So it's Friday and it's been a rollercoaster of a day. For the last week i've been waiting on today to get my new bike (yes i'm finally getting a new bike) and today arrives and the bike store let me down. After getting my hopes up only to be shot down, I finally reeled myself in. I mean, my best friend is dealing with her grandfather being in the hospital and i'm thinking about a bike - Ding! welcome back perspective. I also took the time today to read a race report from Ironman Wisconsin from 2005 when it rained all day and the temps were in the 50's. Yeah that definitely was what I needed to let me know without sacrifice and determination, I won't make it to the finish line. So now I go on my second century in as many weeks on my faithful roadie with no bitching. I should be thankful I even have a bike period.
My training this week has been okay but I did take Wednesday off from running and biking to give my legs a chance to recover after last weekend. Spent some time doing swim drills Wednesday trying to get stronger. I am definitely getting closer to reaching my goal. After Thursday's Buckhead Bellyache ride I upped the brick mileage to 4 miles, in the next couple of weeks I plan on getting that to 6 or 7. Bricks, I feel, are definitely underestimated in my current circle of friends/training mates. As we get scarily closer to September I want this now as much as I wanted it before. It's crazy how far i've come yet how much farther I have to go in such a short time. There is a slight chance I may get to Wisconsin before September to see the hellish bike course, the jury is still out on that though.
Sunday I give back to the triathlon community by voluncheering at the Iron girl triathlon. Good luck to all my friends racing. See you on the course. I hope everyone else is well.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Where in the world is
I've been missing for a while, but i'm okay. During my hiatus from the blog life has been a roller coaster ride. The roughest period being May 14th to June 4th. During that time I lost all interest in Triathlon, from the training, to the nagging injuries, to the simple conversations. I went through three weeks of absolutely miserable workouts. Luckily I train with a group of which I can call quite a few friends. Some of my friends could see me falling off and really helped get me back in the right mindset, with simple words. Sometimes being surrounded by good people makes all the difference, especially women with their nurturing skills.
Also in my time away I completed the swim and the bike leg of the Macon half ironman distance race. This race came right in the middle of me being sick of everything and I really wasn't prepared, nor did I actually want to do it, period. Everyone told me I should make it a training day so I did. Going into the race I decided I wouldn't do the run leg because it would take longer for me to recover from that scorching hot run, and cause me to miss out on valuable training time. One okay swim and miserable bike ride later, not running was the smartest decision i've made in a long time. Macon never has to worry about me coming back. That place threw the first the perfect storm of misery at me and definitely made a point
This past weekend I completed my first century ride on my third attempt. The third definitely was a charm. A hot, hilly, charm. Now it's time to go out for a run on my super tired legs in this Georgia heat. I hope everyone has been well.
Also in my time away I completed the swim and the bike leg of the Macon half ironman distance race. This race came right in the middle of me being sick of everything and I really wasn't prepared, nor did I actually want to do it, period. Everyone told me I should make it a training day so I did. Going into the race I decided I wouldn't do the run leg because it would take longer for me to recover from that scorching hot run, and cause me to miss out on valuable training time. One okay swim and miserable bike ride later, not running was the smartest decision i've made in a long time. Macon never has to worry about me coming back. That place threw the first the perfect storm of misery at me and definitely made a point
This past weekend I completed my first century ride on my third attempt. The third definitely was a charm. A hot, hilly, charm. Now it's time to go out for a run on my super tired legs in this Georgia heat. I hope everyone has been well.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Happenings
It's been a while since i've posted but the feeling for me lately is it's been a while since i've done anything not related to swimbikerun. Thursday, I hit a low point and made myself step away from the group training on Friday and Saturday. I really needed the drinks I had Friday night and to suffer through my run Saturday (at 3 in the evening it was super hot) alone. It was a nice break from the norm, though it was also nice to meet back up with the gang Saturday night to just hang out for dinner. I knew when I signed up for the Ironman it would take a lot of sacrifice, but my idea of a lot does not give this commitment justice. From talking to others, it's hitting everyone like a stomach bug at a buffet. Hopefully this is just a fad and the other 23 people make it to Wisconsin with me.
