Double Trouble - Race report

[Wahine]

So most of you know I did two races this weekend - back to back. I did a Sprint on Saturday and a Olympic distance on Sunday. So here it is...

The goal - to race an Oly on tired legs. Achieved. I have never hurt so much on the first 3 miles of a run. Well maybe I have, but I don't remember it being that bad.

The Sprint

Got to the race, perfect timing. Wave start. Cool as a cucumber.

Swim - Went really well. I caught up to a lot of the men in the wave ahead of me. Finished 800 m in 13:37, official pace was 1:33 for 100. The best I can figure is that they either did not include the run to the transition in the pace time or it's given for yds instead of metres. I passed at least 2 women in the chute headed for T1. Moral of the story - run through the chutes.

T1 - a little slow, but the runs between mats for the timing chip were long. 2:53. Body glide on the calves is essential.

Bike - I held my HR at just below lactate threshold, around 165. Pace 19.3 mph for 12 miles. Dead flat course and very little wind. I got passed by 3 ladies and passed 3, so overally held my placing. The lesson here, it's really easy to let your HR get too high. I had to really discipline myself to hold back a bit, knowing I would have to race again the next day.

T2 - uneventful. 1:57. Moral here, by having a quick transition I gained 72 spots over the entire field. Fast transitions matter in sprint races.

Run - OK, not as fast as I wanted, my official pace was 8:18 for 3 miles. I could've run harder but I held back, not wanting to toast my legs too much.

Total time : 1:21:36, 9/44 for my division.

Part 2 - Oly the next day

Did not sleep well, metabolism heating me up. Woke up to my Aunt flo. Arrrrrgggggghhhh!! I showed up a little late, thanks to my ride. I barely got it together to get my wetsuit on with about 3 min to spare before my wave start. Interestingly enough, I was still as cool as a cuke.

To be continued....

[mimitabby]

now i see what the problem was. The bike ride had no wind. You probably don't know how to ride without a 20mph wind to deal with.

[Tri Girl]

Wow- where have I been? I didn't know you were doing back to backs this weekend- you animal, you!

Your sprint was AMAZING!!! I'd kill to be as fast as you! Your swim sounded smooth and fast, bike was INCREDIBLE and the run- speedy fast (don't know if I could run 8:18's if a bear was chasing me ).

Really impressed by your performance at the sprint- can't wait to read how the oly turned out the next day. Would be very tough to do, but you're a kick-tail iron woman!!!

Congrats on a fabulous sprint! Now for part 2...

[Wahine]

Part 2 - Oly the next day

Did not sleep well, metabolism heating me up. Woke up to my Aunt flo. Arrrrrgggggghhhh!! I showed up a little late, thanks to my ride. I barely got it together to get my wetsuit on with about 3 min to spare before my wave start. Interestingly enough, I was still as cool as a cuke.

To be continued....

Sorry about the programming interruption, that darn work thing.

A little more background, the Oly race was a nationals qualifier so the hard cores were out in full force. My legs were tired just getting up and down the stairs in my house. I knew this would be tough.

Swim - Hunky Dory, even without the warm-up. My shoulders warmed up pretty quickly and I had a clean line for most of the race. 26:32 for 1500 m, The official pace they had me down for was 1:46 per 100m. Tha seems reasonable if it includes the run from the beach, which I think it does. 7/31 for my division coming out of the water.

T1 - same transition set-ups as Saturday's race, long chutes. 2:57, almost exactly the same as the sprint.

Bike - I felt like cr@p. Quads already full of lactic acid and the weather was cold and windy. I got passed by what seems like a hundred people and I thought for sure my pace was much slower than the day before. My legs were too tired and sore to get my HR up above 155. Even then I was mostly hanging out in the 148 to 152 range. In spite of all this I averaged a 19.4 mph pace. Well Mimi I guess you weren't that far off.

T2 - By this time my toes were frozen and based on the way my legs felt running my bike in from the dismount line, I was in no hurry to start running. 3 min. OY!! Very tardy for me.

Run - I could barely hold a 9 min pace while my legs screamed and my feet were blocks of numbness. I told myself to push through for the first 2 miles and if it didn't start to get better, I could stop. I had nothing to prove. At 2 miles it got a little better, by 3 miles I was actually feeling a lot better. I had a negative split on the run, final pace of 8:43. That means I probably dropped 30 sec per mile on the second half.

Overall time: 2:44:08, 17/31 in my division.

Moral of the story - It hurts a lot to do back to backs. But I think it was a great learning experience. I had to discipline myself better on the sprint and I had to push through some physical and mental barriers on the run. I ended up finishing feeling pretty good. That makes me realize that I'll be able to push through a lot on Ironman day when it comes.

Today. Not bad. Tight calves, tight quads, mildly stiff hammies. Overall energy level is good. I can't wait to see how yoga feels tonight. I don't think I'll be holding my standing poses very long!!

So the next adventure... a hilly half Ironman on June 23rd!! I'm looking forward to it.

[rocknrollgirl]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

You rock BABY!!!!

Great Job. My legs feel like that and all I did was train this weekend....old, tired, mt biker....ha

[btchance]

You crazy, crazy tri girl Two races in two days with that kind of average. Man, you kicked some booty. With those results you'll do great with you're 1/2 IM. Good luck!

[KSH]

DANG! You are hardcore lady!

Here we are just proud of finishing sprints... or an Oly and you are doing those back to back! Gosh.

Looks like you had two solid races though. So impressive.

OK, call me silly... but you are doing Cordelane (? spelling) for the IM? My coworker is doing that one. For some odd reason I thought you were doing an IM later in the season or in Canada. Gosh, I'm a confused gal.

[eclectic]

WOW ! ! ! ! ! I don't even know what to say

You ladies AMAZE me.

Great report and it was so fun to read. (I am glad I was reading about it and not living it

Unbelievably fast swim times for those distances. AND bike AND run AND doing them back to back

I am in AWE!

[Wahine]

OK, call me silly... but you are doing Cordelane (? spelling) for the IM? My coworker is doing that one. For some odd reason I thought you were doing an IM later in the season or in Canada. Gosh, I'm a confused gal.

I am doing Canada on August 26th. The race I have in 2 weeks is HIM.

CC - I highly doubt I'll medal in my AG. I can go long, but not that fast. The ladies that win in my AG are averaging 7 min miles or less on the run and averages of above 20 mph on the bike. Having said that, if I have a magical day and kill the ride, I have a chance.

V - You don't even have to train, you're all over it.

Ladies, thank you very much for all the positive feedback. I tend to hang out with the big kids and sometimes, (though the logical side of my brain knows better), my heart can sink a bit when I'm constantly getting beat by my buddies. So what if my buddies are 6'4" men with no body fat? But at least I can still kill 'em on the swim!!

[HappyAnika]

Bike - I felt like cr@p. Quads already full of lactic acid and the weather was cold and windy. I got passed by what seems like a hundred people and I thought for sure my pace was much slower than the day before. My legs were too tired and sore to get my HR up above 155. Even then I was mostly hanging out in the 148 to 152 range. In spite of all this I averaged a 19.4 mph pace. Well Mimi I guess you weren't that far off.

This is the part that really wows me! (Once I get over the idea of doing two races back to back! ) Great job. Can't wait to hear how the HIM goes.