And Post-Race...with my clean bike!
I'm back!! First race in 2 years and I'm as hooked as ever...had a great race at Seafair today! Sprint triathlons hurt...all that scoffing I did about short distance races in the past few years bit me squarely in the butt.
I am dog sitting again this weekend, so I was up at 4:30 a.m...after locking myself out of the house at 4:42 a.m. (thank god and/or detail oriented homeowners or both for spare hidden keys that saved my bacon after I yelled, "NOOOOO!" and the dogs were like, "dude, it's 4:42 a.m. what are we doing in the damn garage anyway?"), I busted it to go home to eat and grab my stuff. I was so amped that caffeine was barely necessary...I tried out my new tires and tuned up bike briefly on my block before loading it in the car and got even more psyched...felt and looked like a new ride. Sa-weet!
Got down to Seward Park with plenty of time and set things up...met a great 62 year old woman in the Porto line who started doing triathlons last year at this race. She was super cute and mentioned that last year there were only 5 women in her age group...Note to self: take care of injuries, continue to age up, and someday I will win my age group (although, crap, I looked up her results and there were 8 in her age group this year, my strategy is already being practiced, I may have to race till I'm 102...).
I tried to keep a lot of clothes on and stay warm...it was cloudy and in the 50s and I was in the 10th wave, so it was the usual hurry up and wait. I found my friend, Robin who was racing and her boyfriend, Kevin. He took our bags so I could keep my sweatshirt on as long as possible and he got a couple of pre-race photos.
Being in the 10th age group wave also meant that the elites were already off their bikes before I started swimming...hate that...
Swim: Finally...in the water...wore the sleeveless wetsuit and kept my arms out of the water as long as possible while we waited for the start. Brr. I took a position right at the front of my wave as I decided I was no messin' today, especially on the swim. I pretty much uncorked when the swim started and went right off the front. I have never gone totally off the front sprinting like that...I kept thinking, "that may have been a little ambitious, but maybe I can hold the lead till the next buoy..." then the next, then the next...pretty soon I was rounding the last buoy and running over people from the previous wave (seriously, someone doing backstroke perpindicular to the course? I almost T-boned them...NO MESSIN') and thinking, that hell, I'm gonna go #1 in my age group, there are no other green caps around me...COOL! Swim time: 12:30. Started the old mental mantra, "calm and efficient" in the final stretch to prep for T1. Lotta good that did...
T1: Um, I'm rusty. I began a day of poor triathlon ettiquitte and making my row look like a bad yard sale. Got myself out of there, neither gracefully nor as quickly as I shoulda...2:13.
Bike: Brrr. Dude, it was COLD out there. Tried to push it and stayed in the aerobars most of the ride. I was happy that I knew the course and where we'd go up onto the I-90 Express lanes, etc. (where it was even colder, augh). I got passed by 2 women in my age group on the bridge...which is predictable and sucks...went into the tunnel where it was a bit warmer...NICE...but then had to come back out and freeze again. I tried to push it...wondered if I should be going harder, but really I don't think I could have. One more chick from my age group passed me on Lk. Wa Blvd...dammit...down to 4th. Didn't worry much about nutrition, just drank about 2/3 of a bottle of gatorade on the bike. I was SO looking forward to running and getting warm. Bike time was good for me, despite it being my weak link: 38:06 (Avg. 18.9 mph).
T2: Did I mention I'm rusty? This one was better, but I added to my yard sale...1:30
Run: I could not feel the bottoms of my feet until the last half mile...seriously, running on stumps. The run wasn't easy...I wanted to push more on the first mile, but knew that hill was coming...another member of my age group dropped me hauling butt through the park...(down to 5th, crap, hang on...the goal was top 10 with a fantasy goal of podium). I thought about chasing, but she was really fast and I decided to just stay with my own race and not blow up, I mean I wasn't exactly sucking on this race.... When I got to the hill, I was happy I'd done some homework and had run that exact hill 3 days ago on my tempo run. A LOT of people were walking it (don't even ask, hell no I didn't). Coming back down was nice (though my quads may not agree tomorrow), as it helped to bring down the heart rate a little before the last push. I passed a lot of people throughout the run---younger people, I might add---and felt really good about it. My running has definitely improved, but I was just a tiny bit short of goal pace on this: 24:56 (Avg. 8:02 min mile).
My race support fan (the bike racer and tuner-upper!) was at the end which was GREAT...we went out for breakfast and I ate a lot more food than a less-than-90 minute workout should warrant, but I was dang hungry and will need another feeding later, for sure...Hm, how is it I'm eating as much as when I did half irons...hope I can really get away with this trend!
And now, at 3:00 p.m....out comes the sun. Friggin' tease. But I had a great day and I guess my race conditions may have been better than those my friend in NYC had today for her Olympic Tri...
