Girlfriends & Dudes Triathlon - Race Recap

Hello folks - long time no hear?! As you can tell I took a little time away from the blogging world in order to hang with The Kid who is on his way to High School **shakes head in disbelief** this week. Knowing that I only have 4 more years before he's off to college is just terrifying. Who in the world believes that it really goes by THAT fast?! Sheesh.....

Anyway, as this race recap is over a month in the making, I tried to make it a good one......"tried" being the operative word here.

So, Girlfriends & Dudes Sprint Triathlon - Vancouver, WA. My first chance to race with The Kid! Super jazzed! Thankfully this was a local venue and with a later start time (9am) so no throwing the alarm across the room at 4am. This lead to a pretty easy going race morning with a quick breakfast, gear pack-up and a sleepy teenager to rouse.

I think I am finally starting to get a bit more, dare I say, "relaxed" on race day? P (my ever faithful sherpa), The Kid and I got to the venue about 45 minutes before the start, set up transition and then just hung out with a cup of jo before it was go time. Oh, and I can't forget to mention meeting a fellow Swim Bike Army member, Tammi, for the first time! (no photos though - next time Tammi!) Normally I am super paranoid, trying to ensure that we get to the site with oodles of time to spare. Maybe because this was "just" a Sprint and my first race coming off of Boise, but either way I was cool, calm and collected.  No one had to suffer the wrath of my usual race morning nerves - Winning!!



The Swim (.5 miles/804 meters)

Goal - 13 min or under

Doesn't look like it but I swear I'm running in this photo! :)

Ah, the swim - my fav. I debated the night before on whether or not I wanted to wear my wet suit for this race. I knew the water was a comfortable temp and given the short distance wasn't concerned with needing any additional support. Since I was also planning on trying to PR, I figured the amount of time spent in transition trying to strip my suit off wasn't really worth the extra few seconds it might save me in the water. Decision? Go without. Result? Mixed

The swim course was a point-to-point straight shot down the Columbia River.  A quick half mile walk up the beach to the race start and we were off. No wet suit? No problem.....well, kinda. It appears that my one piece tri suit had stretched out quite a bit since Boise (that or I lost some upper body weight since that time...ya right) leaving the top half to create a ton of drag in the water. Ugh - not what I wanted to happen but what can you do? 800 meters done, and given my PR, I'd say the drag was more of a mind game than anything else. Whoop!

Official Swim Time - 0:12:33  (PR from last year's Sprint of 14:46)

T1

Goal - 2 minutes

Awe yeah......pickin' up my transition pace, ya'll! I'm pretty sure it had everything to do with not bothering with a wet suit this time around but regardless I am stoked about my T1 time - 2 full minutes faster than last year?! Whaaaaat??!! Other than speed, nothing much to report. Didn't bother grabbing a drink or fuel, just threw the helmet/shoes on and Goooooo! I do need to learn how to do an awesome flying bike mount this off season -  I hate having to come to a complete stop at the mount line. Waste.of.time.

Official T1 Time - 01:49 (PR from last year's Sprint of 03:52)

Bike (12.5 miles)

Goal - Under 40 minutes

A nice flat, beautiful course - I was stoked. My goal on the bike was to average 20 mph, keep my legs pumping and do not slow down regardless of how much it burned. It is a sprint after all so EVERYTHING should be done as fast as possible. I think I'm finally starting to understand that. Both up and back down the course I only had 3 people pass me. And to my credit they were crazy 20 something year-old studs complete with speedy bikes. 12.5 miles out and back to the dismount line with a few sips of water/Nuun but no additional fuel. Although I didn't meet my 20mph sustained goal pace, I did managed to pull out quite a few miles at that speed and overall maintained 19.3mph. And let's not forget the ultimate desire of going under 40 mins - BOOM! Getting faster!

Official Bike Time - 0:38:55/av 19.3 mph (PR from last year's Sprint of :43:20/17.3mph)

T2
Goal - 2 minutes

What the what? Again with a fast transition?! I owe my T2 time to Lock Laces and Lock Laces alone. Those things are a life saver and I swear were the sole reason I took at least a full minute off my time! If you don't know what these beautiful creations are, check them out here. Shoes on, quick swig of hydration and out on the run course.

Official T2 Time -  1:36 (PR from last year's Sprint of 02:48)

Run (5k):

Goal - under 30 minutes

You know you're actually becoming a triathlete when you no longer deal with "transition" legs at the start of your run. I honestly felt great and ended up going out quite a bit faster than I thought I was, averaging around 8.5 min/mi at the first mile. 8.5?? Is this a dream?! I had no idea as to how I was able to keep that pace for a full mile but no part of me was going to complain. Halfway through the course I grabbed some hydration (without stopping - another win for me!), chugged it down and kept at it. My legs felt pretty darn good and my breathing was a bit labored but hey, it's a freakin 5k, I had better be going all out!

