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Keweenaw Memorial Copperman Triathlon - TriathlonLong Course


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Copper Harbor, Michigan
United States
Keweenaw Memorial Medical Center
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 42m 19s
Overall Rank = 61/70
Age Group = 40-49
Age Group Rank = 14/16
Pre-race routine:

The SprOly is here!!!
Well, I flew up to Michigan on Wednesday. My folks have a cabin up there for the summer and I was free loading along with HoustonTriMamma (hereto known as HTM) and her kids. My last race my parents were there, brought the motor home and were like "roadies" - just can't call my folks after men's underwear.

We swung the deal of the century and traded her three kids for the motorhome for the night, sleeping up at the camp site the night before! WE had dinner, played some cards, chatted with some other nice racerfolks, called my husband from the pay phone as i was all sad he wasn't going to be there... I am ok with him missing weeks and weeks of ordinary life, but after going to a wedding myself and now this, I was missing him. damn job thing. I worked on my bike some as it was not shifting right. (I will find out I should have put more effort into finding a real bike mechanic in the camp ground)
Now, in my travel and my monthly onset of what will be hereto refered to as "lady issues" , I became terribly, shall we say, bound up. I took something 2 days before and no go. By the night before I was really miserable and barely slept the night before, wishing I could get something moving. An enema would have not been too drastic. Also, I could tell that race day would be my heavy "lady day". I got out of bed that morning thinking "there is no part of me that wants to do this today" which must have been not true as this race report does not stop here, but I certainly felt it at the time. HTM let out an "ohhh" and I could tell was pretty dissappointed that I might not race, so I just went and cried some. I had some coffee and breakfast (WW bread with PB and banana and a glass of soy milk) and we took our stuff up to the transition site, getting a primo location. I used the pit rest room there and viola... went back to the motor home and while HTM was tidying, I went into the potty and I swear, I will never take that action for granted again. I swear, I saw images of the Virgin Mary flash before me while in there. I suited up and decided I would just do it.
Event warmup:

stretched and walked around, took a little swim. this would be my first race without a wet suit.... kinda felt naked. TAlked to the fellow campers and found out that the bear had gone through the across the street neighbor's cooler during the night - I must have slept longer than I thought if I did not hear that! As the night before we had fixed up our bikes, taped on our guu, and locked our bikes onto the back of the motorhome, HTM had suggested that perhaps we shouldn't leave the goo taped on. Buddy the Bear might have ripped up our bikes to get the goo and then had the stamina to run amuck all night!
We ladies all thanked the gentlemen for going first to chase the bears off the coarse.
Swim
  • 18m 42s
  • 880 yards
  • 02m 07s / 100 yards
Comments:

normally I gun it out of the start to get out of the fray. not feeling the best, and knowing that I wasn't really hard trained, I held back at first, and just got in a groove. felt pretty long to the first bouy but then stayed in my groove, gaining some momentum. I did get a bit weirded out when there was vegitation that came up and tickled us right around the first bouy.
What would you do differently?:

I might have hit it harder, but didn't know how I would do for the rest of the race....
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

Transition times not counted. T1 time included in bike leg. I pulled on shoes and socks, pinned on number. helmet. goo. and go.
What would you do differently?:

taken a trip to potty.
Bike
  • 1h 09m 14s
  • 19 miles
  • 16.47 mile/hr
Comments:

WEll, I was plagued by numerous issues. I had lady issues that were awful and actually painful on the bike and I saw no way of solving it until T2! my chain came off twice, so I avoided shifting the front if I could. the number came undone and was scraping my leg. Oh, and I puked a bit - luckily, goo tastes the same coming up as it does going down.
On the way back I noticed that someone had ridden their bike through the largest of the three bear scat piles on the road.

I was seriously thinking of just stopping at T2..... I heard everyone cheering like crazy when I came in, but realized it was the winner coming off the run....
What would you do differently?:

Never take it upon myself to adjust my front derailer before a race, or any other time. I also should have dealt with lady issues at T1.
Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

Time included in Run.
Ran into potty, fixed myself up. did you know that baby wipes can take bike grease off your hands? What does it do to baby skin? I now felt so good and fresh I figured I would continue with the run afterall. made sure I changed my shoes and took the helmet off.
Pet peeve ahead - as I was about to take off someone came in and put their bike next to me in HTM's spot. I was a bit off kilter and I stared at the person for a bit because they were NOT HTM, or if they were, she had changed clothes. I honestly examined my shoes and other things to make sure I had put my own things on and not stumbled into someone else's spot...... should have yelled at the interloper!
What would you do differently?:

I don't think anything, given my circumstances, other than yell at the person putting their bike in Cathleen's space.
Run
  • 1h 14m 22s
  • 5 miles
  • 14m 52s  min/mile
Comments:

I had too much water on the bike (probably just used to riding in a dry hot climate) so I felt really sloshy until about the turnaround point. I jogged and walked up the hill. was following one lady - jogged when she did, etc.... I frankly started feeling OK, glad to have taken care of myself at T2, and my mantra was "I am one tough old broad!".

