Tri and Try Again

The time had finally come for Cathy and I to reunite in Quakertown for my second Tri, and her fourth.  For the most part I felt good going in to the event, except the IT band issue.  The weekend started out on a down note when I78 was closed mid way to Quakertown due to an accident.  Even though we left a little late, I had still hoped to get there in time to do the swim warm up and clinic to get me mentally prepared for the next day.  The two alternate roads to get around the accident both had "closed due to construction" signs; so we had to completely reroute.  Cathy and I are terrible navigators, and we admit this fact - this is why I have a GPS.  David only had a map of greater Philadelphia in his truck and I was trying to tell him how to get around the accident using the map on my phone.  This got me car sick and gave me a headache, also I told him to zig right when he should have zagged left because the image was upside down!  So I missed the swim clinic but made it there just in time to pick up my registration packet.
After checking into the hotel Cathy, Mike and I made a trip for extra provisions which gave us all deja vu because they were all the same stops we had made the previous year:  Dollar Store, the sporting goods store, Walmart, and Dunkin Donuts.  Then we went to the Brick Tavern for a tasty and relaxing dinner on the patio and enjoyed the beautiful evening.  A quick dip in the hot tub provided further relaxation and I fell asleep immediately.  However I woke up in the night and couldn't fall back asleep because my new kick-ass playlist was already swirling around in my head.  Last year I trained to some relaxing beats to help me stay calm, this year it was all Green Day, Kanye, Billy Idol and anything else I could think of to get me ramped up and mentally tough.
Having done it before, I knew I could complete the course so the only mental issue was knowing that my training hadn't gone as I planned.  My only goals this year were to average better than 14 mph on the bike and not to stop during the run.  I wasn't really concerned with improving my time because I had done about half the training of last year.
Getting in the water, I bobbed up and down trying to get some of the cold water in my wetsuit so it wouldn't be as much of a shock when the race started.  This was to no avail, because the cold water took my breath away again just like last year.  I had trained to start out with a strong breast stroke instead of trying to freestyle, which I knew would work better for me.  I was breathing hard though and felt my heart rate going crazy, so after rounding the first buoy I settled into a relaxing side stroke.  Rounded the second buoy and flipped on my back, keeping my arms at my side and kicking hard just like the drills we did in our master's swim class.  Then hearing the "green caps" approaching from behind, I went back into breast stroke but the breathing was much better at this point.  I felt good coming out of the water and assumed I had done about the same as last year.  Later I was surprised to learn that I had taken almost 4 minutes off of last years time!  The lesson here is play to your strengths:  I knew I couldn't freestyle in a lake so I had practiced mostly breast and side stoke.
Coming out of T1, I had more trouble clipping in going up hill than last year, but overall felt very strong on the ride.  Remembering what David had told me to do, "power over the apex of the hill"  "put it in your big ring"   "pull up and push down"  all these things were in my head along with Billy Idol's Rebel Yell!  I was so surprised to learn later that I did about the same on the bike as last year because I felt much better and was averaging 14.6 the last time I checked my flight deck.  Cathy and I later remembered that there was a pretty strong head wind for part of the ride so that all made sense.  Going into the T2, I clipped out early to avoid any mishaps, which did not work because I lost my balance while dismounting and toppled over right before the white line.  I smiled and jumped up, saying "I'm ok" and the spectators were all saying "take your time.. you got it" to encourage me.  I ran in laughing at myself and put my bike on the rack, quickly shifted from bike shoes to sneakers and trotted off for the last leg.
I was definitely tired, but I had grabbed my water to sip and spit and also one final power gel I had laid out next to my hat.  Getting a side stitch, I knew I could run through it if I slowed my pace just a bit..  passing other walkers, I kept saying to myself "I will not walk, every second counts".  Finally the turn around came into view and I knew I would make it although I didn't feel as good at this point as I had the previous year.  Plus I wasn't chasing down Cathy like last year, which was extra incentive!  I tried to lengthen my stride, and managed to sprint in the finish - but it was still almost a minute slower than last year.
Surprising I somehow took 5 minutes off of last year's time with half the training!  (Going from 1:22 in 2011 to 1:17 in 2012)  Part of this was because I did wait for Cathy a bit in T1 last year, I was truly worried that she wasn't out of the lake because I knew we swam at the same pace.  This year's T1 was a full minute less than last year, but I don't regret waiting - she's my sister!  So my transition times went down a good bit, and the improved swim time was a very nice surprise.  Overall I'm thrilled to have bettered my time despite lack of training and a sore IT band.  I'm not sure what the future holds... but if I do another Tri, I'll find the happy medium between the overtraining I did the first year resulting in injury -  and the unforeseen undertraining of this year resulting in less endurance for the run.
Cathy improved her time to 1:06 as she continues to train for her Olympic length event.  And her husband Mike, who only started swimming a few months ago, gets the Beast Award for doing his first Tri in under an hour!!  Just as last year, Piranha Sports put on a well marked, well organized race with good food and nicely done goodie bags.