Through the finish and this gal was done!

Official Run Time - 28:46 (av 9:16 min/mi - PR!)


Holy crap. Is this time right? Couldn't be.....no way....did I just PR my 5k and my Sprint distance?

Check.it.

Official Finish Time - 1:23:42

2/25 Age Group

19/127 Female

55/211 Overall

Still unbelievable. I PR'd every event and took 8 minutes off my fastest Sprint! All with a 2nd place to show for it. 

Still on a crazy high from my podium spot (I literally got to have my picture taken on a podium with fellow 1st and 3rd placers - righteous), it was time to get The Kid ready for his race.

The RD (Race Director) put together such a fun event for the kids. The distance for each leg was based on age group. The Kid was scheduled for a .25 mile swim, 3 mile bike and .75 mile run. Pretty easy for a 14 year-old but the object of the event was for him to gain experience in a fun race environment. Mission accomplished.

The Kid's Tri wasn't timed and I was a ding-dong and didn't think to do it myself, so we don't have any specifics. Overall he really enjoyed himself and didn't need much coaching from me at all! He says he's ready to tackle a full Sprint next year. Hopefully I've created a monster. :)

Disappointed in his age group swim distance of 200 meters. He wanted a full mile!

On the right at the very end - away from the weaker swimmers so he can speed by. Smart play kid...smart play.

T1 - "Why is this taking so long?!!", he says. You'll get there dude. 

3 mile bike - Needless to say he wants a roadie now.

Out of T2 and on to the run! Looking strong!

                                   

Into the finish!!

Done! And exhausted. ;)

Love this Kid! 

Awesome race, with awesome support, and an awesome outcome. How could I ask for anything more?

So let's see..........

Recap done - check!

Back on the blogging wagon - check!

Kid successfully off to High School - check!

Training back in motion - check!

The break was definitely needed but I've got to get moving or I am going to drive myself and those around me completely nuts! Next on the race agenda? The 60 mile Gorgeous Relay on Sep. 21st and am  trying to nail down one more Tri before the season is over. The Beaver Fever is the sister race to The Beaver Freezer I did back in April. You know, the one I had that epic bike fail in? The OSU Triathlon club opens and ends the Oregon Tri season with these two sponsored races so I think it's only natural that I do the same. 

~ Cheers, Rebecca

Friday Thoughts and Race Goals

Wohoo! It's finally Friday! How's has everyone's week been? I have slowly started settling back into a decent workout routine, though still finding it rough trying to run in this hot weather. Anyone have any great tips for plugging through the heat?

The Girlfriends and Dudes Tri is this Sunday so The Kid (who will be racing for the first time) and I have some prep work to do these next few days. (aka long session on the trainer for me tonight) We went on an evening 16 mile ride earlier this week, just so he could get a better sense of what true "bike legs" are like. Tomorrow the event organizer is holding a practice swim session on location which will be a great opportunity for us to get a feel of the water conditions and then drive the bike/run course.

Though my training has been lacking consistency since Boise, I am hoping to PR on Sunday. 1/2 mile swim, 12.5 mile bike and 5k run. This course is new to me but the distances and terrain are pretty typical to the Blue Lake Tri that I've completed twice so I plan on treating it just same. Since my last Sprint, I've added a few new items to my racing arsenal and have changed my mindset with regard to pacing......pacing? In a Sprint? No way - all out until I feel the burn.

Goals for Sunday are as follows:

.5 Mile Swim - 0:13:45 (sans wetsuit)
T1 -   0:02:30
12.5 Mile Bike - under 0:40:00 (av 20mph)
T2 - 0:02:00
5k Run - under 0:30:00 (under 10 min/mi)


I don't know exactly how transition is set up at this location though so my T1 and T2 times may vary depending on how far I have to run out of the water/off the bike. Either way I'd like to set a PR this weekend and go under 1:30:00 for the race. The weather is looking to be pretty ideal - mid 70s and partly cloudy so I really can't ask for better conditions. We shall see.

After my race The Kid gets to have some fun completing his first tri! Each leg is significantly shorter (250 meter swim, 3 mile bike and 3/4 mile run) but the idea is just to get him out there experiencing what it's like to be on the inside vs. a spectator. And who knows, maybe he'll fall in love with the sport and want to join me in a full Sprint next summer! (crossing fingers and toes....)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and good luck to all who are racing! Go out and make that course your biotch! :)

Cheers - Bec

IRONMAN Boise 70.3 - Race Recap 2 of 2

2 of 2........

