Fairweather triathlete

As the storms rolled in on Friday night, I was reminded of Quassy.  Going into that race, I was completely unfazed, but during the actual ride, I was hating it.  With Duxbury, there wasn't a lot riding on the race, so I actually considered pulling out of the race.

My logic on Friday night, however, was that every other athlete was thinking the same thing, and maybe the fast ladies wouldn't show up, so I was in.  Unfortunately, where this logic fails is that the other fast ladies came to the same conclusion as I did.  When I arrived at the race on Saturday morning, there were some very fast looking bikes making their way through the puddles to transition.

And puddles there were.  The road out to transition had puddles about 8 inches deep.  Transition itself was in a paved parking lot, and my transition area in particular was in a puddle about 3/4" deep.  Try as I might to set down plastic bags to provide a dry spot for shoes and towel, it was not going to happen.  Everything got wet.

As I finished setting up transition, the rain stopped, but the wind started.  I put on my wetsuit and went to hang out in the registration tent to keep warm.  When it was finally time to head down to the water, I huddled up on the shore, shivering, waiting for my wave.  I seriously considered pulling out of the race right then.  I don't think I've ever come so close.  But it occurred to me that I'd just have to wait until the swimmers were all in to get my bike out of transition, might as well race.

The strange part was though, as soon as the my wave started, all those doubts evaporated.  I was racing, and I loved it.  The swim was rough and choppy, but so much fun.  Wasn't my best swim, came out 4th in my AG, but still just fun.

I took a bit of extra time in transition to put on a jacket, and I'm so glad I did.  Then, just as I was about to mount my bike, another athlete rode her bike right into me.  I still don't understand how that happened.  She apologized profusely, but I just stared at her bewildered.  My bike and I were fine.  And then neglected to hit the button on my watch, so my data showed a 43 minute transition, followed by a 3 second bike.

On the run, I stuck to the plan, I was chasing a girl who came out of transition just ahead of me.  She kept her distance for the first mile, but then I slowly started to reel her in, and made the pass on the back half of the course.  My run came in at 21:45, a new PR for the distance. 

Overall 10 seconds slower than two years ago (with a different swim) and only good enough for 4th place on the day.

Looking at my season this year versus last year, the clear improvement has been my running, which I think is a combination of better pacing on the swim and the bike, and just sheer leg speed.

Here's what my percentile rank in AG looked like in 2011:

And here's 2012:

                    
It's good to see how my run rank has improved, and how I didn't blow up in any race this season.  But I've traded a bit with the swim.  However, I think that's more to do with who shows ups.  Now I gotta get working on that bike!

Season closer

Fall arrived last weekend, and it's feeling cooler and crisper, but triathlon season is not over, quite yet.

Duxbury beach sprint triathlon is this weekend.  I did it two years ago.  In fact, I won my age group two years ago, so I'm looking forward to tackling the course again.  This year, with the tides, the swim isn't the spectator-friendly, along-the-bridge swim.  Instead, it's a simple triangle.  Otherwise, the course is the same.

As a fast, flat, short course, I'm looking to go out hard and leave nothing in the tank.  Not much else to the strategy, just get faster with every step of the race, and hopefully, regain my title.

A Little Domination

We can amend item 13 on the anniversary list.  I won my age group at the Webster Lake Tri.

Obviously, an age group win has a lot to do with who shows up.  My age group only had 8 competitors in it.  But, looking across age groups, I was the 5th woman home, out of 63.  That, I'm pretty proud of.  I hadn't gone in with explicit hopes of placing.  I went in wanting to have a low-stakes race where I could work on my race strategy and just go hard.  And I did just that.

The last time I did this course, it was my second triathlon ever, way back in 2007. Throughout the race on Sunday, I kept remembering how I felt at various points during that race all those years ago. 

R (the impetus to this whole triathlon thing), me and A, 2007 Danskin Sprint

Pre-race:
A came with and was an excellent spectathlete, but she didn't race herself.  Definitely the smart move with a broken toe, but also a super tough call to make.  We got to the race course a little shy of 90 minutes before the race. Registered, racked, walked through the transitions, bathroom, got in the water to warm up, nutrition, and start.  It all went so smoothly.  The racks were numbered, but we didn't have assigned spots.  When we got there, mine was the first bike on the rack, so I put it right on the end.  I also brought one of those reflective ankle bands to mark the end of the rack.  Coming into transition, I could quickly scan the racks and find my spot easily.

