Overall results: Place –150/195; Swim – 40:27.00 (62 out of 195); T1 – 3:26.15 (145/195); Bike – 3:24:38.80, 16.4 mph (169/195); T2 – 2:19.40 (130/195); Run – 2:17:05.08, 10:28/M (130/195)
Finish time: 6:27:57.15
There’s all the numbers….I’m super happy with my swim and my run. I’m happy with my bike, but you can see this is where I struggled in comparison to the other participants. Overall, I’m very happy with my performance. Now on to the more exciting look back at the event…
Friday
Eric and I made a visit to my work to help get something up and running that I’ve been working on. We dropped off some food and I stuck around for about 2 hours to make sure everyone knew what they were doing and things were running smoothly. After I felt like things were looking good, Eric and I (pups in tow) hit the road for the 4 hour drive to Illinois.
The drive was uneventful. The dogs promptly passed out in the back seat….
Elvis-Keifer
What’s a long car ride on my blog without some puppy pictures!
Before we knew it, we were in Illinois and almost to our destination!
Upon arriving at our hotel in Mattoon, IL, I decided to see if we could check in early. That was a no-go, so we drove around the town for a bit…which didn’t last long because there was nothing to see in this town. Finally we saw that some other triathletes had arrived at the hotel and were checking in, so we got in. After getting up to our room, I happened to notice that the clock was set an hour behind. And then it clicked in my head that we were in a different time zone! I was wondering why they were having such an issue with us checking in an hour and a half early. Now I understand.
After getting all of our (mostly my) stuff in to the hotel room, we headed out to the race start so I could get a quick swim in and pick up my race packet.
The lake was beautiful! I could tell from the small amount of bike racks set up that it was going to be a small race…at least compared to the triathlons that I have participated in in the past. I was ok with that…as long as I wasn’t going to finish last (I have a huge fear about finishing last).
The practice swim went well. I had only done one swim in the past 2 weeks because of my injuries and the pool being closed this past week, so I was a little nervous….but was relieved when I felt good in the water.
After picking up my race packet and receiving number 218, we headed back to the hotel room for pizza (carbo load!) and to get all my stuff ready for the race.
I mixed up all my accelerade and got all my food out for the next day.
That bagel with peanut butter that I took with me on the bike was the best snack ever….I had never practiced with it, but it definitely hit the spot about 1 hour in to my bike. But I digress…
After a visit from my parents who had arrived that evening, I hit the sack at about 8:30 Mattoon time in order to get some good sleep before the alarm went off at 4:00 a.m. the next morning.
Saturday
I woke up Saturday morning feeling nice and refreshed, although a little heavy in the stomach from a rather large amount of pizza I ate the night before. It didn’t affect me during the race at all, so that’s good! Keifer was not happy about waking up and found his way back in to bed for most of the morning before we left.
After getting all my stuff together and packing up the car with all the dogs’ stuff since we were leaving straight from the race, we hit the road to head back to the beach.
At the race site, everyone was setting up in transition area, and due to the darkness, a lot of people were using flashlights and headlamps to set up their gear. I, unfortunately, had neither, so I just fumbled around until it got a little lighter outside and I could see straight.
That’s me, fumbling….or just watching other people do their thing while looking at my pile of stuff. I got organized later, I swear!
I got body marked and started to get pumped up for the race…
Next thing I knew, they were giving pre-race announcements and telling us all to head down to the beach for the race to start.
There were two waves to start: a men’s wave and a women’s wave.
Here you can see the men have already taken off (the last of the pack is in the top right of the picture) and the women’s wave has just begun. I am the person who is the farthest to the right in the group.
The swim went well. I just kept reminding myself that I still had a lot of race to go and I kept my stroke long and strong. I ended up passing a bunch of the men and really didn’t have many problems. Because there weren’t that many participants, I wasn’t fighting over space in the water and I tended to keep to the outside of the pack to avoid any kicks or hits to the face. I checked my watch at the halfway point and it read 19 minutes, so I knew I was doing well! The second loop was just as uneventful as the first and it went by incredibly fast (the whole race did, actually). From my practice swim the day before, I knew there were some not-so-comfy rocks when exiting the water, so I was dreading that part…but I suffered through it and ran out of the water into T1.
My arms look huge in this picture. Yikes!
I’m not going to lie…I took my sweet time in both of the transitions. I was in no hurry and I didn’t want to use up energy during my transitions that I needed for the bike or run.
