Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf

Okay....I think this is everything. Sorry so late, BeepBeep, but maybe you're still up.

Luray Sprint Triathlon

On my birthday last year, I promised myself that I would complete three tasks over the next 12 months - do a mud run, a marathon, and a triathlon. Today marks the completion of those tasks. And boy do I have a smile on my face.

For years now (perhaps even decades ) my hubby and some of my athlete buddies have been telling me I need to do a triathlon because I can swim - but unfortunately until about a year and a half ago that was all I really could do, swim. Then I started taking my recreational jogging a little more seriously and turned it into running. Next came the requisite races, then the mandatory securing of a Garmin, and voila! A wanna-be runner was born! But there was still the tiny matter of not being able to ride a bike very well. And I still need to work on that, plus get a better than "entry level" bike, plus learn to clip in, plus spend more than 30 to 40-ish miles per week in the saddle (of which only 17 to 20-ish are on the road), plus do more hills, plus get an aerobar, plus....plus...plus.... Any way, get the picture? There is much work yet to do on the bike, but for today, what little training I have done in that regard served me well, which also excites me knowing that I have a respectable base to start with and loads of room for improvement. Yay. Now, on with the report...

Dial back one day - I took advantage of the low-turnout yet free transition clinic that was held lakeside Saturday afternoon (and run by a scrawny super duper triathlete who's been in more than 360 triathlons) to pickup a few pointers in hopes that I would streamline T1 and T2 since I hadn't a clue what or how to do things in between the disciplines. He covered many topics, shared a lot of good information, and was eager to help us, but the one thing he said that stuck with me was that in an IronMan distance tri, the swim is so proportionally short compared to the bike and run that superior swimming ability will not have the same affect as it will in the shorter races. Totally makes sense. Then last night, hubby and I went to the spaghetti dinner our town was having for the athletes with speaker Dave Scott, 6 time IronMan world champion. The spaghetti was plentiful, the crowd was upbeat, and Dave Scott was, well, Dave Scott. His chat was mainly about Chrissie Wellington - apparently he coaches or has coached her over the years. We heard lots of Chrissie stories, including her illness before Kona 2010 and how instrumental he was in suggesting she pull out....and her injuries she sustained on a training ride with Dave's son just 2 weeks before Kona 2011 and how involved he was in seeing her through that ordeal and getting her to believe in herself and back on track and crossing the finish line first and setting her straight on how well she did in that race when she called him immediatley after that race and was critical of her own performance. Whew! Never did quite understand his points other than he and Chrissie are BFFs and he has contributed to her greatness. Yay Dave!

Hit the sack early last night after I got all my gear, food and drinks sorted. Pretty much had a crappy night's sleep that consisted of waking up every couple of hours to feed the cats, pee (I was trying to hydrate myself last night), listen to the rain, and stress over the unknown of how I might perform. Finally got out of bed at 5am after laying there awake for an hour and a half and hopped in the shower. Had a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and milk for breakfast, and a bottle of apple juice for the short ride to the race venue.

Arrived at the lake nice and early, in fact, it was still dark out. I immediately met up with friends and I got some guidance on how to rack my bike and setup my little space. Got my body marked, chip secured on my left ankle, drank more apple juice/water/Gatorade, peed several more times, had my picture taken a zillion times by friends, then down to the water to warm up. Wetsuits were allowed, but most of us opted not to wear one. I was in the 5th wave, so I stayed in the water warming up for as long as I could....besides, the water temp was actually warmer than the air temp.