BTT ladies ready to tackle Webster Lake

Swim:
The plan here was to start solid, then kick it up a gear once the initial chaos had calmed.  This strategy worked perfectly.  At the start I lined myself up directly behind a fellow BTTer, whom I knew to be a strong swimmer (she went on to be the first place woman).  We got the countdown, and we were off.  Immediately, I could start to see a fast pack forming ahead of me, maybe 5-7 swimmers.  I thought briefly about sprinting up to get on feet, but I held back.  At the first turn (it was a triangular course), I started pushing harder, and I started passing people, not just ladies either, I was passing guys from the wave ahead of us.  In fact, I felt like I swam most of this swim passing through the guys.  In the end, I passed most of the girls who had gone out hard in that initial pack.

Distance: 0.42 mi (according to Garmin)
Time:  10:44 (1:27 per 100yds)
Rank in AG: 1 / 8
Rank in Women: 3 / 63
Rank overall: 12 / 185

T1:
This course has the longest trek from the swim to transition of any race outside of Pumpkinman (which offers a prize to the "King/Queen of the Hill").  When I did the race back in 2007, I stashed some flip flops near the swim exit and wore them for the run up to transition.  This year, I felt like it wasn't as rocky as I remembered, and that I was tougher than before, so I opted for barefoot running.  I had a consistent, but not super speedy pace.  I got passed by one woman on the hill.  I took a quick look at her, and knew she wasn't in my age group, so I decided not to give chase.  I ended up getting out of transition faster than her anyway, but she overtook me almost immediately, and set the fastest female bike split for the day.

Time: 3:26
Rank in AG: 1 / 8
Rank in Women: 7 / 63
Rank overall:  26 / 185

Bike:

Looking at the elevation map, it looks like one big hill.  But what I remembered from 2007 was that the hill actually feels like 3 hills, that first one (in red), then the big purple one has a little leveling out that allows you to catch your breath a bit.  I was thankful to remember this.  Just about to the top of the hill, I got passed by another woman.  I wasn't confident of her age group, but I was pretty sure that the second digit was a 7, which would mean I couldn't have been racing against her.  I still didn't know how many women were ahead of me.  It was all dudes out there.  But I stuck to the plan.  The one thing that I seemed to have missed in my race prep was turning on the sound on my garmin.  It was giving me alerts to eat every 20 minutes, but only flashing them on the screen, not making noise.  I thought about trying to fix this as I rode, (which is not uncommon for me) but I decided I'd be better served by just focusing on cranking on the bike.

Distance: 12 mi
Time:  37:49
Speed: 19.0 mph
Rank in AG: 1 / 8
Rank in Women: 9 / 63
Rank overall:  47 / 185

T2:
This went exactly as rehearsed.  Yay for transition practice.

Time: 0:52
Rank in AG: 1 / 8
Rank in Women: 5 / 63
Rank overall:  23 / 185

Run:
Coming in off the bike, I could see the runners heading out.  I saw the woman who first passed me on the bike, then my teammate, then one other girl, whom I hadn't seen before, so I concluded she must have come out of the swim before me.  I didn't see the second woman who passed me on the bike, but I figured I must have just not seen her.  This meant I was at worst in second place in my AG, and in 5th in the women's race.  As I rounded the corner from transition, A told me she thought there were maybe 2 girls ahead of me in my AG.

Starting the run.  This guy stuck on my heals for about half a mile after I passed him

The goal of the run was to go hard for the first half, and harder for the second half.  In trying to drop the guy in the picture, I went a little bit too hard out to the first turn.  We went over an overpass that was a vicious hill in my memory, but in this race it was an undulation, not a pace killer.  As I was coming into the turn around, I could see the leaders in the women's race.  My teammate in first, the first biker, and the girl I hadn't seen before in third.  I spotted the second biker in fourth.  I thought the gap to her didn't seem unbridgeable.  But when I turned around myself, I didn't find another gear to shift into.  Definitely went a bit too hard on that first bit.  I tried to maintain.  When I hit the turn back onto the main road, I felt like I was running well, if a little gassed.  I ran the first half in 7:00 minute miles, and the second half in 7:11.  Not quite the plan, but still a solid 7:04 average (with the sprint at the end).  I did not catch the 4th place woman, but I also did not get caught by any other women either.

Distance: 2.71 (according to Garmin)
Time: 19:09
Pace: 7:04
Rank in AG: 1 / 8
Rank in Women: 4 / 63
Rank overall:  27 / 185

Total:
In the end, this race was incredibly fun.  It's so nice to just have a race go well.  To have no expectations and then to surprise myself.  The day before the race, my friend J, who was also racing, suggested that we should both win our age groups the following day.  I was a little nervous to make that sort of prediction, cause I didn't want those expectations.  But he had it right.  We both won our age groups.  I makes me want to do more (small) sprints.

