Race Report: Treasure Island Olympic Distance Triathlon

Pre-Race

Last night I got all the stuff I needed together and as I got my bike out I realized that my back tire was COMPLETELY flat. We think the cat popped it because it had a rip in it (even the outer tire). I had practiced changing tires on Thursday night so I got to test out my mad skills. I changed the tire and put it on the back. I was worried that it wasn't tight enough, so Shaun picked up the bike and I pulled the tire (well really hung on it) and it didn't move and Shaun said "that thing is not coming off." I got into bed about 10 or 10:30 and set the alarm for 5:45. I slept pretty well (well I thought I slept pretty well but Shaun said I was babbling all night). I woke up at about 5 but laid in bed until the alarm went off at 5:45. I got up and made some cream of rice cereal and had almond milk and brown sugar. We hopped in the car about 6:30 and headed to Treasure Island.

We got there, I checked in, and then set up my transition area and then I got all marked up. They write your number on your hands, your arms and your thighs (lovely), and then put your age (the age you are on Dec. 31st) on your calve.

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  Age

I went over and looked at the swim (the guys were already in the water) and heard that the water was 60 degrees. I had swam in 59 degrees the weekend before so I was excited that it was (a little) warmer than that.

Swim

I got the new wetsuit on (which fit GREAT), gave my honey a kiss and headed over to get in the water. We were told that we would get to get in 15 minutes before we started to warm up. Not so. We got in about 4 minutes before we started. We basically got to get in swim around a little bit and then it started. It was so anti-climatic, they never said "Get Ready!" They just started counting down from 10 and then we were off! I started and I was getting passed. Last year when I did my Tri I was the one passing so I got really mad at myself and started saying things like "it was just a fluke last year-you're really not a fast swimmer" it was bad!!! But I kept going and as I went into the 2nd lap (it was 2 laps total) I noticed that there were a bunch of yellow caps (I was a blue cap) and I realized that they started 15 minutes after I did and I WAS RIGHT ON PACE!!!! So I got all pissed at myself for being mean to myself and started giving myself a pep talk. It was around then that I started passing people. YAY! My left shoulder was also hurting (as it did in the last tri-I need to remember to stretch my shoulders!!!) At the end of the swim I had to swim up to a platform where volunteers were helping us to get out.

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  Swim

(I'm the one in red)

Time=0:29:49

1.5K SWIM DONE!

T1

I started running to my bike, grabbed some Powerade, and then started getting my suit off. I put on my helmet, my gloves, my glasses, and then my shoes. I grabbed the bike and ran out of the transistion area.

Bike

The bike was a super technical course. It was six laps with 178 90 degree turns. VERY technical. I was going great, no girls were passing me, I was passing lots of guys, and averaging about 20 mph. At the end of each lap there was a hill, but it wasn't too bad. I just had to concentrate on avoiding other (male) riders and all the potholes. Lots of the fast guys who were passing me were giving me major kudos and that felt great On the third lap I finally saw Shaun on the course cheering me on. He yelled that I was doing awesome! Right after this someone's Gu packet stuck to my tire and was hitting my brake every time it went around. It was this annoying clicking. I started to fuss with the bike (because I didn't know what it was) but when I saw that there was nothing wrong with my bike I just kept pushing through. The next time that I saw him I told him that I had 2 laps to go. After that I got out of the saddle to accelerate and my back tire swerved out and I almost totally ate it. I can't quite explain what it felt like but I knew something was wrong. The first time it happened I thought that someone had hit my back tire. As I almost went down I pulled the bike back up with my arms (I tweaked my wrist just a little bit doing this). But I kept going. The next time I saw Shaun I threw one of my water bottles at him and he was yelling at me to SLOW DOWN! ("What?Slow Down?") as I rounded the corner I saw the ambulance. A girl had had a really horrible accident. I was a little late on the uptake and got yelled at for going too fast. Ooops! At this point my bike had done the weird thing a few times. I figured out that it was when I got out of the saddle, so I made the decision to stay in the saddle.

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  Bike

My last lap, I tried to go as fast as I could while still being very careful because of the weirdness with my bike. As I went into the "shoot" I heard "Our first female is just getting out on the run" "Wow" I thought.

Time=1:21:51 (average speed 18.21 MPH)


40 K BIKE DONE!

T2

I dismounted, got to the transistion area, got my shoes off, my running shoes on. Took my helmet off, and put my visor on. Strapped my number on and then started running out. As I did, I felt something odd. I had forgotten to take my gloves off!!! Right as I realized this I saw Shaun and he was telling me to take off my gloves. I got them off and headed out for the run.

Run

As I started the run, Shaun was running with me and telling me how well I was doing, and that I was only about 1 minute behind the leaders (WOW!). I told him about the issues with my bike and then went on. There were 2 laps up the beach (on pavement) and back. I was a little discombobulated and couldn't remember how many laps I needed to do. I asked one of the guys I was running next to and he said 2. I was breathing pretty hard and my heartrate was pretty high but I got my stride and was chugging along. My feet felt a little strange in the shoes but I just kept trucking. There was a girl in red in front of me and it seemed like we were about the same pace. On the run I did get passed and that was hard. I HATE GETTING PASSED!!! But, all of the girls that passed me were fast much faster than I could ever dream of being, so I couldn't beat myself up for it. On the last 1.5 miles I looked down and saw that I was 2:35. If I did 1.5 in 15 minutes (10 minute pace) I would get in at 2:50 (3 minutes faster than my fastest time). I was determined to get there by 2:50. I ran by a guy who was hurting and as I did I yelled "GOOD JOB!" and he said "You too honey, you're doing GREAT! Ah to be young again". When the finish line came up, I was surprised! I didn't expect to see it for a few more minutes. I kicked in and sprinted in. I saw Shaun on last time and he gave me the biggest thumbs up. As I went in the anouncer was so nice. He announced my name and age and where I was from and said something about how strong I looked and my big smile (I smile when I run). As I crossed the finish line I threw my hands up and got my timing chip taken and then got a medal placed around my neck.

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  Run

Time=0:51:41 (pace 8:19!!!! HOLY SHIT!!!!)

10 K RUN DONE!

I looked down at my watch and it read 2:48. I couldn't believe my eyes! That was great! Shaun came up and gave me a big hug and told me how proud he was of me and how fast I went. I was SO SO SO excited. I never thought I'd come in that fast.

We went to the transition area so that I could change (I was COLD) and as we arrived we noticed that my back tire was hanging about 2 inches from my bike! I had been riding with a loose back tire! HOLY CRAP! I am REALLY lucky that I didn't crash and really hurt myself.

So it ends up that my official time was 2:47:37!!!! and I placed 19 out of about 90!!!! My goal was to come in under 3 hours and to HOPEFULLY hit the top 20. I hit both GOALS! I am SO SO SO proud of myself!!!!

Lessons Learned

-DON'T EVER talk down to myself. I need to be my biggest cheerleader!
-Stretch my shoulders before the swim
-Put Glide on my neck so it's not all RED the night after!!!
-If my bike is acting squirrely, get off and check it. I'm so lucky I didn't hurt myself. The time it would have taken to check my bike I could have made up by getting out of the saddle (DER!)
-I can push it harder on the run. This is my weakest area and I need to push!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!