Historic Badin Triathlon RR

Well, finally my first race report! Here it goes :)

I woke up saturday before my alarm went off.  Jumped in the shower to get refreshed since it had been hot since friday and I wanted to get the feeling of stickyness off. Got dressed and went downstairs to have breakfast. The food of choice was toast with peanut butter... I am not a fan of peanut butter (I really don't like it) but it seems to work good for me, since I had tried it before. I got my drinks ready and headed out the door.

On the way to the venue I drank almost an entire bottle of Accelerade. The forecast was hot and humid, so I wanted to get started on hydration early.

I got there and set up transition. The area they selected was horrible. It was about 100 yards from the water and then when you got off your bike, you had to run about 75 yards, on grass, with your bike... Not exactly fast. I got lucky and my rack was right in the middle, and my number was right next to the aisle... very easy to spot. 

After setting up, I got body marked, applied sunscreen, used the porta potties and headed to the start line. Once there I warmed up in the water like Coach had suggested I do and I felt great. A little nervous but great.

Swim:

I was on the 3rd and last wave. All females and novice. I positioned myself at the back of the pack and when the horn went off I started swimming. It was a disappointing swim to say the least. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, and every time I did, my chicken "clucked" (like coach would say) and I listened to it... EVERY SINGLE TIME. I do not know what the problem is with me in the open water... but I know I can swim better than a 2:55 x 100 meters... I was so slow it wasn't even funny!

Getting out of the water proved to be another challenge. The huge rocks at the bottom of the lake, made it impossible to stand up without hurting your feet! I could not believe they had not researched this. I ran to very LONG way to transition.

T1

I could NOT get my body to respond as fast as I wanted it too. I lost my balance, could not put my sock and shoes on, and then I could not clip on to my bike... The slowest t1 I have ever had. Period.

Bike:

The course was described as a with gently rolling hills.... My A$$. After getting out of T1, and being on the bike for about 3 minutes, you took a right turn and the first climb started. People were getting off their bikes and pushing them uphill. I struggled with it, set a small goal of NOT getting off the bike for the climb, and went to work. Let me say it HURT. The sucker was like trying to climb a wall on your bike. You basically had to keep pedaling or your bike would go backwards... It was that tough. Reached the top of the hill, spun my legs and took the only gel of the day. I think I did work hard on the bike, but I could have probably worked harder. Again, mistake that I a mat at myself about, and will make a conscious effort to not repeat. I finished the bike with a good split... 10 amongst the 47 females. 

T2

After I dismounted my bike, there was a 75 yard run to the "timing mat". I got into the area, racked my bike, and then again body did NOT want to move fast. i think the heat was starting to affect me. T2 longer than T1... WTF???

Run

I started conservatively... Took water right away out of t2 and run slowly so my running legs could catch up with me. The course was supposed to be be flat according to the description.... let me say, they need to do a better job at describing... Of course, it was not flat. I struggled during the run... A LOT. I think that while on the bike, I went the opposite way of not drinking enough, and filled my tummy with too much accelerade. It felt sloshy and heavy and it was making me super uncomfortable. Coach wanted me to take 1/2 a gel at the start of the run; but I could tell it would not be a good idea. So I took it along for later maybe. 

There was very little shade on this course, and I do not know what was up with it, but I was having chills while being hot (anyone experienced this before?). I was doing just fine until I saw the mile markers and realized I wasn't as far into the run as I had thought; and that is when I fell apart. My confidence left me, my chicken clucked again, and I walked. Convinced myself to keep running, so I ran a bit longer... telling myself, you can run 1 1/2 miles any day, pick it up now. So I would, for a while and then walk for a while. I had not gotten passed by women at all in this race, until on the run. Two ladies passed me. And I never caught them. After I crossed the mile 2 marker I decided that even if my lungs exploded and I was going to run to the finish. I picked up the pace and then about 1/4 of a mile into it, there was a beautiful downhill. It was just what my body needed. It was fast and effortless, and it helped me feel confident about finishing strong. I passed a couple of guys, and when I got into the final stretch I saw a guy and I wanted to pass him. I started sprinting an I almost had him until he turned around and saw me, so he picked it up too. I think he finished a couple of seconds  ahead of me. 