Prophesy fulfilled, with J

Women's 30-34 podium, with teammate B!

Time: 1:12:00 
Rank in AG: 1 / 8
Rank in Women: 5 / 63
Rank overall: 26 / 185

Sprint Tune Up

Sunday, I'm racing in my first (and possibly only) sprint distance race of the season.  This race fit well into the rest of my season and gives me a chance to go through the race motions without needing days of recovery.  Also, in sprints, you get to go fast!

As well, I convinced A that she needed to do this race as well, as a warm up to her first Olympic distance at Mass State and because it is the same course that we did our very first triathlon on  7 years ago.  In addition to purchasing a shiny, new bicycle, A recently got her first wetsuit.  We met at Walden last Sunday to put it through its paces.  Just as we were wading out into the pond, A stubbed her toe.  She soldiered on, and we swam around a bit, until I started to turn blue (seriously, why can't I stay warm?).  When we got back to home, her toe had turned purple.  On Monday, the doc confirmed that it was broken.  So here we are 7 days from her first race of the season with a toe that isn't really on board with the plan.  She's gonna make the call tomorrow about how much of the race she'll be doing.  Swimming isn't bad, biking is a little rougher, running, well that's probably out.   Total bummer.  Toes take about 4 weeks to heal.  We've got 4 weeks til Mass State.  Hmmf.

As for me, I'm using the race to perfect my race day strategy (i.e., transition area, pre-race routine, mental toughness), while going hard.  I've had trouble in the past getting the balance between biking and running just right in olympic distances (and half ironmen).  I go too hard on the bike and suffer on the run.  My coach is helping me work on this, thinking about getting faster throughout the race.  But in a sprint, well, here's his advice, "Said another way, regardless of what the numbers are saying, if it feels too hard, it is too hard.  Conversely if you feel like you can do a tad more, do a tad more especially on the bike."

Cranberry Sprint Race Report: Going fast.

After a whole season of races that take more than two and a half hours, it was really nice to have a race that I finished in just over an hour. That's not to say that I wasn't sore after this race or I didn't take a mondo nap. It's just nice to go fast and be done.

[Bikes racked, goggles checked, ready to race. ]

I had planned on it being a wetsuit legal race, but when I got there, the water temperature was 79 degrees. At that temperature, wetsuits are allowed, but you're not eligible for prizes. The swim was supposed to be a half mile. I had estimated that without a wetsuit, I'd probably finish in about 14 minutes.

Another change: I had decided to try out a different top this time around. Both my head coach and one of our assistant coaches race in the "running singlet" rather than the tri top, so I thought I'd give it a go (the tri top zipper sometimes chafes).

I started the swim on towards the front and on the left with all the other women in 30-34 and 35-39. When the horn sounded I started swimming hard. Quickly, I was out ahead of the mele. I could see about 6-7 girls ahead of me all swimming together, but I was mostly alone. Without my wetsuit the top swished around a bit in the water. Not a big deal, but my heart rate strap also came dislodged and started inching its way down my waste. Just at the final buoy, I saw another woman from my wave come up on my right. I held onto her as best I could, but she got out of the water about 5 seconds ahead of me. Paul was waiting for me on shore and told me I was less than a minute behind the leaders and in 8th or so place. My watch said 7:30. That swim was short! Afterwards the officials said it was closer to 0.3 miles.

[trying to get the heart rate strap back in place]

[I had pretty decent rack positioning, near the bike out, though a bit off to the side]

I beat the woman who overtook me in the swim out of transition by about 40 seconds, and successfully mounted my bike. The bike route was two loops of 5.5 miles, and it went pretty fast. On the first lap, I was passing people, but never sure if I was passing people in my age group. I saw a few 25-29, at least one 35-39, and I was pretty sure one 30-34. I did get passed by the elite woman toward the end of the first lap. On the second lap, all bets were off. I was passing people a lot, but I stopped even trying to keep track of age groups. I didn't get passed by any other women.

[heading out on the run]

Paul was waiting for me at T2. I asked him how many girls were ahead of me. He said he thought I was in 5th place (out of 30-34 and 35-39). Off I went. Got about 300 yards outside of transition and decided I really didn't need to be running in my visor. It was cloudy and misty out, no need to shield my face. So as we rounded the corner of the parking lot, I tossed it onto the fence post.

I got passed by a few men but mostly just focused on picking people off. At the one mile mark, I saw a guy pull over and star to walk. As I made the pass, I reminded him, "Only 2 more miles, dude." He said thanks and started running again.