Coming up i'm going to attempt another 70.3. According to most this race will be much more difficult than Gulf Coast (which was completely flat, besides the water). Word around the block is this is one of the hilliest 70.3 bike courses around and it has absolutely no shade on the bike or the run and we've been close to 90's here lately. If cramping was a competition, i'd win, so what better time to work on nutrition. I have a good feeling after this race, whether I finish it or not, i'm going to have a reason to Hate Macon Georgia.
Looking forward to this extended weekend, if only there was kareoke on tap like last year. Happy Memorial Day!
Coming up i'm going to attempt another 70.3. According to most this race will be much more difficult than Gulf Coast (which was completely flat, besides the water). Word around the block is this is one of the hilliest 70.3 bike courses around and it has absolutely no shade on the bike or the run and we've been close to 90's here lately. If cramping was a competition, i'd win, so what better time to work on nutrition. I have a good feeling after this race, whether I finish it or not, i'm going to have a reason to Hate Macon Georgia.
Looking forward to this extended weekend, if only there was kareoke on tap like last year. Happy Memorial Day!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Gulf Coast Triathlon Race report (working title)
Gulf Coast Triathlon 70.3
Date of Race: 5/08/2010
Total Race Time: 6:49:42
Overall Place: 479/614
Age Group: 25-29
Age Group Place: 44/51
Pre-Race:
Rode down to PCB Thursday with Jody and Todd, listening to Jody sing every song ever made, even the bad ones. Got dinner and ended the night early back in the room looking forward to practicing the open water swim the next day. Friday morning woke up and headed down to the gulf for a practice swim. I’m happy I had the chance to practice because I learned Ocean motion + me on my back = vomiting, and that no matter what I would float in salt water with a wetsuit. This was very comforting to know, and would really help come Saturday. After regaining my sea legs I spent the rest of the day hydrating and trying to calm my nerves.
Warm-up:
Race morning woke up at about 3:30 had a banana and saw the white caps in the ocean and laid back down telling myself it just looks bad from the 10th floor. At about 4:15 I woke up for good had 4 pieces of peanut butter and honey toast and headed down to transition. After setting up transition, I went to the shore and watched as the waves before my wave entered the Gulf and got my feet wet.
Swim: 51:28
Before the swim started Matt (a clubmate) and I gave each other last words of encouragement and he moved to the front of the wave as I creped to the back. When the horn went off I slowly made my entrance to the water, not wanting to fight people and waves, and began my way out. Almost to the first buoy, I threw up a little and thought it’s nice to get that out of the way and just kept swimming. Also there was a huge wave with little bait fish jumping out of the water, that was a little scary. They don't call them bait fish for nothing. Later when I brought this up no one else saw this, so maybe I was hallucinating. After the first turn things got a little better and I was able to get some kind of rhythm, I should have recognized this omen because when I made the turn to come back in it seemed like all hell broke loose. The waves were exponentially worst going back than coming out. I threw up four times losing everything in my stomach, but quitting never was an option (I believe, I was so far off course that they wouldn’t have found me if I wanted to quit anyway). I remember coming up for a breath and almost being flipped completely over, thinking “that would have surely broken my spirit,” thankfully I didn’t roll. After finally exiting the water, I slowly made my way to transition thanking the higher powers.
T1: 6:28
The day before the race Todd Laberge pointed out to drink a lot of water once you exit to dilute the salt, so once I got to transition a drank a complete bottle of water. I was really thirsty after throwing up so much but I felt pretty good, other than being thirsty.
