This was my return to the scene of the crime (aka my first EVER triathlon). I was excited to come back and see the difference a year has made. There were the obvious improvements of the tri bike and being less afraid of my aerobars (I don’t think I used them at all last year). Then there were the unknowns of whether or not I can man up and be less afraid of open water swimming, if I have figured out the ever elusive “tapping the power” on the bike... the list goes on.
Race weekend was fabulous. Thanks to the super-fast Adrienne Shields, we were staying at a house on Eagle Ridge resort for the weekend! Looking forward to racing and bonding with some VQ buddies! Got to Galena for dinner with the crew, went to rack bikes… and then to bed! As a note, the lucky mens underwear are being re-incorporated into my race routine (pending they work okay these first few races). Plan: soak up luck the night before and let it work its magic on race day.
Swim:
I was in the first wave of women and found fellow VQer Katie Reget at the start. We made our way to the front and I told myself that I can be calm and collected in an open water swim. It was a running start, which I prefer… and we were off! We were close enough to the front and I was pretty calm. I think I swam next to Katie the whole time and we were in a group of maybe 4 that were at the front of the group. Corkscrew turns were used and successful (thanks Marcia Cleveland for making us practice those at VQ swims!).
T1:
I exited with the group of 4, so tried to be as fast as possible in transition and remember to shove everything in the T1 bag. Mounted the bike with some success (jumped on and prayed that I would clip in like a normal person – not always the case – but, luckily I succeeded just in time for the first hill out of transition).
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| looking less than focused on the bike... |
Bike:
This was the first race on the new TRI BIKE! New added bonuses were a fit from Trek of Highland Park and a new power meter (I almost look like I know what I’m doing… now, to race like it J) My goal was to push the bike hard… work on pushing over the crest of the hill and hammering the down hills. Really, it was the hurt as much as possible in honor of my friend racing Ironman TX. I glanced down at power and cadence every once in a while to try to keep those in check. I passed the first girl out of transition pretty quickly off the bike, but wasn’t sure if there were any that swam faster… so, I kept pushing and really hoped that no one would catch me on the bike. I felt good on the bike, pushing hard, but didn’t feel like I was dying. I think I could still improve on my shifting efficiency, especially on a course like Galena. Power could be higher on a short course like this too.
T2:
Wore my garmin, which I am not sure I liked… but put that on and tried to get my butt out of transition as quick as possible. I was pretty sure I was the first girl in, which meant I just had some fast runners coming behind me. Not that I was winning the race ever… but, it was still cool to leave transition and have them say “first female!” Small victories for this one :) No judging.
Run:
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| wishing the run was OVER! |
So, I felt good on this bike… which is not my norm… In the past I have always had the “thank god I’m just running… and am off that stupid bike!” mentality. Reverse here… I ENJOYED the bike (weird) and could tell right away that the run was just going to suck and hurt a lot. My legs felt heavy during my strides during warm-up, so I was nervous that they weren’t really going to be there for the run… and this was confirmed once I started running. I pushed up the first big hill and sounded like I was going to have an asthma attack (yes, I make that sound more than I would like to admit… and I’m pretty sure the guys I was passing were thinking – “you might die, perhaps you should just run slower?”… but I was already kind of slogging along, so that was not an option). The next 4 miles were a struggle fest. Somewhere around mile 2, Miss Adrienne Shields came cruising by - looking strong and flying! Tried to stay tough and just kind of hope no one in my AG was running fast… but I wasn’t too hopeful. Just before mile 3 a girl passed with 29 on her leg. DARN!! She also looked like she was in better shape, so I tried to focus on form and just keep plugging along.
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| Vision Quest representing! |
Finish was 1:33 something… a solid 7 minutes faster than last year, gained mostly on the bike and a little from the swim. Competition was tough this year with a lot of Chicago triathletes! Finished 2nd F25-29, 5th female…. Need to shave a few minutes off to be with the top ladies next year!
Enjoyed the post-race festivities, grilling out and a big day of biking on Sunday (following by my most pathetic transition run this year… will remain calm and not freak out… almost all my transition runs sucked last year, I will survive). Great to have a good group from Vision Quest out there enjoying a few more takes at the hills on Sunday!
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| Long ride with the girls on Sunday |
Thoughts -
· Wore Oakleys on the run, felt comfortable
· Probably should have taken in some more during the bike, but race was short enough that it wasn't a huge issue
· Still need work on shifting
· Still need the mental toughness on the run… debating how I feel about garmin versus regular watch… think I might get in my head too much with it.
