TriWaco Race Report

Results : Chip Time 1:33:21
400 M Swim  10:53, Pace 2:43/m
t1 3:03
20 k  bike 43:03 Pace 17.4 mph
3.45 mile run 34:23 Pace 10:07 M * ( My Garmin shows a 9:50 M pace)

The highlight of this race was meeting up for the dinner the night before with other Tri4Him members from Houston, DFW and Austin.  This race had been been chosen as a regional challenge between the area groups, and we were competing for the coveted "Golden Shoe" trophy.  We all met at the hotel restaraunt for a pre race dinner and fellowship on Saturday evening. It was great to catch up with the members of the Houston group we had met in Kemah, as well as get aquainted with some new friends too.  It was amazing to see us fill the entire restaraunt, and the next morning to see so many Tri4Him kits out on the course. I'm truly blessed to be  part of such a great team.
   Race morning started early, but I felt more relaxed about the race than usual. We could literally roll out of bed to transition. We were able to go down and set up transition, then return to our hotel room for breakfast and to cool off in the A/C for a little while before the pre race meeting. The most important part of the meeting was Jack reminding everyone to stay hydrated and he cautioned us to be careful in the heat. Something I should have been more mindful of, especially since I had been battling some type of stomach bug since Thursday.
   The swim was a wave start, but the starting buoy this time was beyond where I could touch the river bottom.  I didn't want to add time to my swim by waiting near the shore, so I swam out to the front of the wave and treaded water until the horn sounded. The swim was set up as a square, each corner was a yellow turn bouy that were 100 meters apart. In between those was an orange one that was 50 meters from the corners. I was able to get into a pretty good rythm and being able to tell how far I was at each of the buoys helped spur me along. It felt like it didn't take any time at all to get to the halfway mark, and then I made the last turn, and swam parallel to the shore to the finish. As I was swimming  towards the finish, I saw Cindy, from the Houston Tri4Him team, running up towards transition, which inspired to push a little harder to the finish. The water was hot, and I was sweating when I clambered out of the water, but I was happy to see I had shaved 1:10 off my previous OWS time.
  We had to run up a long ramp to get back to transition, so I wasn't too shocked to see a  longer transition time for T1. I did the usual, race skirt, shoes, sunglasses, helmet, and out. The bike course felt pretty flat, and I felt as though I pushed hard for most of it.  We rode for the most part on the shoulder, and I noticed several people stopped to fix flat tires during the race.  They had swept it the day before, but I guess overnight some broken glass had accumulated. I was glad to see George starting his bike ride as I was heading in. I always feel more at ease when I know he's exited the water safely.  I had a hard time with the gel caps, they were melty and sticky, and felt like a gooey blob in my mouth. It certainly didn't help that as I was about to eat my last one I noticed a dead, stinking, armadillo on the roadside.  I had two water bottles with me on my bike, one filled with water and one filled with Nuun. By the end of the bike portion, I had only consumed about 1/4 of the Nuun bottle.  I wasn't feeling my best, and didn't stop to think that I should have been taking in much more fluid during this race. My husband marks his bottles and gives himself a 12 minute timer to remind himself drink to each mark.  I definitely need to do this on my next race.  And I'm ditching the gel caps. I'm going to try hydrating with Heed while I ride.( Maybe I"ll keep a few sport beans in my bag too. )
     After I dismounted my bike and started to run into T2, I dropped my bike, twice. I really don't know how it happened, but it was probably a clue that I was starting to dehydrate and feeling unsteady.  I remember feeling like the sun was just beating down on my when I was putting on my running shoes.  Before I finished the first mile, one of my calves started to cramp up.  I saw my running speed steadily decrease, my legs felt heavy and I was nauseous. By the time I came to the split where the sprint course turns and heads up the ramp to the first bridge, both of my calves were cramping. There was an aid station, and I sipped a bit of water before dumping it on my head to cool off.   My brain just wasn't working, I should have stopped to drink some Gatorade at this point, and the calf cramps should have been a clue that I was dehydrated. But all I could think of was cooling off.  I ran slowly up to the bridge and after I crossed it we were no longer running in the shade.  I felt unbearably hot, and continued to slow down. Just then a guy passed me wearing a shirt that said "Quitting is not an option". I focused on that saying and followed that shirt for the rest of the race.   I knew that this race wasn't going to be a PR, and so I focused on just maintaing a comfortable pace to finish the last 2 miles.   It felt like an eternity, and all I could think about was heading up to shower in the air conditioned hotel room when I finished.   We had to run up one more ramp so we could cross the bridge towards the finish line. The distance of this run was actually 3.45 miles instead of the usual 3.1, and for some reason that little bit of extra distance seemed to take so much longer. And looking at my splits, I had slowed to runing at an 11 minute pace for the final .45 mile. As I crossed the finish line, I could barely muster the energy to raise my arms, and certainly wasn't smiling.