Bike: 3:05:48 18.1mph/avg
On the bike I had a plan to drink two bottles of Carbo-pro and Gatorade, to take two Gu’s and to get a bottle of water once my first bottle of Gatorade and carbo-pro was gone, and to stay in the saddle the complete time and not spike my HR. I never pushed out of my comfort zone the entire ride, my Garmin had my avg HR at 134. There was wind on the bike but I was focused on not letting anything out of my control be an issue during this race. I don’t think I have ever been this focused during a race. I felt like I nailed my nutrition and didn’t let the people around me alter my plan, I was truly racing myself at this point in the day and I knew my goal was to finish. I stayed very consistent, and knew I would need to if I was going to finish, especially without cramping. Around mile 35 I got hungry, and had half a cliff bar. Getting off the bike I felt great.
T2: 3:26
I entered transition with Mark Holder and he told me “he had pushed way too hard on the bike,” this helped my confidence heading to the run knowing I managed my bike really well. I watered off my feet reapplied some vasaline and slipped on my shoes and off I went. Exiting the transition, I reminded myself what Ron told me, “this is your 70.3 experience, enjoy it and have fun.” I exited T2 with a smile ready for the run.
Run: 2:42:35
I started the running feeling really good. I didn’t have any pains at all. It seems as soon as I began to run the sun came out with a vengeance and there was no shade the entire run. I ran all the way through mile 10 with a smile on my face, only walking through the water stops. At mile 10 things began to fall apart. I had blood coming through the top of my shoe from not running with socks. My foot didn’t hurt but I was mentally spent and the sight of the blood stain gave me an excuse to walk. So I began to walk/run. Finally someone from my age group came up and passed me and that motivated me not to be last in my age group, if we were indeed the last two people on the course, so I started back running. Around mile 12 I passed two of PCB’s finest sitting in the back of their pick up truck smoking cigs having a beer, and the guy yells “You’re fit, what in the hell are you doing way back here”, even I had to laugh at that. If only the drunk bastard knew how far I have come. That lightened the mood at little heading around the last corner where some North Georgia Multisport loser succeeded at being annoying and down the road to the finish I went. Coming up on the finish I saw another guy from my age group so I picked it up a little more making sure to cross the line before him. Once I crossed the line and stopped running, I instantly went scatter-brained. I stood there not knowing what the hell to do.
Post Race:
One of the volunteers kept asking me if I wanted him to go with me, and I kept saying no. It was really weird, I felt like a little kid with a stranger approaching. After getting away from him I wondered into the convention center and saw they were giving massages. As soon as I signed the paper for the massage I began to cramp. Two ladies came over and began icing me down and making me drink more Gatorade, last thing in the world I wanted at that point, but they were extremely helpful. Eventually I came too and the nice massage lady walked me to the ATC tent where the rest of the club was waiting. I spent the rest of my time there cramping, hanging out with the gang.
What would I do differently:
I definitely need to increase my run and cycling volume A LOT. I also need to incorporated salt sticks into my nutrition. My face was caked with salt by the end of the race, surely that will help some with the cramping (post race or during). I also should have started off the run with a higher cadence. Once my body was used to running, I felt like it was nearly impossible to speed up my cadence.
Rate your overall experience with this race:
The volunteers at this race were the best I have experienced. Everyone was extremely helpful and seemed excited to be there. I really enjoyed the positive energy. The bike was boring and flat, though I like flat, and there weren’t many if any spectators on the run, but the volunteers were incredible. I would defintely do this race again.
Date of Race: 5/08/2010
Total Race Time: 6:49:42
Overall Place: 479/614
Age Group: 25-29
Age Group Place: 44/51
Pre-Race:
Rode down to PCB Thursday with Jody and Todd, listening to Jody sing every song ever made, even the bad ones. Got dinner and ended the night early back in the room looking forward to practicing the open water swim the next day. Friday morning woke up and headed down to the gulf for a practice swim. I’m happy I had the chance to practice because I learned Ocean motion + me on my back = vomiting, and that no matter what I would float in salt water with a wetsuit. This was very comforting to know, and would really help come Saturday. After regaining my sea legs I spent the rest of the day hydrating and trying to calm my nerves.
