Yesterday was the kick off to the 2013 race season. I haven’t “raced” in 2 years, so this was a come back for me. My goal was just to finish with a better time than in years past.
We pulled up to the parking lot and immediately had “vengeance in the bowels.” YIKES! It was totally nerves and I flew out of the car to the porta potty. Shane got yelled at by a volunteer because he was driving fast to get me in the parking lot quickly. Thanks honey!!
After my much needed relief, met up with Jodi and Mark, my amazing Tri Living It friends. So thankful for my hubby and Mike, Jodi’s husband. We had our cheerleaders there for us! Mark got us great placement on the bike rack, so we could find our bikes. (The worst part is coming out of the swim and not being able to find your bike.) We chilled talking with various athletes and made some new friends.
It was time for the swim. The butterflies were kicking in. Got in the water and for the first time didn’t feel the urge to panic, like I usually do. I felt strong and just started to swim. 100 meters in and bottle neck happened, with 5-6 of us trying to swim around each other and cross into new lanes. UGH!! Still felt really good though.
Got out of the water and ran into transition. It felt like the fastest transition I’d ever done and it was. Jumped on my bike and flew. I felt awesome on the bike, very strong. I was passing people and felt like I was flying. Made the 2 loops and went into transition again. Looking at my time, I still could have gone faster. Now I am just really analyzing things. At the time, I was pleased!
I had put on Lace Locks on my brand new Brook shoes the night before. It was the first time I’d ever used them or worn my new shoes. I know, I know, NEVER do something new on race day. Boy did I learn my lesson. I didn’t really have a choice on the shoes because my feet suck and finding shoes has been an adventure. Thanks to Russ at Elite Trisport for taking care of me on my new Altra’s, which I’ll be trying out this week.
While the Lace Locks were suppose to be faster to put on, instead I felt like my foot was coming out of my shoe and fussed with them trying to tighten them. As a result, my T2 was a little slower because I fought these new laces. (This cost me 3rd place.. that’s my story and I am sticking to it.) Steps into my run, my legs felt heavy. Ugh I thought, I need to do more bricks in training. The first mile on the course is a hill and I felt the hill. My legs felt heavy, but I kept running. To keep running was a huge improvement considering in January I was still walking up hills. Second mile, I felt like I finally got my legs under me and really started to run, by the 3rd mile I was at a 8.24 pace which I was thrilled with. I heard my friend Jodi behind me with less than a half a mile to go. Jodi is an amazing runner. I tried to keep pace with her, but quickly realized my lungs would explode and I already had a good fast pace, why bonk that close to the finish.
My goal was to finish the run under 30 minutes and I did at 28 minutes. Running is not my strongest right now, feet issues and runner asthma issues I continue to struggle with. Overall finish was 1:16:07. A 4th place in my age group. I was EXCITEDbecause that was 20 minutes faster overall than previous years on that same course!!
My friend Jodi placed 1st in her age category and beat me by 1 minute. We placed 21 & 22 overall in the female category. It’s an honor to be ranked with her. She’s amazing!! I need to run with her more. Mark got gypped! He should of placed 3rd in his age but they screwed up. He was 9 minutes faster than the person they awarded 3rd to. Love my tri team! Next time we’ll be there with our “Tri Living It” gear and represent the team!
A little hiccup ………When I signed up, I qualified for the Athena category. Athena, by the way, increased in weight from last year. But after my first trip to St. George, I buckled down and lost 10 pounds. That 10 pounds pushed me out of the Athena category. I didn’t update that information with Icebreaker until packet pickup. They didn’t update me in the system on race day, so when I finished, I realized I was 1st place in Athena by 10 minutes. I looked at my age group and realized my time put me in 3rd place there. I didn’t qualify for Athena and it wasn’t right to stay in that category. I told the race officials I needed to be moved in the 35-39 age group. When they moved me, more gals had crossed the finish line and I was actually in 4th, not 3rd. I’ll admit, I was bummed.
This may be the ONLY time I see my name with a 1 by it. But it wasn’t correct. It wasn’t fair to the other amazing gals in that category. Never in a million years did I see myself being on the podium. Never thought I’d ever be “that” good. Came super close. Those seconds that came between me and the third place gal could have easily been made up over the course and transition. Oh well……. another time, perhaps. Getting that close to “placing” is a pretty strong motivator to push harder.
Thoughts for the next month; my strength is the bike and I need to use that. My run is the worst and I just need to push as hard as I can. I need to try and drop a few more pounds in the next few weeks. Focus, focus, focus is the name of the game. Game face is on!!
My next race is the Wonder Women 1/2 Marathon. This race is more just to push myself on the half since running is sucking for me these days.
That being said, I have 5 weeks to kick it into high gear before St. George. This girl is one dedicated gal! Wish I had 12 more weeks to train for St. George, but I’ll use the next 5 weeks the best I can.
