RACE REPORT: 2012 Blue Lake Olympic Triathlon

[Susan Otcenas]

When I started randonneuring, I would begin preparing for a 200k a full week in advance, obsessively worrying about every little detail. Now I can run out and do a 200k with nothing more than a couple of gels in my bento box and a quick glance at the weather.

The same sort of thing has happened to me in triathlon. I've done so many sprints and olympics over the years that I know precisely what I need for both distances without giving it much thought. So there I was at 8pm on Saturday night, finally pulling my gear together for the next day's Oly tri at Blue Lake in Troutdale.

As always , I laid out the gear I'd need by sport, from head to toe.

SWIM
Tyr Warm Wear cap
BodyGlide
event cap - light blue for wave 8
foam earplugs
prescription swim goggle (Barracuda -4.5) in blue
Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit
Blue Seventy neoprene swim booties
Road ID neoprene chip band with timing chip attached
1 pre-race GU Roctane

BIKE
helmet
Tifosi sunglasses with mirror
socks
SIDI dragons
1 pre-bike GU
1 water bottle filled with Gu Brew
Profile Design Aero drink bottle to be filled with Gu Brew
2 GU on bike
Garmin 800

RUN
race belt with number affixed and loaded with 2 GU
handheld 5 oz water bottle
Moving Comfort run cap
Brooks Ghost 4 with Speed Laces
mp3 player
allergy meds

Also into my transition bag went 2 small towels - one to lay my gear on and one to dry my feet after the swim.

Then I laid out what to wear to the event:
tri suit (test-wearing a CEP compression tri suit)
bra (test-wearing a 2XU tri bra)
heart rate monitor
Garmin 910
sweatpants and wool top to wear to the start


Bags loaded, I was in bed and asleep by 10pm

The alarm went off at 4:45 and we were out of bed by 5am. Quick breakfast of oatmeal with coconut & cinnamon, coffee and water. Took some allergy meds. Loaded the car and we were out of the house by 5:45. Quick stop at Starbucks and we were underway by 6am. Arrived at the venue at 6:30.

Scored a spot on the racks with some elbow room and set up my transition area. I'm picky about how I lay things out and take the time necessary to have it just like I want it. I find this to be a calming exercise.

The "learning" from this event ( I always learn something!) is that one's running shoes are not the ideal vessel for storing one's pre-run GU. Mine decided to leak all over the footbed of my left shoe! (MMmm, peanut butter flavored footbeds...yum.) Fortunately, the grass was dewy and a few strategic swipes later, the footbed was clean again.

Stood in the portapotty lines twice (typical), scoped out the flow of the transition area (all the ins and outs for each leg, especially in from the swim, since I'm so blind) and wandered down to the waterfront to see the lake. The warmup area inside the buoys seems to have shrunk, leaving little space for athletes to do more than simply get wet.

At 7:45 I returned to transition to suit up. (Wave 1 at 8am, mine at 8: 30) Applied plenty of BodyGlide around the neck of my suit, grabbed my goggles and cap ( decided against double capping as the water was 64 degrees), sucked back some more allergy meds, stuck my ear plugs into my ears and deposited my regular glasses into my run shoes

Waded into the water with Jeff. It was cool, but not cold. The first underwater dip is always the hardest, and my HR spiked immediately. Jeff stayed with me for a few minutes while I bobbed under a few times, then I took a few strokes. The warmup area was so crowded that there wasn't a way to do more than a stroke or two without hitting someone or reaching the limit of the buoys.

The race was started in 10 waves, each 5 minutes apart, which seems like overkill for an event with only 375 participants. Jeff was in 7, I was in 8 and friend Lee in 9. We watched the earlier waves go while we warmed up as best we could. Some of them were quite large. My wave was by the far the smallest. Women 40-44 were the sole occupants of wave 8 and there were only 13 of us! We looked behind us at the huge group to start in 9 and started joking about how we we destined to get swum over by that hoard.

Countdown... and we were off! It's a straight swim out to the first buoy. My HR spiked immediately, of course, as did my rate of respiration. Adrenaline flooded my arms and legs and made me feel a bit dizzy. I started to get that gasp-y, panicked feeling I always get at the start of an open water swim. I spent the first minute or two breathing only on my right, while I calmed myself down, slowed my breathing and tried to find a rhythm. Eventually I settled into my usual bilateral breathing pattern and rounded the first buoy. This turn brought us around heading due east, straight into the morning sunlight, and parallel with the shoreline. I knew (I thought) that there were 4 buoys after that, three red & 1 green. The presence of the green one was odd, but I didn't give it too much thought. Heading into the sunlight, though, I had a hard time finding *any* of them! I paused a moment, finally spotted the next buoy, picked out a landmark above it, and swam towards it.