I got to the hill and saw a female runner up ahead of me. I forced myself to up my cadence and direct my eyes down at the pavement. Whew, made it to the turn (the halfway point in the hill), and I've gained some ground on this woman. Eyes down, cadence up, and we've cleared the top of the hill and come into the water stop. Just after the water stop, I caught up to her. I asked, "Are you 37?" She said, "yes, and you?" I told her 32. She said, "oh, well done then." I said, "you, too." She said she would have wished me luck even if I had been in her age group. Isn't that nice.

My next mark was a 50 year old man, but I just couldn't seem to pass him. I followed him all the way back to the park. Just as we were about to turn in, I finally catch him. The volunteer rightly tells us, it's about two tenths of a mile to the finish (I hate it when they throw out completely inaccurate numbers). And I try to squeeze out every last drop.

[my favorite shot from the race: the finish line, just after I had crossed it]

Paul tells me he thinks I was 4th in my age group. But I ask if that included 35-39 year olds, and he wasn't sure. We wait for Andrea and Rachel to finish up and snap this shot:


The results come in: 3rd place in age group. We find a dry spot in the tent for the awards, just as it starts to rain.

[Third place and looking pretty short on that podium]

It's not quite the win I'd planned, but I feel like I really went hard, and I'm very satisfied with the outcome.

Cranberry Sprint Race Plan: The Encore

It seems like it was just last week I was planning for Age Group Nationals. Ok, it doesn't just seem that way. This weekend, I've got the sprint at Cranberry.

Every year since I returned from Australia, I've done the Timberman Sprint with my good friend Andrea. She and I did our very first triathlon together way back in 2005, so it's sorta special to get to do Timberman with her each year. This year, unfortunately, Timberman Sprint was scheduled for the same day as Nationals. Andrea competed in Timberman without me last weekend (and beat her previous best course time by five minutes!), while I raced at Nationals. We decided we'd need to find another sprint to do. Enter the Cranberry Sprint. We chose it because it was close enough to our A races that we wouldn't really have to train for it. In fact, since Nationals I have trained exactly once: a 20 minute or so open water swim yesterday.

I raced Cranberry Olympic last year. This year, I'm pleased to be doing the sprint because (a) it appears we'll be able to get it in before the hurricane hits (the olympic distance may not be so lucky) and (b) it's my only sprint for the season. Last year's Timberman plan was to have fun and go hard. Plan for Cranberry is the same. And add to that a win. We'll see how I'm feeling race day, but from this comfy couch, it certainly feels doable.

From worst to first

I read a fair few triathlon blogs. They're right over there to the right. There are two styles of these blogs: people who are triathletes and people who do triathlons. Of course those are not the same thing. It takes a more than just your first triathlon to feel like you really belong in the sport.

Recently I noticed that I've crossed the divide. I'm no longer trying to become a triathlete, I am one. I'm no longer just "participating" in races, I'm racing. I came across this photo from my first race in Australia a few weeks ago.


That was a tough race. I didn't come DFL there (turns out I beat one kid and one grandma), but I did at others.

Contrast that to this weekend's Duxbury sprint.

It was my last race of the Boston season and a big team race with 14 of us racing for BPC. It's a sprint and given that it was only 6 days after the half ironman, I didn't have high expectations for it. Go out, have fun, then a big team end of season bbq as a reward. I haven't even done much since the half, I took Monday and Tuesday off from training, easy, drill-focused swim on Wednesday, strength on Thursday and rest day Friday. Didn't do a race plan. Riding over to the course the legs didn't feel like they had much in them, so I decide that those 5 miles to the course are actually enough of a warm up, even if they were 2 hours before the race.

We register and they don't mark our calves with our ages, which means out on the course, I can't tell whom I'm really racing. My coach remarks, that just means I have to be faster than everyone.

The swim has got to be the best spectator swim anywhere. We started on the main shore, and swam, along a bridge to the far shore. Spectators could just follow along, walking up the bridge. About 150 yards from shore, you could hear people cheering, it was great. Pushed it out to the shore. I saw a few pink caps ahead of me, but still felt like a solid swim.

Onto the bike, and of course the first thing you do is ride across that same bridge. It's a wooden bridge and about half a mile long, so not an ideal surface for putting on one's bike shoes. The ride was out and back. Not too far in, I get passed by a girl, I try to keep her in my sights. Three miles in, I see one of our coaches, Vic, on his way back in, looking fast. It's fantastic to see my teammates going so well. Just about to the turn around, I see another teammate Jeff, heading back. I wonder if I can catch him. At the turn around, I get passed by another girl, who is really fast. On the way back, I catch back up to the first girl, and she and I and 3 other cyclists, ride back together. Average speed 20 mph, on the nose.