I gratefully recieved my finisher medal, took in as much fluid as possible and headed up to the hotel for a cold shower.  After I cooled down, I went back down to the race area to check in on George. He was just coming in to transition from the bike and beginning his run.  I knew his time seemed way to slow for his usual bike pace, and found out later he had flatted on the course.   I watched him cross the finish line about an hour later, and knew he had a tougher race than I did. It seemed as though much of my team had suffered during this race, it was just too hot. 
    I think I was pretty lucky that I didn't suffer from heat exhaustion  during this race. I had tried to hydrate well in the days preceding the race, but my stomach issue had probably left me in a little bit of a deficiet as far as keeping fluids down.  Being sick right before the race made me weaker, and once I got out to race in the heat, my thinking wasn't as clear as it should have been.  I felt pretty awful by the end of the race.  It's been an unusually hot summer, and I'm not planning on racing in August.  Triathlon has been a fun hobby for me, and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't see any reason to suffer through another race in this type of heat.  But, I'll still be training for my next race in October. Hopfully by then mother nature will have brought back some more reasonable temperatures.

TriWaco Goals

Goals for Sunday's race:
400 M Swim :  My last race showed my slowest swim. I've been working all season on becoming more comfortable with open water swimming. Now that I'm comfortable in the open water, I want to be faster, which given my previous swim times shouldn't be too hard to do. I certainly don't think I could get slower unless I just stop and float on my back.  I've been working on kicking a little more which seems to help me swim a little faster, and get into a better rhythm. I have strong legs, and need to use that as an advantage when I'm swimming. My goal here is under 10 minutes, which will be a challenge for me to achieve.
20 K Bike: I raced at 18.5 mph last month, and 17.0 mph in May. The difference between the two races was that the second course was flatter and faster than the TriRock.  I'll set my goal here for somewhere between the two. 17.5 mph. ( about 43 minutes)
3.45 mile Run: As the weather gets hotter, my run times seem to become increasing slower. The run course is a little longer than  the usual 3.1 m which means I'm going to have to push a little harder to keep my pace towards the end.  My goal pace here is about 9:10 minutes per mile, around 31 minutes to complete the run.
I can't wait to race with my Tri4Him teammates from all over Texas, and am really looking forward to the pre race dinner we will all share together. What I'm looking forward to the most is crossing the finish line, and then watching my husband cross the finish line. Afterward, we both plan some well deserved rest and relaxation.