THE BIKE

The bike - whew, glad to have made it off that 56 mile course unscathed. Since the reservoir is set up in the hills, the first few miles of the bike is entirely downhill, giving you a chance to catch your breath, get your heart rate down and completely freak out while applying your breaks the whole time. No.really. That's what I did. (wah waaah). I think it may have been a result from my bike crash earlier in the year but I had a very hard time trusting in my abilities during the downhill sections of this course and probably suffered time wise because of it. The thought of losing control kept running through my mind, so anything past 30mph and I was braking. Ugh - lame. **TIP -Trust in your machine and your own abilities. Practice both up and downhills. Get comfortable to a point where you can continue to peddle through even the fastest of downhills.**

My lack in downhill confidence wasn't the only issue - Boise can get WINDY! One of the locals had mentioned that this is why they have such a late start time. Apparently the wind is worse in the early morning hours but tends to die down later on. Um, no. At one point, about 20 miles in, the cross wind was so bad that it nearly blew the guy in front of me clean off his bike! Thankfully I was paying attention and braced for my turn. Crap.....the idea of dealing with 36 more miles of this nonsense was a frustrator. Thankfully it let up a little bit for the remainder of the course and we only had minor head winds to deal with.

At about the halfway turn around point I saw my brother and we both let out a quick shout of support. So nice knowing that he was out of the water and on his bike safely - I hated being out there without knowing how he did. I even saw a fellow Swim Bike Mom army member and wished her well as I passed  by. Other than the confidence/wind issue I really felt great on the bike! My nutrition was working flawlessly, I felt really strong the whole time and Ben performed like a champ. I wasn't passed by too many and the ones who did fly by looked pretty serious.

A little hilly but the out and back course made it easy to stay focused on what was next.

The last 10 miles of the course brought us out of the lonely hills and back into town and through some residential neighborhoods. So many folks camped out on their front lawns cheering us on - I swear there is not one unhappy person in all of Boise! A few more corners to turn and I had made it! 56 miles, safe and still full of energy. With P and the gang there to great me and the calf feeling a-okay, I was pumped to get out of that saddle. And given the annoying winds we had to deal with, felt great about my overall time. Oh, and did I mention the signs yet? Our group had spent the previous day making some of the best race support signs - some were silly and some just plain motivational. Regardless of what they said, it was the feeling of having your family there to support you that goes unmatched.

Total Bike Time - 03:17:16
Age Group - 30
Gender - 160
Overall - 700

Fuel: 3 bottles (water + 2 Nuun + 2 scoops CarboPro)

**The bike felt great - the wind. Now that I have some 70.3 experience under my belt I know that I can push myself a bit harder next time**


T2

Bike racked, shoes, race belt and visor on, I am happy to report that T2 was completely uneventful. And no, no potty mishaps this time around. Still decided to take my time though and focus on making sure that I had everything needed for the last 13.1 miles of my journey. A few extra minutes at the end wasn't going to matter.

T2 time - 00:04:19

**Obviously this could have been at least 2 minutes faster, but...**


THE RUN

Ok, let's start with the calf. I knew the run portion of this race was going to be the most difficult. Not only due to my injury but the simple fact that running a half marathon in itself is hard enough, let alone completing one after already racing for 4 hours. I had planned on doing a 3:1 run/walk scenario that my PT had signed off on and would see where that would take me. After about a mile the calf pain was definitely there and I was worried about doing anything that would aggravate it further. Heck, I still had a whole season and 3 more tris to get through! So easy does it.

The Boise 70.3 run is beautiful. It's a two loop, almost entirely flat course that follows directly along the river front - about 90% shaded it was a much appreciated break from the sun and wind. With an aid station at every mile it does a great job of keeping you motivated too. Water, Gatorade, GU, pretzels, chips, soda - you name it, they had it. My favorite? ICE CHIPS!! I swear those things kept me sane. I grabbed some every chance I could get. Down the front of my sports bra, down my back, rubbed all over my arms and face, it.was.heaven. The course also allows for spectators to see their racers at least three times - at miles 5, 11 and then of course at the finish. Getting to run by a crowd of supporters cheering you on so many times is a prefect way to re-fill those energy cells.

Here are some of the signs that our group made - aren't they awesome?!!!!

Loved the 'Go Random Stranger' - hope it helped to motivate someone else out there on the course!

Oh beer, how I've missed you as well!

By mile 6 the calf really started to flare up so I spent much of the last hour and a half doing more walking than running. This actually gave me a great opportunity to met all sorts of  motivating people doing just the same. Lots of Oregonians out on the course sporting their club gear too - made it very easy for me to yell out some words of encouragement. I never ending up seeing my bro on the run but I did see Kristen of Glitter and Dust fly by..holy cow, was she was in the zone! :) Would I have loved to have ran the whole thing? Of course! But to think that only a week prior I thought all my hopes of even finishing were tossed out the window. With that in mind I am thrilled with my overall performance at that point.