The run is also out across the bridge, which seems to take forever this time around. I focus on picking people off, this includes my teammate Jeff, and pretty soon, I'm heading back toward the bridge. I get passed by one more girl on the run who's pace I just can't match. Strong sprint home, and it's all done.

My coach asks how it went, and I tell her it was ok, I felt pretty good, but that I got passed both on the bike and on the run, but can't know if they were in my age group or not. We head over and check out the boards for results. Nothing, I'm not on there. Oh, wait, they're posting updated results. There's Lauren, there's Christina, there's... me. Oh. My. God. It says I came first. Wait, go look at that again, am I reading that right? I get Patty to look at it with me. Yes, that's right 1st place in the 30-34 year old age group! Woo hoo! Hugs and high fives all around. Plus we've got more podiums on the team, Vic took first, Robyn took first, Christina took second and Jeff took second. Seriously solid showing. We all hang around for the award ceremony, which is painfully disorganized. Christina and Jeff both receive hideous water bottles instead of medals.


First time on the podium and first place out of 26! Looking at the official results, I had the 4th fastest swim, but passed 2 girls in transition. My bike was the second fastest in the age group, but because of the solid swim and transition, I was already in first coming in off the bike. 5th fastest run, but again, I'd put enough of a gap in, that I maintain my first place position. Oh, and, because this race is so late in the season, it qualifies me for age group national champs next year in Vermont. That was my goal for next season, so I'm gonna have to start thinking about not just going, but having a good showing there.

Timberman race report: Paying dividends

I came to the Timberman race to have fun, and that I definitely did. But it's also the first sprint that I've done since last year's timberman, so a great chance to see how I've progressed in my training.

I wore my wetsuit on the swim, cause I wanted to practice racing with it. I plan to wear it in both the cranberry this weekend and Pumpkinman in 3 weeks. Also, I knew this race would have wetsuit strippers, and I've never had my wetsuit stripped before. I took a place near the front of the pack. My entire wave was my age group, 82 athletes in all. I started out on some one's toes, but quickly passed her. The water was shallow. Seriously shallow:

Check out all those people walking. After the first 2 buoys, I couldn't see any other red caps ahead of me. I started realizing I could be in first place. Rounding the last buoy, another woman caught me. And she wasn't even wearing a wetsuit. I pushed hard, but I couldn't keep with her. Still I figured that had me in 2nd place. Here I am watching her cross the timing pad ahead of me.
Another woman in my age group (let's call her "the beast") passes me as I enter the wetsuit stripping area. The way this works, is you lay down on your back, and volunteers grab the suit at your waist and fling it off you. Here are some people getting stripped.

My volunteers grabbed my suit and pulled, but the suit stayed on, and instead I dragged along the ground. Luckily there was another volunteer to hold onto my hands, and on the second try, off came the wetsuit.

I passed the girl who passed me on the swim in transition. And the beast came out just ahead of me. She was clearly an athlete, clearly very fit and clearly very muscular. None of this bodes well for my bike. But on the first hill, I overtook her. Sweet. I held her off for about a mile before she overtook me again. But, I kept her in my sights. I then got passed by two BTT girls and a girl in a red tri suit. That meant I was in 5th behind the beast. Going down a big hill (and not using my brakes), I got passed by two other girls in my age group. I was not having that. I passed them both back on the next uphill, and I held them off for the next down hill. I ended up playing leapfrog with one of them for the rest of the course. We even caught up with the beast.

[heading out on the run, post beast, that's some serious neck tension]

I came out of transition just behind the two of them. I passed the beast on the run in the chute and passed the other girl in the first 100 paces after that. Sweet. Now I was in 4th. Just as I was thinking maybe I had a shot at the podium, another thought crossed my mind. What about the girls who are awesome runners? What if there are some of those behind me? Just then, one of them passes me. Ugh, ok. First mile 7:52. Not bad. I hit the turn around and starting making my way home. Second mile 6:19, ok that one I just don't believe, it must have been short. On the way home, I get passed by the girl who passed me on the swim. And then I'm turning to go back into the chute. There are a ton of BTTers there and I get lots of cheers, which apparently, I like:


I finished up in 1:21. That's 9 minutes faster than last year. 9 minutes! 2 on the swim, 4 on the bike and 3 on the run. EFF YEAH!

Also, I did keep good track of all the athletes that passed me and that I passed. When I crossed the finish line, I thought I was in 6th. Turns out that there was one lightning fast woman in my division, in fact, I think she won the whole thing. She was so fast that I never saw her. That put me 3rd on the swim, 10th on the bike and 12th on the run and 7th overall. Out of 82!

