Monday, April 8, 2013

White Lake Sprint Race Report


We (being M and I) decided to make White Lake Sprint our first tri of the season. Sure it was a long drive, but I think it was worth it to make M feel more comfy in the water as this was his first open water swim race!
 
Anyhow, we drove down on Saturday after biking out to the BP and back (38 miles). We scrambled to get our stuff together and I think were out of the house by 11:30. The drive itself wasn't too bad and we made it down to White Lake, NC in no time. Packet Pick up started at 7pm so after eating at the mom and pops restaurant, Front Porch, we made our way over to the lake.


The lake itself was beautiful and I'm glad we had a chance to check it out before race day. I dipped my feet in and it felt cold because well it was cold. Some people were swimming in it. I had wished we would have known we could have done this, but we didn't have our stuff with us. Oh well.

 
Pre - Race
We got a good nights sleep or at least I did since I was not nervous. The race didn't start till 9am so we slept in till 6:30 and left the hotel at 7:30. We were only 8 minutes from the race site. I had two hard boiled eggs and a muffin at the hotel, then a banana at the race site. Seemed to be the prefect breakfast. Once there, I set up my transition area, put on my wetsuit and was ready to race and cross this finish line!



 
Swim - 750 meters - 13:58
M's wave was before mine and I watched him swim off until I couldn't tell who was who anymore. I was wave 6 and I will admit I was nervous for this swim, mainly due to the water temp. It ended up being 56 degrees which was warmer than the 52 degrees the 70.3 ers swam in the day before. I wore my full sleeved wetsuit and doubled capped my swim caps. I got in the water 5 minutes before my wave started and got used to the water before the horn went off. As soon as we started I was a mess out there. I couldn't control my breathing, I was panicking, I couldn't site, I was stopping and treading water here and there. It really didn't get better until maybe the turn around point were I learned to swim in open water again. So by the time I got in the grove it was time to get out of the water. 
 
T1 - 2:55
Meh, could barley get the top off my wet suit off while running. Once at my spot I struggled to get my wetsuit off my ankles. I looked at M's rack and his bike was gone. He survived the water, I could relax. But for whatever reason I decided to put on gloves because my hands felt cold. I struggled with putting my gloves on big time. So I didn't mess with arm warmers or anything else. I felt like I was in here forever! Then the bike out was narrow and I got stuck behind girls just maundering around and taking their time. I need to work on getting my T1 time down!
 
Bike - 14 miles - 41:16 (20.4 mph)
Clipping in always sucks for me, but then I was off. My goal was really just to pedal hard and not let any girls pass me since I had my race wheels on. I didn't want to look like that person who is riding slow with fancy wheels. There seemed to be a head wind no matter what direction we were riding and my legs were on fire. It felt like I was at Haines Point. I keep telling myself not the slow down that I already messed up the swim and I couldn't afford to ride slow or give up on the bike. The course was just two flat loops around the lake. I was going to eat some chews, but ended up just drinking most of my water in my aero bottle. I was getting worried because I saw no girls in my AG and I thought I must had been the last person out the water. Crap. Ride faster. Must catch girls in my AG. I finally caught two girls at mile 12. Those are the only two, but I did not let anyone pass me except for some guys. At the dismount line some girl in front of my wiped out bad tiring to take her feet out beforehand. Which almost made me fall as well. Then I was stuck behind her in the narrow path to the bike in. I felt bad for her, but she was in my way, so I was irritated.
 
T2: 1:18
M's bike was back on the rack. Good. Anyhow, this transition went a little better but I grabbed my garmin - why - I don't know. I could never get the stupid thing to work and was stuck running with it in my hand. I just restarted my timex watch instead since it had got kicked in the water and wasn't holding my total time anyhow.
 
Run - 5k - 21:40 (6:59 pace)
The run course was a simple out and back. Goal: pick off as many people as I could and see what place I finish in. I caught up to and passed two girls in my AG in the first half of mile. I really had no idea how fast I was running but I was breathing super hard and I think the other runners could hear me for sure behind them. I finally saw M for the first time all day at the one mile mark. Neither one of us said anything to each other and just high fived each other as he was running back in. I grabbed a cup of water and most of it just went down the front of me. The turn around point was a super tight turn and I think I just stopped to make the turn. I just kept telling myself not to slow down that's its only 3 miles. It is suppose to hurt. I was dying though. I passed no other people in my AG so I figured I had to be near the top or the bottom. It didn't matter. I gave it my all down the finish line shut.
 
