Anyone who knows me understands that I never 'just want to finish' a race. Today was my first race since 2009. I have been somewhat training, but there was definitely room for improvement and better dedication. I went into the race with some goals.
1) 8:00 swim - my first time in the water this summer, I swam the race distance in 8:35.
2) 16mph bike - slow, especially for a tri, but the course is all hills, and I needed to be somewhat realistic. I've ridden versions of the course several times, with paces around 15.5mph or so.
3) 40min run (~13 min pace) - again, extremely slow for a tri, but I wanted to be realistic.
4) sub 2:00:00 total time
I was out until about 10 last night, and was able to get stuff ready before I had left at 5pm. When I got home I just had a few things to do/find, and then I loaded up the car. I went to bed early, read a little, and fell asleep. Unfortunately I woke up at 4am. Normally I like to get to the transition when it opens, in this case 5:30... but the course is only 10 mins from home. I went ahead and left at 5am, got there, too my stuff to the transition area. I was happy to see that despite my 5:20 arrival, I was not first. ;-p. Got in and setup quickly. and had some time to chat with a old friend who owns a local bike shop. Met a few other racers, and tried to get my 'game face' on.
The swim was not ordered as it normally is. I'm sure the first group of racers started in the right order, but we certainly did not. I actually caught 1 or 2 people in the pool, but I got passed by alot of others. As I got out of the pool I looked at my watch 8:10. Hey, not bad - pretty close to my goal!! Woohoo!
T1 was ok, not my best - semi-long, uphill run to the bike mount area... and I began the bike.
I know that the bike course is mostly downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back. As I hit the bottom of the first downhill, I checked the flags at the fire station - NO WIND! YES! I was worried that we'd have a headwind on the way back in . The course was a simple out and back, and I was able to average 18.1 on the way out. Two of the tough hills got me - I was trying not to hit single digit speeds - but I hit 9.6 to 9.8 twice. i knew to reach my goal, I only had to average 14 on the way back. I also decided to try something different, and take my feet out of the biking shoes for T2. the downhill run would be dangerous in those shoes. So after I finished the last hill, and made the last turn, I reached up and undid my shoe straps. I slipped my feet out and struggled a little to get the shoes 'flat' so I can still pedal. As I came into the bike finish - i looked down - 16.7 mph average?! WHAT??? WOOHOO!!!!
On to the run. My legs felt a little like jelly - I had trouble getting my sneakers on and my T2 was longer than normal. Out I went onto the course. I know the course well, I run it all the time with my running buddy. But the first 1.25 miles are on the golf course.. the golf course we got kicked off of once for running on it. I felt slow, everyone was passing me. I see the first mile marker. 12:05... really? I would have guessed closer to 14mins! wow.... ok, so I keep going. I need to walk just a few steps (maybe 10-20), twice... but I'm doing ok. the 2nd water station is early.. I wasn't expecting it. right after the first hard hill. I was glad it was there. Turn the corner at the top of the hill and its down.Two more turns and its the backstretch.. but where was the 2mile marker? at first I'm getting worried that this mile is a LOT slower, but finally I realized that I must have missed it. I know that I've got less than a mile to go. along the back stretch I see my honey and my running buddy- cheering me on! :) YEAH!! motivation that I needed for sure! I know that last hill is coming and I know its steep but short. I get up and some girl passes me - I use that as my motivation to pick up the pace. There are my fans at the last turn before the finish line. I sprint it in - look at my watch 25mins for the last 2.1 miles. that's a 12 min pace! Even better is my total time..... 1:47 WHAT?! I wanted to finish in 2 hours and I beat that by just over 12 minutes! WOOHOO
so recap on goals
1) 8:00 swim => 8:10 - not too bad! add a few secs for the few steps to cross the mat for the swim time.
2) 16mph bike => 16.7mph- official time was 16.5 that usually happens when the actual distance isn't exact
3) 40min run => 37:16 run. (12:05 pace)
4) sub 2:00:00 total time => 1:46:39.1
I really couldn't have asked for a better race.
Now, the plan is to let this springboard me forward. I need to be use this as my momentum going forward. so I have added the following this week,
1) no pasta - I need to eat well this week.
2) add p90X to the mix for some weight workouts.
3) add speedwork to my runs. I definitely think that my running is the weakest.. Only because I can lose a lot more time on the run than the swim. My biking will improve as I lose weight and keep riding, but my run needs the most work. I've got one of my old speed class schedules that I will use for the next 6 weeks.