All of this has me super excited for next season. With this race, I could qualify for Nationals this year. I don't want to go this year, it's not part of my plan. I want to get faster on the bike and the run. It sucks having the swim be your best leg and then getting passed by people for the rest of the race. I want to qualify next year with a podium under my belt and be able to have a decent showing in Vermont at Nationals.

Timberman Sprint Race Plan

The race is Saturday morning at 7am. I'm doing this one with my old friend and original tri buddy Andrea. (She and I went to Bangkok a few years ago).

The plan for this race is simple:

• Have fun!
• Go hard!

I think I can do that.

Race Report: Timberman

The Timberman race was ranked the best sprint race in the US by Triathlete magazine. Thus, it was sold out months in advance. Luckily, knowing a few insiders, I was able to fill in for a friend of mine at the race. So my bib said "Sionan" on it, but otherwise, I raced as me.

The race was a slightly shorter swim (1/3 mi), slightly longer bike (16 mi), and slightly shorter run (3 mi) than an traditional sprint. The weather was warm, but a stormy. I was surprised to see how many people were wearing wetsuits. The water in Lake Winnipesaukee was around 75 degrees, but well over half of the competitors wore wetsuits. I figured for such a short distance, the advantages of the wetsuit would be overcome by the struggle with taking it off. However, they did have wetsuit strippers available, and I was a little jealous that I didn't get to utilize them.

Next came my first gumby moment of the morning. I chucked my sunglasses on my towel, cause it was starting to rain when I emerged from the water. I threw my helmet on and got moving. Out on the bike, I remembered that I had had a gu in my helmet, but I hadn't seen it when I put the helmet on, so I figured it must have fallen out somewhere. Low and behold taking off the helmet, I found my gu, still there. Nice one.

My run felt pretty good. Getting to the first mile marker, I checked my watch, 8:44. I had felt a little faster than that, but ok, I'm not in shape. A few minutes later I checked the watch again, 8:46. Ah, gumby moment number 2: my watch was displaying time of day, not lap time. Sweet, I had actually run much closer to an 8 minute first mile. The last mile, the next person to try to catch was much further ahead of me, I focused and got determined to take her down. Turning into the shoot, I passed her, and sprinted to catch the next two people ahead of me. Overall time was sub 24 minutes, which I was thrilled with, but after the fact I discovered it was not quite 5K, so my overall pace was 7:58, still not too shabby for me.

So best sprint in the US? Well it was superbly organized. Tons of volunteers. But the real kicker was the post race food: the typical fruit and bagels, then salad, pasta, antipasto, cold cuts, clam chowder, yogurt, ice cream, soda, margaritas, beers! And I got a nice insulated water bottle and mini towel! My first towel from a tri! And so appropriate that the sprint gives you a tiny towel.

Special thanks to Andrea for helping me get into the race, putting me up for the race, letting me drive her car and entertaining me on the drive. And to Sionan for giving me her number.

Race Report: Raby Bay

Can't hold it in: I got in the top 10! Not like the top 10 overall. But in the top 10 of women aged 25-29. But still. There were 31 people in my category, and I came 10th. Better than that, I ran my 5K in 24:50. It's the first time I've run sub-5 minute Ks in a tri!

It was a sprint race. The third in the Queensland Tri Series. Each race has gotten a little bit tougher, a little bit longer. This one was a full sprint 750m-20K-5K.

And it was hot. They rotate the start times of the individual waves, so though I was one of the first heats at Robina, at this race I was the second to last. The race also has a kids race and an enticer race (mini-triathlon), so though the kids got started at 7. My race didn't actually start til 8:48. On a cloudless 32 degree day.

The swim felt good for the first half and bad for the second. I just lost my guts, started breast stroking every few strokes. My overall time was still sub 15 minutes, but I know I can do better.

On the bike I could see another BTS person shortly ahead of me. It was a 4 lap course, I caught her on the second, but she passed me back. But I passed her back again. Then an official on a motorcycle rode up alongside me. He says, "Looks like you lost your friend". I was a bit stunned. Officials don't talk to you, unless you've done something wrong. This guy was just having a chat. Very strange.

Luckily to combat the heat, there were gusty winds. Unfortunately, on the bike this made the ride out near impossible and the ride in super fast. At every lap, I'd sail in with the wind to my back, turn around, try to get out of the saddle to get my speed back, but with the wind pounding my chest, I'd bow back down onto my bars to push through it.

Then the run. The wind here really made a huge difference. 5K in four laps of 1.25K, coming back in to the crowds for the half way point. It felt good. Strong. I passed another BTS person on the course, but since we were so close to the last to go, the course was clearing out.

