So much went right with Race Day it’s hard to know where to start.
Heading into to race day there had been a lot of concern that the race
would not be wetsuit legal. The Sunday before the race the water temperature
was 79 degrees, wetsuit legal is 76.1 for age-groupers. Fortunately, the week
leading up to the race featured cooler nights and a little bit of rain. Hard to believe that Lake Winnipesaukee was
almost 80 degrees. Phew!!!
Swim – 54:59 (2:29/100 yds.) 13.5 min. course PR and overall PR
I’m so happy with this time. I
worked really hard all season on my swimming.
I did a lot of it without my wetsuit so that I would have to work on
body position – and truth be told, it was so damned hot all summer the thoughts
of trying to get my wetsuit on was going to be a workout and not worth it. I also swam in Mystic Lake a lot because it’s
bigger than Walden Pond (although I still love Walden), has buoys to practice
sighting and has more variable conditions – i.e. changing winds and waves.
Because I had a hard time on the swim last year I spent the morning
reminding myself of all the open water swimming I’d done and to swim my own
race. I lined myself up at the back of
my age group to keep out of the fray as much as possible. When the gun went off, I took off with my
group, the water was really low so no dolphin diving, I just started. I kept reminding myself to swim my own race –
to stay within myself – and I’d be successful.
Holy smokes – I’m at the first buoy – ok keep moving. As the next group
of swimmers catch up to me I’d get a bit jostled but it gave me the opportunity
to draft a little – try and catch some of the bubbles, stay in a pocket as long
as I could.
Another thing that I changed was how I sight. I had been taught to lift my eyes out of the
water like a crocodile, however I never really saw anything but water. When I was watching the Men’s Triathlon
during the Olympics I noticed that they were lifting there head up out of the
water to sight – I decided if they could use that technique then so could I –
HUGE difference (see picture – I swam pretty darn straight).
 |
| First time I've ever stayed this straight |
I’m sure there’s a few people that can relate – every time I see a
picture or video of a swim start it makes me almost nauseous and very
hesitant. During one of my sighting ‘looks’
I noticed that ‘my’ swim was just like the pictures I’d seen – holy crap – don’t
panic – keep moving.
T1 – 5:47
I thought I was quicker than this because for the first time ever I
tried to jog to my bike – still not very successful running with my bike shoes
on – work in progress
Bike – 3:57 - 26 min. course PR Fastest speed – 40.6 mph
All of the hill repeats, 120% FTP workouts and hilly training routes
really paid off (Thanks Coach Patricia Brownell). I’m not a great climber, I’m not even a good
one, but I’ve worked hard to get stronger and more consistent. Of course, anyone riding near me going uphill
probably thinks I’m a wee bit crazy because I sing or talk to myself in beat to
the cadence I’m trying to keep – it also keeps me from either holding my breath
or hyperventilating.
There are a ton of hills on this course with 2 that are killers, one is
long and the other one is really steep. First
up is the long, killer one. I took the
hill in my steady but slow pace, concentrating on a) staying out of the faster
rider’s way, b) breathing and c) my cadence.
There were a number of people walking this hill. I’m not sure if it’s technically being ‘chicked’
but one of the walkers was a guy that was almost ½ my age. All I could think was ‘dude – get on your
bike, I’m way older than you’.
During the out and back portion, I worked hard to stay within my plan
and not get sucked into the pack and go too fast. I knew if I did I’d pay for it on the way
back. Before I knew it, I was turning onto Brown Hill Rd. (mile 41ish) the scene
of my little crash last year and the second hill – this one is really
snotty. I’ll admit that I did breathe a
little sigh of relief when I passed the scene of my crash. At the end of the street you take a left and the
hill is standing there, a little bit like a wall and if you weren’t prepared
and in the right gears you’re (or at least me) going to have a hard time. There were more people walking on this hill but
I wasn’t surprised. I hit the hill,
knowing I had a short window of pain and the worst of the hills was done.
You get a lot of nice downhills for all the work that you do and this
year some of the really long downhills had been repaved, this meant I could ‘fly’. I don’t have my bike computer set up to show
me how fast I’m going – it can either be discouraging (going up a hill) or
scary (flying down a hill) – so I go by my comfort level. On the longest, newly paved, downhill section
I pedaled until I had no more gears and then I let Oz fly. I got to the edge of my comfort zone and then
let my toes go a little over before I started to feather my brakes but I still
went 40.6 mph – on a damn bike – and it is pretty cool to fly up the next hill.
Nutrition – I did pretty good on this – I had one tiny issue though – I
forgot to open the Ziploc baggy with my Farbars. I’ve gotten a lot more stable on my bike but
I have a long way to go and I spent a few minutes trying to figure out a plan
that wouldn’t require me stopping. I
decided that if I used up my Barnana Bites first then I could open the baggy
and get it back into my bento box without losing any. I also knew that if I did lose a couple of
the squares I had extra GU with me. I
went with this plan and SUCCESS – not one square was lost. I have to say that I was pretty damned
pleased with myself.
I get back to T2 – no crashes feeling really strong!!!!
T2 – 4:45 (it felt faster)
Run – 3:06 - 24 min. course PR
This is the only portion that I wasn’t that happy with. I did better than last year but still
struggle to not walk. I made sure that I
kept moving forward and I didn’t linger at the aide stations (volunteers – You’re
the best!). I spent the time trying to
figure out how to make this portion stronger, I can run for hours without
stopping so I need to work with Peej (my coach) to figure this part out. We do agree that I really struggle in the
heat – and I did keep hydrating, putting ice in my hat, down my shirt and shorts
to keep my core cool. I also think I
need to figure out my fueling on my run – I may not be getting enough but I’ll
be working with Marni @ TriMarni Nutrition and Coaching.
Overall Time 8:09 – 1hr 2 min. course PR
