itri
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Just because I'm sure you ladies have missed my book-length race reports...
This morning I did the HRCA Tune-Up Sprint Tri. 500 yd pool swim, 12 mile bike course, 5k run. It went pretty well! Overall, I'm happy with my time. It's about the same as last year, I think. My run was a bit slower, but my bike was a bit faster to make up for it. They don't have the official results up online yet, but I finished in 1:29:something. We had absolutely perfect weather. It was a bit cooler this year, but I also started about 45 minutes later, which meant that it was warm enough on the bike course that my feet didn't go numb, but still wasn't blazing hot on the run.
The swim was a big mess, unfortunately. Last year, it was very specific about what lane you were assigned to and at what time. This year was supposed to be the same, but when I got down to the pool, everyone was just standing in a big line. At first they were saying that it was just wait in the line and when you get to the front, you go. Then a few minutes later they walked through and said no, wait...line up by bib number.
So we did, which put us approximately where we should have been for our assigned waves, at least, but I didn't get started until 15 minutes after my assigned time. Anyways...I got up there, got with three guys, and we seeded ourselves according to how fast we thought we'd go. I was 3/4. They started us off every 5 seconds. I got going, and was trying hard not to go out too fast so that I didn't burn myself out and have to breaststroke or something. The guy behind me tapped me and passed after about 4 or 5 lengths, which was fine. All three of the guys were at least a half a length ahead of me at one point. Then all of a sudden, I was caught up. And they were all right in a row, too. I repassed the guy who had passed me, and then spent three or four lengths trying to pass the next guy. By this point, there were about 4 lengths left to go, and I couldn't get around the guy in the lead. I tapped his foot *several* times, and even asked at the wall at least three times to "pass, please" and he wasn't paying any attention. I was irritated. It wasn't that it was slowing me down that annoyed me so much (it probably amounted to maybe 30 seconds or so overall, big deal) but it was that I wasn't able to swim a comfortable, correct stroke since I kept running into the guy in front of me. I felt like I was flailing around.
We all ended up finishing at the same time and running up to transition together, where I got a little snippy and the lead guy apologized and played dumb. Whether he was dumb or not, I'm not sure. It may have been his first tri, but regardless, it was in all the information that if you get tapped on the foot, you're supposed to let the person pass you at the turn. (For the record, I did apologize after the race for getting snippy and explained that it wasn't the delay that made me mad, it was the fact that I couldn't SWIM.)
Anyways...onto transition. We were all on the same rack, and seriously crammed in, but I felt like I had a good transition. My feet were still surprisingly wet considering the long run up to transition, and I don't think I had enough baby powder in my socks, but other than that, it was nice and smooth. I had trouble getting out of transition on the slight hill since I hadn't checked my gearing and it was a bit too hard, but immediately out of transition you go down a nice hill, and I was flying! The bike course was tough, but fun. Most of the first mile is downhill, then two and three are almost entirely uphill, then a few more ups and downs until mile six (two loop course) is a fun, fast downhill with a really fun curve. I felt pretty good about my ride. I didn't crash my borrowed, very expensive bike!
My legs felt pretty tired, but I still think I put a good effort out. I got passed a few times, but not by any girls (first time ever!) and no guys on mountain bikes, either! My friend was volunteering and she was at the bike aid station. I was so annoyed because she completely missed me the first time I went through even though I waved at her and yelled her name. So on the second loop, I yelled LOUDLY "Dammit, McDowell, cheer for me!" She did.
I had a pretty good T2, although not as good as T1. I got my shoes off before the dismount line without slowing down or killing myself.
And then out on the run. Which was really, really hard. My legs just felt dead. And more so than the typical bike to run dead. Which is weird, since I didn't do anything yesterday, and only swam on Thursday. I wouldn't think they'd still be THAT dead from Wednesday morning's track workout!
The run course is tough. The first half mile is downhill, then it flattens out and then there's a slow gradual uphill to the turnaround. It really really sucks that the last half mile is uphill. I was kind of hoping to be close to 9 minute pace for the run, but it wasn't happening today. I revised that after the first mile to hoping for 9:30, but would be happy to be under 10.
My Garmin says 9:34, but the unofficial results I saw had me at 9:22. Not bad, but not great, considering that's the same pace I ran the Bolder Boulder at, and that's double the distance.
So, it was a good race, although not fantastic. It was kind of weird, I felt really alone for most of the race. There just wasn't as much traffic out on the course as there typically is. Last year, I ran with another girl for about 1/2 of the 5k, which was nice. Even though we didn't really talk, it was good to have the silent company, kwim? The race just seemed much more spread out this year. Oh, well!
Next up for me is the Danskin/SheRox Women's tri at the end of the month, with Robyn and ShannonD!
This morning I did the HRCA Tune-Up Sprint Tri. 500 yd pool swim, 12 mile bike course, 5k run. It went pretty well! Overall, I'm happy with my time. It's about the same as last year, I think. My run was a bit slower, but my bike was a bit faster to make up for it. They don't have the official results up online yet, but I finished in 1:29:something. We had absolutely perfect weather. It was a bit cooler this year, but I also started about 45 minutes later, which meant that it was warm enough on the bike course that my feet didn't go numb, but still wasn't blazing hot on the run.
The swim was a big mess, unfortunately. Last year, it was very specific about what lane you were assigned to and at what time. This year was supposed to be the same, but when I got down to the pool, everyone was just standing in a big line. At first they were saying that it was just wait in the line and when you get to the front, you go. Then a few minutes later they walked through and said no, wait...line up by bib number.
Anyways...onto transition. We were all on the same rack, and seriously crammed in, but I felt like I had a good transition. My feet were still surprisingly wet considering the long run up to transition, and I don't think I had enough baby powder in my socks, but other than that, it was nice and smooth. I had trouble getting out of transition on the slight hill since I hadn't checked my gearing and it was a bit too hard, but immediately out of transition you go down a nice hill, and I was flying! The bike course was tough, but fun. Most of the first mile is downhill, then two and three are almost entirely uphill, then a few more ups and downs until mile six (two loop course) is a fun, fast downhill with a really fun curve. I felt pretty good about my ride. I didn't crash my borrowed, very expensive bike!
I had a pretty good T2, although not as good as T1. I got my shoes off before the dismount line without slowing down or killing myself.
So, it was a good race, although not fantastic. It was kind of weird, I felt really alone for most of the race. There just wasn't as much traffic out on the course as there typically is. Last year, I ran with another girl for about 1/2 of the 5k, which was nice. Even though we didn't really talk, it was good to have the silent company, kwim? The race just seemed much more spread out this year. Oh, well!
Next up for me is the Danskin/SheRox Women's tri at the end of the month, with Robyn and ShannonD!
