Tri-ing for Children's
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Tri-ing for Children's - TriathlonOlympic
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Swim
Comments: For some reason I have been really nervous about OWS this season. I mean, I did a HIM in Lake Michigan last year, so what is my problem? I still have nightmares from that swim at Grand Haven last year and after not open water swimming for almost a year, I let those thoughts creep back to the front of my mind. So...this swim for me was all about battling the demons and getting comfortable being out in the deep water. It was a good swim to do that. All of the women went off in one wave, so it was quite crowded at the start, but I stayed to the outside and made my own space. I kept getting caught up behind breastrokers, but would just make my way around them and move on. I sighted really well on the way out to the first buoy, but then got a little off course on the way across the back. I kept making an effort to draft but couldn't find any feet that were the right speed for me. That's the problem with swimming BOP...lots of inconsistent swimming. The first loop went by really fast, and then as I went to make the turn for the second loop I started running into all the elites and men who were finishing their first loops (and thus going straight instead of turning right). It got a little messy there for a minute and I out-and-out ran over some guy, but I just kept with it. The second loop was long and I was just getting tired. I haven't done a lot of endurance swimming this year and it showed. Still, it was good to just be out there enjoying the water. No worries and no panic. To me, that was a success. What would you do differently?: More OWS practice. More endurance sets. Get a swim coach in the off season. Transition 1
Comments: I didn't rush this too much. Was trying to let my HR come down a little before I jumped on my bike. Wetsuit came off okay, but definitely took a little bit of time. I also took the time to put socks on this race, which I'm not really sure if I needed to do or not. What would you do differently?: Just be more focused in transition. Bike
Comments: I thoroughly enjoyed this bike course (other than the two u-turns). When I first started out there were A LOT of people on the course, because so many of the sprint folks had gotten out of the water before me. It was somewhat reminiscent of the Subaru Women's Tri because there were a lot of people riding three-across the road and I was having some trouble passing. Despite that, the first loop went lickity-split and I was cruising. I remember actually saying out loud to myself, "this is why I love this sport." It was awesome. The second loop was very lonely and long. Most of the sprinters were done and the men were already ahead of us...so it was just the BOP women. There was one girl that I yo-yo'd with for a while and I eventually dropped her (that felt good...of course she got me back good on the run). We actually had to stop once for some big-ass birds crossing the road. Not sure what they were? They were HUGE! We said to each other, "nobody will believe us when we say we would have been faster, but had to stop for birds!" The wind had also picked up on that second loop and it just seemed to be really long. There was a really rough section of road in the last couple of miles and by that time I was just done. It's funny how your perception changes. Last year when I was training for the HIM, this Olympic distance seemed so short. Now it seems fairly lengthy to me! What would you do differently?: Not much. I felt like I pushed it just about right. Should have had more to drink. Oh! I forgot to mention...before the race, jowisc and I were having a heck of a time getting my aero bottle strapped in (I haven't used it yet this season). I could not figure out what was different. Well, I figured it out about two seconds into the ride when I went to take a drink. The bottle was in backwards! Making it nearly impossible to drink out of the straw. DUH. So, that's one of the reasons I didn't drink enough...couldn't reach my water. :) So, next time PUT THE AERO BOTTLE IN THE RIGHT WAY!! Transition 2
Comments: I don't know why I was so slow here. Just taking my time I guess. I think I kind of just walked out of transition too, instead of running. This is kind of ridiculously long, isn't it? What would you do differently?: Run. Run
Comments: Almost right from the get-go I knew something was wrong. I started running and immediately felt overheated. My HR skyrocketed and I knew I needed to catch my breath. Saw jowisc almost right away and that helped boost my spirits, but I still knew it was going to be a long six miles. I talked myself into getting into a slow rhythm so that at least I could run and for the first three miles or so this worked. Saw jowisc again (he was done) at my turnaround for the second loop and by this time I was really hurting. I stopped to walk and this guy came up behind me and said, "don't stop, you're keeping me moving!" So I started running with him and we chatted for a bit. At first the distraction was welcome, but then he started trying to give me tips. Keep your arms low. Dump water over your head. Take a gel. And suddenly I just got irritated. I purposely walked so he would run ahead. I just felt like my body was in such distress. My legs were fine...ready to go. But my HR was sky high and I couldn't breathe. I was dizzy and nauseous. I felt horrible and was frustrated that there was nothing I could do. And everyone else looked strong and fast. It was hard. And lonely. I felt like I was at the end of a HIM, but it was only Olympic. I eventually knew that I had no chance of a PR so that really broke my spirit. Even so, I don't know that there's much I could have done to go much faster. It was just really frustrating (and sadly, not much fun). What would you do differently?: I think this could have been a nutrition/hydration issue. Need to drink more earlier in the race and make sure I'm fueled. Next race I may try using my fuel belt with my own Heed. Also just need more run training. Post race
Warm down: Crossed the finish line and jowisc was standing there. I immediately started hyperventilating and crying. It was crazy. I'm surprised they didn't haul me away to medical the way I was acting. Jowisc convinced me to pour some freezing cold water over my head and that helped. Also had the best tasting Gatorade Endurance ever. And two Oreo cookies. :) What limited your ability to perform faster: Consistent training the last month. Confidence. Focus. Nutrition. Lots of things. But all of that considered, I'm still glad I got out there and did it. It definitely ignited my fire for the three remaining weeks of the season. I also learned some lessons that I will take with me to PP and see if I can get a little closer to a PR there! Event comments: This was only the second year for this race and the first at this venue. I fully expected some hiccups given that it's new, but it was very well run and lots of great volunteers. Except for the wonky turn on the bike course, I thought the course was fabulous and lots of fun. I would definitely recommend this race to others and will probably return myself in the future! Last updated: 2008-07-26 12:00 AM
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2008-07-28 7:32 PM |
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2008-07-28 7:49 PM in reply to: #1565860 |
2008-07-28 8:53 PM in reply to: #1565860 |
2008-07-29 11:16 AM in reply to: #1565860 |
2008-07-29 9:18 PM in reply to: #1565860 |
2008-07-31 1:17 PM in reply to: #1565860 |
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General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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United States
81F / 27C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 121/140
Age Group = F35-39
Age Group Rank = 13/15
As most of my BT friends know, I debated the entire week before this race as to whether I would actually race or not. Work stress, moving stress and family stress all contributed to a downward spiral for me and I really had no motivation to train OR race. Ultimately, it came down to the fact that we were traveling to the race anyway so that my hubby (jowisc) could race AND it was supposed to be a beautiful day, so how could I pass that up? The day before the race we headed out at about 10:45am with the intention of getting to Kettle Morraine by 1pm for a quick swim. Well, we completely forgot about the traffic on the Edens...coupled with Six Flags traffic...a two hour drive took us MORE THAN FOUR HOURS!!! Add more stress to the picture. We did packet pickup, finally got to the site for a quick swim (which was lovely!), a quick pre-race dinner at Chili's (guiltless chicken platter...perfect) and early to bed. Didn't sleep all that well the night before because I was anxious. It had been almost two full years since my last Olympic tri!
The morning of the race we got up around 4:30am. Had a Hammer Bar and got ready to go by 5:15am. Out the door and on the road by 5:25am, which got us to the race site just as transition was opening. Got a primo spot on the racks (people showed up to this race LATE...what were they thinking?) and had just enough time to get set up and head down to the water for a warm-up swim.
Got in the water for about 10' before race start. Stayed in as long as I could, as the water was much warmer than the air temp. Felt pretty calm on the warm-up. Just treaded water for a while and took in the beautiful morning. At this point I realized that I was SO GLAD I decided to race. :)