Warm-up:
Race morning woke up at about 3:30 had a banana and saw the white caps in the ocean and laid back down telling myself it just looks bad from the 10th floor. At about 4:15 I woke up for good had 4 pieces of peanut butter and honey toast and headed down to transition. After setting up transition, I went to the shore and watched as the waves before my wave entered the Gulf and got my feet wet.
Swim: 51:28
Before the swim started Matt (a clubmate) and I gave each other last words of encouragement and he moved to the front of the wave as I creped to the back. When the horn went off I slowly made my entrance to the water, not wanting to fight people and waves, and began my way out. Almost to the first buoy, I threw up a little and thought it’s nice to get that out of the way and just kept swimming. Also there was a huge wave with little bait fish jumping out of the water, that was a little scary. They don't call them bait fish for nothing. Later when I brought this up no one else saw this, so maybe I was hallucinating. After the first turn things got a little better and I was able to get some kind of rhythm, I should have recognized this omen because when I made the turn to come back in it seemed like all hell broke loose. The waves were exponentially worst going back than coming out. I threw up four times losing everything in my stomach, but quitting never was an option (I believe, I was so far off course that they wouldn’t have found me if I wanted to quit anyway). I remember coming up for a breath and almost being flipped completely over, thinking “that would have surely broken my spirit,” thankfully I didn’t roll. After finally exiting the water, I slowly made my way to transition thanking the higher powers.
T1: 6:28
The day before the race Todd Laberge pointed out to drink a lot of water once you exit to dilute the salt, so once I got to transition a drank a complete bottle of water. I was really thirsty after throwing up so much but I felt pretty good, other than being thirsty.
Bike: 3:05:48 18.1mph/avg
On the bike I had a plan to drink two bottles of Carbo-pro and Gatorade, to take two Gu’s and to get a bottle of water once my first bottle of Gatorade and carbo-pro was gone, and to stay in the saddle the complete time and not spike my HR. I never pushed out of my comfort zone the entire ride, my Garmin had my avg HR at 134. There was wind on the bike but I was focused on not letting anything out of my control be an issue during this race. I don’t think I have ever been this focused during a race. I felt like I nailed my nutrition and didn’t let the people around me alter my plan, I was truly racing myself at this point in the day and I knew my goal was to finish. I stayed very consistent, and knew I would need to if I was going to finish, especially without cramping. Around mile 35 I got hungry, and had half a cliff bar. Getting off the bike I felt great.
T2: 3:26
I entered transition with Mark Holder and he told me “he had pushed way too hard on the bike,” this helped my confidence heading to the run knowing I managed my bike really well. I watered off my feet reapplied some vasaline and slipped on my shoes and off I went. Exiting the transition, I reminded myself what Ron told me, “this is your 70.3 experience, enjoy it and have fun.” I exited T2 with a smile ready for the run.
Run: 2:42:35
I started the running feeling really good. I didn’t have any pains at all. It seems as soon as I began to run the sun came out with a vengeance and there was no shade the entire run. I ran all the way through mile 10 with a smile on my face, only walking through the water stops. At mile 10 things began to fall apart. I had blood coming through the top of my shoe from not running with socks. My foot didn’t hurt but I was mentally spent and the sight of the blood stain gave me an excuse to walk. So I began to walk/run. Finally someone from my age group came up and passed me and that motivated me not to be last in my age group, if we were indeed the last two people on the course, so I started back running. Around mile 12 I passed two of PCB’s finest sitting in the back of their pick up truck smoking cigs having a beer, and the guy yells “You’re fit, what in the hell are you doing way back here”, even I had to laugh at that. If only the drunk bastard knew how far I have come. That lightened the mood at little heading around the last corner where some North Georgia Multisport loser succeeded at being annoying and down the road to the finish I went. Coming up on the finish I saw another guy from my age group so I picked it up a little more making sure to cross the line before him. Once I crossed the line and stopped running, I instantly went scatter-brained. I stood there not knowing what the hell to do.
