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.
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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.
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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!
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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).
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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.
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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!