This race will now serve as my motivation!!
1) 8:00 swim - my first time in the water this summer, I swam the race distance in 8:35.
2) 16mph bike - slow, especially for a tri, but the course is all hills, and I needed to be somewhat realistic. I've ridden versions of the course several times, with paces around 15.5mph or so.
3) 40min run (~13 min pace) - again, extremely slow for a tri, but I wanted to be realistic.
4) sub 2:00:00 total time
I was out until about 10 last night, and was able to get stuff ready before I had left at 5pm. When I got home I just had a few things to do/find, and then I loaded up the car. I went to bed early, read a little, and fell asleep. Unfortunately I woke up at 4am. Normally I like to get to the transition when it opens, in this case 5:30... but the course is only 10 mins from home. I went ahead and left at 5am, got there, too my stuff to the transition area. I was happy to see that despite my 5:20 arrival, I was not first. ;-p. Got in and setup quickly. and had some time to chat with a old friend who owns a local bike shop. Met a few other racers, and tried to get my 'game face' on.
The swim was not ordered as it normally is. I'm sure the first group of racers started in the right order, but we certainly did not. I actually caught 1 or 2 people in the pool, but I got passed by alot of others. As I got out of the pool I looked at my watch 8:10. Hey, not bad - pretty close to my goal!! Woohoo!
T1 was ok, not my best - semi-long, uphill run to the bike mount area... and I began the bike.
I know that the bike course is mostly downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back. As I hit the bottom of the first downhill, I checked the flags at the fire station - NO WIND! YES! I was worried that we'd have a headwind on the way back in . The course was a simple out and back, and I was able to average 18.1 on the way out. Two of the tough hills got me - I was trying not to hit single digit speeds - but I hit 9.6 to 9.8 twice. i knew to reach my goal, I only had to average 14 on the way back. I also decided to try something different, and take my feet out of the biking shoes for T2. the downhill run would be dangerous in those shoes. So after I finished the last hill, and made the last turn, I reached up and undid my shoe straps. I slipped my feet out and struggled a little to get the shoes 'flat' so I can still pedal. As I came into the bike finish - i looked down - 16.7 mph average?! WHAT??? WOOHOO!!!!
On to the run. My legs felt a little like jelly - I had trouble getting my sneakers on and my T2 was longer than normal. Out I went onto the course. I know the course well, I run it all the time with my running buddy. But the first 1.25 miles are on the golf course.. the golf course we got kicked off of once for running on it. I felt slow, everyone was passing me. I see the first mile marker. 12:05... really? I would have guessed closer to 14mins! wow.... ok, so I keep going. I need to walk just a few steps (maybe 10-20), twice... but I'm doing ok. the 2nd water station is early.. I wasn't expecting it. right after the first hard hill. I was glad it was there. Turn the corner at the top of the hill and its down.Two more turns and its the backstretch.. but where was the 2mile marker? at first I'm getting worried that this mile is a LOT slower, but finally I realized that I must have missed it. I know that I've got less than a mile to go. along the back stretch I see my honey and my running buddy- cheering me on! :) YEAH!! motivation that I needed for sure! I know that last hill is coming and I know its steep but short. I get up and some girl passes me - I use that as my motivation to pick up the pace. There are my fans at the last turn before the finish line. I sprint it in - look at my watch 25mins for the last 2.1 miles. that's a 12 min pace! Even better is my total time..... 1:47 WHAT?! I wanted to finish in 2 hours and I beat that by just over 12 minutes! WOOHOO
so recap on goals
1) 8:00 swim => 8:10 - not too bad! add a few secs for the few steps to cross the mat for the swim time.
2) 16mph bike => 16.7mph- official time was 16.5 that usually happens when the actual distance isn't exact
3) 40min run => 37:16 run. (12:05 pace)
4) sub 2:00:00 total time => 1:46:39.1
I really couldn't have asked for a better race.
Now, the plan is to let this springboard me forward. I need to be use this as my momentum going forward. so I have added the following this week,
1) no pasta - I need to eat well this week.
2) add p90X to the mix for some weight workouts.
3) add speedwork to my runs. I definitely think that my running is the weakest.. Only because I can lose a lot more time on the run than the swim. My biking will improve as I lose weight and keep riding, but my run needs the most work. I've got one of my old speed class schedules that I will use for the next 6 weeks.
This race will now serve as my motivation!!
No comments:
Post a Comment