Post Race:
One of the volunteers kept asking me if I wanted him to go with me, and I kept saying no. It was really weird, I felt like a little kid with a stranger approaching. After getting away from him I wondered into the convention center and saw they were giving massages. As soon as I signed the paper for the massage I began to cramp. Two ladies came over and began icing me down and making me drink more Gatorade, last thing in the world I wanted at that point, but they were extremely helpful. Eventually I came too and the nice massage lady walked me to the ATC tent where the rest of the club was waiting. I spent the rest of my time there cramping, hanging out with the gang.
What would I do differently:
I definitely need to increase my run and cycling volume A LOT. I also need to incorporated salt sticks into my nutrition. My face was caked with salt by the end of the race, surely that will help some with the cramping (post race or during). I also should have started off the run with a higher cadence. Once my body was used to running, I felt like it was nearly impossible to speed up my cadence.
Rate your overall experience with this race:
The volunteers at this race were the best I have experienced. Everyone was extremely helpful and seemed excited to be there. I really enjoyed the positive energy. The bike was boring and flat, though I like flat, and there weren’t many if any spectators on the run, but the volunteers were incredible. I would defintely do this race again.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Panama would be more fun with Booze and Tyedye
So i'm in Panama City Beach on the eve of my first 70.3 triathlon. Thats 1.2 miles swimming, 56 miles biking 13.1 miles running. Yesterday was spent driving down to the beach with two of my favorites. I rode in a car for over 5 hours and I promise for the first 4 my biggest rival and one of my biggest friends Jody knew every song that came on the radio. Lot's of random filler songs that just make it on to albums to fill cds (or tapes, lots were old) she sung along ... quite amusing. 
That amusment did a great job of keeping my mind off of the task thats ahead of me in the next couple of days. But as the sun set, a beautiful sunset it was, my mind began to wonder thinking about everything that could go wrong in the next couple of days. 
Went out to dinner with the gang with the gang to get some seafood and seeing the other athletes out, really got me to thinking that i'm not ready for this. Luckily they are here also offering for positive words.
Today, friday, I don't feel the exact same way after a practice open water swim and calming down a bit. I learned today during my practice, that if for some reason I need to rest during the swim tomorrow don't roll over and stare in the sky. That coupled with the motion of the ocean will trigger some severe nausea. I definitely ended my open water swim today puking, somehow it's sort of comforting. Maybe it was the Transformer on lunch who I consulted with about a Tri Model. Swim/fish, Bike/Gizmoduck, Run/Kenyan maybe. He gave me pretty sound advice that hopefully i can use tomorrow to help me stay calm. (awesome statue in a mellow mushroom on the beach) Aldrin also pointed out that he thinks God put my arms where my legs should go and vice versa. One day he will eat those words. 
As the sun sets on this day I hope and pray that tomorrow is kind to me. At some point during the week hopefully i'm posting a race report on a huge step on my journey to ironman glory, and not a post of all the things i've done wrong. Thanks everyone for the encouraging words, hopefully I will you and myself proud in the AM.
That amusment did a great job of keeping my mind off of the task thats ahead of me in the next couple of days. But as the sun set, a beautiful sunset it was, my mind began to wonder thinking about everything that could go wrong in the next couple of days. 
Went out to dinner with the gang with the gang to get some seafood and seeing the other athletes out, really got me to thinking that i'm not ready for this. Luckily they are here also offering for positive words.
Today, friday, I don't feel the exact same way after a practice open water swim and calming down a bit. I learned today during my practice, that if for some reason I need to rest during the swim tomorrow don't roll over and stare in the sky. That coupled with the motion of the ocean will trigger some severe nausea. I definitely ended my open water swim today puking, somehow it's sort of comforting. Maybe it was the Transformer on lunch who I consulted with about a Tri Model. Swim/fish, Bike/Gizmoduck, Run/Kenyan maybe. He gave me pretty sound advice that hopefully i can use tomorrow to help me stay calm. (awesome statue in a mellow mushroom on the beach) Aldrin also pointed out that he thinks God put my arms where my legs should go and vice versa. One day he will eat those words. 