I crossed the finish line in 1:35:22. I was hoping for 1:30 or under, but the hills on the bike were  tough. I managed to get 3rd AG, but then again there were only 3 ladies racing my category :) it doesn't mean as much as I'd like it to mean, but at least I got a gift card to the local tri store that of course  will come in handy...

All in all, I think this was a good race; that taught me some lessons and let me realize how mad I get at myself for listening to my inner chicken. Next on the list, learn how to make the chicken stop clucking. Let's get to work.

The comeback kid

Today I had my first pool workout after being sidelined for 2 weeks by my ear infection. Truth be told I was scared of it. I was afraid I was not going to be able to even swim a single 50...

The day started off wrong. I had set my alarm for 5 am but forgot to actually turn it ON. So, when I woke up at 5:36 because I had to pee, I cursed... Nice way to wake up my husband ;) 

Even though I was scared of the workout I was looking forward to it. Besides the morning was the only time I knew I would be able to swim for sure. It is month end closing at work and us accounting type folks get quite busy at this time of the month; so swimming during lunch was a long shot. But it was my only choice. I made sure to get to work about 45 minutes early so that I could take an extended lunch IF I was able to get caught up with everything that needed to get done today.

Lo and behold, I busted my little booty (well not so little) off and made it to the pool with plenty of time to do my much needed yards.

The warm up was good, I was actually able to feel myself "gliding" through the water and that got me thinking about Coach's post on how she felt better in the water after a few days with less swimming... I entertained the idea for a while, sometimes less is more. 

I think not being able to swim for a couple of weeks actually helped me realize what I was doing wrong when I got back in the pool.

The main set looked though, I was really concerned with the 400 continuous swim; but somehow I was able to do it. Then there was a set of 6x50's that I had to do at some intervals; and then repeat the entire main set. I did the 6x50's at the prescribed interval and felt that it was giving me way too much rest; so when I did the set the second time around, I cut my interval about 15 seconds shorter. Oddly enough I was still able to meet it and not be completely out of breath. 

After finishing my sets I got out of the pool feeling pretty good about my swim, and set my goals for the race on saturday. I will push HARD during the swim, harder than I have ever pushed in the open water before. My lungs will not explode, the pool helped me realize that; now I have to learn to get outside of my comfort zone on race day. 

Double Feature

Yesterday Todd and I had a "date". It had been a while since we did "couple" stuff. It was much needed. We had a rough couple of weeks. I was sick, he had long work days, he was tired/worried, I was upset/tired, Megan was just being Megan. You get the drift.

We dropped Megan off at the in-laws at about noon yesterday and went to the movie theatre to watch, not one but 2 movies!!! YAY! Did I mention that I am a movie junkie?? Especially action movies with great FX and kick a$$ sound. The kind you absolutely HAVE to watch in the theatre to get the best experience. What did we watch? Iron Man and Indiana Jones. Loved them both.

After the movies we went to a little restaurant and had some dinner. I had been developing a headache ever since my morning brick and by the time we were eating it had become a full blown migraine. Did I ever mention I HATE migraines? I think the headache was brought on by a severe case of dehydration. But I am not sure how I got there. Yes, I did a brick in the morning and it was hot and sticky. But I drank a whole bunch of fluids. 24oz of sports drink and then 24oz of water. The brick was not that long, a mere 1:20 hrs; so I really don't get it.  Good news is that I was able to sleep it off and this morning I am feeling like my old self again. YAY!

Today Megan keeps insisting that she wants to go "somewhere". I think we will take her to the pool and I might attempt some swimming to see what I will be up against tomorrow when I head to the pool for my first swim workout in 2 weeks. Cross your fingers that it won't be too bad, I am crossing mine too.