A little bit of everything in one post

Typically my posts entail me blogging about one of three things: a race recap, a review or preview of my training, or a synopsis of whatever injury I am going through.   I figured I'd combine all three in today's post!

Yesterday was the Ross TriFit Challenge!  This was my third year competing in this race as a relay member.  I don't ever plan on doing the full triathlon, as I'm not a huge fan of the bike course, but I LOVE the fact that the swim is in Antrim Lake.  This is a lake located on the Olentangy Trail in Columbus, and it is closed to the public 364 days a year.  On one Sunday each July, the city gives a permit for the Ross TriFit race to use the lake for swimming.  What's so special about Antrim Lake, you may wonder?  It was originally a quarry that was filled by the city years ago, so the depths range from a few feet to 30 feet.  It's also amazingly clear--you can see down to the bottom!  It's a very different open water swimming experience from where I usually go at Alum Creek. 

Two years ago, I raced with Tracey and Amanda, and last year, my partners were Elizabeth and Jen.  Both years, I figured we had a great shot at winning the relay, and both years I was disappointed.  That's why I decided to just have a good time this year and do the race totally for fun!  My friend Lisa, who I traveled to Indianapolis with last November for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, mentioned she'd like to do the relay as a cyclist a few months ago.  I told her I'd find a friend to run, and within minutes had roped one of my training partners and close running pals, Katie, into joining us! 

The weather predictions for race day didn't look good all week long, but Sunday morning dawned overcast... yet no storms!  We all met up at Antrim and did the obligatory pre-race selfies.  Lisa knows even more people than I do in the world of triathlon, so between the two of us we had fun chatting to all of our friends, while Katie took it all in.  

Pre-race selfie!

I did a short warm-up swim, and before I knew it, it was 7AM and time to race!  Swimmers were sent off in groups of 8-10, and I positioned myself around the 4th group in the first corral.  

I honestly should have gone a little sooner, as of course I had to immediately deal with swimming around people.  

The first lap was relatively clear, though.  I felt good, relaxed.  The clarity of the water was a bit unnerving at one point--I had to keep refocusing myself on what I was supposed to be doing!  I did have to deal with a few more people breaststroking/backstroking/sidestroking during the second lap.  

Katie wins the Photography award for getting a picture of me swimming!

The other swimmers only got to me during the final 200 yards, when I was trying to sprint to the finish and people were slowing down/stopping with the chute in sight.  I was slightly disappointed by my time, as it was a little over 2 minutes slower than my split from last year.  No clue why, as my distance was spot-on this year (and I think it was last year, although I don't really remember).  I haven't been swimming quite as much, at least distance-wise, so that could be it.  

I ran up the 0.2-miles into transition, handed our chip off to Lisa, and met up with Katie to head down to campus, where she would do the run.  The rest of the morning was spent chatting to my relay teammates and other friends doing the race.  

Lisa entering T2!

Katie & me waiting for Lisa!

A super-happy Katie!

Katie finishing!

Our relay ended up 4th overall (top all-female relay, though!).  We enjoyed the post-race breakfast burritos before heading home.  All in all, it was a great day.

Team Virago (look up the definition ;) )

Now, on to a brief review of my training this past summer.  I have been training for various races, including a sprint and Olympic distance triathlon, as well as for the Erie Marathon.  Most weeks, I've had between 9-11 workouts.  Typically I have 1-2 swims, 2-3 bikes, 2 strength workouts, and 4 runs.  My runs work out to be two easy, one speed, and one long.  My bikes are usually 1 speed, 1-2 easy.  And my swims are whatever I want them to be, since I am mostly just swimming at the local pool on my own.  (Probably why my swim time isn't where I want it to be right now, but I digress!)  For strength, I either do two Body Pump classes, or one Pump + one Pump/CX combo class.  In the early part of the summer, the two easy runs were done as bricks with the bike.  However, now that I've decided to not compete in any more triathlons this summer, I haven't been bricking at all.  My coach and I met up a couple of weeks ago and discussed everything that I mentioned in my last blog, and jointly decided that it would be best for me to spend the rest of July and August focusing fully on the Erie Marathon.  That means no USAT Nationals.  Qualifying for Nationals was a big goal of mine, but as he said, it's not going to be the only year that I have the chance to go.  Right now, it just makes sense for me to keep my eye on the prize, which currently is a fast marathon on September 9.  