As the sun sets on this day I hope and pray that tomorrow is kind to me. At some point during the week hopefully i'm posting a race report on a huge step on my journey to ironman glory, and not a post of all the things i've done wrong. Thanks everyone for the encouraging words, hopefully I will you and myself proud in the AM.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
This Tri has me as nervous as a Fart on a long ride
What's good folks? Me, i'm here nervous thinking of what's going on this weekend - My first Half Ironman distance race. Frankly, I don't think i'm ready but the show will go on whether I am or not. So i'm sitting around creating scenarios in my mind where some end with great joy others with ambulances .... I'm obviously rooting for the joy, if only it was that simple. Seriously my goal is just to finish. People say I should firmer goals that relate to time, but this is the way I have approached all of my other tris; Complete the distance, next time set a time goal. I hope to work on being mentally stronger this weekend. Next to cramps, my brain is usually my next biggest hurdle. I hope Sunday i'm writing a glorious post of how I was able to overcome and keep my mind on the task at hand for however long it takes. Stay tuned.
On the training front, I pulled things back last week hoping to be prepared for what this weekend has for me. Man, i'm nervous. I hope I have some interesting pics to put up too. In honor of the redneck riviera, that is Panama City, i'm thinking of wearing my party like a rock star hat while crossing the finish line, mullet and all. Odds are i'll be struggling so bad at the point that I won't remember, but I hope I do. Thanks for the well wishes.
On the training front, I pulled things back last week hoping to be prepared for what this weekend has for me. Man, i'm nervous. I hope I have some interesting pics to put up too. In honor of the redneck riviera, that is Panama City, i'm thinking of wearing my party like a rock star hat while crossing the finish line, mullet and all. Odds are i'll be struggling so bad at the point that I won't remember, but I hope I do. Thanks for the well wishes.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
John Tanner Sprint Triathlon
John Tanner
Triathlon – Sprint
Total Time :1:20:42
Age Group Rank:23/32
Pre-race
Saturday morning I woke up had a couple of pieces of toast with peanut butter and honey and two bananas and loaded my things into the Green Machine and hit the road. I woke up with a sore throat that I hoped wouldn’t affect me and I honestly don’t think it did. On the road to the triathlon I happened to see two cars flipped on the interstate and I was calm the entire time. The thing I did the best on the day was not let the weather become a distraction for me. After a hellish run in October, not letting the weather become a distraction is amazing. Got to park ran straight to the bathroom and headed to get my packet and set up my transition area. I somehow was smart enough to bring a garbage bag to set on my transition bag so I was lucky to have dry shoes for the bike and run.
Warm-up
Right before the national anthem (best I’ve heard at a tri) I dipped myself in the water to get rid of the initial shock and went and hung out with the group. I haven’t exactly grasped the concept of warming up. This would later turn out to be huge mistake on my part during the swim.
Swim:
Goal - sub 12 mins
Actual – 12:48.2
I started the swim and felt fine for what seemed like the first 50 meters, then it was like all of hell broke loose. I have never been so afraid in the water in my life. I could not breathe at all. I swam out to the side to avoid the swimmers behind me and still could not catch my breath. So there I was floating on the outside thinking I was on my way to see Elizabeth like Fred Samford. I’m so happy there wasn’t any canoes on the outside of the loop because I seriously considered quitting after starting a second time and still not being able to breathe. After strategizing for what felt like forever I rolled over to my back and began back-stroking and saw blue caps (my wave) behind me and that gave me the confidence to continue. It wasn’t until the last 100 to 200 meters that I felt comfortable in the water. The timing mat wasn’t at the edge of the water but rather at the beginning of the transition since I walked from the water to transition I probably came in closer to 12. I've been told since the race that you should always get in the water and go as hard as you can for a few meters to warn your body of what's to come. Next time hopefully i'm smart enough to fix this.