I forgot to stop my watch, so I didn't realize til the official results were released that I'd finished the run in sub 25 minutes.

I was sorely disappointed that after all of that there were no sausages leftover. A sausage on a slice of bread is an Aussie tradition. Though there were plenty before the race, it's not the time that I'm really in the mood. And afterward, they'd already packed up. Grrr.

Also, I got a little sunburned. I mean, I put on sunscreen, but it's only good for 4 hours. And it's not really good for that after a swim. But there's not much option. I can't put on more screen during the tri, the sweat will stop it from sticking. 4 hours and 30+ is the best I can find here. Other than covering myself in zinc, I can't figure out what else to do.

But those things aside, I broke into the top 10. It's only up from here.

Race Report: Robina

This was the weather after the race. Thankfully, it was clear skies during the race, but it was hot.

This was a short race: 400m, 15K, 4K. Swim was in a lake, which means it was not salty! So nice for once. Swim felt good, though my time was over 8 minutes which was a bit disappointed. The ride felt good, though heart rate was a bit high, probably due to the cold I had this week, or the blistering heat. 82 degrees, 75% humid. The run felt terrible for the first 1500. The air was still, and I started to feel like I shouldn't have drunk all that water on the bike. But once things settled in I felt good on the run. It was a 2 lap course, and I did the second lap about 10 seconds faster than the first. Overall I came 10th in my category out of 41. 1h 3m 53s.

Mission Beach Aquatics Festival

Mission Beach

Lisa and I went to Mission Beach last weekend which is about a 2 hours drive South of Cairns. Mission Beach is known for its Cassowaries, which are large, endangered, flightless birds. It's home to 50-60 of them and has the densest population of them in the world. Despite this and the many signs indicating that we should be cautious drivers we saw a grand total of zero.

We stayed at a place called Sanctuary. It offers accommadations to tourists in the middle of a bit of conserved rainforest just north of Mission Beach on Garner's Beach. We stayed in a rainforest hut which was like a screened in porch with two beds and a night stand. At night we could hear all the creatures of the forest come alives. So even though we never saw a cassowary, we are convinced that we definitely heard one. They either go "ribbit," "hoo hoo," or "cock-a-doodle-doo."

Sanctuary also boasts an organic farm (which you can work on for accommodations), a yoga studio, and an incredibly yummy restaurant. With everything there, there is a sense of responsibility, that you are renting a part of the community there. Thus, when the yoga class is done, you wash your own mat. If you would like dinner in the restaurant, you must order by 6pm off the menu which is announced at 4pm and it will be served between 7 and 8. It's the type of place that by the second day you get the feeling that you had significantly destressed. If you could stay there for a week, you may no longer be recognizable to your friends and family.

Ultimately, the rationale for going to Mission Beach was to see the Mission Beach Aquatics festival and to compete in the triathlon that Sunday. The Festival was small. And I feel like I'm starting to see the same "local flavor" bits again and again. The highlight of the festival was supposed to be the world's largest sarong. But when we went we saw that, in fact, it had been just many pieces of fabric pinned together in a patchwork sarong, and that most of it had already been disassembled. We then found a good table to grab a beer and watch the parade. The parade consisted of an old tyme car, kids with surfboards, scouts dressed as flip-flops and a firetruck. I think they might have won the award for the world's shortest parade. Our waitress went to get our beers and when she came back she had missed it.

I bought shoes for my bike. They clip into the pedals so you can both pull up on the pedals as well as push down. This is a big step in my cycling career. And it's to be expected that you will fall off your bike a few times as you get the hang of using them. Saturday, the day before the race, I still had not tried them out with the bike in motion (I had practiced them with the bike stationary and held in an upright position). So after two beers and the excitement of the parade, we decided it was time to practice. Lisa ran out ahead of me, so I could ride to her and she could catch me if I started to tip. I clipped in, pedalled a bit, clipped out and came to a stop right in front of her, still upright! She ran a bit further. Again, I made it successfully. "This is awesome" "You're a natural" "Ok, let's try it one more time, back to the car and we'll be good" As Lisa ran back toward the car, I turned the bike around with one foot still clipped in. And then, I was on the ground, laughing and calling out to Lisa. We tried a few more times and I didn't fall again, so I was feeling good for the race the next day.

