Tri Indy - Olympic Distance

Event: Tri Indy - Olympic Distance
Date: August 1, 2010
Location: Downtown Indy

Pre-Race

Jarrett was volunteering for this race and had to be at the site at 5:15 am. That meant an early bedtime of 9:00 pm! I packed my stuff the night before and all we had to do was load the car in the morning. The dogs woke me up at 3:00 am. I had my alarm set for 4 but I never really fell back asleep. I got up at 4, showered, fed the animals, and had two Wile Berry Pop-Tarts, vitamins, a Pepcid AC, and one Alleve. I drank 24 oz of water and a Diet Coke. We hit the road a 5:00 am and were at the race site at 5:15 am. Since Jarrett was a volunteer he had a parking pass that got us a fantastic spot. I picked-up my packet and went back to the car to put my numbers on the bike and grab my stuff. At the registration tent I saw that the water temp was 75 degrees. Wetsuit legal. I didn't bring my wetsuit. Oops. I headed over to transition and racked my bike and dropped off my bag. I was the first person to rack my stuff so I had a prime end spot. I then walked about half a mile to Jenn's house to meet her. We headed back to transition about 6:00 am and got her stuff set-up by 6:30 am. We chatted with a few people and then started toward the swim start about 7:00 am. We decided to drop our shoes off at Jenn's house and use the bathroom before we had to swim. Our timing was perfect! We got back to the canal as they were lining up 200-250. I was 314 and she was 350 so we started together.

Swim:
Time trial start this year which was interesting. You kind of ran down this ramp and dove in. The water actually felt pretty chilly initially but once I started moving, I was fine. I tried to find some feet and hang on but it just wasn't happening. People were either too fast or too slow and I just never found a good person to pace off of. Jenn was within my sight for most of the race. I think I lost her the last 500. Biggest issue - I could not swim straight to save my life. Seriously? It's a canal. It has walls. And I was drifting all over the place! I'm sure this had a direct impact on my swim time. How would I rate this swim? Okay but not great. At one point a got kicked pretty hard in the face and got a bit disoriented. I should have swam closer to the steps at the exit too. I misjudged the distance and stood up too early. On a positive note - I did not have to breast stroke or stop at all. I know my time would have been faster with my wetsuit too. The other thing I need to work on is pushing a little harder during the swim. I get into a comfortable rhythm but I'm not fast. My heart rate was in check when I got out and I was able to run to my bike without feeling totally lost.

Swim: 1500 meters
Swim Time: 35:46.8

T1: 1:58.7
T1 was a bit slow. I had issues shoving chomps into my back pockets and getting my gloves on. It definitely isn't my slowest T1 but it could have been faster. I haven't been wearing gloves for the sprints and shorter rides but I decided to use them today since the ride was a bit longer. In the end, it was worth the extra time.

Bike:
I got on the bike and headed out on course. The first thing I had to deal with was riding down a plywood ramp over a curb to get out onto the road. It scared me. I was riding new wheels (Courtney let me borrow his HED wheel set) and I haven't really experienced riding down a ramp or jumping curbs on the Cervelo. Once I got on the road it became apparent the road conditions were going to suck. Pot holes, rough pavement, gravel, railroad tracks...I was riding with my 20 oz Aero bottle full of water, a bottle on my bottom tube with a 50/50 mix of Gatorade and water, and a spare bottle on the back rack with about half a bottle of water. I popped open a bag of chomps at about mile 5 and had 3. I was consistently sipping out of the aero bottle and managed to finish it by the end of the race. I had another 3 chomps around mile 15. I drank about a quarter of my Gatorade mix. The bike course was fairly challenging for me. I wanted badly to ride fast but I also knew that I needed to be safe so I really held back. Not to mention I was praying the entire time that I wouldn't get a flat. The road conditions were seriously terrible. I saw 5 flats, 2 wrecks, and about 20 water bottles laying on the road. Jarrett said he saw a lot of flats and a few more with road rash from wrecks. The first lap was less congested then the 2nd. The 2nd lap had all of the sprint racers out on the roads too. I passed a ton of people. It was very hard not to be in the draft zone. I made it through without any penalties, no mechanicals, no wrecks, and my legs felt good. I seriously need to work on my cornering skills. I still brake and ride WAY too slow around turns. I suggested to Vern @ T3 to hold a bike handling skills workshop and he said he thought it was a good idea. I just need to gain more confidence so I can get some more speed out there!