2 miles left and I was a ball of emotion. Every time I thought of P or The Kid I started to cry! It couldn't be helped. They have been so great in supporting me through all of my training, races, injuries and meltdowns - I just felt so blessed to have them in my life. With only a half mile to go I could hear the announcer's voice and knew the finish line was close. "Ok, Rebecca", I thought, "No more crying...you don't want people to think that you're in pain do you? Let's giddy up and sprint to the finish!".

Done. I was done!!! 6 hours and 45 minutes of non stop racing - I had conquered my first half Ironman! 70.3 miles of greatness complete. Now give me my freaking medal! :)

I swear I could not stop smiling. As I hugged everyone, chugged down ludicrous amounts of water and waited for my brother to finish, the joy of what I had just accomplished completely took over. The months of long hours and strenuous training had paid off. It was going to be awhile before I came down from my Ironman high.

Total Run Time - 02:39:40

Total Overall Race Time - 06:45:18
Age Group - 40
Gender - 239
Overall - 882

Fuel: Alternated water and electrolyte drink every mile. GU gel every 3 miles

**Not much could be helped with my run time. The energy was a bit more sluggish than I would have preferred but had zero stomach or cramping issues so my fueling must have been spot on. Excited to see how much better I can perform going into the run healthy next time**

A little over an hour later my brother had made it to the finish line too! So proud of him!! I kept thinking how much fun it must have been for my mom to see both her kids finish this race. Thankfully my pops tuned into the Ironman website and was also able to watch us both cross the finish line via their live feed. A huge THANK YOU to Ironman for allowing this to happen.

Half Ironman Boise finishers - BOOYAH!!

After our amazing finishes, my brother and I wandered over to food tent to replenish our calories by grubbing on some pizza and burgers. No beer though - that would have to wait until we got back to the house. Finished with our snacks, we all headed over to the Ironman store to pick up a few items to commemorate our accomplishments, then it was time to head back to the house.

It was a long (14 hours) day but worth every bit of the aches, pains, frustrations, lines etc. that we had to deal with.  My first HIM experience was a success and I can not wait to do it again! Many, many thanks to all my readers, fellow Tri-Fecta members, my online coaches Meredith and Brett, and friends and family for helping to make this dream a reality. The support and encouragement I've received along the way has been so overwhelmingly amazing. The sacrifices my family has made during this process is far more than I could have ever asked for.

What's next? I have quite a few more races on the calendar for this season so you'll definitely want to stay tuned. Also, Ironman Arizona 140.6 volunteer registration opens up next week..........you know what that means..........

Beer and I reunited once again........cheers!

IRONMAN Boise 70.3 - Race Recap 1 of 2

Why hello there! It's been awhile hasn't it? Well, after my race in Boise a few weeks ago I decided to take a mental and physical break from all things triathlon related, including blogging. And it was very much appreciated, let.me tell you. Now that we're back on that horse again, I figured it was about time I gave you a recap of my race - the one and only - it's a long one folks, so buckle down and enjoy....


Thursday, June 5 

Time to head out! After P dropped the pups off at their kennel, or as we call it "summer camp", we packed up and made our way on down the road.

Minus Ben and an ice chest - not too bad for three people!

Someone wasn't too thrilled about the 6 hour drive. He slept most of it anyway.

After 6.5 hours and one stop for gas and lunch, we made it to Boise. It was kinda fun seeing all the cars with race bikes in tow making their way along the same stretch of road. I often shared knowing glances and big nervous smiles with the folks we passed . "You racing this weekend? Me too! Holy crap I'm scared!" - I love being a part of this tri community.

After arriving to the house that we rented for the weekend, my brother and I (I told you he was racing too, right?) had planned on driving up to the reservoir to meet a local tri club for some OWS, test out the water temp and get a lay of the land. Unfortunately we had planned our drive based on west coast arrival times, completely forgetting that Boise, ID is on MT. So our assumed 5pm arrival was actually 6pm. Although the club was only meeting for a short while, we dropped our families off at the house to get settled and work on dinner and decided to drive out to the water anyway. 

40.minutes.later. 

Ugh - so yeah, although renting a house outside of downtown did prove to be very relaxing, the amount of driving we had to do while prepping for race day is not recommended. As the reservoir is 20 minutes away from downtown and the race finish, it made for A LOT of driving. Anyway, we made it to the water and actually had plenty of time to take a quick dip! The course start was already blocked off by Ironman personnel, but thankfully there was a nice little spot just around the corner that is used by the locals.

Not a bad venue, eh?

