REPOST from Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 3:29pm
Swim
Oh goodness I was nervous. Heart rate up at 110 and I was
just standing there! Josh was up, and then his wave was off. Okay,
into the water, get the face and chest used to the temp so I don’t seize
up. It actually was fairly warm. Hopefully that doesn’t mean the
E.coli are thriving! Lined up to the back left of my wave (W 19-29), as
I wasn’t sure how I’d stack up. All the other Endurance House team
girls (Julie, Stephanie, Marie, Sarah) lined up front and right. Guy
with the bullhorn yells go, and I’m off. Got into a rhythm pretty
quickly. Tried to find someone to draft off, but everyone either swam
too fast or kept stopping to sight. Halfway to the first buoy I saw a
guy from Josh’s wave already hanging off a boat, ready to quit. :(
About here we also hit a TON of seaweed. Oh, it was gross. Every time I
looked up to sight I had a string across my face (found some in my
watch still at the end of the run!) So I tried to tell myself that it
made me faster, because I could push off it. Haha, whatever works.
Also told myself that it didn’t really bother me, but was probably
freaking most girls out, so it was to my advantage. Just kept swimming,
swimming. Started to catch some of my wave, and even some guys from
earlier waves. Had a guy backstroking directly across my path, so I
gave him the heads up that he was heading out to sea!! Realized about
this time that I wasn’t swimming so straight either, so tried to sight
better. Around the buoy and onto the backside of the course, and still
pulling left, out to sea. The seaweed was gone now, so that was a plus.
Still can’t find anyone to draft though because they keep slowing down
and speeding up to sight. Another dude backstroking across my path.
Around the last buoy, a little wavy here and hard to breathe. My right
arm started getting tired. Oh, maybe because it’s pulling twice as hard
and I’m STILL HEADING LEFT. Notice about here that there is a white
swim cap (my wave) next to me, so I must not be doing horrible. Back
into the seaweed. Finally, people start standing up, so I do too. And
see Josh right at my left!! Wow, took me long enough to catch him, he
usually has a horrible swim, and I was hoping I’d pass him sooner!
(Don’t worry, he’ll quickly catch me on the bike.) The water was still
waist deep here, so after a quick hi, I dove back in for a few more
strokes to save my quads. Beat Josh out of the water and to
transition.
Total time: 33:51.9 - 2:04 min/yd for 1640(+) yds, HR average 159.
Transition 1:
Okay.
Got the swim cap, ear plugs, and goggles off, the top of the suit off
and the goggle/cap stuffed in the sleeve easily before I was out of the
water. Didn’t have much trouble pulling the sleeve down over my watch,
which I had been worried about, so that was good. And my hair stayed in
the pigtails, so that was a bonus!! I’d had an extra hairtie on the
wrist just in case. Just jogged up from the beach, as my quads were
tired from running in the not-shallow-enough water and I wanted to make
sure I wasn’t dizzy from standing up quick. Found my bike with zero
problems (right where I left it, imagine that!). A little trouble
pulling the bottom of the wetsuit off – I just can’t get it by stepping
on it like you’re supposed to, I had to bend over and pull it over my
feet. Readjusted my timing chip, which was almost falling off (I only
had about .5” Velcro to use, because it was so large and my ankle is so
small, it wrapped around too far…). Threw on the helmet and sunglasses,
which immediately fogged and I had to take off and wipe, then got the
shoes and socks on easy. And then I saw Julie come running in.
Stephanie’s bike is already gone of course (girl is a wicked swimmer),
but hey, I must not be doing bad!! And then, I even remembered to jog
to the mount line, so it was all good!
Total time: 2:25.4
Bike
Just
spinning til I’m out of the park and to the first hill. Look down and
I’m holding 18 already, whoa! Up and down the first few hills. Holy
cow there are a lot of people in my way. I’m yelling “on your left”,
trying my best to not draft, and of course no one else seems to care
about doing either. Spot a woman with a 29 on her calf in front of me-
she’s in my age group! Blasted her on a hill, but she caught me on the
way down. Repeat a few times. I’m getting a little ticked. And then
the sprint turn around comes, and she flips a U. Sweet! Alright, keep
going, here comes the tough part, the long, slow, false flat up
Schneider. And I’m still holding 17! Go me, I am going to rock this
bike. Tried to take in some Gatorade and Gu, but ooh, the stomach no
likey. Managed half a Gu pack, had planned to down a whole one. Okay,
maybe just a little water. Yeah, not exactly great either. Finally
caught Sarah at about mile 8 and blew past her. And then she caught me a
mile later on the big downhill! What the junk, I need to coast faster
or something! I mean, I was out of gears, what was I supposed to do?