Time: 1:12:57.2 (20.4 mph)

T2: 1:47.6
Got back into transition, racked the bike and pulled off my helmet and gloves. I had some issues getting on my socks, as usual. I would love to run barefoot, but my feet will have none of that. Tied my shoes and grabbed my race number belt and headed out. I brought a Fuel belt with me but decided that the temps were low enough and I was feeling good after the bike that I wouldn't take it on the run. Less weight and less annoying.

Run:
Distance: 6.2 miles

My legs felt great coming off the bike. I haven't done a ton of bricks this year so I wasn't sure how I was going to feel and I was pleasantly surprised. The first 3 miles flew by. I met up with a lady named Stacey at mile 2. She was doing the sprint and it was her first triathlon. She was having a lot of fun and I convinced her to give the Go Girl a try in September. We parted ways at about 2.75 and she went straight to finish and I headed back for another loop. I saw Jarrett and TJ standing at the turn point for the 2nd loop cheering and heard various other voice shouting words of encouragement. Mile 4 I had some Chomps and Gatorade. I was drinking water at all the water stops and picked up Gatorade at Mile 2 and Mile 4. This year the water stations were much better spaced and the volunteers were fantastic. They were even nice enough to let me have two cups of water at mile 5 so I could drink some and dump the rest on my head. Even though it was overcast, it did start to warm up the second loop of the run. My stomach started to get a little angry around mile 4. I just ignored it and kept pushing. At mile 5 I remembered that I had actually started my watch at the swim start. I hadn't looked at it since I got out of the water. To my amazement it said 2:41. I had one mile to go. I was so excited. I really wanted to finish the race in under 3 hours this year and it was going to happen! There were several times during that last mile I had to convince myself not to stop and walk. I kept moving and focusing on keeping my chin up and shoulders back. I got about 200 meters from the finish and saw Rich cheering and TJ taking pictures. Jarrett ran along side me and gave me some words of encouragement and a nice smack on the butt for motivation. I finished strong and even got my name announced at the finish and a Happy Birthday from the RD!

Time: 0:58:41.7 (9:26.8 minutes/mile)

Total Race Time: 2:51:11.9
I placed 11 out of 24 in my age group. Finally broke into the top half! Overall I was 281 out of 443. Still hanging at the back of the pack but I'm getting closer to the front of the back of the pack!

After I finished I grabbed some water and a few cookies and found Jarrett. We headed back to watch Jenn finish and check on our other race peeps. I saw Steve cross the finish line and couldn't believe I beat him. I found out later that he had a flat and spent about 15 minutes fixing his tire. He would have had a fantastic time if not for the revenge of the roads. We found Doug who had just finished his first sprint. He did fantastic! 1:28! It's amazing what us old band kids are doing these days. I guarantee if you had asked me if I thought I would ever do a triathlon when I was a 19 year-old marching band geek, I would have laughed.

It's amazing what a year has done. Last year, this was my first Oly and I finished in a painful 3:43:59. I crushed that time and still had energy.

I really appreciate everyone who came out and cheered and volunteered. Jenn finished very strong and should be extremely proud of her race time! She killed her 3:20:00 goal and finished in 3:10:00.

It's hard to believe that race season is almost over. The Go Girl is my last sprint of the season and then it's off to Augusta. I'm still nervous. New course, new distance....I've still got some issues to work out with nutrition. I did not get as dehydrated during this race but I was still a little short on liquids. I also should have finished my entire bag of Chomps on the bike and two more on the run.

55 days until Augusta. I'm starting to think about race goals and setting up my race plan. Overall goal - Just finish in under 8 hours. I'd love to see a time around 6:30:00. Ultimately it's about having fun and finishing with a smile.

This has been an amazing year of training and I owe my success over this summer to my wonderful supportive husband, Jarrett, Coach TJ, and the great group of triathletes I've had the chance to train with. Each person inspires me to push a little harder and whine a little less ;)