Total results:
Swim 12:30
T1: 2:13
Bike: 38:06
T2: 1:30
Run: 24:56
Total 1:19:16
5th/59 in age group
225th/1104 overall
I am dog sitting again this weekend, so I was up at 4:30 a.m...after locking myself out of the house at 4:42 a.m. (thank god and/or detail oriented homeowners or both for spare hidden keys that saved my bacon after I yelled, "NOOOOO!" and the dogs were like, "dude, it's 4:42 a.m. what are we doing in the damn garage anyway?"), I busted it to go home to eat and grab my stuff. I was so amped that caffeine was barely necessary...I tried out my new tires and tuned up bike briefly on my block before loading it in the car and got even more psyched...felt and looked like a new ride. Sa-weet!
Got down to Seward Park with plenty of time and set things up...met a great 62 year old woman in the Porto line who started doing triathlons last year at this race. She was super cute and mentioned that last year there were only 5 women in her age group...Note to self: take care of injuries, continue to age up, and someday I will win my age group (although, crap, I looked up her results and there were 8 in her age group this year, my strategy is already being practiced, I may have to race till I'm 102...).
I tried to keep a lot of clothes on and stay warm...it was cloudy and in the 50s and I was in the 10th wave, so it was the usual hurry up and wait. I found my friend, Robin who was racing and her boyfriend, Kevin. He took our bags so I could keep my sweatshirt on as long as possible and he got a couple of pre-race photos.
Being in the 10th age group wave also meant that the elites were already off their bikes before I started swimming...hate that...
Swim: Finally...in the water...wore the sleeveless wetsuit and kept my arms out of the water as long as possible while we waited for the start. Brr. I took a position right at the front of my wave as I decided I was no messin' today, especially on the swim. I pretty much uncorked when the swim started and went right off the front. I have never gone totally off the front sprinting like that...I kept thinking, "that may have been a little ambitious, but maybe I can hold the lead till the next buoy..." then the next, then the next...pretty soon I was rounding the last buoy and running over people from the previous wave (seriously, someone doing backstroke perpindicular to the course? I almost T-boned them...NO MESSIN') and thinking, that hell, I'm gonna go #1 in my age group, there are no other green caps around me...COOL! Swim time: 12:30. Started the old mental mantra, "calm and efficient" in the final stretch to prep for T1. Lotta good that did...
T1: Um, I'm rusty. I began a day of poor triathlon ettiquitte and making my row look like a bad yard sale. Got myself out of there, neither gracefully nor as quickly as I shoulda...2:13.
Bike: Brrr. Dude, it was COLD out there. Tried to push it and stayed in the aerobars most of the ride. I was happy that I knew the course and where we'd go up onto the I-90 Express lanes, etc. (where it was even colder, augh). I got passed by 2 women in my age group on the bridge...which is predictable and sucks...went into the tunnel where it was a bit warmer...NICE...but then had to come back out and freeze again. I tried to push it...wondered if I should be going harder, but really I don't think I could have. One more chick from my age group passed me on Lk. Wa Blvd...dammit...down to 4th. Didn't worry much about nutrition, just drank about 2/3 of a bottle of gatorade on the bike. I was SO looking forward to running and getting warm. Bike time was good for me, despite it being my weak link: 38:06 (Avg. 18.9 mph).
T2: Did I mention I'm rusty? This one was better, but I added to my yard sale...1:30
Run: I could not feel the bottoms of my feet until the last half mile...seriously, running on stumps. The run wasn't easy...I wanted to push more on the first mile, but knew that hill was coming...another member of my age group dropped me hauling butt through the park...(down to 5th, crap, hang on...the goal was top 10 with a fantasy goal of podium). I thought about chasing, but she was really fast and I decided to just stay with my own race and not blow up, I mean I wasn't exactly sucking on this race.... When I got to the hill, I was happy I'd done some homework and had run that exact hill 3 days ago on my tempo run. A LOT of people were walking it (don't even ask, hell no I didn't). Coming back down was nice (though my quads may not agree tomorrow), as it helped to bring down the heart rate a little before the last push. I passed a lot of people throughout the run---younger people, I might add---and felt really good about it. My running has definitely improved, but I was just a tiny bit short of goal pace on this: 24:56 (Avg. 8:02 min mile).
My race support fan (the bike racer and tuner-upper!) was at the end which was GREAT...we went out for breakfast and I ate a lot more food than a less-than-90 minute workout should warrant, but I was dang hungry and will need another feeding later, for sure...Hm, how is it I'm eating as much as when I did half irons...hope I can really get away with this trend!
And now, at 3:00 p.m....out comes the sun. Friggin' tease. But I had a great day and I guess my race conditions may have been better than those my friend in NYC had today for her Olympic Tri...
Total results:
Swim 12:30
T1: 2:13
Bike: 38:06
T2: 1:30
Run: 24:56
Total 1:19:16
5th/59 in age group
225th/1104 overall
1 comment:
Congratulations!!! Wow, you kicked some serious ass - 5th in your age group?!? So impressed and so very very very proud to be your virtual fan yesterday. Enjoy your very well earned recovery.
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