Alright. Here it is. First triathlon race report of the season. Wow. Did you know that I love racing triathlons? Truth is: I used to not like it very much. Now I do! Racing breaks up the monotony of training and I am enjoying tapering and recovering more these days. I must be getting old...
I was still not feeling well on Friday but (like I said in the last post) I was really looking forward to getting away for 24 hours - racing or no racing. The 3.5 hour drive went by super quick thanks to my friend Karen who happens to be awesome. We had lots to chat about and I got a much-needed dose of adult conversation.
Packet pick-up was rather uneventful. Except for a big 31 on my left calf. I am getting old... No long-lost friends to catch up with and not many Utah peeps. Instead, I found plenty of questions to ask the race director and visited the PowerTri booth. Coach and I talked about switching to the Olympic distance race but I decided no to. It is pretty crazy what a big drop in elevation can do. Flagstaff is at 7,000 ft and Lake Mead at 1,200 ft. That is almost 6,000 ft lower! I still was not feeling great but definitely a lot better.
Back at the hotel I had another lovely chat with Coach M, and even Coach H had a few words of wisdom. I have not talked to Heath in a while, so it was a real treat. I love HT training! My teammate Tony also came over, brought by the awesome new tri kit (pics to follow) and wanted to talk "race strategy". The problem is that Tony loves numbers and I don't, so I was not much help. At all. The only number I could give him was 6. I told him to be at the start at 6 am, so he would have enough time to be ready for his 7:30 start. That crazy kid was going to leave the hotel at 6:30. I hope this was a helpful tip. Other than that I told him not to worry about numbers since this was going to be a very hilly and thus slow race. He ended up having a great race and I am very excited for him and his future in triathlon.
Speaking of numbers: I was supposed to put the Garmin on the bike and then run with it. I told Coach M right away that I did not want to run with it. I was expecting a slow run and was not interested in knowing how slow I was trudging along. I could not figure out where to put the Garmin on the bike thanks to the broken speedometer that would not budge. So no numbers here either. I did not mind. I really like to racing according to feel. That is what I've always been doing and it seems to work well for me. But now I feel bad because I have nothing for coach or me to analyze. I promise to do better next time!
I'd better start talking about the actual race or this will turn into another novel of mine:
Swim - 32:08
I was loving every minute of that beautiful, early morning, open water swim with the sunrise in the background. I have not swum in a lake since my last race back in August and I've missed it. The start was nice and mellow. Just a bunch of nice gals having fun. Just the way I like it. There always seemed to be a few pink caps ahead of me, but I was not worried. It's the start of a long day and I did not know what my body would have in store for me. Not only was it my first race in 8 months but I had also never started a season with a half-ironman before.
T1 - 1:33
For the first time ever I took full advantage of the wetsuit-stripper and loved it. So much faster and way less hassle. I am not sure why I've always thought it would be better to do it myself... Upon reaching the bike rack I realize that the bike is still there. The bike belongs to Marilyn McDonald, professional triathlete and wife of none-other than Chris McDonald! I knew she would be at the race and, although I did not know what she looks like, you can pretty much always spot the pro. And I beat her out of the water! Yay! (I'm excited to report that my swim was 1:30 faster than hers and my T1 1:00 faster.)
Bike - 2:53:07 (avg 19.4 mph)
If you think my bike time is slow, you are right. Yet, I am pretty happy with it. Here is why:
That is 6136 ft elevation change. And, as you can easily tell, it was never flat. That said, I am pretty much in love with the bike course. I had a blast out there! The roads were incredibly smooth and the winds negligible. Two things we don't get to enjoy in Flagstaff very much. I get easily bored and distracted when it is too flat - not here! Plenty of nice uphills to keep me entertained and the downhills were perfect... Come to think of it, I don't think I ever applied my brakes until coming into T2. There are definite advantages to riding in the desert!
Miss Professional flew by me somewhere around mile 20. Woosh. I had fun watching her disappear in the distance. I stuck to my mantra for the bike which was: Nice and steady. At times I had to reel myself in since I did not want to blow up on the run. Marilyn then proceeded to smash my bike split by 10 minutes. Oops.
T2 - 1:28
I should mention that transition was super narrow and about a 1/2 mile long and I was assigned a spot at the very bottom. Bike exit/entry was at the very top. Hence the slow time. I also want to point out that I have decided for myself that doing the whole clip-your-shoes-into-the-bike-beforehand-run-barefoot-hop-on-then-put-your-feet-in-the-shoes looks really cool but is not faster. Trust me. Unless you are racing ITU. Which we are not.
Run - 1:41:44 (7:46 pace)
I am pleased with my time considering the course and my little mishap. According to the race website: This course is sick! Nothing like it!
I was feeling surprisingly good. Excited to see Tony and Karen finish their races strong. Well, to be honest, Tony was looking a little too fresh and so I yelled: You can run faster than that! Pick it up! Poor guy. Sorry, Tony! Just trying to help...
The first half of the out-and-back was on a nice paved trail, the second half on pretty smooth dirt. We also got to run through 4 or 5 pretty long and refreshingly cool tunnels. It was hot out there. Every time I hit an aid station I would pour several cups of cold water over my head and grab another 2 to drink. That's the way to stay somewhat cool and I don't think it cost me too much time.
The highlight of the run was definitely Big Sexy, aka Chris McDonald. (He definitely deserves his nickname.) I kept seeing him out there on the course with his fancy TT bike supporting his wife. After a few miles I realized that he was actually waiting for me, then he would speed ahead and give his wife splits! Wow! A multiple Ironman Champion hanging out to see if I was going to catch his wife? I must admit, I felt pretty cool... It was also nice to know that Marilyn must not be too far ahead. I was positive that I was never going to to actually pass her, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
I had told a good friend of mine that I was really worried about having to be in the pain cave for such a long time during this race and was not sure if I could physically and mentally handle it. Truth is, up to mile 7 on the run I still had not even entered it. So I decided to step it up a bit and embrace the suffering. That is also the point at which I started not feeling so great. But I guess that is the point of the pain cave... I took a gel, dumped more water on myself and tried to focus. Well, as it turns out, I focused a little much. I actually missed a turn on the last mile. I am assuming the volunteer had decided to take off early since there was no one at that intersection. I took a little 1/4 mile detour, freaked out, and got back on track. It did not really change much but it was extremely frustrating!
The last 1/3 mile I was stumbling all over the place. It was a very rocky and sandy trail at that point and I think I tripped 3 times. That makes me think that I did not leave much out there on the course and I am happy with that.
2nd place female overall in 5:09:58
5 minutes behind Marilyn. I will happily take. I did make up some time on the run but obviously not enough. Going off course sure did not help either...
Huge thanks to
HT training for getting me in better shape than I think I have ever been this early in the season. It is such a pleasure to work with you!
Karen for being such great company. Let's do this again soon!
PowerTri for being a great sponsor
BBSC for putting on an excellence race. I definitely recommend this one to everyone out there!
Karl for taking care of the kids and supporting the wife!
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