Longleaf Sprint - Race Report October 20, 2008
Posted by boardgrl Uncategorized
Digg! this story.
, 1 comment so far
Longleaf Triathlon - October 19, 2008
The day before the race we picked up our packets and went down to check out the lake. This will be my first lake swim triathlon and of course, being in Florida, the usual worries of snakes and gators plagued us a bit. The race was a time trial race where each racer individually enters the water at 5 second intervals. My number was 373, so I figured if 372 people go into the water and 372 people come out of the water ahead of me, all should be fine. Had an awesome chicken and pasta pre-race dinner.
Race day I wake up just before the alarm at 5:15am, but I forgot to turn if off — so for that I apologize to my husband. I had everything packed the night before and so I was ready to take off once maggie may rolled up. I head outside and realize it is FREEZING cold!!! In Tampa, anything less than 60 degrees is officially freezing and it was 59 out. I wear a sweatshirt but failed to put on sweatpants (big mistake) and so froze until the sun came up 2 and a half hours later and about 10 minutes before I entered the water. I spent a lot of energy jumping up and down to keep warm and chattering my teeth before the race.
The swim in the lake wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated, and even though they declared it wetsuit legal, I was not one bit cold once I got in the water. There was a bit of confusion with the buoys and the course markings so after stopping to find out what the heck was going on, I decided to just follow the majority of the swimmers around the one buoy then head into shore - definitely lost some time there. I thought I did well on my swim - my form was good and I felt less tired than in other races, but my time spoke otherwise and I came in 16 seconds behind my last quarter mile swim race. Oh, well, I can deal with that. What I could not deal with was the run to transition which was up a hill and across a field and then through a parking lot - it was at least a quarter mile - probably more like a third mile. I now know the sorrow of a 5 minute transition - utterly defeative and frustrating!
The bike ride was nice along and through Starkey Park, but I realized that I truly need aerobars - the head wind was cranking and I felt “held back” and everytime I tried to get low, my shoulders would ache. On the Christmas wish list they go! Bike time was on par with my last race which is fine.
So far, no breaking news in the “improvement” department - until I get to my run. Now, this is my third sprint tri, each a 5K run. In my first race, my run time was 33:53, at my second race it was 33:29. At Longleaf it was 29:43 - WOO HOO! I was sooo not expecting a 3:46 improvement, but I WILL take it considering I didn’t improve anywhere else. The body moves first - those who know, will know.
I was very excited to see my overall time at 1:19:02, though I did miss placing third in my age class by 2 mins - not sure where I could have picked that up (maybe a minute or so at transition) so I have to just be happy that I finished and made some sort of improvement. Thank you to my husband for getting there before the race start and for keeping me warm, thank you to Emma my 6 year old who makes the most brilliant cheering posters and who I can hear a mile away cheering me on, and thank you to Sydney my 9 year old daughter who ran along the sidewalk for the last half a block of this race with me and who will someday be my training/racing buddy.
My first Tri season is over for me and I am a happier, healthier person for it. I’m definitely proceeding with off season training and plan to do some 5Ks this fall/winter.
See you outside!
My mini me races her first Tri September 8, 2008
Posted by boardgrl Uncategorized
Digg! this story.
, 4comments
For me, the only thing more exciting than racing in my first Tri, is to watch my 8 year old daughter Sydney race in hers - which she did yesterday! She raced in the fifth race of the Youth Tri Series, here in Pinellas county-Florida. The distance was a 100 yard swim, 2 mile bike and 1/2 mile run. I could see the nervousness in her eyes and the way she paced back and forth before the swim start I knew she was thinking — am I ready? After eight weeks of training, I knew she was ready and could -at the very least -finish the race. As the bull horn sounded for her group, she took off in the pool and swam strong. Her father, little sister, uncle and I cheered her on with homemade signs her little sister made. We were perfectly positioned at the pool exit toward bike transition and I’m sure the video tape will show our excitement as it was bouncing up and down throughout my jumping and cheering. She stopped at the end of her swim in the pool to remove her goggles instead of pulling them off while running into transition, just a minor point to remind her on for next race.