HTM caught me after the TA and was struggling with her heart rate and blisters. We jogged/walked the rest of the way together encouraging each other, discussing how to make our race reports interesting for you all. "we returned to our ancestrial homeland to sweat and toil as our forebears did in the settling this great land...". Talk about quality time with your sis! Got passed by a 75 year old man - you go, dude! As we neared the finishing line, I started to cry as per usual. HTM said "you are such a sap!" or some such... hehe.
We crossed the finish line at exactly the same time, sisterly solidarity. Dad took a photo. Mom said we both looked 10 years younger - our faces were smooth and unworried. I will post a photo when supplied by my dad.
What would you do differently?:

Have husband at finish line!!!!!! In retrospect, I think I could have run more of the coarse and faster, but as I was totally not into the race all day, I would have had to just do the race on another day, which really was not an option. And then there is that whole training thing - didn't do so much run training. Frankly, I never have any expectations on my run. However, looking at my age group rankings sink from swim (#3!) to bike (5) to run (next to last), perhaps there is some room to start making some expectations. I need a coach.
Post race
Warm down:

went and dove back into lake to cool off, found flip flops, ate. saw that the race winner was in my age group and bound for an IronMan - you go, girl! Watched my neice go around and ask all the racers to sign her autograph book. She had a t-shirt she made herself with glitter paint saying "go mama go aunt mary!" and a swimmer, a biker and a runner all with glittery read hair. All the racers were so tickled when she asked them to sign her book - we are superstars! Our little jockstrappers are fabulous! My folks too!
Well, I reflected on my last race and while this was longer than I have ever done before, and I felt pretty crappy for alot of it, it was better than St George last year, in that I was at least trained somewhat.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Bad attitude, mostly, slipping OB, bike issue.
Mental effort was high, but result was bad. Don't want to be too negative so I will say OK for the race. Afterword, I admit, I felt rather euphoric.
I wish my biorhythms were at a different phase.
Biggest wish of having something different - wish Derreck was there.

Event comments:

I would have liked to see more kayaks in the water for swim support. NOt that I need it but the last race I was at someone, people had issues. Nice small race, nice community event. A bit too trusting as they let tons of specators (said no spectatores but no one stopped them) into the transition area and the camp ground was just beyond the fence - could have been easy to steal a few bikes!




Last updated: 2007-08-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:18:42 | 880 yards | 02m 07s / 100yards
Age Group: 3/16
Overall: 26/70
Performance: Average
Suit: tri shorts/bra/ top
Course: Triangular race. smooth water. pretty clear.
Start type: Wade Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: Low
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:09:14 | 19 miles | 16.47 mile/hr
Age Group: 5/16
Overall: 43/70
Performance: Below average
Wind:
Course: rolling ups and downs, out and back, more up on the way back. Through woods and along lake Superior - very nice. wish I had some rolling terrain to train on at home.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Below average Hills: Average
Race pace: Drinks: Too much
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
01:14:22 | 05 miles | 14m 52s  min/mile
Age Group: 67/16
Overall: 15/70
Performance: Average
Course: along a dirt path for a while and then a road that went a pretty steady gradual uphill and then onto a dirt road until it ended. Out and back. More downhill and in the shade on the way back,
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2007-08-06 9:09 PM

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Elite
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Subject: Keweenaw Memorial Copperman Triathlon


2007-08-06 9:21 PM
in reply to: #915753

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Subject: RE: Keweenaw Memorial Copperman Triathlon

We crossed the finish line at exactly the same time, sisterly solidarity. Dad took a photo. Mom said we both looked 10 years younger - our faces were smooth and unworried. I will post a photo when supplied by my dad.

 

I love it. You & HTM are AWESOME!!!!!! And I am PROUD to have you in the Posse. I can't wait to see the photos!

 

Congratulations!!! Laughing

 

 

2007-08-06 9:27 PM
in reply to: #915753

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Subject: RE: Keweenaw Memorial Copperman Triathlon

I can't believe we really looked young....  but your mother knows your face better than you do (even if she is not sure if I color my hair or not....).   But I had french braided HTM's hair in the same way I did for her 5th grade photos...... and I told her from the back she looked just the same down to the pink hair ties (picked out by her daughter)

oh - and I left out a cool part.   A guy today at the airport asked me if I had just been in a tri.   ah - does my sense of accomplishment show on my face?  no - my "24" still showed on my leg.....    he does marithons and ultras....   WE had coffee together and a nice chat.  



Edited by bootygirl 2007-08-06 9:29 PM
2007-08-06 11:12 PM
in reply to: #915753

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Walworth, WI
Subject: RE: Keweenaw Memorial Copperman Triathlon
Sounded like a very tough mental challenge, but you proved you were up to the task! Well done Mary!
2007-08-08 9:32 AM
in reply to: #915753

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2007-08-08 4:33 PM
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Sydney Australia
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2007-08-08 5:54 PM
in reply to: #918766

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Subject: RE: Keweenaw Memorial Copperman Triathlon

It wasn't so much of a determined "I WILL not quite" as a "maybe I should just quit....maybe.......   naaaaaa"

 

2007-08-11 1:31 PM
in reply to: #915753

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Subject: RE: Keweenaw Memorial Copperman Triathlon
Good job finishing the race - I know there will be times when I just want to quit, and your story will give me inspiration.

Nancy
2007-08-12 2:19 PM
in reply to: #915753

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Subject: RE: Keweenaw Memorial Copperman Triathlon
Thanks for the memories..  I forgot to mention Alyssa and her autograph quest in my RR (bad mama)  Cracked me up and I was there! 
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