All that I've been reading about in past race reports was how freezing the water is here. I guess being a fish and having grown up on the beaches of SoCal, I really didn't notice. Heck, I could have swam that thing sans wetsuit and have been just fine. Whew!! One less thing to stress about. Bro and I did a few laps between bouys to get a feel of the chop (water was a bit cranky this day). I was content with the conditions and overall very pleased that we had a chance to test things out ahead of time. Another 40 minute drive back to the house and in for the night!


Friday, June 5

Picked Mom and Aunt P up from the airport this day - yay! They both flew in from Colorado to watch us race. So blessed to have a family that easily offers up their support. After welcome hugs and kisses, we made our way downtown to the race village where we met the rest of our family for registration and the mandatory athlete briefing. Ho-ly cow there were some seriously cut folks out there! Definitely a lot of nervous energy as we made our way through the multiple lines picking up packets, bracelets, race gear etc.

Locked and loaded!

Afterwards we treated ourselves to lunch at a local grill. P and I always make sure to stay away from chain restaurants when in a new town. We want a local experience - and this place had it all.

The whole crazy crew! Couldn't ask for a better group of supporters.

With lunch over we headed back to the house so that everyone could drop their bags off and relax a little before the next day's craziness began. Everyone but my brother and I, that is - we still had to head back out again in order to drop our bikes off at T1. (why we didn't just bring them into town with us earlier that day I don't know - poor time management!) So another 40 min haul up to the reservoir it was.  Kind of nervous leaving Ben out in the open overnight but they had the place pretty well guarded so we had nothing to worry about. Good thing we chose to do this on Friday though - the last minute madhouse we witnessed on race day by those who waited to do so did not look like fun. Parking is super limited at the reservoir in general and even less available during race day so you can only imagine how long of a hike those poor souls had to make that morning. As luck would have it though, my brother and I got to rack our blue beauties right across the the aisle from each other!!

Ben and I - ready to make some magic!

                             

Bikes dropped we decided to drive a little bit of the course just to see how it compared to the elevation map that I had been obsessing over. Except for a few long hills the course looked pretty tame - I was convinced that time and pace would be close to what I've been maintaining in training. That was before I remembered to factor in the wind...oh you crazy, high plains desert-like wind..........

Needless to say, this day was full of running around...so much so that I was pretty exhausted by the time I was finally able to crawl into bed. **TIP - do not wear flip-flops during the days leading up to your long distance event. With over 10 hours of walking around to do this day, I fully regretted not wearing a good pair of running shoes. Lesson learned!**

Back at the house with a full stomach of delicious spaghetti dinner in my belly later, it was time to pack my transition bags. Because of the multiple course locations, this was a "clean" race, meaning all gear for each transition must be able to fit into the bags they provided during check in. Not the typical set up with everything laid out before hand. Nothing left on the ground before or after transition. I think I actually prefer doing it this way. Made for a heck of a lot more room to change gear in and you didn't have to worry about another racer's junk splayed all over your area.

624 is all packed up and ready to go!

10pm and  it was lights out for this gal!


Saturday, June 6 **Race Day**

I slept fairly decently the night before, and with a noon start there was no getting up at 4am for once. I set my alarm for 7am but naturally woke up before then. As part of my race day nutrition plan I knew I needed to get in a regular breakfast but the stomach just would not cooperate. Normally I don't have issues eating on race morning but I did have a bit of trouble this day. Still managed to get down at least half a peanut butter bagel (my go-go), half a banana and a nice large cup of coffee. I brought a PowerBar with me and planned to take that down about an hour before start time. Thankfully my stomach had settled by then and I was able to eat the whole thing.

Nervous but happy racers!

So, everyone out of the house we made our way downtown. Found the perfect parking spot, **TIP - get there early**, dropped off our T2 run bags and hopped on the first bus that would take us up to the reservoir. Very thankful to Boise for providing these buses free of charge, not only the athletes, but our families and spectators as well. A quick 20 minute ride and we were there - Ironman Boise 70.3!!

Holy.crap. The place was housed!!

With a noon start you are bound to get to the venue quite a bit early and given the time of day, will be sitting in the sun for a few hours. We had no idea what to expect and definitely learned a few lessons. **Tips #1. Bring an umbrella! Nice for your support crew but even better for you, the racer. Sitting out in the hot sun for 2 hours before your start can be a bit energy draining. Try to shade yourself as much as possible. #2. Bring chairs for your support crew! As the bike course takes the road leading back down from the reservoir, your support crew will be stuck up there until the last biker is down from the hill. This can mean they are waiting around for another 2 hours after the start, just itching to get back on those buses and back down to T2. #3. Bring an extra pair of sunglasses - once transition closes you still have about 45 minutes before start time. Sun in your eyes for that amount of time is also an energy suck. #4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! 2 hours in the sun without taking in water and electrolytes can be very detrimental to your race. Starting out dehydrated is no bueno. Thankfully the volunteers had plenty of water available for everyone but no additional electrolytes, so bring your own. Do it folks - your cramp free swim will thank you.**


THE SWIM

My age group was set for Wave 7 and my brother's Wave 8. This gave us a great chance to view the Pros take off on the swim. Even little Apollo Ono......yes, he was there! Apollo is this year's Chocolate Milk sponsored athlete. And just like Hines Ward he is also training for Kona with Boise being his 70.3 prep race. Though I personally never got a close up, P and The Kid were apparently eye level to him coming out of the water - guess the poor guy was a bit disoriented and looked whipped. He had a great swim time though and overall a very fast race. Congrats to Apollo!

