Iceman... 4-8-06... Race Report.

[KSH]

Hello Ladies!

Thanks for all the well wishes. I truly do appreciate it! :)

Well, the name of the sprint tri I did was the Iceman. It was named that because they figured we would freeze coming out of the water and hitting the bike. They were right. I thought it was going to be warm, because all week it was around 80F here in Texas. But NNNNNOOOO... the night before the race, the wind BLOWS in and drop the temperature to 50F.

So, the weather report race morning: 48F with wind at 15-20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph... :eek: I wasn't too worried because I trained in cold, windy weather for the past 2 months.

Get to the location around 6:00 AM and set up my transition area. I was pretty calm, but my belly was churing. It always does that when I have to compete. I hate competition, but I was clamer than usual.

At 6:30 AM we are allowed to get in the pool and warm up. I hit the 50 yard pool (one way), for a 400-600 yard warm up. I can't just jump in a pool sprinting that early in the morning, so it was good to get wet.

The 300 yard swim:

7:00 AM... we line up for the swim. I was seated #87 because of my swim time. We were lucky and only have to swim down each lane one-way and I figured that would help with the chaos. WRONG! At the start, the guy behind me sprints past me... only to die after 50 yards... and I have to fight to pass him... all the while, slow swimmers are taking up the lane in front of us. Chaos! I somehow passed a few people up, but not without getting hit in the face and tickling some feet. I can say that my fear of getting hit while swimming, has been cured!

I pop out of the pool and grab my towel that I placed near the exit, so I can dry off some as I head to T1. Some guy beside me said, "That was a really good idea". ;) I thought it was too!

My overall swim time was 5:50, I think. I can do better in *perfect* conditions, but that was good considering I had to breast stroke some of it (due to slow swimmers blocking the lane), and the walls were so chaotic.

I hit T1 and put on my pants and jacket, along with the normal shoes, helmet, etc. I am such a whimp, and I refuse to ride half naked...wet! I think my T1 time was 2:24... but well worth it to me!

The 13 mile bike:

Got on the bike with ease and the first part of the bike loop had the wind at my back. Very nice. Although, I had to pay for this at the end of the loop, with hills and a headwind (flashback to my 40-mile Saturday hell ride! I knew I could make it up to 20 miles though!). After the first loop, I was huffing and puffing and so happy it was over. Then, I realized I had to do ANOTHER loop. UGH. Towards the end, with the hills and wind... I started huffing again, and my nemesis side stitch popped up (got it at both my races last year!). So, I slowed down, focused my breathing, massaged the stitch and tried to get calm before the run. It worked. YEA! My overall bike average was 17.0 mph, as expected.

The 5k run:

I took off on the run and told myself to just focus on my pace and keep it steady. I was doing OK... and then my side stitch popped up again. It didn't worry me though, I just focused my breathing, massaged and kept running. At this point EVERYONE is passing me. All of my Tri 101 people are passing me... the old guys are passing me... etc... etc. I seriously only passed 1 person on the run.

My goals for my run was 1) to run the entire way and 2) to not let the side stitch get me. My goals were achieved! My lower leg pain was so bad though, and every step was painful. I kept going though. (Thank goodness I have an appointment this next week with someone to work on my running form to get rid of the pain!)

Overall my run time was about 40 minutes. Exactly what I expected.


So... it was a good time and I am happy I did it. I hope in the near future I can get rid of my running pain though, so I can really rock it!

My overall time: 1:32. I was 2 minutes off my goal. I'm happy! :D


FINALLY... here are the pictures my boyfriend took (isn't he wonderful?!)! Some are not so good, but he makes up for it with witty comments!

Thanks for reading and for all the of the support up until this point. I truly appreciate it!

http://www.sonic-convergence.com/misc/karen/triathlon_southlake/

Now, I am off to PIG OUT ON PIZZA!!!!

[ladyfish]

Way to go! Not only did you finish, but you did it near your estimated time. The photos are great. You did a great job!

[Grog]

Good job KSH!!

Don't forget the lean protein in your pizza :D

p.s. And you are SMILING! Great!!

[Nanci]

Great job! You are such a fast swimmer!

Hey, what's the lower leg pain all about? I had that, and it bothered me my whole running career. It was diagnosed as exertional compartment syndrome. For a long time I thought it was "shin splints." I'd get super burning pain in my anterior calf muscles from 10 minutes till 40 minutes, roughly. Bad enough to make me cry.

The pics are great! There's an awesome one of you on the run. I liked Casper and Speedo Guy, too!

Nanci

[KSH]

Great job! You are such a fast swimmer!

Hey, what's the lower leg pain all about? I had that, and it bothered me my whole running career. It was diagnosed as exertional compartment syndrome. For a long time I thought it was "shin splints." I'd get super burning pain in my anterior calf muscles from 10 minutes till 40 minutes, roughly. Bad enough to make me cry.

