Columbia Tri 2012

Pre Race.
More of the norm. I decided to bike to work day on Friday, so took a full race day on Saturday (vs. Friday as prescribed by my coach), so I had a leisurely Saturday morning to sleep in, have coffee, and sit on the couch and watch the live feed of Ironman Texas for a few hours. I noticed my race wheel was flat and had a minor freak out, but when changing I found a big hole in the tube (vs. the tire) which made me hope that the wheel would hold out for the race. I headed out to Columbia about 1pm to check in and rack my bike. No delays, no traffic and an AMAZING spot in transition - then headed to my parents [much closer to the race] to chill out and play with the puppy for the rest of the day.

4:15am wake up call, out the door by 4:45, in transition by 5:20. No traffic or parking problems, so glad to be there early without stress, but then you play the waiting game, as I was starting over an hour after the pro wave. Set up a simple transition but when I went to put my water bottles on my bike and I realized [HOLY SH$T] I forgot to stop and get a straw for my aero bottle (7-Eleven, thankyouverymuch). I usually ride with 2 bottles in an OLY: aero bottle for calories[Carbopro]+nuun and 1 plain water bottle on my downtube. I took a deep breath, realized there was nothing I could do about it and tried to think positive: less weight on my bike! Oh well.

Went back to the car to try to zone out for awhile. And sulk over this, even though I am not officially 30 for 6 more months:

Swim.
21:59, 2nd/AG
Goal was to SWIM HARD, but swim SMART. I tried to just zone out and find a good line once we got in the water. Not bringing metallic/mirrored goggles was a HUGE mistake and I was basically blind for the first section of the course. Luckily, I literally ran into a friend in the water as we waited for the wave to start. [as she made fun of my choice in goggles]. I swam blind and tried to find feet for the first 'out' section. The course actually curves to the right a bit before the first(left) turn buoy, so I was glad I found some feet that swam a direct line to the turn vs. trying to hug the buoys on the left. The feet I found were a good speed, but she wasn't happy with my occasional tap of her feet, so I moved up to try to hug her hip. Lost her a bit at the turn, swam the short leg solo, and found my friend again on the long leg back to swim exit. Swam a comfortably hard pace on her feet, jumped on to some others to the left (closer to the buoy line), and we all merged and came out of the water in a pack of about 4 or 5 maybe? There were a few girls that were a bit out ahead, but I was very happy with my swim. I feel like I really pushed the pace, but swam smart [minus the goggles mistake]- I was aware of my surroundings and found feet almost the entire swim.

Lesson learned: Buy mirrored goggles, TODAY, so they arrive before next weekend. Review the course maps for the swim. 

Just behind Mindy!

T1. I was worried about being a little rusty here, but it actaully went really smoothly. Wetsuit came off easily, helmet on [with sunglasses attached] and off. I had my shoes on my bike due a really steep run up out of transition, and I had not yet done any transition practice, so I still chose to stop and straddle my bike vs attempting any type of flying mount. It took me a bit to get my shoes on and situated [need to practice this on my brick rides] but think it was worth it in the end for a quicker transition/run out. Had the top transition time in my age group by about 15 seconds - these things matter when 2-5 in my age group are decided by 30 seconds.

Bike.
1:17:41 (19.3mph), 4th/AG
After I got my shoes situated, it was down to business. I passed someone in my age group in the first few miles, then got passed by the eventual age group winner a few minutes later. The ride is basically a constant series of ups/downs of varying degrees, and I absolutely loved it. I am so so glad I had ridden the course a few weeks before so I knew where the climbs where, how long they were, and where I could make up time on flats/downhills. The shorter inclines I pushed a higher gear and attacked, but the longer inclines I was content to down shift and spin up, keeping my cadence high and HR under (race) control. About mile 10 I linked up with a guy who was riding a very similar pace, and we [legally] cat and moused for most of the rest of the race. For the most part, I had no trouble riding my own race on a pretty crowded course. I ran into a few jams on the road due to car-traffic, but I was pleasantly-aggressive and worked my way through the crowds. Took in a Gu about mile 15, but it wasn't pleasant being washed down with grape nuun, but had no water. At that point I wish I had the plain water on my frame. Oh well.