Last, but not least, an "injury" update.  I used quotation marks there because my coach mentioned that we've been doing a fairly good job of avoiding injury for the past few months, and I agree (KNOCK ON ALL THE WOOD IN THE WORLD!).  I've had a couple little things... low-grade muscle strain, posterior tibial tendonitis... but nothing that's caused me to miss a workout.  It helps that it's summer and I can do my stretching and icing--things that typically go by the wayside during the school year.  The only thing I am dealing with currently is the stupid foot-numbness problem that has plagued me for over six years.  It started when I first started running, and it comes and it goes.  Unfortunately, all but a handful of my runs since my April marathon have resulted in a numb right foot.  I finally decided to see a foot and ankle specialist after all of these years.  Dr. Mustafa believes that the numbness is a result of my super-flat feet, and wants me to try custom-made inserts.  I get casted for those later on this week, and then will have a month-long breaking-in period.  There is no way that I will be able to wear them for my marathon, so my coach and I are considering trying a wider version of my current shoes (Nike Zoom Structure) to see if that helps, as well as perhaps some over-the-counter inserts.

So, that's where I am!  Less than 7 weeks out from the Erie Marathon.  I honestly am finding it hard to believe that I will be able to accomplish my "A" goal of a 3:40.  My speed workouts leave me feeling less than confident, even though I keep telling myself it's the dreadful humidity that is making them so difficult.  All I can do at this point is continue to work hard, listen to my coach as well as my body, and pray for the best!  That being said, I have yet to register.  Less than 400 spots remain in the race, so I imagine I will be doing that sooner rather than later.  Pulling the trigger is so hard for me... 

Race Recap: Caesar Creek Olympic Tri (7/8/18)

Yay for my first Olympic triathlon!  My kids were confused... "Mom, does that mean if you win, you go to the Olympics?"  Not quite kiddos... for those who aren't familiar with the various distances of triathlon, there are mini, sprint, Olympic, half Ironman, and full Ironman (in order from shortest to longest).  I have now completed 4 of the 5... and there are ZERO plans for a full to take place anytime in the near (or far!) future.   An Olympic distance triathlon consists of 0.9 miles of swimming, 25 miles of biking, and 6.2 miles of running.  It's the distance that is competed at during the Olympic Games, which I suppose is why it's called that!  A few friends were surprised that this was my first Olympic tri, seeing as a) I've done two half Ironmans (which is a longer distance), and b) I've been in the sport for a couple of years.  I planned on doing the Mingoman Olympic tri two years ago, but was still in the recovery phase from my hip stress fracture and decided it'd be smart to downgrade to the sprint.  Last year, Mingoman was changed from a tri to a duathlon due to high waters at the lake, so that was a no-go as well.  This year I contemplated doing Mingoman but decided against it.  Thus, this was my first!

This was also my first race with HFP.  They are a local tri company who is known for their excellent races.  Charlotte actually did three HFP races last summer, but for whatever reason I hadn't signed up for any.  Things I LOVED about this company: the way they send out the waves of swimmers (3 at a time every 10 seconds or so, versus a mass start), the way they have the shorter distances go first so that most are finished by the time the longer distances begin (less traffic on the swim course), the nice medals, and awards for top 3 in every AG (instead of just the 1st place finisher).  I didn't get an AG award today--their races also attract some top-notch triathletes!--but I do appreciate that they do this.  The only problem with my race starting last is that even with me being a middle-of-the-packer (overall I was 69th out of 124 total triathletes in the Olympic distance), there was hardly anyone around when I finished, which was a let-down.  I'm used to racing in Central Ohio, doing shorter races, and having tons of friends around to cheer me in (and to cheer in myself).  I was happy to see Curt (a friend's husband) and Diane (a FB friend), but it was still pretty lonely today.

Me, myself and I.  No friend pics :( 

On the actual race recap...

I woke up at 4:40 AM, left at 5 and got to Caesar Creek by 6:20.  It was a long drive but I busied myself with getting nervous.  All good!  It was easy enough to check in, rack my bike, get body marked, etc.  

Bike racked and ready!

I was finished walking the transitions (bike in/out, run out, etc.) by around 7:00, so I just kind of hung out.  I definitely missed my friends--probably my favorite part of triathlon is the community, but I didn't know hardly anyone.  I was also pretty intimidated by some of the amazing people around me.  They looked like "real" triathletes!  After the pre-race prayer (another cool thing that HFP does), I took my first gel at 7:30, and did a short swim to warm up.  The water felt great, 72 degrees.  No wetsuit needed, of course!  

Perfect race conditions!

My race started at 8:10 AM.  As I mentioned, I really like the way HFP starts the swim (groups of 3 starting every 10 seconds or so).  I was able to start in the third group of women, so I didn't have a lot of people to navigate around!  My goal was to keep the swim as effortless as possible.  During the second half of the first loop (about 500 meters in), I found a woman to draft off of, and stayed with her for about 500 meters, until she veered off course a bit during the second loop and I decided to do my own thing.  (Note to those who don't know: "drafting" is basically swimming right on someone's feet, 1-2 feet behind them, catching the bubbles from their kick.  You can save as much as 30% of your energy doing this!)  By then I was catching up with some of the slower men, anyways (the men started the race before us).  Overall I was very pleased with how the swim went.  I didn't feel overly tired, my goggles cooperated, and I didn't run into anyone or veer off course.  In fact, my watch said 0.9 miles exactly!  I glanced at my watch as I exited the water (before having to run two minutes up to T1), and it was at 25:50-ish.  Happy with that split, given the ease I felt!