T1 3:22
I should probably start my race reports after the race …j/k I walked all the way from the lake to my transition and slowly talked myself back into the race. I put on my race belt in hopes I would save a few seconds in the next transition. For some reason I wanted to sit down so badly in transition. That swim really had a adverse affect on me. I am notoriously bad at transitions and definitely need some practice.
Bike
Goal
Actual 37 mins (my watch)
I started the bike rather conservative not knowing or trusting where my level of fitness truly is on the bike. The one thing I focused on during the bike was drinking. Last year I had a really bad problem of cramping on the run and I think a big part of that was not drinking until I became thirsty and that usually didn’t happen til the run and that always was too late. After playing leap frog with some guy the first 9 miles I pushed as hard as I could the last two. I really need to spend more time focusing on the bike.
T2 1:29
Thought I had a relatively smooth transition but my watch says otherwise. I thought this transition would have been much faster being that I didn’t wear socks and I wore my race belt on the bike portion. After getting my shoes on I had a problem of getting them tied but I prefer to run with laces and not the quick strings so this is something I need to practice for the future. I honestly don’t understand how I’m so slow. I really need to improve my transitions.
Run
Goal 27 mins
Actual 25:22
Coming out of the transition I felt great. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt so good starting out a run. I exited the transition with a All3Sports girl and ran with her until I realized that I should probably slow down if I didn’t want to be forced to walk later. In retrospect, I wish I was able to turn my mind off and run with her longer, because I was in no pain, and she was moving. While cruising along on the run, my mind began to wonder and it convinced me that I hadn’t press the timing button for my transition on my garmin, which I had. So for the last 2.25 miles I was on my own without any idea of how fast I was running or my overall time, which wasn’t a bad thing, but I definitely needed to something to occupy my thoughts. There was one section where I had to walk and Matt came up and told me not to stop, which helped me find a cruising pace. There I was cruising along until I passed Jon Reckers on the way back in and he warned me that he was going to catch and pass me. Now, Jon is a much faster runner than I am, but the challenge to not let him catch me was very good motivation to find a pace where I was working. Needless to say Jon never caught me but he definitely pushed me to a PR on a 5K (I’ve never run a official 5K but I have had a timed 5k run and it was 26:16). Overall this was a really good run for me, made even better by teammates. Hopefully the running improvements keep coming and the injuries stay away.
What would I do different
Well I only beat my rival by seconds so I really need to work on my transitions for Chattanooga. I'm sure I gave up at least a minute in the transition. I also need work on my focus on the run. I have to be mentally prepared to race a long with the physical part. Outside of the swim and transitions, I was satisfied with my effort. I know going forward if you're allowed to warm up for the swim, jump in the water and warm up. I never want to experience a swim like this again in my life. If my schedule allows I think I may do the second John Tanner later to see just how much I have improved.
Triathlon – Sprint
Total Time :1:20:42
Age Group Rank:23/32
Pre-race
Saturday morning I woke up had a couple of pieces of toast with peanut butter and honey and two bananas and loaded my things into the Green Machine and hit the road. I woke up with a sore throat that I hoped wouldn’t affect me and I honestly don’t think it did. On the road to the triathlon I happened to see two cars flipped on the interstate and I was calm the entire time. The thing I did the best on the day was not let the weather become a distraction for me. After a hellish run in October, not letting the weather become a distraction is amazing. Got to park ran straight to the bathroom and headed to get my packet and set up my transition area. I somehow was smart enough to bring a garbage bag to set on my transition bag so I was lucky to have dry shoes for the bike and run.
Warm-up
Right before the national anthem (best I’ve heard at a tri) I dipped myself in the water to get rid of the initial shock and went and hung out with the group. I haven’t exactly grasped the concept of warming up. This would later turn out to be huge mistake on my part during the swim.