The pics are great! There's an awesome one of you on the run. I liked Casper and Speedo Guy, too!

Nanci

Swimming is what I am good at... as I was a competitive swimmer in H.S. But, that was 15 years ago! HA! It's like riding a bike though, the skill never goes away and fast swimming is all about good form.

I have been to a Doctor, and they took x-rays of my lower legs... and nothing showed up. So, I am thinking the pain is form related.

The pain does BURN and it's below my calf muscles... on the anterior (inside, right?) sides of both legs. Once I stop running though, the pain goes away about 5 minutes later.

It's really frustrating. I hope we can find something horribly wrong with my form that it causing it. If I can get my pain fixed, I might get back to my 9-10 minute miles.

Sorry to hear about your leg pain from running... sounds like cycling is perfect for you then!


Thanks for all the comments ladies!

Now, I wish we could track Denise in her Ironman... UGH!

[Lise]

Congratulations! What a great race, and a sweet boyfriend! Looks like you dressed well for the temps. My first tri last year was similar weather, and I was underdressed. Doing it again this year, and I will be prepared. You look amazing in the pool. Yay! Do you have more planned?

[bluedress]

AWESOME! Power on, GIRL! :) ~Marca

[KSH]

Congratulations! What a great race, and a sweet boyfriend! Looks like you dressed well for the temps. My first tri last year was similar weather, and I was underdressed. Doing it again this year, and I will be prepared. You look amazing in the pool. Yay! Do you have more planned?

Thanks for all the kind words.

Yea, I was the one with the most clothes on... but I didn't care. I have since looked at my transition times, and they averaged out to 2 minutes each, just what I planned on!

This week I start training for an Olympic distance tri, and if I can get my running down (with less pain), I might do it. But I have to see how it works out.

Otherwise, I have other sprints planned... and they will have open water swims... which I love! I also get to start training in open water again, I about a month. Fun!

Are you doing any others this year?

[Lise]

Oh, yes, my year hasn't even begun. The first is a sprint, similar to yours today, pool (400 yds), ride (11mi), run (5K). It's the one where I was woefully underdressed last year :rolleyes: .

Then another sprint in July, an Int'l dist in August, and possibly another Int'l in September. Don't think I'll run the marathon this year. It takes all my time and energy to train for the run, and I really love to bike, and I do have this great new bike... So I'm thinking I'll do my first century instead.

Bask in the glow of your tri. There's nothing like it.

[Nanci]

To diagnose exertional compartment syndrome, they measure the pressure of the muscle compartment (with a needle) before exercise, and then when you feel the pain. If the pressure of the compartment skyrockets, you have it. It's pretty rare, but not unheard of (when i found out about it, I asked on the Ultrarunning list, and found about 10 people who had it) and also hard to convince a doc you have it. My pain was anterior and lateral. Just to the outside of the shin bone. That big front muscle. (and the one behind it that you can't feel from the outside) You can't see it on an x-ray. There's a surgery to fix it.

Nanci

[crazycanuck]

HEy,

Good on ya chickie! So glad you're enjoying your tri experiences.

Great photos as well..Looks freakin cold!

(I'd love to do a pool based swim but noooo they want us to swim in the ocean with the weird creatures & waves.)

When is your next one???

c

[KSH]

Nanci, Thanks for the details. I did read about that somewhere, but it just seemed so *extreme* that I doubt I have it. I am going to work on my form with an expert and see how things turn out. If I can't get rid of the pain by the end of my tri season with perfect form, I will have a Doctor run the test you mentioned.


I'd love to do a pool based swim but noooo they want us to swim in the ocean with the weird creatures & waves.

Yea, I am happy that I do NOT live on the coast! But, at least the ocean isn't as bad as my boss had it in Florida. They swam in lakes with alligators. :eek:


Right now, I am training for an Olympic distance tri, and if I do that it will be in about 2 months. Otherwise, I have some other sprints I can do. I know I can do the Olympic distance with the swimming and biking, but the running... I hate the thought of walking a 10K.

[Lise]

Nanci, Yea, I am happy that I do NOT live on the coast! But, at least the ocean isn't as bad as my boss had it in Florida. They swam in lakes with alligators. :eek: ... I know I can do the Olympic distance with the swimming and biking, but the running... I hate the thought of walking a 10K.
Now alligators--THAT'S an added degree of difficulty!

As to walking the 10K...I've run/walked/run/run/walked/sprinted across the finish line. :rolleyes: L.

[FreshNewbie]

Congruts! Pics are really cool, and you make it look easy. The pain that you describe in your lower leg sounds like something I had 2 years ago when I was running every day, it aslo went away right after i stopped running. Well, eventually i gave up the idea of running and never went to see a doctor. Hope you find out what it is! Good luck on upcomming events.