We chatted a bit, then I dropped her again at mile 11 once we started up
some hills again. I’m a climbing machine. :P FINALLY caught
Stephanie around 13.5. Told her “Catching you swimmers is a CHORE!”
She laughed and said she’d been wondering where I was, and I told her
I’d see her soon on the run. Totally expecting her to catch me. I hate
running. She did a few minutes faster than me at the half marathon,
and I’m really starting to wonder at this point just how well I’ll run,
since I still can’t stomach even Gatorade. Saw Josh ahead of me at the
big uphill about mile 14 (he’d caught me earlier around mile 3). Maybe I
can catch him down Schneider? Nope, I’m only holding 25, not the 30 I
should be. Hmmm, a little bit of wind, not that much though… Okay,
force down the second half of the Gu, I need some energy! And a few
miles later I threw up a little in my mouth. Nice. Thankfully, mostly
water. And that will be the last Gu I try, folks. Passed by Linda at
about mile 18. Girl is fast!! And girl is age group 50-55, holy
smokes. A few miles later, passed Angie, I think the last EHouse girl
in my age group ahead of me? And into the park, sit up, spin the legs
out, get ready to run. Unclip and off the bike without falling over,
that’s good.
Total time: 1:19:21.0 - 18.8 mph for 24.85 miles, HR avg 184.
Transition 2:
Not
too bad. Dismounted okay, jogged in, racked the bike (could have been
faster here, but wanted to rack it by the seat instead of handlebars, so
I didn’t risk breaking my carbon fiber shifters. Also, the chick
across the bar from me was racking her bike at the same time and we got
in each other’s way). Easy change to running shoes, threw on a visor,
and off I went, thinking that was way too easy, did I forget
something?!?
Total time: 1:50.8
Run
Run. Oh, the Run.
Or in my case, the Jog. Ha. I really need to work on this. The course
is all woodchip or grass, very little packed, and pretty hilly. My
legs were dead and I jogged the first mile, which was fairly flat,
feeling like I was running 12:00 (actually 10:06). Got passed by Angie
about here, she was looking strong. Then mile 2 was all hills (10:28).
A girl in front of me started walking the hill, so I jogged up next to
her and said, “C’mon girl, I won’t walk if you won’t!” So we jogged
together for a bit through the hills. Turns out Andrea is in my age
group, and she and her husband are training for Ironman this year too
(their first one as well!). It was nice to have someone to run with.
Plus, it’s amazing how strong you can feel when you are suffering but
encouraging someone else. I think that’ll be my strategy to psych
myself out from here on out, haha. Saw Linda again here – How did you
get behind me? “Bathroom stop. I had to powder my nose.” Haha, and
she was off! Linda kicks butt. Mile 3 (10:32) was downhill or flat,
and I started feeling my legs here, so I opened up a bit of a gap on my
new running buddy. Also started feeling my left knee tweaking, but it
wasn’t horrible. This part was an out and back, so lots of teammates
and high fives. Saw Josh here, his face looked like he was suffering,
but he was running strong. Saw Sarah after the turn around and told her,
don’t you dare catch me! Mile 4 (10:00) started in on the hills again,
but was pretty uneventful. Splashing water on myself, since I don’t
think I can drink it. Tried a sip of HEED at an aide station– stuff
tastes like butt. Mile 5 (10:22) I wanted to start kicking it up a
gear, but had nothing left. Stopped for a second, thinking about a
quick puke, but didn’t have the energy for it, lol. Sarah caught me,
and after a quick hello, pretty much blasted past. I wanted to keep
with her, but couldn't. Didn’t matter anyway, she’s in the age group
below me (which, btw, she ended up getting 2nd in! Rock it girl.)
Finally, past the finish line and on to the last mile and a half. Mile 6
(10:48) was awful. Trying to run faster but not able to do it. Andrea
caught me again about half way, so I had to really push it to drop her
again. Finally, saw the 6 sign and tried to step it up again. Didn’t
have it, so just ran ‘til I saw the finish line, then tried to sprint.
Last .2 was 2:11.
Total time: 1:04:27.2 – 10:23min/mile, HR avg
180. Wow, that was ugly. Haha, that’s the pace I held for my first
ever half marathon last year! Ick.
Overall
Final time:
3:01:56.3 - HR avg 181, peak 192, 2,836 calories burned! And top 10 in
my age group, F 25-29!! (At, um, number 10. Ha! Of 30ish I think?)
Wanted to break 3:00:00 (2:50 was my best-day-ever goal), but overall
happy with it. I mean, its not like I slacked, just look at my HR, lol!
Probably could have done a little better on the run if I held off a
bit on the bike, but not sure it would have been enough to make up the
time. Next steps: finish High Cliff, just see how the distance is,
then focus on sighting and running so I can rock Steelhead!
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