Buoy by buoy, I made my way eastward. It seemed to be going slowly, but I refused to check my watch. After the 3rd buoy, I simply could not see the 4th, with the sunlight streaming in my face. I felt like I was going off course, so eventually I stopped completely, popped my head out of the water, and finally spotted the 4th buoy up ahead. Head back down, I swam towards it and after a few more course corrections, finally made it there. Hmmm, this was the turnaround and it was red. All the other buoys were red too. What happened to the green one?

I headed for the swim exit, which seemed ridiculously far away. I was having trouble sighting again, and eventually realized that the “missing” green buoy was a return buoy and that I should have been aiming for that to keep me on track. As it was, I was quite a bit to the right. I corrected again, and slowly but surely, found the swim exit.

Time to the mat: 33:23. Official distance 0.9 miles, but my Garmin read 1.02 miles. Bonus yardage or a long course? Probably a bit of both. :-) I was 11th of 13 in my age group after the swim.

T1 - The run to the transition area was looooong. I pulled my wetsuit off my shoulders and arms, but left my cap and goggles on. Prescription goggles are the only way I can find my bike in the transition area AND not trip over anything getting there! I found my spot, ripped off my goggles and cap, and put on my cycling sunglasses. Ah, much better! Off with the wetsuit, on with my helmet, socks and shoes. I slammed back a GU and took off for the bike exit. And ran. And ran. And ran. Geez, Louise, I didn’t know I’d signed up for a cyclocross race. The bike exit was faaaaaaar across a grassy (and kinda muddy) field. My Garmin reports the total distance run from the swim exit to the bike mount as 0.28 miles! No wonder my total T1 time was 5:05!

Bike: I like the bike leg. I always joke that I’m a cyclist who just pretends to be a triathlete. Its a joke, but at the same time, it’s true that the bike leg of the event is the only one where I truly feel at home.

Marine Drive is flat flat flat. It has the potential to be very windy, but on this day, there was just a touch of a wind out of the west. This gave us a slight tailwind to start on our way east, a slight headwind all the way west to the turn around, and then a slight tailwind again back to Blue Lake Park. Lowlight of the ride was the several mile stretch of Marine Drive where the pavement had been ground down for an imminent repaving. We got to do that in both directions. It totally sucked. Highlights of the ride were passing almost every female in my age group (and Jeff, who started 5 minutes before me, at mile 9.5). Of the 10 women in my age group who were ahead of me, I passed 7 of them. :-) I, of course, didn’t know how many women were ahead of me (and knew they’d all be passing me on the run later...), but it was fun to take note of the ages inscribed on people’s legs as I passed by. I passed *a lot* of people. Yet, at the same time, I was careful to keep it under control. I was given instructions to keep my watts under 175. For the 24 miles, I averaged 158 watts at an average HR of 160 (this being an interesting # because the effort felt well below 160bpm. I would have guessed I was closer to 150bpm, if asked). This was a decent effort, but well below where I would have been had I been doing just a bike time trial. I was well aware that I needed to run 6.2 miles after I got off the bike! Consumed one 100 cal bottle of GU Brew and one Gu Roctane during the bike. Official time on the bike 1:10:51. 20.66 mph.

T2 - another cyclocross run with the bike back to transition. As I put on my running shoes, I became aware that my left glute was TIGHT. Hoped it wouldn’t cramp on the run. Off with the bike glasses and helmet, on with the race cap. Sucked back another Gu. More allergy meds (notice a theme?) Grabbed my mp3 player, 6oz handheld waterbottle bottle, and ran out of transition. Total T2 3:06

Run: I don’t know what to say about the run. I want to be all positive and upbeat, but really, that’s hard for me. Why? Because *running* is so hard for me. It’s like I’m standing still while everyone on the planet passes me by. Old people, young people, fat people, skinny people....they all run right past me. It’s depressing, frankly. The ugly statistics:

Mile 1: 9:12 165 bpm
Mile 2: 9:44 168 bpm
Mile 3: 10:04 169bpm (Gu at 3 mile mark)
Mile 4: 10:12 170 bpm
Mile 5: 10:38 170 bpm
Mile 6: 10:54 175 bpm
0.22 to finish 10:26/mi 181 bpm

Good Lord, it’s a wonder I didn’t have a coronary in the last mile. Sheesh.