Swim - 750 meters, 13:33, 16/251
(please note, placement numbers are ladies overall, and I omitted anyone who did not finish or had been DQed from my numbers)

I lined up in the front of my wave and had decided to swim steady from the start. I didn't want to go out like a mad woman and start gasping too soon, so I kept my stroke long and strong from the get go. In addition to my age group, my wave consisted of women 29 and under, so I knew there'd be some pretty fast swimmers in there with me that I could use to my advantage. Immediately, 3 or 4 of us split from the mass of purple caps that was our wave to take to fresh water.....unfortunately though, we caught the previous wave of swimmers before we even got to the first buoy....and we caught the next previous wave as we rounded the first buoy....and then we were in a mass of swimmers from even earlier waves and they were slowing us down. I went wide of several and through some...I stayed on one purple cap's feet for most of the back section to draft off her until we rounded the next buoy, at which time we had caught up with a swimmer from the very first wave. Jeez!! Can't they sort these waves by time and not age!! As we headed for home, I picked up the kick, breathed less and stroked harder. In my head, I had targeted a 13 minute swim as a pace that would place me well and allow me to have plenty in the tank for the bike, and it did. I do believe I could have gone at least 30 seconds faster without the traffic, but that's what happens when you start 5 waves back.

T1 - 2:28, 76/251

The transition from swim to bike is a long one. It's out of the water and down the beach and up the stairs and over the hill and through the woods. Wait! Not the hill and woods thing, but everything else. I didn't push this too much because I wanted to take on some fluids and shot bloks...which I did. No flying mount for me....it was just push the bike to the mount line and start pedaling.

Bike - 17 miles, 1:00:27, 44/251

I immedialty felt great on the bike. Pushed it out of the lake area in a fairly big gear and appropriately eased the gears back for the first hill. Once I crested the hill I was already gearing it heavy again so I could propel myself into the first downhill, but because it was congested I had to use my breaks a little on this hill. Didn't want to do that, but I had no choice. I noticed early on how many people I was passing, and this gave me a great confidence boost. I also noticed that most of the people I was passing were males....and 9 times out of 10 when I was being passed, it was by a female. Don't know what's up with that, but okay. I found myself looking at the body markings to see if anyone in my age group was passing me, and to my shock and horror about 4 miles into the ride a hefty gal working on the bike in my age group did pass me. I kept her within striking distance for a while, but on the next downhill we hit she shot out of my sight. I was working the course very well and really felt like a million bucks. I passed a few poor peeps with blown tires, but I figured better them than me. I met up with one fella and we had a chat. Turns out he's local and a pretty good athlete...and was in an earlier wave than me....and I was passing him. Another boost for me!

When we reached the part of the course that doubles back, we were then passing cyclists who were early on in their journey...they were the stragglers, so I shouted "good job" to all of them. I think I saw a glimmer of a smile on each of their faces. They are the ones who I really appreciate - they're out there doing this not for the podium finish or their time, but for something inside them that some of us will never understand. Good job to them.

I stayed in my big ring for the first 15.5 miles of the course - I am strongest by muscling my way through cycling, probably in part because I don't clip in. I checked my speed periodically and knew I was cycling consistently faster than I had been on my training runs. When I hit the first of the two final gut wrenching hills, I did shift to my small ring and started spinning my way up it. As soon as I crested, back into the big girl ring I went, and pushed it until the final hill.....at which time I went back to the small ring and stood up to power my way for one last hurrah. Hubby was at the top cheering me on and it gave me a huge boost. Then down the hill I went and not long into transition. The crowds were crazy here....hooting and hollaring and cow bells ringing. MORE COW BELL!! Can't have too much cow bell.

T2 - 1:04, 17/251

This was easy. Walk bike to rack, take off helmet, sip some water, pop a blok, and off I went. This was the advantage of not clipping in.

Run - 5k, 25:14, 28/251

From the first running step I took I knew this was going to be ugly. Legs were spent. I left all I had out on the bike course, but that was okay because I knew that this was only 3.1 miles. I can do it. I immediately hooked up with a gal who was going at my pace and I was happy to have some company, even if it was silent company. I noticed she checked her Garmin at one point early on (I did not wear mine) so I asked what our pace was. She said 6:xx. WTF?? Crap. We both sort of eased up a bit to a 7:30-:40 pace and we were then much more relaxed knowing all the hills we were going to be racing up very shortly. The first few hills weren't too bad, and the corresponding downhills were lovely. My friend and I were passing a few folks but still keeping things manageable. Then....off in the distance I see my target. Remember the gal in my age group who passed me on the bike?? Well, there she was in all her glory, getting closer and closer to me. I quickly had to decide how to approach this. If she sees me pass her will she then challenge me, thus giving me a 2 mile battle I don't really want to have? Should I hang back and wait to make my move closer to the finish? Hmmmm.. Well, I didn't really have a choice because I was reeling her in too fast, so I went with it and left her in the dust. Fortunately, she never was an issue after that.