Sticking with the Sprint

Originally, when I planned out my 2011 racing season, I was going wrap up this season by competing in an Olympic distance race. It seemed like a natural progression to work up to racing in a longer race, and I still look forward to completing this challenge. But, not this year.  Several things have changed for me this racing season, and for now I have decided for this year to stick with the sprint. I need more time to concentrate on career and family this year, which means less time training.
      I'll be starting a new position next fall, as a PE coach.  This is going to be a fun, but drastic change from teaching in regular classroom.   This means I'll be teaching 400 kids a week, and I'll need time to prepare lessons, games and activities for them.  After school, I'll still be coaching my running club, and my fellow coach and I have planned more races and events for our runners this year. And I'll be in charge of field day, which will take a ton of planning in order to make it a successful event.  So, I'll still be pretty active, but just not as much swimming and biking as orginally planned.
     My family is my first priority, and I want to enjoy more time time with them this summer, as well as completing some big family projects. I'm lucky to have time off  to spend with my kids,  but while they are home, I'm less likely to be able to get outside for a long bike ride or a long run. It's simpler to hop on the trainer for a short ride during their nap time, or head to the Y for a short run on the treadmill.   With my husband competing in Olympic races, I have been able to see firsthand the amount of time needed each week for training. And right now it doesn't make sense for us both to spend that amount of time in training.   With small children,  we have to take turns  training for those long rides and runs.  That means more time apart from each other. If my husband is going on a 3 hour bike ride on a Sunday, then I'm not likely to want to head out for my own 3 hour ride as soon as he gets back.  It make more sense for me to get in a shorter ride so I can spend more time with both my kids and husband.  And with one of my kids having minor surgery this month, I'll need to spend more time at home helping him recover.
     It's all about balance for me. I need to balance the amount of time I spend training with the amount of time needed to concentrate on the other areas of my life. And this year that balance means a little less time focused on triathlon.  That doesn't mean less effort in my training.   I still plan to put in my best effort training at a shorter distance. I think that by spending another season concentrating on the sprint distance I will be able to improve my performance.  In the long run it will make me a better athlete. For me, it makes sense to concentrate on the type of race where I can perform well. I've been on the podium once this season, and I'd like to get there again.  I want to train hard and smart this year.     
     Smart training means avoiding injury.  I trained for the White Rock Marathon in 2009, and ended that season be having surgery instead of competing in the marathon. In 2010, I pushed too hard and fast while trying barefoot running training for the White Rock half marathon. That season ended in injury, a very uncomfortable boot, and a lot of rehab.   It's important for me finish this season healthy and injury free.  Shorter distance training makes the most sense for me from that standpoint. 
     The 2011 racing season has been great so far. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season, starting my new job, and most importantly, all of the great things in store for my family. 

2011 Metroplex Sprint Tri Race Report

Results:

400 M Swim =Time: 12:19,  Pace 3:05 M

T1 1:40

11 Mile Bike=35:36, Pace 18.5 mph

T2 0:56

2 Mile Run = 17:54, Pace 8:57

Total time : 1 hour 8 minutes

Age group : Second Place

Swim: George and I took a few minutes to warm up in the lake after setting up transition.  I got in, put my face in the water and blew  a few bubbles, then started my warm up swim. It was a little chilly getting back out of the water ( note for next race, keep an extra towel in transition bag), but it keep me from being afraid going in to the start.  George and I were in the same wave, which was the first to start. So I didn't have the usual waiting around time to let my nerves get the best of me. We lined up at the chute, George gave me a quick kiss, squeezed my hand and we walked down to the water. He lined up at the front, and I positioned myself in the middle.  The horn sounded and the wave took off.  We were facing the sun until the first turn buoy, so sighting was a little difficult.  Once we turned, we were going into the wind, and the water was pretty choppy.  I passed a lady who stopped at the turn buoy, and then I saw the kayak head towards her and fish her out of the water. I tried to pick up my pace at each buoy, and felt like I was moving along pretty well.   At the last turn bouy, I was again facing the sun, and there was one other swimmer along side me, breastroking, at the same pace as my freestyle. I pulled ahead of him just enough to beat him out of the water.  I looked at my watch when I hit the mat, and was dissapointed to see that it had taken me 12 minutes to complete the swim.  I thought surely I had been faster. This was my slowest swim of any race. I wasn't wearing a wetsuit this time, however, I don't think it should contribute to my swimming that much slower.( Especially since I had such a terrible time with the swim at Kemah.) But, I had made it through an open water swim comfortably without panicking, and that was my main goal for this race. 

T1: Saw George's bike was gone, so I knew he'd had a safe swim. Got my gear on as quickly as possible and raced out to start the bike.

Bike:  As soon as I mounted my bike and turned onto the course I encountered two obliviots who were completely blocking me. The were riding side by side discussing their bikes and the race.  I was trying to figure out how to get around them, when I heard the sound of disc wheels coming up behind me pretty fast. He blew past them, cutting pretty close to the one on the outside, and she quickly moved her bike over to the right.  I passed them, and sped up. They would be the only people I would pass during the race. I got passed by my the guy from the end of the swim, but I stayed pretty close behind him for the next 10 miles. I pushed myself as hard as I could during the bike, but I kept feeling like I was going faster than what my Garmin was telling me.   After the turnaround, I was heading into the wind, and saw my speed keep dropping. I was getting frustrated, because I hate the wind with a passion, and I thought that racing in the summer would mean no wind.  I was frustrated that I wasn't going to meet my goal for the bike, and thought I had set it too high. ( But, I would rather set a higher goal and fall short, knowing I pushed myself hard to try and get there. I don't want to just set a goal I know I can easily achieve just so I can say I did it.) I got passed by one person in my age group, and had no idea where the rest of my competition was.  As I was nearing the finish, I took my Garmin off my bike and onto my arm in preparation for my run. I accidentally turned it off, then I had to turn it back on and change the mode for my run. I had no idea how fast I was going, so I just pedalled as hard as I could.

