Soooooo...the last 3 weeks were pretty dang busy...work, dog sitting stuff, Storm games and lots of social stuff...lots of plates spinning. Obviously, I didn't blog anything about the recovery of the last race or anything resembling a race plan...and suddenly yesterday morning I was out there with a timing chip on my ankle again.
I appear to have a little black race weather cloud following me this summer...as usual, the weather was crap yesterday (today, of course, stellar). For the last few days, I was watching the forecast and, as predicted, it was raining when I got up at 4:40 a.m. AUUGGHHH...I must admit, that had I not paid for this race in advance and picked up my packet on Saturday, I likely would have bailed. I cut short 2 super fun social outings Saturday to get prepared (read: limit alcohol consumption and prioritize sleep) for this race, so it was more of a "have to" than a "want to" when I saw that drizzle. Fortunately, however, the race site was dry and it never rained on the actual race...
This race included a super sprint, a sprint, and an Olympic Tri...the Olympic was a the smallest with only about 140 racers. However, the other races had a few hundred and they were all starting later than us, but that seemed not to matter in the early competition for parking...I shoulda coulda woulda gotten up a little earlier to get a good space, but didn't and had to hike. Then...I went into the transition area and promptly racked my bike on the wrong rack. I was almost all nested into my little zone when I realized it and had to move to the rack where I was supposed to be...I was not loving the fact that I'd committed 2 rookie mistakes before the race even started. Oh, well...still had time to wander around and wait in the porto line.
Swim: Deep water start and the men's wave was 5 minutes ahead of ours...spint and super sprint a few minutes behind us. The lake was really warm and comfortable...as usual, the swim felt fast and fun. I was head to head with another person right away...we both were passing a lot of the men by the halfway buoy (love that)...and thought I dropped her...but then saw her again at the end out to my left. I thought I had a better angle to the finish, but she edged me out by about 6 seconds. I was probably 2 yards behind her as we hit the chip pad...dangit, I wanted to win the swim.
Swim time: 25:07
T1: Not too bad...though I did put my 2nd sock on upside down and thought that it might pay off later if I put the heel back under my foot...so that wasted a little time. Otherwise, it wasn't too awful this time. T1 time: 1:25
Bike: As usual this summer, I was not as warm on the bike as I prefer...but I must say, it was warmer than the other 2 races this summer. The course was fun...some rollers and some fast short descents. Good, smooth, clean pavement. Also, Ann Sloan was volunteering on the bike course, and it was great to see her...the only familiar face of the day out there today. About halfway through the bike, though, I was just not really feeling it...although my legs felt better (better taper week) than the last race, I just didn't feel like riding hard. The left side of my low back was cranky and I was distracted here and there... had quite a few thoughts about this being my last race of the season. I just didn't feel like cycling redline hard and had to buck up to hang in there. I wasn't physically miserable by any means, but just didn't feel hard core on the bike...mental hunger and edge was lacking, for sure. I also was a little demoralized by the usual 2-3 women in my age group who dropped me like I was standing still on the bike. I was looking forward to running by mile 15.
Bike time: 1:20:21
T2: I wasn't as cold as the last race, so I had a little dexterity in my hands...only took 2 tries to get my helmet off and I was off and running in a decent amount of time. T2 time: :49
Run: I had been looking forward to the run for a good hour, but again here I wasn't feeling like busting it. I managed "comfortably uncomfortable," though, and I did enjoy running on the Soos Creek Trail. I'd read the course description and knew it was an out-and-back with a short, steep descent in the first mile...which, of course, meant dreading the climb in the last mile and no real chance for any kind of negative split. There were 2 guys on the hill in blue body paint who were cheering for people all day...they were pretty funny and were yelling "Raise the bar!" since that was the team sponsoring the race...I made them laugh when I yelled, "Raise the BARF" back at them. I also chatted with another volunteer guy who was out on the course on a bike...he was cool and it was fun to chat with someone a little.
On the run, too, I found myself thinking that I'd rather not be "racing" at the moment and, note to self, this really should be my last race of the season. But the 2nd half of the run actually felt better than the first half and it went by pretty quickly.
Run time: 48:21
Total time: 2:36
This race was so small that they were only doing awards for the top 3 female and male finishers...and this time it was cash. I'd counted 3 women ahead of me on the run (out and back makes this painfully possible)...I was hoping that one of them may have been on a relay team, but no such luck. Turns out I was actually the 5th woman. Always the bridesmaid....
I was really glad I'd done the race and I would highly recommend this race (well organized, great volunteer support, etc.), but I think I'm done racing for a while...I'm going to do the Aquathon on Sept. 1 (thank god, a race with no biking), but otherwise, I'm gonna work a few more this summer and let others wear the bibs for a while. Junk miles on the bike, here I come!
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