A few years ago, I raced Rev3 Knoxville and it had a very similar type course -a course that really rewards being prepared on the bike. And not just fitness - but comfort with bike handling, climbing, cornering, shifting, etc. I obviously have many, many minutes to drop before I am anywhere close to the 'front of the pack' when it comes to my cycling splits, but I feel like every race in the past few years, I have taken a few steps forward with my comfort level on the bike, knowing my limits, pushing my fears and riding strong. I'm really excited for the summer to keep growing and learning on the bike.

Coming back into transition, I took my feet out of the my shoes (probably a bit too early) and focused on spinning my legs to flush them out and prepare for the run.

Lesson learned: BE PREPARED (ie aero straw). Know the course. Ride your own race. Practice transitions.

T2.  Bike on rack, socks and running shoes on and GO. Top transition time again - small victories.

Run
52:50 (8:32/mile)
Race belt on, water in, focus on cadence and how I felt. I felt GREAT. I was excited to execute the race I had visualized and was moving pretty well through the crowds on a pretty narrow running path. I knew this run was hilly, but this was NOTHING like I expected. This was hands down the most brutal run course I have ever done. No complaints, no excuses, but damn, I wish I had known what to expect. Almost immediately you are hit with a steep climb, and it just never ended. I think there were about 6-7 long, steep climbs and I focused on small steps and moving forward. Looking back, I wish I had been willing to push the pace a bit more on the climbs, but my calves felt like they were on the verge of cramping. My run felt GREAT on the flatter sections, and I tried to open up and make up time on the downhills, but the hills just did me in. There were times were walking was just as fast as the trot I was doing up hill.

Mini Mindy (in the 25-29AG), passed me about mile 5ish, and seeing her definitely helped me push in the last mile, but then I sadly got passed by someone in my age group right about mile 6. I tried with all my might to dig deep and stick with her, but a last, cruel climb to the finishing chute stopped that effort cold. It was also right in the last mile or 2 that I realized I had to PEE SO BADLY ! Painfully bad. I have been able to let this happen on the run in the past, but I think the fact that I was so close to the finish, my mind wouldn't let my body just let go. Ha. And the run course was pretty crowded at this point, too.  I pushed the pace as hard as I could through the finishers chute, and bee-lined it to the bathroom. I'm only realizing as I write this that I didn't ever even consider taking my 2nd gu during the run as I had planned.

The take away from the run, and what I'm trying to focus on versus my time and pace is that I never gave up mentally. I was present for the hills, I focused on each mile, and never got to that dark place I was experiencing last season. Yes, I did walk up a few of the steepest sections, but that overwhelming, all consuming desire to walk and stop and give up never crossed my mind. To me, this is a very small, but very important victory for the day.

Lesson learned: Figure out how to get to an uncomfortable place, be OK with it, and hold on. Trust my fitness and attack the hills.

Final Time: 2:35:00 4th/AG
I have a bit of confusion re: my final age group placing, but it's neither here nor there and the lesson is 5 or 10 or 12 seconds here or there ALWAYS matter.

 

Oh my god, find me a bathroom now.

Overall, I am so, so very satisfied with this race. I didn't put time goals on the race, as every course is different and I knew this was a challenging course [OK, that's totally not true. I thought if I had a good day I could go under 2:30]. I swam hard, rode hard and held on during the run. I'm trying not to be disappointed in the run. If I was running 7-7:30 pace on the flats/downhills, and 9-10 pace on the uphills, the outcome is what I got. I felt snappy and good on the flats and downhills, and really pushed the pace the last mile [as much as my bladder would allow], but it's hard to not be a little disappointed to get passed at mile 6 in the run. I am still working on finding that place of 'hurt' in the run and holding on to it and yesterday I just don't think I was willing to get past the point of uncomfortable on the uphills and it cost me.

ALSO, I was trying out the multisport mode on my watch for the first time, and when I glanced at my watch in the middle of the bike it was stopped at about 24 minutes. I think I pressed 'STOP' vs 'LAP' when I started the bike, so I basically have no data for my race. I am SO super bummed about this. I had decided to race without my HR monitor anyway, but I really wish I could go back and overanalyze my race - especially my run pacing. I think there was an awesome section on the bike that I pretty sure I was going faster than I EVER have before, but more so, I just really wish I could see my pacing on the run.

So all in all, a really good day, some good lessons, and now time to swim a little 5k next weekend.