T2: The usual, change shoes, throw on hat, get out fast.

Run: this was the hardest part of the race for me. I was sucking wind for the first mile. It was hot, and I was tired from pushing hard on the bike. I passed the guy I had been trailing on the bike, and he just stopped and walked. I saw George heading in for his last half mile, and I was inspired to try and speed up a little. I ran through the aid station and almost ran over a volunteer who had decided now was a good time to be all over the course to pick up cups. When I first saw the aid station I mistook it for the turnaround, but looked at my Garmin and realized I had only run 1/2 a mile. I knew then it would be a much tougher run than I had anticipated. I tried to enjoy the tiny bit of shade and view of the lake that followed but as soon as I was back in the sun I started to feel defeated. That's when the little devil on my shoulder showed up and started to convince me that maybe I could just slow down, or even walk the rest. It was hot, humid,  I was in the sun, and I was exhausted.  Then I saw a woman in my age group, and decided I could run just a little faster to pass her before the turnaround. Then just a few yards ahead of me, I saw another woman in my age group. I ran faster again, and passed her. Each time I heard footfalls behind me, I pushed just a little bit more hoping neither of the women I had passed would catch up to me. I rounded the turn and saw the clock, and knew I would make my time goal. Relief was in sight, and for once, there are actual pictures of me smiling as I ran it in to the finish.

Post Race:  I drank as much water as I could and tried to cool down. Then Jack brought out some frozen watermelon. This was by far the best post race refreshment I've had. When I checked the results and knew I had placed well enough to get an award, I was pretty excited. I felt so proud when Jack called my name and I went up to recieve my medal. What I love about Ironhead races is that you don't get handed a medal just for finishing the race. You have to earn one by placing. It was the first race medal that I had actually won, I wasn't just given it for completing the race.

Final Notes: Now that I've reached a level of comfort in the water, my next swim goal is to speed up and race the swim a little harder.  This swim was slower for everyone because of the wind and rougher water, but I know I can do better.I would like for my swims to get faster with each race, not slower. I was pleaseantly surprised to see my bike pace ended up being faster than my goal. I think I've said this before, but my Garmin usually usually displays a slower mph during a race than what ends up being my official average pace.  It certainly explains why I felt like I was going faster than what the Garmin displayed.   I still have a lot of work ahead of me to get faster, but I'm pleased with the results so far.  I really underestimated how hard a two mile run could be. I knew to expect slower pace time because of the heat, but only running two miles threw me off. It usually takes me the first mile to compose myself and get my breathing under control from coming off the bike. The second mile is where I start to find a good rythm, and the third mile is when I can try to push just a little faster to get to the finish. So only having two miles to run, I had a harder time finding and keeping a good pace. This was the slowest run I've had this season. And the heat really got to me. It made me feel sluggish and slow the whole run.

What I loved about this race was my husband and I were #73 and #74.  We got to rack our bikes next to each other, and set up transition side by side. It was was more fun than setting up alone next to strangers, and our banter and laughter kept me feeling at ease prior to the race. It was great to start the swim wave together too, even though I knew he would be much farther ahead of me, there was something about knowing he was in the water with me that kept me feeling calm. It was amazing to be able to share the experience with him. I wouldn't want it any other way.

This was a good race, and though it was a shorter distance, it was still a challange.  I'm proud of my accomplishment, and look forward to getting stronger and faster.