Anyway, back to my start - after a quick good luck to my bro and a round of hugs, I said good-bye to the fam and lined up on the boat ramp. I was ready. Given the amount of time I had already spent in the sun, the thought of that "cold" water sounded ah-mazing. 1 minute after the wave before us took off we were allowed to enter the water and swim over to the start. This was my first in water start and something that I prefer. As usual I decided to stay in the middle of the pack (though I should be starting up closer to the front) and tried my best to make some space. Ladies 35-39 were fired up! Lots of nervous looks but you could feel the energy bouncing around.

And GO!!!!!

I'm somewhere in this mess!

Almost immediately I had trouble with my goggles - the effers kept leaking!! The darn things have NEVER given me an issue!  Unfortunately the leak was big enough to where I couldn't possibly ignore the water, so I spent a good 300 meters swimming/stopping/fixing goggles/swimming - best guess I lost about 2 minutes messing with the dumb things. Errr...oh well, no panic, just correct the issue and get moving. Once I finally got them settled I was off once again. Honestly the swim, other than the goggle incident, was pretty uneventful. Given this was my first 70.3 I wasn't sure about pacing so I took it easy (a bit too easy) and focused mainly on keeping my hear rate down. I found a group of pink caps (my wave) that were keeping a good pace so I just stayed with them. The water was fairly choppy but the bouy set up was awesome allowing for super easy sighting. About half way in I started to pass up the swimmers from earlier waves - although this is a great motivator, usually these folks are a little weaker in this portion of the race so it can get a bit hectic trying to wade through the flailing arms and legs.

It stayed like that through the last half of the swim but by the time the boat ramp came into view I was honestly sad to have it over! I could have easily done another loop without issue......such is the life of a swimmer. Now it was time to fret about that darn bike....and the wind! Out of the water I made my way up the boat ramp - usually I run all the way through to transition but knew that anything but an uphill walk would irritate my calf and decided to take it easy.  P and the fam were right there cheering me along the whole way....

It's soooo bright out here!!

Total Swim Time -  00:36:51
Age Group - 13
Gender - 67
Overall - 278

**Like I said, wasn't pushing myself and could have gone sooo much faster**


T- 1

Can I get a shout out for the WETSUIT STRIPPAS!!!! That was awesome. Lay down, stick your feet in the air and swoosh - that sucker is off! It's normally pretty easy to take my suit off but I just had to experience this. :)

In addition to the stripping, T1 had another "interesting" moment. I knew that I was going to take a few extra minutes in order to put my compression socks on properly (which is not an easy task to do with wet skin, mind you) but had no idea how much I was going to need to pee! Holy cow I must have swallowed the whole dang lake. In the heat of the moment I dried myself off, stuck the towel in between my legs and just went....and went.....and went. Sorry, TMI, I know but it was crazy! Never once did it occur to me that perhaps a quick trip to the port-a-potty might be in order. Nope - "What's the fastest, most efficient way to do this?" I thought....hey, it kept me from having to worry about how to go on the bike, so there's no shame in my game! :)

Total T1 Time - 00:07:12



Part 2 of 2 - The Bike, Run and Finish ...........to be continued........

OSU Beaver Freezer Sprint Triathlon - Race Recap

Where to begin...where to begin....

I guess we'll start that Friday evening before the race - calm night at home, spending my last few hours getting everything prepped, feeling confident and excited for my first tri of the season. P tells me that he needs to go out and pick up my last birthday present as I'll need it for the race tomorrow. Um, ok, dude...see you in a few! I continue to pack......where's my Glide?! Where the heck is my Glide?!! Not.a.clue. Guess I'll be racing without it - crap.

Take a break from packing and begin to stretch out when P comes home with my "birthday surprise"....is it some weird sticker for my bike? A new helmet that screams "Newbie!"? A new tri suit that I've never tried on?!!! All these scenarios running through my head and I'll admit, I was pretty nervous about what this item could possibly be. P is the very best sherpa around but when it comes to racing, I am kind of picky about what I wear/use etc. Will he get his feelings hurt if I don't use this "thing"?