T1 (swim-to-bike transition) was slowwwwww (2:11).  I don't know why my transitions are so slow!  I think my socks take forever to get on, and I am NOT good at running in my bike shoes, so I usually just walk or half-jog.  Plus I am slow at mounting my bike.  All things that with practice I know I could improve on.

The bike part of the race was difficult. I was prepared for rolling hills, but apparently "rolling hills" in southern Ohio are a bit more like mountains than what we call "rolling hills" here in Columbus!  There was a fairly big hill right in the park, literally 2 minutes into the ride, which taxed my legs right away out of T1.  I was still breathless from the swim, and wasn't happy with that hill!  Then, about 3 miles into the race, right after a left-hand turn, there were two big uphills almost back to back with no downhills after.  They were steep enough that I had to drop into my small chain ring on the second loop (I didn't realize how bad they were until it was too late to shift on the first loop).  I get so disheartened seeing 10-11 mph on my bike computer when I am riding up a hill.  Plus, they really took a lot out of my legs.  The second half of the loop was more typical rolling hills.  I drank about 3/4 of my Tailwind during the ride, and ate half my waffle after the first loop.  Overall I really liked the bike course, except for those two bigger hills!  My split was 1:20:40 (average pace was 18.4 mph according to HFP, but my watch had 17.8 mph due to the actual distance being 1.1 miles shorter than stated).

T2 (bike-to-run) was pretty slow as well.  Again, running with the bike = no bueno for me.

The run, which I was dreading the most, was actually okay.  It could've been better, but it could've been worse.  I felt good starting out but after about a half-mile you get to a big uphill (running up to the levy on a grass then gravel trail), and my brain was like "Heck no!"  I decided at that point that I would allow myself a 10-20 second walk every half-mile.  This really helped me mentally, so I could look forward to these breaks.  I carried my handheld water bottle, which I think worked to my advantage, constantly being able to sip water.  There is zero shade for a good 4 miles of this course, so even though the temperatures today were lower than they have been, it still was pretty hot in that sun at 10:30 AM!  I took my second gel at the one-mile mark, as planned.  The route goes out  and back across the levy on grass/gravel.  I felt better running on this surface this time than I did at my last tri at Alum, but still not a fan.  At around mile 3 my right foot fell asleep (par for the course lately, unfortunately, but I've gotten used to it)... and at mile 4, my left foot did the same.  That NEVER happens.  The walk breaks I took didn't help wake them up, unfortunately.  By mile 5, I was very much over having no feeling in my feet!  Grateful the course was a bit short (5.85 on my watch).  Mile splits were: 9:36, 9:18, 9:22, 9:33, 9:32, and 8:53 (pace for 0.85 miles).  My watch had me at 9:23 average pace (HFP said 8:51 due to the distance difference).  I was surprised to have a bit of a kick left in me the final mile.  I think this is because my numb feet kept me from really running at my true potential, and also because of the walking intervals (gave me more energy at the end).  

Pretty medal!

Pre-race (on that long drive to Waynesville), I had decided on A, B and C goals.  A goal was sub-2:50, B goal was sub-2:55, and C goal was sub-3:00.  My final time was 2:47:23, so my A goal was met!  However, my time would've been more like 2:52ish if the distances hadn't been shorter than anticipated.  I will take it though.  I feel really good overall post-race.  Nothing sore... I don't feel like I "raced" for almost 3 hours, that's for sure.  My heart rate was lower than it usually is on the bike (150 average, but stayed in the 140's after the first 10 miles, so that tells me I definitely held back).  On the run, it was 161 average, but hovered in the lower 160's for the second half of the race, even with the walk breaks.

Official results from HFP.  Fast age group today!

My biggest takeaway: I need to train more hills on my bike if I am going to be successful in races outside of Central Ohio.  However, I am honestly wondering if I am spreading myself too thin between marathon training and triathlon training right now.  I know that all of the biking and swimming that I am doing is great for me, but trying to train for a successful triathlon as well as a BQ marathon leaves me thinking that neither sport/event is getting the proper amount of attention.  I still have not decided about going to Cleveland for Nationals next month.  I am thinking that maybe I could go for "fun", and not really push it too hard (kind of like how today ended up being).  

Meanwhile, I am looking forward to (safely) ramping up my running miles in the coming weeks, as well as doing the swim leg for two tri relays!