Exceed Your Limits!

One Step and One Day at a Time!







Thursday, July 21, 2011

WE Did It: Chelanman Race Report!


Well, I wanted to check in and give a race report before I forget all the details.  I am still trying to get back into the swing of things after being away and have not yet downloaded race pictures.  The above photograph was taken courtesy of a race sponsor and it is a photo of that photo, so I apologize for the quality.  My daughter completed her first tri as well and this photo makes me so proud.  Every ache, pain, frustration, and ounce of self doubt is worth it when I can share moments like these with my children!

The summary stats:

Overall Time:  1:31:02 (48/192 Overall, 3/24 Age Group)

Swim 1/4 mile: 08:43.04 (41/192 Overall, 2/24 Age Group)

Bike 13.1 miles: 43:49.4 (34/192 Overall, 1/24 Age Group)

Run 3.1 miles: 34:30.1 (105/192 Overall, 11/24 Age Group)

So, here we are where I can finally say "I seriously NEED to work on my run!"  The run was just flat out bad, although as you will read, I had some technical issues on the run too!  Let me start out with how much FUN I had this past weekend.  Sharing successes and challenges with so many fabulous athletes (and fantastic Ladies!) was just priceless.  I had so much fun, I reserved a hotel room for next year's race weekend!  We started off the weekend Friday evening with a wonderful dinner at a fabulous Italian place with fantastic views!  I can't wait to share pictures later this week!

Saturday, I watched the Olympic and Half Iron races, which were so inspiring.  So many of my teammates did the Olympic race and really inspired me to train for that race next year!  Saturday afternoon the family arrived and we headed to dinner and then hung out at the pool of the hotel.  That is where a little bump in the road occurred that would shake me to my core for the remainder of the weekend, and impact my run due to technical difficulties.  During a group picture (well, just after as everyone got up in front of me) I lost sight of my 2 1/2 year old on the steps of the pool.  In an instant she had fallen off the steps and over her head.  I ended up leaping in after her with the baby in the carrier (he stayed fairly dry) clothes (and running shoes) and all!  I have never had such a frightening experience and it has taught me that my children will wear life vests around water until they know how to swim flawlessly.  Never again will I think I can watch them adequately around water.  I ended up blow drying my shoes that evening.  Note to self:  next time your shoes get soaking wet, double check your Yankz laces - they may slip from their little clips!

But, on to happier things.  Sunday was race day.  The morning was gorgeous and I took a walk around the hotel grounds at around 5:30 am to just get myself moving, enjoy a cup of coffee, and listen to some music (and try to avoid waking my roommates!).  The lake was like glass and very peaceful.  There were a few of us already roaming around in nervous anticipation.

The SWIM:  I was overall very pleased with my swim time!  I had hoped to get it done in under 10:00 so I exceeded that goal!  I found that if I waited on the start just a second or so I could sneak between two swimmers and I was off for the races!  Except for battling the passenger ferry wake on the lake, it was a delightful swim.  I did, however, literally stop to chat with two ladies who were struggling from the wave before mine - and I have no regrets about that and were happy to find they had finished the swim!

The BIKE:  This time, my bike ride was AWESOME!  I was first in my age group on the bike and it was smooth sailing the WHOLE way.  Of course it was an easy rolling hill course without a lot of technical areas so that made it much easier than my last bike course.  My only issue was with some of the people riding side by side (really, what is with that?) to chat and making it difficult to pass since it was an open course with traffic!

The RUN:  Here is where my issues came into play.  First, within the first 1/2 mile of the run there is a steep hill out of the park.  I pushed my bike hard so that initial hill was ridiculous for me!  I actually had to stop and walk!  Very frustrating.  Then, as I got on the road portion of the course, I noticed my shoes were loose.  They kept getting looser and looser until finally I stopped.  My Yankz laces had basically slipped out of the clips and kept loosening.  I spent a good 90 seconds or more trying to fix my shoes at the guardrail while getting passed over and over again by runners.  NOT a happy moment (and I apologize to those who passed me for my language as I was grumbling at my shoes!).  I got off and running again only to still have one shoe come unclipped AGAIN!  So, stopped again by my dang shoes.  Then, as I stood up, my race belt "button" holding my number pops off into the grass under the guardrail.  For some unknown reason I stood there and searched for it and put it back on - still not sure why really - but I did.  My run time was horrible.  Considering all the time I spent stopped (and, unfortunately, walking sporadically during the first 1.5 miles) I am actually surprised it was not a worse time. 

So, the next two weeks I work on my run and brick workouts.  Along with the run I am FINALLY growing up and transitioning to clipless pedals.  Wish me luck, I will NEED it. 

With races back to back every two weeks right now, it really has become difficult to keep up with more than just race reports!  Once my next race is over I should have some breathing room to come back with more substantive posts as well!