To my pleasant surprise it wasn't a race item at all, rather my bestie who flew in to spend my birthday weekend with me!!!!! Could there be a better birthday present?! Needless to say, I finished packing up and we pretty much spent the rest of the night chatting about any and everything. It's almost tradition that the first night we spend together is spent talking till the wee hours of the morning - race or not, I wouldn't have it any other way. Should I have gone to bed at 10 as planned? Sure....but who really gets a good night's sleep the evening before race day anyway?

Race morning - as the course was being held on the OSU (Oregon State University) campus, we were looking at an hour and a half drive away. Not too bad - and given the fact that start times were based on your swim heats (10) I was scheduled to be in the pool at 10:30am and wasn't required to check into transition until 10am at the very latest. This gave us plenty of time to wake up and eat some breakfast (my usual coffee and peanut butter toast). P decided to stay home and let Lauren be my sherpa this time around. Couldn't have asked for anyone better - she is the original sherpa, having escorted me to my very first tri two years ago - she is a Pro. :)  The temps were on the chilly side but we had a beautiful drive through the Oregon valley, praying that the rain would stay away for at least the next three hours.

Make it to the race sight....cue, "What-can-go-wrong-goes-wrong".

Right off the bat I notice that I had forgotten all of my water bottles (snafu #1) - none in my bike cages nor any in my tri bag - good Lordy! Oh well, here's hoping they have something available for purchase at one of the vendor tents. Aaaaand that's a negative (really, OSU?). Knowing that this was just a sprint and not nearly long enough to be too concerned with hydration, Lauren went to a local vending machine and at least snatched up a bottled water which I promptly crumbled up a Nuun tab into.

Registration - Check!
Water - kinda, Check!
Body marking - Check!
Transition set up - Check!

Not sure I took one "serious" picture all day

With transition set up done, we had nothing left to do but go find the pool that I was scheduled in (2 being used - 1 for the women's heats and one for the men). BTW - the OSU campus is really pretty but the route from transition to my pool was totally creepy. Up narrow stairs, through old, dank, and dark locker rooms.....boy was I happy to find out that this was only their practice pool. The pool where they actually hold all their NCAA meets was breath taking. Got a chance to sneak a peek when I used the locker rooms to shower off later. Whew - you had me worried PAC-12!

Made it to the pool and met a fellow Swim Bike Mom, Meg, while waiting for our heat to start. Her first tri in over 4 years and holy moly was she impressive! 

So theory had it that I was in heat 9 - online schedule confirmed it as well as the listing they had posted up on the wall. I get into the water just in time for a decent 5 minute warm up and the timers tell me to get out, that I'm in heat 10! What the what?!! No dudes, heat 9. We walk over to take a look at the posted times and whaddaya know...they have me listed in two different heats, both 9 and 10! - oh brother (snafu #2). Because our start times are based on the heat you're assigned to, we had no idea what my results were going to reflect as no one could confirm what heat I was officially assigned to. 

I see how this day is going to go. 

Nevertheless I decided to swim in heat 10 (4th spot) and just get over it. First race of the year and I have already been thrown off track a little so let's just have fun. Fix settings on my new Garmin and get ready to blast out my 500 yard swim. 

*GO*

During warm ups - Check out the stroke!! I was pleased. :)

Knowing that I could pretty much sprint this 500 I didn't worry about pacing at all and in turn found myself knocking the feet of the gal in front of me within 100 yards. Rules in a pool swim is that you are supposed to stop at the wall and let the person in front pass....did she? No....200 more yards in and the girl STILL wouldn't let me pass. MOVE OVER!! By now my pace was definitely slower than the norm but I was still just trying to go with the flow. 250 yards in and she FINALLY stops at the wall. Hallelujah!! Not that she had much choice...I timed it so that I would be heading into my flip turn at the same time she was. Sorry, Charlie - that might make me a rude lane buddy but this is a friggin' race and I've been sitting behind you patiently waiting!

One gal lapped and I was immediately on top of the next one. Why the heck did they put me in the fourth spot anyway? These girls must have really over estimated their times. Thankfully girl #2 was kind enough to stop at the wall about 350 yards in to let me pass. Now I could really book it - about 400 yards too late but just trying to focus on sprinting to the end. 500 yards done and I lapped my Garmin at 7:20!! Wohoo! 

Out of the pool and run down to transition - the timing mat was about 10 yards outside of the building so my official swim time reflected 7:42 (blech). Barefoot down to transition (which seemed liked forever away) and on to my bike. No gels or water at this point but the weather was still pretty chilly so dehydration wasn't something to be concerned with.

Official Swim Time to Mat: 7:42

Actual 500 yard time: 7:20:15

Haha - too fast for Lauren to snap a shot! See that tub though? Smart idea for potential rainy races - need to remember that for Boise.