Total run time of 1:03:02, 10:07/mile, 6.22 miles, 170bpm avg (!) It’s worth pointing out that my tested anaerobic threshold is 169bpm, so I was basically pegged during this run. Not surprisingly, I felt kinda woozy the last mile or so, just trying to hang on until I crossed the finish line. I was totally spent when done, and just leaned on a table for a few minutes while I recovered. Hung out for a few minutes waiting for Jeff & Lee to finish. They both did great and I was happy to be there to congratulate them.

Total time for the day was 2:55:27. 8th of 13 in my age group. 3rd fastest bike time in my age group, 3rd slowest run. <sarcasm>What else is new?</sarcasm> I know I’m supposed to believe that if I hold back *on* the bike, that I’ll run better *off* the bike. But here’s the thing: I *did* hold back on the bike. And I still run like crap. Losing weight would help, I know. And I’m trying. But geez, it’s not like I’m distinctly overweight. I could lose 10 pounds, sure (was 139 race morning, and could be 129 if I were really disciplined) but it’s not like I’d see vast improvements by losing 10. I don’t know if it’s my form, my stride, or what, but it’s kind of a downer to feel like you’re standing still out there on the run course. (likely solution: run more, complain less).

I also don’t think the problem is nutrition. I had a solid breakfast, and consumed calories steadily.
Pre-swim: 100
T1: 100
Bike:200
T2:100
Run:100
Total = 600 calories over 3 hours.
Perhaps I could have handled another 100 calories or so without stomach distress, maybe that would have helped fuel my run more effectively.
I could probably have had more fluids. Had most of a bottle in the hour leading up to the race, drank a full bottle on the bike, and had roughly 12-15 ounces on the run. Would have perhaps liked a bit more on the run, but course support is not the greatest, and I didn’t want to get sloshy.

Allergy meds *could* be a factor. Despite all the meds pre-race and during the race, by the time I finished I was in the middle of a full-blown allergy attack. My eyes were tearing, nose was watering and I was sneezing. Might account for some of the elevated HR, but this *feels* like an excuse.

Before I headed home (31 miles on my bike, two hours!) I ate some food, drank a chocolate Muscle Milk (they are a sponsor. the stuff’s not bad) and took yet more allergy meds. Easy spin home, averaging under 110 watts. I thought it would suck to ride home, but it actually felt good and helped flush the crap out of my legs. I’m a bit stiff today, but not especially sore.

Next up:
Pacific Crest Half Ironman in Sunriver on Saturday, June 23rd.
10.5 weeks to Ironman Canada!

[Wahine]

Nice race report Susan!

I used Blue Lake, followed by Pac Crest as prep for IMC a couple of times. Good luck with it all.

[Veronica]

How much have you improved as a runner since you started doing tris? It seems I remember some posts where you talked about doing 11 or 12 minute miles. And that swim time was pretty decent.

It is so easy to focus on the negative. Just cut it out! Why do you compete? Isn't it really about you and your improvement and your fitness? Does it really matter what kind of splits other people are doing? You can't control them. All you can do is make yourself the best you can be. It seems to me you're doing that.


Veronica

[chatnoire]

Sounds like an awesome day. Kudos to you, because I can't run OR swim in any sort of numbers near that. I only bike (also not that fast.)

Muscle Milk sponsored an event I did a week ago. I had some of the light stuff. Not bad is right. I'm not about to go buy some, but a free one wasn't the worst thing ever.

Thanks for sharing the report, and good for you!!!!

[Susan Otcenas]

How much have you improved as a runner since you started doing tris? It seems I remember some posts where you talked about doing 11 or 12 minute miles. And that swim time was pretty decent.

It is so easy to focus on the negative. Just cut it out! Why do you compete? Isn't it really about you and your improvement and your fitness? Does it really matter what kind of splits other people are doing? You can't control them. All you can do is make yourself the best you can be. It seems to me you're doing that.


Veronica

I do my LSD runs at 11:00 to 11:30. When racing, I usually end up a little sub 10:00 in a sprint and right around 10:00 or a little more in an Oly. I was actually almost 3 minutes slower yesterday on the run than on the same course two years ago. Weight does have something to do with it. I'm 7-8 pounds heavier.