My legs really were shot by the halfway point and I just had to keep telling myself that I only have 12 minutes more to go. I was huffing and puffing and gulping in air on the blasted hills, and this is where I reached into my pocket of HTFU and all you insane boardsie peeps emerged in front of me. First it was Catweazle with his nonsense about a prize on the mantel....then Oryx with her amazing 15 hour (or something like that) IronMan....then JackyBack with his ridiculous pain threshold....and Krusty with his easy breezy 5:xx min/mile paces and adventurous emergency loo breaks....and MarthaStew's calf injury that I need to dig deep for....and Kurt's appreciation for a woman in a cat suit.....and BeepBeep raising his glass and looking forward to my 3,000 word report (how am I doing so far??;))....and finally the entire boardsie family watching me so I had to keep my chin up. And I did. All the way until I crossed the finish line. Woo hoo!! The crowd, all whipped up in a raucous frenzy...and the music pulsating...and the announcer excited in his announcing of the finishers...and all those cow bells ringing....all of that made for an amazingly awesome finish that was well worth the pain of that last leg.

Final time was 1:42:44, first female in my age, first person (male or female ) from Luray, and 28th out of 251 females overall.

Totally delighted. Couldn't have asked for more.

By the time the awards ceremony rolled around, the heavens had opened up and it was raining cats and dogs, but in true triathlon fashion, the show went on. I received a beautifully etched goblet for each of my wins, presented to me both times by Dave Scott himself. Even if he is a mediocre speaker, I must admit getting to meet him and have my pic taken with him was pretty cool. He even yucked it up a bit with me.

What have I learned?? I have learned that triathlons are hard like a marathon. I have learned that starting way back in wave 5 slows you down....and that perhaps I could have taken a little faster pace on the swim since I felt so grand when I exited the water. I also learned I might have some potential as a cyclist.....and I learned that the run is the hardest part of the tri. Or at least it was today.

Thanks to you guys for pushing me forward and helping me along the way. I train pretty much all by myself, but knowing you all are out there makes me feel not so alone. Thanks again.

Trig1 wrote: »

WOW!!! fantastic result on your first Tri Dory, well done...are you hooked? when I did my first I searched the calender straight away to see what I could not next..again, well done I'm delighted for you,

I'm just kind of numb, so I haven't looked into any other tris yet. Next up for me is a marathon in October, but I'm also a little burned out (probably just need sleep)....so I will give doing another tri a thought after I sort my cycling. I plan on making an appointment with the bike shop in the next week or two and will start clipping in!!!

Cheers peeps!

Swim

Air temp - 68 degrees
Water temp - 85 degrees
Gotta love that pool heater.

Legs and neck are a bit sore from yesterday's activities, so I decided to give my body a break and pass on the interval session today. In fact, I won't run again until Wednesday just to give myself a much needed breather before I continue on with the marathon training.

Tonight, it was just a wonderful steady 3,000 yard swim.

Swim

Gorgeous, gorgeous evening. I got to do this session while the big, blazing yellowish-orange ball of fire set over the mountains to our west. Amazing.

Just a simple 3,000 yards as follows:
1,000 swim
1,000 pull
1,000 swim

Did I tell you folks that there was a swimmer at the tri who used a snorkel in the swim? Well, there was. And she did. And I wonder if that was allowed....but it was very strange to see.

Exciting day tomorrow....heading to bike shop to enter the world of cleats and clipping in. Oh, and I may look at a bike or two too.