Tri for Real #1 - Race Report

Today was my first Olympic distance race. To say I was hesitant about doing this race would be an understatement. The main reason I did this race is because James said I had to do it. Deep down, I knew he was right, but I was really, really nervous about the swim.  Completing the swim would ease my mind about Barb's race...failing this swim would derail any confidence I had built up.

Pre-Race

This morning did not start off well. On Saturday, Hot Stuff, James, and MT did a relay at the "Tri for Fun". I packed the small ice chest with Gatorade and Red Bull for Hot Stuff.  When we came home from the race, I put the ice chest away and put the blue ice in the freezer knowing that I needed it today. When I got up and looked for the ice chest, it was no where to be found.  I asked HS where it was.  He looked around for a while before checking his truck.

You see, yesterday was my daughter's bridal shower. So while the girls played games, drank champagne cocktails, and talked wedding stuff, my future son-in-law and HS took the boat out. They also took the ice chest and my blue ice. So when HS brought the ice chest in from his truck this morning, he noted that the blue ice was in it and that it wasn't going to be cold. I went to the freezer to get ice for my drinks only to find that yesterday's party (and after party) depleted the ice and not much had been made overnight.  Ugh!

I then went to make my standard pre-race breakfast of eggs on toast only to find that my house guests had finished off the eggs. I resorted to making the chia seed and lime juice drink I read about in "Born to Run". It was a staple of the Tarahumara and helped fuel their runs.  I also had about 1/2 a banana and a cup of coffee. My nerves were clearly getting the better of me and I found it hard to eat.

HS on the other hand was hungry and didn't see anything he wanted at the house. Instead of heading straight to the race we had to make a pit stop at McDonald's so he could eat. Yuck! We made it to Rancho Seco about the same time as yesterday, so all was well.

Once I got there, I found James setting up his transition area. I racked my bike next to his and headed over to the check in area. Once I was done, I came back and set up my area. James was out riding his bike, so I took off for a short run. When I returned, he came over and said some I took to be "Good morning". HS informed me that James told me it was time to warm up. I guess we only hear what we want to hear LOL!

I generously applied baby oil to my legs and eased up my wetsuit. After it was up over my hips, I tried working the legs up a bit...R-I-P-P-P-P! NO!  I ripped a 2" hole in my wetsuit. ARGH!!! I walked down to the water wondering how this was going to affect my swim. I showed James what I did but he said it would be fine. We waded into the water and started swimming in the roped off area.

James went under the rope and told me to do the same. His plan was to swim out to the first buoy. I told him "No. I don't want to go that far". Thankfully, he decided to swim off on his own. The last thing I wanted to do was add any extra distance to my swim that morning or wear myself out.

Swim

My goal for the swim was to finish. That's it...oh, and NO backstroke and not too much breaststroke.

During my swim I kept singing "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line over and over and over. I had

Lap button pressed - swim is officially over

planned to preoccupy myself with "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid or "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King, but for whatever reason, this was the song that started playing.

I also thought about taking long graceful strokes, hip rotation, breathing...stuff like that. Not once did I think "What the heck am I doing out here"...and that's a first! Every once in a while I would get excited..."Hey!  You're passing a yellow cap!" (The wave in front of my wave). I also focused on not kicking too much and wearing out my legs.

I thought my sighting was pretty good until I checked my Garmin results. I also ran into the last big buoy before existing the water...oh well. I was so happy to have finished the swim!

If you look at my swim results, make sure you check out the map...I wasn't exactly swimming in a straight line ;-)

Tri for Real - Swim by tpengilly at Garmin Connect - Details

T1

Feeling so good after the swim that I actually ran up the grass to the transition area. I quickly stripped off my wet suit. I got my helmet and shoes on without incident and had a GU and some water before heading out on the road.

Bike

I really didn't have a goal for the bike, other than speed. I had hoped to average 20 mph but I was a bit slower than that. I remembered James saying something about not going out too fast... or something like that. LOL. I just did what felt right and made sure there was no "cruising" on the descents. If I was headed down hill, I was in the big chain ring and I was pedaling.

Tri for Real - Bike by tpengilly at Garmin Connect - Details

T2

This transition was fairly quick and smooth. HS made sure I took my helmet off. I had a GU and some Red Bull and some water. HS had a bottle of ice cold water that I dumped over myself.

Run

By the time I started running, it was hot...or at least it felt hot to me. On top of that there were lots of "rolling" hills. The first half of the run was on a dirt road. We ran for a brief stretch on asphalt and then switched to a wide, single track trail. Thankfully, the second half of the run seemed to have less hills on it.

I made a point to drink a cup of water and pour one over me at each aid station. At the final aid station, they handed me the cup of water and told me it was ice cold. The reason it was ice cold was because it was full of ice. When I poured the cup of water down the front of me it filled my sports bra with ice!  Hmmm...not too bad.

For the next 1/2 mile or so, I munched on ice cubes conveniently located within arms reach. LOL! I'm sure the runners I passed wondered what the heck I was eating out of my top, but I could care less what they thought. It was soooo refreshing and cool...I was so sad when I ran out of ice.

I would consider this run a success. My main goal was to not walk....or at least not too much. I pushed for as long as I could but I did walk for a bit when I thought both of my quads were going to cramp up. Other than than, I pushed through the discomfort and chased down every pony tail I saw.

Tri for Real - Run by tpengilly at Garmin Connect - Details