Swim:
Goal - sub 12 mins
Actual – 12:48.2
I started the swim and felt fine for what seemed like the first 50 meters, then it was like all of hell broke loose. I have never been so afraid in the water in my life. I could not breathe at all. I swam out to the side to avoid the swimmers behind me and still could not catch my breath. So there I was floating on the outside thinking I was on my way to see Elizabeth like Fred Samford. I’m so happy there wasn’t any canoes on the outside of the loop because I seriously considered quitting after starting a second time and still not being able to breathe. After strategizing for what felt like forever I rolled over to my back and began back-stroking and saw blue caps (my wave) behind me and that gave me the confidence to continue. It wasn’t until the last 100 to 200 meters that I felt comfortable in the water. The timing mat wasn’t at the edge of the water but rather at the beginning of the transition since I walked from the water to transition I probably came in closer to 12. I've been told since the race that you should always get in the water and go as hard as you can for a few meters to warn your body of what's to come. Next time hopefully i'm smart enough to fix this.
T1 3:22
I should probably start my race reports after the race …j/k I walked all the way from the lake to my transition and slowly talked myself back into the race. I put on my race belt in hopes I would save a few seconds in the next transition. For some reason I wanted to sit down so badly in transition. That swim really had a adverse affect on me. I am notoriously bad at transitions and definitely need some practice.
Bike
Goal
Actual 37 mins (my watch)
I started the bike rather conservative not knowing or trusting where my level of fitness truly is on the bike. The one thing I focused on during the bike was drinking. Last year I had a really bad problem of cramping on the run and I think a big part of that was not drinking until I became thirsty and that usually didn’t happen til the run and that always was too late. After playing leap frog with some guy the first 9 miles I pushed as hard as I could the last two. I really need to spend more time focusing on the bike.
T2 1:29
Thought I had a relatively smooth transition but my watch says otherwise. I thought this transition would have been much faster being that I didn’t wear socks and I wore my race belt on the bike portion. After getting my shoes on I had a problem of getting them tied but I prefer to run with laces and not the quick strings so this is something I need to practice for the future. I honestly don’t understand how I’m so slow. I really need to improve my transitions.
Run
Goal 27 mins
Actual 25:22
Coming out of the transition I felt great. I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt so good starting out a run. I exited the transition with a All3Sports girl and ran with her until I realized that I should probably slow down if I didn’t want to be forced to walk later. In retrospect, I wish I was able to turn my mind off and run with her longer, because I was in no pain, and she was moving. While cruising along on the run, my mind began to wonder and it convinced me that I hadn’t press the timing button for my transition on my garmin, which I had. So for the last 2.25 miles I was on my own without any idea of how fast I was running or my overall time, which wasn’t a bad thing, but I definitely needed to something to occupy my thoughts. There was one section where I had to walk and Matt came up and told me not to stop, which helped me find a cruising pace. There I was cruising along until I passed Jon Reckers on the way back in and he warned me that he was going to catch and pass me. Now, Jon is a much faster runner than I am, but the challenge to not let him catch me was very good motivation to find a pace where I was working. Needless to say Jon never caught me but he definitely pushed me to a PR on a 5K (I’ve never run a official 5K but I have had a timed 5k run and it was 26:16). Overall this was a really good run for me, made even better by teammates. Hopefully the running improvements keep coming and the injuries stay away.
What would I do different
Well I only beat my rival by seconds so I really need to work on my transitions for Chattanooga. I'm sure I gave up at least a minute in the transition. I also need work on my focus on the run. I have to be mentally prepared to race a long with the physical part. Outside of the swim and transitions, I was satisfied with my effort. I know going forward if you're allowed to warm up for the swim, jump in the water and warm up. I never want to experience a swim like this again in my life. If my schedule allows I think I may do the second John Tanner later to see just how much I have improved.
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