T1 Time: 3:18

Out of T1 and onto the road. B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L course through the countryside of Corvallis. A few fake flats to deal with but I was sprinting along, warming up my legs and ready to feel the burn. There were quite a few turns as well with which didn't allow for me to be in aero for too long but volunteers did a wonderful job of directing traffic and keeping the riders safe. Mile 8 rolls along, I get comfortably into aero and my mind starts to wander a bit.....cue loose gravel....cue Rebecca laid out on the road. (snafu #3). Seriously.....my first real bike accident and of course it happens during a race. I can't say exactly what the issue was other than my mind not being as focused as it could have been and not having spent enough practice time in aero. Boo....thankfully I fell pretty flat onto my right side. Banged up the outside of my hip and right forearm but no broken bones. "Are you ok?!" - "Do you need help?!" - thank you sweet fellow racers but no, this ding dong is fine. If I can walk I can finish. Picked myself up off the road, fixed my bent handle/aerobars, brakes and chain, then saddled up to finish the remaining 4 miles. 

I get to the last turn around at mile 9 and at this point I knew I had injured something pretty bad. My forearm was on fire and I couldn't put any pressure on it. Poop. Make it back to T2 in time to see Lauren cheering me on. "Holy crap I think I really hurt myself!", I say. "Still going to finish though!" Took a few swigs of my water, grabbed a warm long sleeve shirt and my running shoes (which was quite possibly the most painful thing I could have done at that moment.) and headed out for 3.1 miles of foot to pavement. Right arm at 90 degrees, where for some reason it hurt the least, and I was good to go.

Office Bike Time: 43:08

Take 4/5 minutes off for the crash and I would have probably been at 38/39 - av 18.9 mph? I'll take it!

T2 time: 3:57 (not bad for being in terrible pain!)

Off on the run - three loops around the OSU campus and I would be done! The legs in general felt fine coming off the bike. The outside of my hip where I had fallen was tender at this point and my arm was on fire but Beastmode kicked in as usual and the adrenaline completely blocked out the pain. My body wanted to stop and walk for a bit but my head screamed a few profanities in it's direction and made it run the 3 miles. It was a fun run, truly it was. So many smiles from people participating in their first triathlon - it gave me a great opportunity to throw out some words of encouragement which in turn gave me even more momentum. Loop 1 done, loop 2 done and loop 3, from what I had thought, done.

Official Run Time: 20:07

Ummmm........yeah. No way I ran a 5k in 20 minutes - that would put me at an average 6:29 mm?!! No way...something must have happened to my timing chip or I must have cheated the run course at some point. What about my Garmin? Perhaps that logged the right time?! Another no....I completely forgot to hit my laps after the swim so I only had an overall time recorded. (snafu #4 & #5)

Done and DONE! Whew - had my shoulder checked out while waiting around for fellow SBM, Meg to finish and was happy to know that my collar bone was good and shoulder intact. 

Official Total Time: 1:18:14 

Probably more like 1:28 if you add another 10 minutes to my run time. If that is the case this wasis still a PR for me by at least 2 minutes!!

(L to R) Me, Meg and Meg's speedy friend - I think she podiumed for her age group!

See...still goofing around at the finish.

Race done, a nasty hip bruise and arm sprain later, Lauren and I decided to hang out on campus for a bit, get cleaned up, wait around for the age group awards and grab some lunch. A giant plate of Panda Express never sounded better. But first we had to take a pic with the famous OSU Beaver. :)

Overall it was a very interesting experience. Other than my very first tri, this was the only other race that I had not been able to check out the course ahead of time. I definitely felt like this was to my disadvantage, but what can ya do?!

Lessons learned?

SWIM:

Nothing too much to improve on other than perhaps over estimating swim times in my next pool race so that I can potentially be put in the front and not have to worry about passing etc.

BIKE:

Need to keep my head in the game, always. Also need to make sure that I get off the trainer and out for many, many rides before Boise so that control while in aero is no longer an issue.

RUN:

Pay closer attention to the course! Especially if it's a multi-loop run. I am pretty sure I missed the last loop on this run but was too distracted by my bike crash and cheering along all the first timers.

Despite the many snafus, overall I really enjoyed the Beaver Freezer and plan on doing it again next year. Being able to get out so early in the season really helps to justify all the training one does while cooped up over the winter. The environment is a very relaxed one and having 10 different start times really makes for a jumble-free transition area. Great course for first timers as there is a lot of support.

So what about the arm? After going to urgent care the following day, I was diagnosed with a right elbow/wrist sprain. Thankfully NO broken bones or anything too serious. For now I am out of the water for a few weeks, with the arm in a sling, until everything heals. The good news is that after taking almost a full week off from training my pesky hip feels great! Lol.

 If it's not one thing it's another, right?!  :)