I had been contemplating throwing my bike shorts over my tri shorts for the bike to try to alleviate the inevitable pain I knew I would feel from the seat. I was a little nervous about how difficult it would be to get bike shorts over my wet body, but it was actually a piece of cake. Boy was I glad that I wore those shorts! I was in a lot of pain even with the extra padding, so I can only imagine how much pain I would’ve felt without it!
I may have looked like I was wearing a diaper…but it was a diaper I was willing to wear!
I headed out of transition and hopped on my bike for the 2-loop bike course. There were a few out and back spots on the course and the course was flat. I was working hard to keep my speed down. I knew I had a lot of riding to do…and then a lot of running to do afterwards. I always hear about people dying on the run because of a too-hard effort on the bike…so I just kept telling myself, “Save it for the run. Save it for the run.” It was my personal mantra.
Overall my body mostly cooperated on the bike. My feet got numb, but not shooting pain as I’ve had in the past. My lower back hurt, but it was a come and go pain and not an all-out pain. The only new pain was an extreme soreness in my neck, which I kept trying to stretch out. I think my neck muscles were just fatigued from holding my head up because I was fine the second I got off the bike.
Here I am at the turn-around at the 28 mile mark. I’ve grown to like the loop courses. I like knowing what to expect for at least part of the race. I knew where all the bumps were and minor hills and false flats. It’s good for my mental stability during races!
So I made it through the bike and was definitely ready to get my behind off the seat! I hopped off and headed in to T2.
T2- more slowness. I was nervous about the run…mostly due to my performance at Tri Indy. I didn’t know what the run had in store for me and I was delaying having to find out as much as possible. Plus it took me a little extra time because I got one shoe on and realized I had forgotten to take off my bike shorts!
I remembered my visor this time! Even though it was rainy and cloudy. Of course.
There was a clock next to the run exit, if you can see in this picture, and it read 4:13ish. I knew I had started 3 minutes after they started the clock….so I realized that as long as I had a decent run I was going to finish in under 7 hours. That was uplifting!
I started off the run with wobbly legs, but when I looked down at my Garmin it said I was going about 9:17/mile. Crazy! Soon my legs started to feel normal and I kept up this running pace for quite some time. I was still doing my run/walk intervals, so my average pace for at least 7 miles was 10:18/mile. I was feeling great! The run was also a 2-loop course, so I was able to see everyone at mile 6.55.
The last three miles were tough. My pace slowed to about 11 min/miles, even though I felt like I was putting in the same amount of effort. My left kneecap started to throb. I was tired and I knew my 9:17/mile pace was in the past. My goal at this point was just to run as much as possible and get to the finish line. I was able to pick up the pace on and off for these last few miles and get to the finish line, I did!
Upon finishing, I was feeling good!
I picked up my finisher’s plaque (boo….give me a medal over a plaque any day!), which Eric said he might be able to turn in to a medal for me. Then we loaded up all my stuff because at this point it was raining a fair amount. We were all wet and gross and I just wanted to get home, which was still a 4 hour drive away. We eventually made it though and now I’m spending the day recovering and reveling in my accomplishment.
I’m also trying to figure out hotel situations for Ironman Louisville. Maybe I’ll just figure that out some other day.
I’m feeling good today. My legs feel ok. A little soreness. Most of my pains are in my shoulders and lower back, which a massage will hopefully take care of tomorrow! I was way more sore after my first Olympic Distance tri earlier this summer, though, so that makes me feel good.
Over the summer I repeatedly questioned my training for this even and if it was going to be enough. Looking back at yesterday’s race and my performance, I can confidently say that it was enough. I felt good throughout and just the way I feel today tells me that I was prepared. I was expecting to be in a lot more pain than I actually am.
So, What’s next???? My triathlon season is over for this year. I’ll start training for Ironman Louisville in mid to late March. I’m going to take today and tomorrow off from any exercise to give my body some time to heal. Then it’s marathon season! Right now I’m looking to potentially do the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in early November and maybe another marathon or two before next triathlon season. Not to mention that Eric and I are going to be biking a total of 130 miles next weekend! Saturday is the Tour de Donut and Sunday is our first century ride…the Hancock Horizontal Hundred. I’m getting a century ride under my belt before I attempt an Ironman. Things to do before next weekend: buy a new pair of bike shorts with super padding in them!
The next 365 days should be interesting….
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