I woke up in the morning anxious. Worried about the shoes still. But Suzie was there. Whew, not going to be last. Then it turns out, she was doing the half distance course. They explained the course to us: four buoys on the swim, left out of the lot on the bike, road turns right, over a small bridge, take a turn, out to South Mission Beach, around the cone, back, second lap, run across the street, pass the "Run-turnaround sign", but don't turn around there, take a turn up a hill, follow the cones, back to the turnaround sign, second loop and back to the transition area. What? I'll just follow the signs. The group of us traipsed out to the beach for the swim. I saw two buoys close to shore, where were the other two? Off on the horizon, I spotted two small orange dots. Those were them. Was it possible that was 750m? I started to panic. I can't swim that far in the ocean, I have clippy shoes I'm going to fall out of, I have no idea what the course is. I looked around and spotted Greg a member of the club. I told him I was anxious about the swim. He said not to worry about it, just take it easy, take my time, don't try to go out too hard and I'd make it.

He was right. I was very slow, and I got caught in a rip coming back in and kept getting pushed off course, but I made it out of the water. The very last person out. At this point I was a bit disheartened, but strapped on my new clippy shoes and took my bike out to the course. I couldn't get my right foot in. I had practiced starting with one foot in, and now I couldn't get it in. I stood on the right pedal, I heard it clip, but then my weight was on the right, and down I went. My second spill with the shoes. A race official came back over to me to help. He offered to hold the bike up right, and I could just clip both of them in. But I couldn't do that, that wasn't how I had practiced, I knew I would fall again. I managed to get the right foot back in with him holding the bike, then finally got on my way.

Ok, right turn, over the bridge, out to the intersection, there are people there directing traffic. I hang a right. I swear I pass people cheering me on. Then it's just winding hills. Where's the turnaround? I see a sign "Caution bikes on road", ok I'm still going the right way. Then the road ends, another intersection and there's no sign, there's no one there. Which way do I go? Where are all the other riders? I must have screwed up. I turn around. I go all the way back to the transition area. I spot Simone, "Where's the turn around?" "There's a cone in the middle of the road" How could I have missed that? Back out, I come to the first intersection, and I yell out, "Where's the turn around?" "It's to the left." The left. I turned right last time. Why didn't you stop me before?

Maybe, I should just rack my bike, and not run. But as I get back to the transition. There's Lisa, cheering me on. I get off my bike, and I don't fall over. Ok, time to run. It's now about 10:45am, it's getting hot. I'm running. I do the first lap slowly, and I know at this point that every one else has finished. I ask the official, "can I finish?" He says "Yeah". I turn around at this point things start to click. My strides feel good. I make it up the hill this time with a lot less effort. And when I turn the corner to the finish line, there's Lisa and Simone cheering once again.

I don't really care about being last. I do care about being so far behind. It's hard to keep myself motivated to push hard when I can't see any one ahead of me. And I feel guilty for making people wait on me. One more triathlon next weekend...

Lessons from my first Australian Triathlon

1. Ocean swims are hard.
I guess I haven't done an open water swim since maybe last summer in Boston, so attempting my first one in a while, in the ocean, in a race, wasn't the best. But I did not drown, or have to get saved, I did get kicked by a bunch of the kids that only had to do half the distance. Which brings me to...

2. It's unfair that the 10 year olds get to do shorter distances, they are obviously fitter than me so they should have to put themselves through the same toils. And they gloat.
Seriously, these kids were doing laps in utero. They are ironmen in training. When I was 10, I thought riding my bike to the end of the driveway was a feat. Most of these kids haven't hit puberty yet, and I could probably hold them at arms distance to keep them from hitting me if I had to and they still look barely winded when I crossed the finish line. I do feel bad for the one kid I beat (same kid as in the duathlon), it's gotta be way harder to be him than me.

3. Setting expectations that I'll be at the back of the pack make for a far more enjoyable outcome.
I've learned by now to not expect any great performances out of me relative to the rest of the race. This race instead, I focused on not letting myself down - I didn't stop the entire way except in the transition areas. I ran the whole thing, I held a 16mph pace on the bike and I didn't drown. Even though they were already taking down the bike racks when I finished, I felt great. This was also helped by...

4. Knowing I will absolutely not be the last also makes for a more enjoyable race.
Ok, maybe it's not nice, but there was another woman there who had a basket on the front of her bike. Sure, I don't have clippy pedals, but a basket, really? I am an order of magnitude more hardcore than her. I had ridden with her the week before and knew that even if I blew a tire, I could probably run the bike faster than she could pedal. Knowing that she was "racing" meant I would definitely not be last. I took solace in that. I may not be competitive, but at least people aren't looking at me thinking "A basket?!!" And I am getting clippy pedals on my bike today!

5. Having a cheering section rocks no matter how small the race or the cheering section.
Lisa and Kimberley came out to watch the end of the race. So when I crossed the finish line I had the only cheering section at the race. It was awesome. Then we went for brunch out on the beach. Could not have been a better Sunday morning.