Here is the Public Link to the pictures from the 2012 Quakertown Independence Tri:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151777069700507.848607.885265506&type=1&l=91fd39a32d

Independence Triathlon: One Year Later

One year and three triathlons later makes a big difference!  I was excited to return to the event that had marked my first ever triathlon and to be joined by Barb and my husband Mike.  We all had a great race with Barb and I chopping multiple minutes off of our time, and Mike, who watched from the sidelines last year, joining us for his first race.

This year I practiced flat tire changing a week in advance instead of a last minute day in advance.  Mike and I fortunately had the opportunity to practice in the lake the day before and we took a ride around the bike course. The only small snafu was that my triathlon watch decided to die this week but I was pleasantly surprised to find a replacement in Walmart when we stopped for a few provisions.  After a nice dinner and a soothing jacuzzi, we went to bed around 10pm and I fell asleep quickly, unlike last year!

So as the alarm went off at 5am, I popped up, was organized and packed from the night before, and this time remembered to eat my breakfast.  Going down my checklist, I kept Mike organized as well.  I had warned him how fast the clock ticks, which he came to realize as we still headed out 10 minutes later than planned at 5:40.  But arriving at the transition area I was much more organized than last year so I had just enough time to set up my area and put on my wetsuit.  It helped that Barb and I were in wave 2 and Mike was 10 minutes later in wave 4.

And we were off!  I sighted the first buoy often, determined not to make the same mistake of going off course as I did last year.  Neither the swimming mob nor the plant infested, dark water lake freaked me out so I warmed up going out the 200 yards to the first buoy.  Rounding the second buoy, I sprinted my way in for a personal  record .25 mile swim in 8:22 and cutting more than 10 minutes off of last year's time!

This year I had my wits about me enough to remember to start taking my wetsuit off as I exited the water and ran into T1.  I still wasn't immune to mistakes though as I realized I hadn't unvecroed my bike shoes.  I also had multiple attempts clipping my shoes into the pedals on the incline at the bike start despite having practiced it.  But once on my new Specialized Amira racing bike, I sped off and did more passing than being passed, except for the pro men on their triathlon bikes with whirring wind resistant wheels that cost more than many people spend on a car.  And there was that one 59 year old woman who passed me - inspiration!  I was happy to shave 1:36 off of last  year's time.

Coming into T2, I looked at my watch and I was 49 minutes into the race so I had motivation to give the run my best as I was exceeding my time expectations.  I had seen Barb on the bike so I knew she had been doing alright but I had not seen Mike so I was worried if he had made it out of the swim ok.  But after the run turnaround we passed each other.

I thought Mike would catch me but I wasn't turning around to look for him - I kept my eyes on the finish line and ran 3:27 faster than last year!  My overall time of 1:06:22 (11/27 in my age category) was a full 16 minutes faster than last year!    I cheered on Mike a couple minutes later who I think should earn some sort of first timers award for his 00:57:41 finish, especially since he just started swimming a couple months ago!  Just think what he could have done if he had been on his Felt rather than his $95 Schwinn!  And Barb cut a full 5 minutes off her time too!

Now if I can just get better at being the car navigator.  Even google maps couldn't help keep me on course as we ended up with the scenic Poconos route coming home...