Total time: 1:21:05 ~ which was good enough for 3rd in my AG and 14/108 women.


Thoughts: I thought my swim sucked big time and thought my time was like 18 minutes or something in the water. So I was surprised when I looked at the results and saw my time wasn't so bad and I was actually the 5th person out the water in my AG. This could explain why I really didn't pass too many people in my AG. I really thought I was dead last out of the water. It felt that bad. But overall the race went great. I am happy with my bike and run times. Actually I have no clue how in hells bells I ran that fast! This is the first time I have placed in a triathlon, so I was/am super excited! I am also super proud of M for finishing his first open water tri!!! He will tell you all about it in his own race report.
 
Happy Monday All :)

Friday, April 5, 2013

Cold water swimming


Guys we finally got the water temp read out yesterday....
 
52 - 53 Degrees!!!!
 
Cold. Cold. Cold. and some more Cold.
 
Am I freaking out. Yes. Is this swim only 750 meters. Yes. Will I live. Yes. Will I be cold. Yes.
 
Plan of attack here ---- swim fast ---- and get the hell out of the water as fast as I can!!
 
Things I plan to do:
1. Wear my full sleeve wet suit
2. Crap I no other cold weather swimming gear
3. Scramble around town looking for a neoprene swim cap and maybe booties
4. Cry about how cold the water is going to be
5. Cry some more about it and swim in it anyhow
6. Get some ear plugs
7. Complain some more
8. Wear a cycling jacket and gloves on the bike so I can try to warm up
9. Keep a positive attitude - or at least try too
10. Oh yeah have fun in the cold water :)
 
Ok - done with my little rant - I am ready to swim and race!!
 
NC here comes to the M's - cold water and all. Oh yeah this is M's first ows, lucky him! He will do great though, I know it!
 
Happy Friday All and have a great weekend!  

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

First Tri of the Season!


Guess What... It's Race Week!!! Yippy!
 
My first tri of the season is this Sunday - White Lake Sprint - and I'm super excited to race.
 
Half of me kind of wishes I was doing the 70.3 on Sat but the other half is glad I'm doing the sprint. Either way, it feels like it's been forever since I have actually done a tri. Oh wait it has. My last tri was at IM Louisville.
 
I just put on my race wheels over the weekend :)


They feel great, although I got freaked out in the wind with them yesterday. To be fair we had 18-20mph winds and I just felt like I was getting blown around and felt as if I might get knocked over. Don't know if it's the wheels fault or not but my bike handling skills get a big fail with a capital F. I only did one lap at Haines and then rode home. Stupid. I know. So hopefully they will feel more comfy when I ride on Sat before driving down to NC for the race.
 
Anyhow, this is not an A race or anything and is more a less a fun little race but I still want to do ok. Maybe riding 2.5 hrs the day before is not the smartest but yeah I'm sure my legs will be fine.
 
Some little goals:
 
Swim ~
The water, well I'm not really sure what the water temp is suppose to be? My guess is low to mid 60s. I plan on wearing my full sleeved wet suit and getting out of the water as fast as possible. What's fast for me for 750 meters. I have no clue, ha. I really am clueless about swim times. I just know I will actually put forth an effort on the swim instead of just swimming to swim like I usually do during a race. I haven't been in open water in so long that I hope not to panic when the gun goes off. Also get my wet suit off my ankles fast in T1. I suck at this!
 
Bike ~
My bike times have been so slow in training. Every day it's windy. Maybe it won't be windy on Sunday, that would be so nice! I really don't have a clue what to expect out of myself. The course is two 7 mile flat loops that go around the lake. This sounds like a fast course. Hoping for 19mph but we shall see.
 
Run ~
I really don't get the run course and it kind of sounds more or less like a cross country course. Anyhow I have been having good runs off the bike. 7:xx miles for the win! Now to actually achieve this pace during the race :)
 
Nutrition ~ It's a sprint, but I plan on eating some honey stinger chews on the bike and make sure I drink.  
 
Happy Wednesday All :)