Another Sprint Triathlon in the books this past weekend. I traveled down to Wasilla, Alaska which is about 5 hours via car from my home. I neither saw Palin, nor Russia, so in that respect I was a little disappointed 🙂 This is one of my favourite sprints in the state. It small and friendly. It is still early season here, so the swim is conducted in the Wasilla Pool, but the best thing is for a pool swim its 2 per lane! NO circle swimming.
The good news is that I got my new race wheels in, bad news is I was not sure if I had time to mount them. So I took them over to GoldStream Sports and had them look them over and tube and rubber them up. Thank goodness they are so awesome. It took like 20 minutes from start to finish. Heck, some days it takes me 3 hours, 3 beers, and a lot of explicatives to change a single tire.
OMG, So Pretty 🙂I drove down early Friday morning so that I could pick up my bib. It was raining most of the way and the forecast was not looking so great. The forecast was cool temps, wind, and rain. Sigh….this might not be pretty at all. I pick up my packet and back to my hotel on Lake Lucille. I took a short walk around the lake to get loose from the long car ride. Hopped over to my favourite sub shop and had dinner. That sub shop is the ONLY decent place to eat in this town, sad to say.
Windy at Lake LucilleI got up super early and had my yogurt and half a Quest bar before I headed over to set up for the race. I was bib #2, so I had a first wave spot and a primo rack spot. This is one of those small races where you have to bring your own bike stand. Lucikly no rain. It was super overcast and 46 degrees. I was pretty lucky. After I finished the wind really picked up and it started to lightly rain. So glad I did not have to bike in the rain.
Bring Your Own Bike StandSwim was one of my worst. The pool was so hot, it was like swimming in a bathtub. I am used to swimming in the UAF pool which is one of the coldest in the state. The hot water really slowed me down. I also was off on my strokes and kept coming up half a stroke short of the wall, so I had reach and it really messed with my turns and push offs.
I head out of the pool and meander to my bike. I felt that my transition was slow, but because it was so cold I took the time to put on my socks with my bike shoes as well as an ear band under my helmet. My bike was pretty darn good. I had no idea at the time because I was not timing or using my garmin for this race. I forgot to turn it on as usual. I motored on through the hilly bike course, with an average of over 17mph, which for me on a hilly course is pretty darn smoking! I did unfortunately bike an extra mile. The course volunteer got confused between the bike and the run legs and sent the first handful of bikers onto the run course at an intersection. Bikers should not have turned but she kept yelling at me I listened to her. I have done this race many times before and knew the course, but because of her yelling I thought they must have had a last-minute course change for some unforeseen reason. Well I should have listened to my instincts. Even so I still had an amazing bike.
This was uphill, but smile for the camera!Off came the helmet and on come the running shoes and my trusty Brooks running cap. Dang it, I forget to take my gloves off. So I stripped them off and dropped them at the aide station that was right after the run-out spot. Which I proceeded to forget to pick backup after the race. Guess I need to buy a new pair now 🙂 The run was uneventful. I did walk for about 1 minute out of transition so that I could get my hat secured and my race belt on. The run course mimics much of the bike course but just a much smaller rectangle. So the first 1.5 miles of the course is up the big hill and the next 1/4 is downhill and the last 1/4 is mixed. I was able to keep the turnover good going up the hill, which was my big goal for this race. I am pretty pleased about my run. I only got passed by one female runner, who was hauling tail coming up the hill 🙂 It was during the run that I was super happy that it was overcast and cool. I did not have to worry about over heating.
Hey Look…..Another Camera….Smile Pretty!As I cruised into the finish line I was fairly confident that I had made a Personal Record on this course. Finishing time 1:22 Officially 8 minutes PR, but if I deduct the extra biking in it was more like a 12 minute PR. Which is AWESOME! This is my 3rd triathlon so far this summer/spring and each race has been a course PR. My targeted training over the winter has really made a difference in my early season races. I am also pretty sure the 10 pounds I have dropped have made a difference as well, especially on the run part. I also find my runs increase or decrease the most when my weight fluctuates up or down.