Metroplex Sprint Tri Goals

I can't believe it's already race week, and that I'm about to compete in my third tri of the season. This next race isn't an "A" race for me.  My main motivation for participating in this race is to get more experience racing with an OWS.  This is more of a preparation for TriWaco in July. The entire race is a little shorter, 400 m swim 11 mile bike, and 2 mile run. Now that doesn't mean I plan on taking it easy and getting in some sightseeing at Lynn Creek Park during the race. I still plan to race hard and give it my best effort.  But my main focus will be the swim.  
Swim Goal :I would like this to be the first open water race where I don't panic during the swim.  I think we'll be allowed to warm up in the lake before we start, which should help me feel more comfortable. I know how fast I can swim in my time trial at the pool, and yet every race is much slower than that.  I have yet to hit my swim goal time in a race. I haven't had as much time training at the lake as I would like, but the last OWS went very well, and I felt perfectly comfortable in the murky water. I'm setting the goal here at 9 minutes. 
Bike: This is a flat, fast course.  Plus the 25 mph winds have finally died down now that spring has come and gone. The goal here is to maintain 18 mph or greater average speed and come in under 37 minutes.
Run: Again, I think it's a fast flat course, and being only 2 miles, I should be able to push it a little harder than in May, but it's going to be the first really hot race of the season, and my training times have slowed as the temperature has risen. The goal here is 8:40 pace, which would put me finishing the run in 17:20.
Add in time for transitions, and my goal is to finish in under 1 hour 10 minutes.

Why I Love Being Married to a Triathlete

My husband got bitten by the triathlon bug first. I spent a summer learning how to be a good tri spectator while entertaining our two small children in between T1, T2 and the finish line. Our new office furniture was a road bike and trainer. There seemed to be and endless array of soggy tech shirts, running shorts, bike shorts and swim trunks needing to be washed.  I was always tripping over cycling and running shoes laying on the floor.  And there was this giant Triathlon book that was always needing to be moved when I needed to dust. Somewhere during his off season he encouraged me to get involved in triathlon. Now, our parents are the ones entertaining the kids while we race. There are two bikes, and they've been moved to the garage "fitness center".  I have double the amount of soggy workout clothes that need to be washed, and I find myself tripping over his shoes and mine.  The giant book is now mine, and gets consulted pretty often.  Date nights now involve a bike ride or open water swim.  We spend our evenings discussing race strategies, or sharing training tips, and planning out the conversion of our garage to a usuable workout space.  We  share the bike rack, the bike pump ( though on occasion it's been in his car when I've needed it), and the bike trainer.  We share our triumphs and setbacks, and love of multisport. I love walking into transition together, and having someone to share the pre race jitters with when we're all set up.  Watching him swim before me calms my nerves, and passing each other on the bike and run encourages me to go just a little faster. And I look forward to running it in at the finish line knowing his smiling face will be there. 

Results vs. Goals

Today I start training for my next race. I've compared my results to my goals from Sunday's race, and used it as a guide for where I want to be in 4 weeks. 

Swim: Goal time was 6:40, Actual time 8:20.  I am determined to conquer the swim. I know it's not my strength, but surely I can strengthen my swim. I'm going to hit Master's class as much as I can between now and June 12, and practice more open water swimming in the lake. I have to get past being freaked out in the water at every race, and I need to work on better more efficient form. 

Bike: Goal 17 mph. Actual 17 mph. I met my goal, now it's time to get in some long rides and improve my speed so I can set this goal higher for my next race.

Run: Goal 8:45 pace, actual 8:44 pace.  Happy to have done better than my goal, but I still want to get faster. 

Gear/Equipment:

It seems like suddenly everything needs to be replaced at once. Probably because I wait to replace things until after a race.

 Swim:  The speedo I have been training in is pretty much see through. The chlorine at the Y pool has slowly destroyed it over the last 5 months.  I replaced it yesterday with a Nike suit, that I'm sure will be worn out by the end of the summer. I'm thankful that I can pick up cheap suits for trainining at TJMaxx since I go through so many in a year.

Run: After getting blisters on my feet from racing in my Nikes at Kemah I switched back to the Kinvaras for Classic Rock.  The result was more blisters and a bruised toe. The Kinvaras are worn out. So I ordered a pair of K Swiss K Ona C's online today.  They get really good reviews online, are meant to be worn without socks, and have a draninage system so my feet should be less soggy at the end of a race. Plus Running Warehouse had some on sale for a very good price.

The next gear that will get replaced is my bag.  Hopefully once that's done I'll be set for gear and equipment. I'd rather focus on training than shopping.