I know that I can't control who else shows up. I can only control how *i* show up.

Of course it's about my fitness and how it changes over time. But I'd be disingenuous if I said I didn't also care about how I stack up against other women my age. But it's not really about winning or losing against them. It's more about what is and isn't possible for ME (which, rightly or wrongly, I benchmark by looking at what other women my age can do.) There's such a huge disparity between what I'm capable of on my bike and what I manage to eek out on the run. I find it very frustrating. I put in the time and feel like I should be improving. Perhaps I'm just not prepared to admit that running is simply not a talent I possess.

[OakLeaf]

Very nice Susan!

V is right, just quit beating yourself up over your running. All told, an awesome race!

[lovelygamer]

I don't compete but your report is interesting. You sound really strong and like your doing pretty well. Your very aware of your abilities and fitness level, that's great!

Also, I like Muscle Milk also..occasionally. And, as I sit here this morning preparing to dose for the first half of the day (Allegra d, benedryl, sinus pills, and inhaler) I know exactly how extreme allergies affect life events. It is so frustrating and annoying because yes, the medicines affect you in other ways and half the time they don't even solve the real issue at hand.

[Catrin]

Very nice Susan! I can't swim (and am not about to learn), can't run very far either so am in awe of you and the other triathletes here at TE.

I like chocolate Muscle Milk - typically I only use it after a brutal cross-training/circuit gym session and I've forgotten to bring other things with me. Nice that they provided it free!

[Veronica]

There's such a huge disparity between what I'm capable of on my bike and what I manage to eek out on the run. I find it very frustrating. I put in the time and feel like I should be improving. Perhaps I'm just not prepared to admit that running is simply not a talent I possess.

I could have written this myself. I find myself giving up on the run (Every freakin' race!) and walking and I'm not sure why. I've endured much worse in training.

My last race I was racked next to a woman with Ironman and Leadville tattoos on her legs. I asked her about each and found out she had done lots of IM and Leadville a few times and Western Sates which is a wicked long running thing! I was happy she was turning 50 this year, so not in my age group! We were in the same swim wave though and I'll admit I was pleased to see her bike still racked when I came to T1 and she didn't pass me on the bike until we were almost to the turnaround, so 11 miles in or so. I never saw her again and she was all packed up and gone when I collected my stuff from transition.

Someday I'll make a point here... which is... we're good at what we're good at. You're making improvements in the things you're not so good at. This was not your "A" race. Maybe you take from this that you want to lose a little more weight to improve your run. But you also need to revel in your awesome bike ride, where you weren't even working. And put your swimming in perspective - you have come so far as a swimmer. Plus, you've got some incredible mental tenacity to hang tough.

I'll agree though, it does suck not being a great runner.

Veronica

[7rider]

Bike: I like the bike leg. I always joke that I’m a cyclist who just pretends to be a triathlete. Its a joke, but at the same time, it’s true that the bike leg of the event is the only one where I truly feel at home.

Sounds like you, Veronica, and I are all in the same boat. Or rather, on the same bike. I enjoy the bike legs. Tolerate the swim (in the one tri I've done - mostly, I do du's). Suffer mightily through the runs. Your run splits mirror mine for Run 1 of my du on the 3rd (but take heart - yours were faster!). I don't even look at my HR anymore - my Garmin (or my heart) is too erratic. This morning, for an easy 2.1 mile run, my HR allegedly peaked at 239. Yeah.

HillSlugger told me - and I take this to heart - Race your stregnth. Train your weakness. Which is why I've been doing a lot of running this year with a training group.

FWIW...while I totally understand wanting to do all you can and tracking metrics. But I have found that one person's sad event is a PR for someone else.

Oh, and regarding this:
"I know that I can't control who else shows up. I can only control how *i* show up."

Not even. Sometimes you show up, but your legs don't. They can't all be awesome races. That's why there are lots of them during the year!

As others have said - don't beat yourself up. You did great.

ETA:
Oh, this:
"8th of 13 in my age group. 3rd fastest bike time in my age group, 3rd slowest run. <sarcasm>What else is new?</sarcasm> I know I’m supposed to believe that if I hold back *on* the bike, that I’ll run better *off* the bike. But here’s the thing: I *did* hold back on the bike. And I still run like crap."

Boy, did you steal my race report from my du the other weekend??? I was 6 of 9 overall in my AG. 9th on the first run, 8th on the second run. And 3rd on the bike. And I did the exact same thing....went conservative on the bike, knowing I had a 6.2 mile run ahead of me (and quietly whimpering at the thought).