She transitioned perfectly and ran her bike out of what was a pretty large transition area, down a hill to the street. She biked the two miles on her little “glamour girl” bike, which we did our best to “race up” - ripped all the handlebar streamers and the padded bumpers off, and added a water bottle cage. Found out later, she enjoyed the bike portion best, so maybe there’s a road bike for Christmas in her future.
Transition to run went well and, much to my surprise, she actually took heed to my tips and had great form on the run and paced herself nicely. As she came in off the run she sprinted in to the finish like a pro finishing the race at 23:48.4. I was one proud mom!
She was exhausted, but so excited to have finished and is looking forward to her next race on October 4.
July 26th Crystal River - Twilight Tri August 4, 2008
Posted by boardgrl Uncategorized
Digg! this story.
, 3comments
Fun without the sun was the theme for this event — and it definitely was! Got to the absolutely beautiful pristine beach location early and secured a good parking spot for my hubby and kids to cheer me on from as it was right on the bike and run route. It was a very casual event, I didn’t know any of the other racers, but met some really terrific people and the whole event had a very positive/upbeat feel to it.
This was my first evening Tri and so I was a bit at odds with how to fuel for this event. I ate some sliced chicken for lunch and about 2.5 hrs before the event I ate a bagel with organic peanut butter. Although I was well hydrated, I drank probably too much water prior to the race - sloshing stomach syndrome really stinks.
Swim starts began at 7:30pm and were basically men (all) age groups first, followed by women (all) age groups at 7:34pm, then I believe the relay teams followed. I definitely did not train as hard for this, my second event (some of it due to illness, some of it due to laziness) but I hadn’t been slacking either - my goal was to focus on my run, which I had been doing for about 5 weeks - probably at the expense of my swim which I’ll write about in a minute.
Swim .25mi time – 9:18 (phooey!)
I felt good right before going in on this swim, a little nervous, but positioned myself in front and to the right of the pack - but well in line with the first boueys. The horn sounded and we were off. There was a decent current, a few waves and the water was over my head at the first bouey turn. The super swimmers pulled out ahead and somehow at the first bouey a bunch of us bottlenecked and I got stuck behind a line of slower swimmers and could not find a way past them - I had definitely slipped to the “middle of the pack” and the struggle to find a clear lane was frustrating and tiring. I knew I was losing time, but I just plugged along and figured I should just pace myself and make up for it on the bike. As I rounded the third bouey and started to head in to shore, someone grabbed my right ankle and pulled me under and back so they could use the momentum to pull themselves ahead of me. I’m no expert, but that seems a bit like dirty pool to me. Maybe I’m just naive, but does this happen often? I know we’re in a race, but heck, I was shocked that a “fellow athlete” would do this sort of thing, but that was the only negative moment I had during the race, and I got over it before my heels hit the sand. Lesson learned: when someone grabs your ankle quickly close mouth to avoid inflow of salt water.
Transition 1 – 2:10 - decided this Tri around to take a little more time in T1 to catch my breath after the swim and stretch legs for a minute
Bike 10mi – 34:06
I was okay with my bike time, even though I could swear it felt like my back brake was rubbing - it may have been the rough and grooved pavement, not sure. It was a straight 5mi out and back. This was NOT a closed street event, so there was a small amount of car dodging, but for the most part, the motorists were very respectful and kept their speed low. My last Tri I did 12 miles in 44 mins so if I average my time/mile, I did a little better on my time here (though there weren’t any bridges to deal with). Note to self: before the race check and set bike gears and adjust brakes if they get messed up on way to race.
Transition2 – 2:01 - again, took my time, stretched my legs so I could actually run.