Finishers medals were awesome this year 🙂I really enjoy this race and I hope to race again next year. I have another sprint coming up in June. That race is a brand new one for me, so I have nothing to compare that course to. This looks like it is shaping up to be a great season for me 🙂
Two words. Hard Work. Who would have thought that hard work and consistent training would make all the difference? Not the shiny new bike or the fancy new kicks. I guess I have been doing it wrong all these years.
I have been training hard over the winter. Lavaman was my reason to keep training during the winter on a structured plan. I certainly didn’t want to travel that far to do poorly due to under conditioning. Well that hard work really paid off during the season opener triathlon this past weekend. Our season opener is the BreakUp Triathlon, which is for Fairbanks, Alaska, an early season event. Because it so early season for us we do our swim in the University pool instead of open water. The ice that still covers all the lakes it a pretty strong deterrent from swimming.
I have run this race every year since it started and my time has been fairly consistent within 3-5 minutes. But this year, all bets were off and I knew I could run a course PR based on my performance at the Lavaman Olympic distance.
Race day started out a little chilly, which always makes it hard to know what to wear. I decided to go with my club kit. My club Tri-It Together is based in Temecula, CA so I hoped it would bring a little luck and a lot of the So.Cal sun and warmth.
Even my hat matches!
I bought an early lane bid. I hate circle swimming and will gladly pay the charity donation in order to avoid it. And the bonus is I get to start in the first or second wave so I finish early instead of rolling the dice as to what my start time will be.
Swim was uneventful. Just right about where I normally am, so no surprises. Glad my lane partner was a little faster than me, it pushed me to try to keep up which kept my speed up. Transition was slow’ish which is normal for me, but I got out on the bike easy peasy.
Look at those high elbows 🙂
Now is when it gets interesting. No socks, so my feet immediately get cold and stay cold and clammy. I felt a little off the first two miles or so. Turns out I was in the small chain ring instead of the big, like I should have been. Crap no wonder I felt like I was spinning out of control. Get that taken care of and honestly struggle a little though the first half. I felt really slow. Then notice, crap, I forgot to start my Garmin. Of course I did. I buy a fancy Garmin 920 and half the time I forget to actually push the button. So I have no gauge on the bike to know how I did. The course is flat-hill-rolling-flat. With the hills around the turnaround. After the turnaround I felt a lot better and was able to pass the one racer that passed me going out. I passed her and did not see her again until the run portion.
Head into T2 and get my socks on my clammy feet and grab my hat and head out. My feet are like frozen blocks. This course is pretty brutal for a sprint in that a huge half mile hill is the first thing out of the gate. I ran 3/4 up then conserved a little energy and walked up the last 1/4 which is by far the steepest part. I did try to power walk, but walking was the right thing to do. Helped my feet as well. I crested the hill and was able to run the remainder of the course with no issues. Its always the first mile off the bike that is the hardest then I can normally find my groove.
Whoa…is that a smile?
About 1/2 the lady I passed on the bike whizzed by. But I was able to pass one other runner, which felt good. Then my team mate John passed me 3/4 of the way to the finish. I was so hoping to hold him off, but I just couldn’t keep up. Maybe next year I can beat him. At the finish John said, wow, you were really fast this year. Considering I had no watch time or clock time I told him maybe 5 minutes or so. But John disagreed and said it was way faster. I guess he was right 🙂 Note to self: Never argue with another scientist. I finished in 1:38 which was a major improvement over the prior year of 1:53. OMG, I totally killed it. So much happiness that I was able to that much better.
Looks like a leisure walk in the park
The rest of my team finish, and all of us did better this year than last year. This race was bittersweet though. This will be our last race with our teammate and colleague Georgina. She is off to a new adventure in the lower 48. With that in mind I am so glad we all had one last chance to race together and enjoy the camaraderie. As you can see we were a very happy group of racers.
Team Nothing to Lose
I guess the moral of the story is consistency really does pay off. I have another race in a few weeks, also another local’ish sprint tri. My goal is to do at least 8 minutes better than I did last year. That may be a little optimistic, but I think I can do it.
Running has always been my strongest, at least until about 3 years ago. I have been spending a lot of time working on my running and I think that is paying off. Even just a minute a mile really pays off!
thearcticrunner 