[Susan Otcenas]

Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. It means a lot!

SO, in the spirit of trying to be a little more positive, here's what I think went well:

1) Pre-race prep was a snap. I know what I need, so I didn't stress over it.
2) I didn't have a panic attack on the swim!! This is a biggie for me, because I'm *very* prone to panicking in the water. I felt the adrenaline surge come on, managed to remain calm, and found a rhythm without hyperventilating and over-reacting. I'm hoping to carry that momentum to Pac Crest in two weeks. I had a terrible panic attack there 2 years ago, and do NOT want a repeat.
3) Had a great bike ride that was fast but felt easy. Love love love my TT bike.
4) Looking for some positives on the run... well, that 9:11 first mile was a surprise. I felt like I was barely moving, but I guess I was! Um, well, let's see...oh yeah, I almost forgot. I *did* pass one gal with the #43 on her leg, so I guess I did pass someone in my age group on the run! um...I didn't cramp up, despite my tight left glute. um...I didn't throw up in the last mile, does that count?
5) I enjoyed racing with Jeff & Lee and seeing them both out on the bike & run course at various points. Slapped some high fives with both of them on the run course as I was on my way back while they were still heading towards the turnaround. They both did really well.
6) No "mechanicals". All my gear performed well. My goggles didn't leak, my wetsuit didn't chafe, my bike shifted flawlessly, no blisters from my run shoes...


How's that? Better??

[Veronica]

How's that? Better??

Yes!

Interesting post at Nerd Fitness this morning. We're already on board with "Good Enough" is not really good enough. But I liked the bit about not comparing yourself to others and the part about how you are the average of 5 people around you and that if you want to get better at something; choose "better" people to be around. I know I run faster when I run with Thom. Too bad he can't do the run with me at races!

Veronica

[Susan Otcenas]

OH my gosh, I can't believe I almost forgot the biggest positive of all:

7) MY IT BAND HELD UP! I've been in PT every week since January. I've foam rolled so much that I've worn a major dent into the roller. Lots of stretching. And it's paid off. The IT band is not 100% (it's still a little tweaked today from the weekend's effort) but it gave me ZERO trouble during the race. I forgot all about it, in fact. Yay!

[GLC1968]

Great job, Susan! Cherish the experience...you could be on the sidelines, right? I did really enjoy reading this report though because it almost felt like I was there with you.

It may be worth noting that I have heard a lot of people here at work complaining about allergies and how, for some reason, symptoms skyrocketed this weekend in particular. You may have been experiencing the same issue...

Now, about that running... If you want to feel better about your overall performance, spend some time on BT and read the threads from all those fast runners who get so frustrated that they can't bike at all. You are so not alone! And really, if you were to look at the last 10 years of your life, what % was spent on a bike and what % was spent running? Some of those fast runners have been running their whole lives (similar to how many of us have been biking), so it makes sense. If you were willing to take a couple of years to train for some ultra run (the PBP equivalent), then I'd bet dollars to donuts that you'd see drastic improvements in your run times even for shorter races. But you (and most of us here), love to bike. That's complete acceptable! Don't beat yourself up over your run performances though, ok?

[Susan Otcenas]

And really, if you were to look at the last 10 years of your life, what % was spent on a bike and what % was spent running? Some of those fast runners have been running their whole lives (similar to how many of us have been biking), so it makes sense. If you were willing to take a couple of years to train for some ultra run (the PBP equivalent), then I'd bet dollars to donuts that you'd see drastic improvements in your run times even for shorter races.

Did someone say donuts??

Yes, I know you are right. I'm fortunate to have the huge cycling base that I do. My coach has pointed out to me that the bike is a big issue for many of her athletes; the distance is daunting, the aero position requires lots of adjustments, their butts hurt and they can't find a chamois and/or saddle that works for them, they don't know how to manage their nutrition for that many hours in the saddle... I have all of that really dialed and don't need much work there. In fact, I'm riding waaaaaaay less than I have in the past 2-3 years, spending the time in the pool and in my run shoes, training my weaknesses. This time last year I had ~4000 miles in my legs already. This year? ~1500, which seems shockingly low to me, but I don't seem to have lost any fitness in that area.

I wonder what the PBP equivalent of ultra running is. Probably Western States or something like that. Now *those* people are nuts.