fast bike split given it was windy!!

I liked most reading how you had energy to burn for the run - that's an awesome sign of things to come!!

2008-04-15 1:26 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Master
4101
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Denver
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

"When I finished, I realized that I will be ready for IMCDA in June."

Thats an awesome feeling, eh?  Especially since that was the whole point of this race.  You looked good when I saw you on the run.  Was it windy?  I hadn't noticed.  Congrats on getting under 6hrs and representin' for colorado on the podium!

2008-04-15 1:58 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Expert
622
500100
Conifer, Colorado
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman
Hell yeah!


2008-04-15 2:06 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Official BT Coach
2210
2000100100
Englewood, CO
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman
Fantastic race!  Those winds sound brutal.  Probably worse than my IM last year.  Way to handle all the adversity.  You are ready for IMCDA!
2008-04-15 2:54 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Got Wahoo?
5423
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San Antonio
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

Was it windy?

2008-04-15 3:14 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Expert
960
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Highlands Ranch, CO
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

Great job.  I guess part of me is OK with not going down to Dallas to race.  I don't like to ride in the wind.

 

 

2008-04-15 3:47 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Expert
767
5001001002525
Littleton, Colorado
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman
Rock on!!  I am soooooo proud of you!  CdA will be yours for the taking.  A trip to the top of the podium can't hurt the confidence either!
2008-04-15 4:23 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Expert
683
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Denver
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman
Congratulations on hitting your goals! You looked nice and calm each time I saw you, and you didn't even look like the wind was bothering when I saw you on the bike. Somehow I knew better though! So what's the view like from the top?


2008-04-15 4:30 PM
in reply to: #1340077

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Champion
8540
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the colony texas
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

Hey it's windy in texas because we have lots of dairy queens.. or something like that..

nice race this weekend ..  btw it's windy in texas during the spring,, and for that route the wind whips through those buildings and seems even stronger than the weather channel reports

2008-04-15 4:35 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Master
1927
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Chicago
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman
Great race Stacie. You are so ready for IM CDA. I'm so proud of you. You looked really good out there. Awesome swim and bike as usual but the run - wow you look really golden. So proud. Yayyy Stacie. I think it's the curls!
2008-04-15 4:38 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Elite
3488
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Lakewood, CO
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

After that wind, today must be a light breeze.  Relax, recharge and build to CDA.

 

2008-04-15 8:11 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Pro
4277
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Parker, CO
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman
Nice race and congratulations on 1st in your AG!  It's always nice riding with a tailwind!
2008-04-15 10:05 PM
in reply to: #1340578

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Master
2249
200010010025
Colorado
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

Huh.  That's weird. Everyone else talked about how windy it was out there but you didn't mention it at all.  Must not have been a problem for you.

I like the part when you stiff-armed the guy. heh. awesome.

You are strong. Way to go! 1st is something to be VERY proud of! 



2008-04-15 10:13 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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, North Carolina
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman
Sounds like you and the Colorado BT crew had fun out there.  Congrats on the AG award.  Things I've learned from reading the PlayTri race reports ... stay out of your way in the water and don't touch Cathy's shorts!
2008-04-16 8:38 AM
in reply to: #1339349

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Champion
5495
5000100100100100252525
Whizzzzzlandia
Silver member
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

Yay for you!

Way to tough it out. Can't wait to hang with you @ CdA. Just about 2 months to go!

 

Curly Girls... activate!  

 

2008-04-16 9:03 AM
in reply to: #1339349

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Expert
853
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Fort Worth, Texas
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman
So you saw the camels near Vernon, Texas, huh? It is a bit of a shocker after passing hundreds of miles of cows and Dairy Queens! I do that same drive about twice a year every year going up to Vail. Great to meet you and you had an AWESOME race! Your bike speed and swim time were excellent! Good luck at IMCdA!
2008-04-16 9:46 AM
in reply to: #1339349

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Veteran
169
1002525
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

 Awesome race Luv2racewithwind!  

 I really liked reading the Tornado report.....oops I mean race report!!  

 You had a fantastic day & a sub six hour race must have seemed really short compared to that 13 hour ride....YIKES.

 Bring it on...Idaho,   this girl is more than ready

 

2008-04-16 12:55 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Member
49
25
Parker, CO
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman
Great race. Looks like you'll have a stellar year.
I miss racing in TX. Southeast Tx (almost Louisianna) but still TX.
Way to represent.


2008-04-16 8:15 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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A very cool place in Colorado :)
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

WOW, for all that freakin' WIND you spoke of you still NAILED a sub-6 hour Half Ironman!!!! WAY TO GO!!!!

Congrats on a GREAT race on PODIUM, BABY!!!

2008-04-17 12:09 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Expert
927
50010010010010025
Longview, TX
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

Hmm, sounds windy! 

Very cool you guys were able to travel from Colorado for this race.  Glad Texas treated you well.  Great job under tough conditions.

2008-04-17 4:04 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Champion
10471
500050001001001001002525
Dallas, TX
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman
Yea the wind has been sucking here lately. Sorry to hear it was cold AND windy. Blah.

HA! If you had ridden on our country roads... you would have hated it more. Chip seal. Lots of chip seal. I'm so use to dodging cracks in the city, I guess it doesn't bother me anymore... because I hate chip seal more.

1st place in your AG? COOL! Awesome!

Looks like you had a good race despite the wind and cracks.
2008-04-17 8:14 PM
in reply to: #1339349

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Champion
19812
50005000500020002000500100100100
MA
Subject: RE: Playtri Half Ironman

Congrats..great race prior to IMCDA!

I think you all did get miraculously faster in the water

Nice paces all around and hardware...I like small races...way different feel than big ones.

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