Run 3.1mi – 33:29
When I left for the run segment, my legs felt much better than they had during my first Tri - stopping to stretch in transition was key for me. I cannot express how nice it was, in July in Florida, to not have the sun beating down on me during the run. The sunset was phenonmenal as I ran along the road past the marshes. The only negatives on the run were that the road was pitched very noticeably on the right sides, the “open” roads with car and truck exhausts going by slooowwwlyyy forcing the run to the pitched side of the road, and the green flies were biting like mad - definitely need to add bug spray to the list of items to bring to the next twilight tri. I put my chirunning into motion and focused on form and pace and was actually passing people! I was pleased that my run felt as good as it did since I had focused for weeks on form and pace. I was feeling good until just before mile 2 water stop when I realized the bagel I ate a few hours back and the accompanying water were saying they were not in any way digested and wanted out. So, I have had my first official in-race puke session (it was actually embarrassing and felt really lame that this happened to me on a sprint) but what the hey, it happened and I felt sooo much better for it. I lost maybe 90 seconds between the excavation and stopping at the water table. I really need to figure out my fuel situation for late day/evening races because I plan to do more of these. Running back into the beach area I passed my family, cheering me on, I high fived my eight and five year old girls and heard my hubby shouting “sprint it in, sprint it in!!!” So, I left it all on the road and sprinted the last half mile in. I improved my run over last sprint race by about 30 seconds, even with the stop at mile 2.
Overall time - 1:21:04
Awesome post race party - some athletes even had enough left in them to engage in a push up contest!
Overall, I figured I improved my race time by about 3 mins between my first and second sprint races. I lost time on the swim, but made up for it on the bike and run times. Another group Tri training session has started up and I’m back in it - I love the routine, motivation and comraderie. Next race is Longleaf sprint in October and I DO plan to kick butt on my times.
Apologies to those of you who I lead on about this race then made wait for this write up! - but thanks for pushing me to finish this post (being on vacation makes a person lazy!)
1st Tri-Dunedin Sprint - Post Race Report June 9, 2008
Posted by boardgrl Uncategorized
Digg! this story.
, 5comments
What an awesome experience! I know, everyone says that…but it’s soooo true. I had a great cheering section- my hubby, kids, parents, sister, friends — and doing this first race with the Tri Training group and my friend Emily truly upped the motivation factor throughout the race. So here’s the low down.
Pre Race: I wake up at 5am. I’m excited, but I’m not feeling any butterflies for some reason - either it hasn’t hit me yet or I’m definitely suppressing something here. Went with my old faithful breakfast of oatmeal and acai juice (I wondered though if that would be enough and now wish I had gone with a bagel and peanut butter). So, I’m not feeling nervous yet. On the drive to the race, however, I really started thinking about it — and it hit me —-and at that moment I wished I had a plastic bag within reach. It must have been my oatmeal breakfast I was suppressing (and somehow was continuing to suppress!) Got to the race and I’m directed to the overflow parking lot about a half mile away from transition - it’s an hour till the race and I feel like I’ve shown up late! This should have been a 4 leg race including the fully loaded hike from my car to transition (note for next Tri - pack a backpack and ride to transition in case this happens again), but I got there and laid everything out - perfect! Then along comes a late comer who shoves my bike aside on the rack, squeezes her bike in and in the process tears apart my transition set up. Determined not to let it bother me, I put a smile on, helped the late comer get settled with her stuff (she was obviously stressing more than I) and reset up my transition items. Met up with my buds from tri training and we mark each others numbers and get psyched about the race. We head down the beach to the swim and watch the first couple swim waves go out.
1/4 mile Swim time: 7:50
There’s a wicked current dragging everyone to the wrong side of the first buoy so we decide to move down a bit further for our start and let the current naturally pull us toward the buoy. As this is my first race I positioned myself behind who I thought may have been some of the faster swimmers - wrong. The bull horn blows and we are off, but those in front of me are moving soooo slowly and with 34 women entering the water at once, it was chaos. The water was just above knee deep for most of the swim which was difficult and being that we were near the mouth of the inlet, there was a bit of motor oil in the water. How do I know this? Well, let’s just say we revisited the oatmeal suppression thing once again. Goggles fogged on me and so sighting was difficult. Made it out of the water, but felt I could have done better if a) goggles had been defogged with some spit so I could see and b) if I had positioned myself out front and taken my chances with getting swam over.
