Monday, August 30, 2010

Race Report - Lakes Country Triathlon

I registerd for this tri after Chisago, when I decided I just hadn't had enough triathlon for this season. I somehow managed to coerce two of my friends into signing up too, so I wasn't going alone. Saturday afternoon I met up with Laura and Sandy and we headed to Brainerd. Laura forgot her helmet, so when we got into town we had to stop at local bike shop. She got a helmet, AND a new bike. Which means I inherited her old one! Yay for a road bike!

Sunday morning we were up and at the beach ready to go. While getting set up in transition, I ran into Wendy. It was great to chat with her. I would have taken a picture with her, but she is so cute and little, I would have looked like a giant ogre next to her and my weak self-esteem can't handled that. :)

After the pleasant distraction of meeting Wendy, it was back to thinking about the race ahead. The nerves started to kick in. It was windy. I was really worried about how difficult the wind might make the bike feel. I reminded myself that my last few bike training ride have been windy, so I was well trained.

Ready to go!

I was in wave 6 (waves were by sex/age), and I got more and more nervous standing there waiting for the swim start. The water looked rough. And the buoys looked oh so far. And the water looked rough. I had two really great 3/4 mile open water swims last week, so I kept telling myself that this was only 1/2 mile and tried to stay calm. All that went out the window when I got in the water. It was so choppy. I felt like I was being tossed around like a beach ball. And like I was going nowhere. To avoid full-on panic, I relied on the breast stroke. And just kept swimming. After what felt like at least an hour in the water, my fingers brushed sand during my stroke and I stood up. And promptly stumbled and fell sideways like a sloppy drunk. I have experienced dizziness during and after lake swims before, but this was way worse. I had trouble walking out of the water and staying upright.
Swim time (1/2 mile): 27:34 (slow, but not as bad as it felt!)

I managed to jog into transition and then just stood there staring at my stuff. I was really out of it, and still feeling dizzy from the swim. Finally I started remembering what I was supposed to be doing and got moving.
T1: 3:43 (why yes, I did lay down and take a quick nap before the bike)

So then I was onto my new inherited Raleigh bike and off. I drank some gatorade the first few miles in an attempt to chase away the drained feeling I had after the swim. For as windy as it was, the wind really did not bother me for most of the bike. I just kept pedalling away. There were a few decent hills, with one bigger, long hill at about 7 miles, and I felt awesome on the hills. The benefit of being one of the last people out of the water from the second to last wave was that I passed a lot of people on the bike, and I never got passed once!
Bike (17.3 miles): 1:00:40 (SO close to breaking 1 hour - next year!)

Back into transition, go to put my bike back, oh wait, someone else's bike is in my spot actually sitting on top of my towel and swim stuff. Thanks. I had to move a couple of bikes to get mine back in.
T2: 1:06

Then it was off for the run. I was so tired. I think my swim exhaustion finally caught up with me. I fought with myself to keep running, but ended up walking through the water stops. I still managed to pass quite a few people on the run. The final stretch back into the park to the finish felt slightly downhill and I knew I was getting close, so I was able to give a little kick at the end.
Run (3.9 miles): 37:49 (yeck, I can do better than that)
Total time: 2:10:49

After going through the finish, I grabbed some water and rushed to get my camara and get back to the finish in time to cheer on my friends (and get great pictures of them crossing the finish line). We then headed back to the water to cool off.

Done! Funny how the water looks so much calmer two hours later . . .

Even with the rough swim, this race just continued to build my love for triathlon. I can't wait for next summer and a new triathlon season to see how much I can improve.

19 comments:

Pahla said...

HOORAY!! What a fantastic race! I love how your report makes even the annoying parts sound funny. Congratulations on a fabulous tri season!

Anonymous said...

Good show! But don't you want to do just ONE more...

Diana said...

Congratulations Heather! It's always so amazing how the water does appear like glass when the races are over!
Here's to next year!

Julie said...

Woo hoo! Way to go Heather! I think that you did so well! You would of kicked my butt for sure:) You are going to be PRing all over the place next year! I love how excited and happy Tris make you! Nice job!

Anne said...

Awesome! Great race report! :)

dawn @ running the dawn said...

wow, seriously...i'd never though about how the rough water would mess up your balance and stuff, but i can totally see how it would! i got a little dizzy just thinking about it. way to push through and finish strong anyway. good work on the tri and still loving them even through the rough stuff.

Tish said...

Wow Heather--you're rocking! Loved the race report. You look fantastic--you've gotta get over that picture insecurity. LOL Interesting about the dizziness after the swim--have you googled that? You make me think that just maybe I might try a tri some day.

wendy said...

Heather, I kicked myself the whole way home that I didn't get a picture with you! Honestly, getting to meet you was one of the sweetest part of this race : )

That was REALLY choppy! Did you read the part on the website that said Whipple Beach is known for it's calm waters. Hmmmm.....

I really hope that we can do another tri together again next, it was too fun! You'll have to let me know which ones you are planning on signing up for.

I will e-mail you those pics!

Take care!

Marlene said...

Congrats on another tri! Sounds like a tough start with the swim - it must be hard to bounce back after that. You will get that sub-1:00 on the bike next year for sure!!!

Andrew Opala said...

Amazing, awesome performance!

Aron said...

wooooo, awesome job!!

Katie A. said...

First off, you're a rockstar for battling through that horrid water! I'm so impressed with your OWS!
Second, how cute do you look out there near the water! You would never know you just did a Tri!
Awesome job girlie! Congrats on a great season ;)

Jill said...

You look absolutely stunning - and so very happy!!! Congratulations, girl, that's just amazing!!!!

Ali said...

Great final pic! Congrats Heather. Your T2 time was awesome for having to moving bikes.

Well done.

Jeri said...

wow you were cruising on that bike portion. and hurrah for new (to you) road bikes!!!!!!! you're giving me tri fever for sure. :) congrats on another great race.

DRog said...

Great job doing another Tri! I'm with you the different training and looking forward to a few Tri races really made the summer go FAST cant believe TCM already 4 weeks away

Beth said...

I love that victorious picture! So cute! Congrats on a great race and your inherited bike. Sweet! Those tough swims can really throw a person off, but you got it together and did great!

Jess said...

Yay for you!

Felice Devine said...

Great job. Congrats!
Excellent post-race pic.