T1: 2:53
I took a little time to catch my breath and rinse my face of saltwater and feet of sand and grit, put on my bike shoes (sans socks) and take off toward the bike start with unsure feet in my cleats.
12 mile Bike time: 44:17
The bike portion was really exhilarating and the scenery was beautiful. I snapped right into my (one sided, ugh!) cleats and really felt in control of my bike, my speed, my gears. Most of the ride was relatively flat with two smallish bridges that were a little challenging but fun (especially picking up speed on the down side!) I should have taken in more water on the ride but I was really focused on speed and cutting my turns (lots of turns on this course) so I only got a few sips in. I felt strong on the bike, but knew I was spending (the opposite of saving) my legs for the run. Lessons learned on the bike: practice hills and turns more to optimize speed, drink more fluids either before (in T1) or while riding and definitely pop some carb boom! or shot blocks as the oatmeal seemed a distant memory to my body and I felt like I should have taken in a little additional fuel, but didn’t want to waste T time.
T2 time: 1:55
Very happy with my T2 time. Hopped off the bike and couldn’t feel my legs so I kinda gingerly clip clopped into T2, racked my bike and swapped into running shoes. Got up and still couldn’t feel my legs and knew the run was going to be rough.
3.1 mile Run time: 33:53
I just couldn’t get my legs under me. The first and last half mile was across an asphalt parking lot which was fine, but the two miles in between were trail. Loose sand and tree roots were the name of the game on the run and it was TOUGH! I hadn’t trained in sand and was feeling it big time in my hips and lower back. I was exhausted by mile 2 and fast-walked a bit, which I was disappointed in myself for doing, but my body just wouldn’t let me do anything else and honestly my fast walk was almost as fast as my run at that point since my legs were spent. I was outrageously surprised that my run time came in at 33:53 because it felt more like 53:53! Future training note: run trails and figure out how to work the sand, have more fuel and fluids in me before starting the run.
Overall race results 1:30:47
Right on the nose for what I was shooting for and I know where I can make improvements, but I’m very happy with this time.
So, there you have it. I trained for 9 weeks - four to five days a week for my first Tri and now I can’t believe it’s actually come and gone. It’s been such a torch in the distance, my driving force, my motivation for getting out there an doing something worthwhile for my mental and physical well being. Next torch in the distance is Crystal River Tri on 8/30.
Survived wk 1 of Triathlon Training April 9, 2008
Posted by boardgrl Uncategorized
Digg! this story.
, 1 comment so far
Made it through my first week of tri training -an accomplishment as the “quit factor” could have been high - particularly if I had found myself the only beginner in the group. Thankfully, I was not the lone beginner. Five people in my group, all beginner triathletes with the common goal to participate in the Dunedin Sprint Triathlon on June 8th. We train at the YMCA - M,W,F in the evenings from 7-8pm. Coach Tim is great, he’s very personable and supportive and provides good assessments/tips on our areas for improvement. The week started out with a grueling (for me) 3 mile run, I speed walked about 1/3 of it and thought my head was going to explode - breathing technique probably needs work. And here I was thinking that my tennis playing had my endurance up higher than it apparently was …rude awakening, but puts things in perspective (in other words, I have a long way to go!)
Wed night training we stationary biked for 1/2 hr doing some hills, and then immediately ran 1 mile. Legs were rubbery at start of run, but amazingly that felt like it helped and I was able to run further than I expected, though still walked about 1/8mi.
Friday we swam and this was, by far, the best of the three legs for me and got some good tips from Tim on stretching my arms further and getting more “glide” out of the stroke. Regained some of my confidence and now I’m really stoked! I’m now travelling for business for a few days and missing two training sessions-boo hoo - this has required some self-motivation to train and continue to eat right while away, but so far so good - I ran 3.1 miles with a 2 ascension on treadmill in hotel gym last nite. Can’t wait to get back to normal training sessions as I do miss the group comraderie!
