Pictures from Peachtree City International Distance Triathlon - May 14, 2011
You think I'm kidding on the title but I'm not. That was actually one of the announcements right before our swim start. I heard it and was laughing when someone asked me what he said. I told him and then he said, 'Oh yeah, that's true, but usually when everybody gets in and starts splashing they swim away'. Um, okay, good to know that the lake is full of snakes...Guess what I did - splashed a lot just to make sure it was clear to the snakes that I had no interest in playing with them.
This week was a complete rest week so NO TRAINING AT ALL. What? Really? Yes, really. We were told not to do anything tri related so my entry this week is the week leading up to my first triathlon in 7 years, the Peachtree International Distance on 5/14/11. Race report is under Saturday - tapered as you'll see below:
Monday - 1700y swim
Tuesday - 17 mile bike
Wednesday - 1800y swim
Thursday - 4 mile run. Had an appt at the bike shop that night to change my cleat placement and adjust my fit if necessary. If you remember, I've been having massive knee pain on the bike so when I was evaluated, basically everything was wrong. He added a shim to one shoe (one leg shorter than the other), changed my cleat position, told me my bike was way too small for me (great...) and that I lean to the right when I cycle so unless I correct my biomechanical issues, he forsees more injuries as I increase my mileage. Lovely. He changed just about everything you could on the fit, seat height and tilt, stretched me out more in my upper body and moved my cleats so I was completely freaked out about what would happen during the race since I had no time to ride with all of the adjustments he made pre race.
Friday - off, drive to race to check in and spend the night. First Ironman nightmare since I've started training. In my dream, I didn't finish the bike portion in AZ. It was never revealed in my dream why I didn't finish the bike but I was out of the race, crying on the sidelines as everybody was finishing. I blame my anxiety over my radical bike changes and knee pain pre-race for the nightmare. Had a blast otherwise, with two of my hilarious team mates, Rachel and Karen. So glad to be with them and laughing!
Saturday - RACE! As I mentioned, I hadn't done an open water swim, triathlon or had my wetsuit on for 7 long years so I did have some nerves going into this race. Particularly when I saw that it was the Southeast Regional Chamionships so there were lots of fast looking people and bikes competing to make Nationals. I was a little out of place with that crew. Here's how it all came together:
Swim - .93 mile 33:37 minutes
This was a rectangle Lake Swim. Water temp was 72 so I wore a sleeveless wetsuit. On the swim, I felt pretty good right when I got in (no warm up, just into the water as the time started). Had a minor panic attack about 2 markers in. Don’t really know why but I just started to get the gasping feeling and really short breathing. Did some screaming in the water and then worked through one of my affirmations, ‘all that I need is within me now’ and just kept repeating it until I calmed down. It actually worked and I didn’t have to stop swimming to calm down, just kept trying to stroke through the panic and repeat my affirmations! Finished the swim but definitely need work on sighting. Was WAY wide and swam a good amount of extra distance I suspect.
T1 3:26. Did a hammer gel and water pre bike.
Bike - 25 miles 1:29:38
I tried to hold back since I had no idea what my new fit, cleat position and body would do. My knee hurt a little bit on some of the climbs but really not bad at all. It was a rolling course with a few good climbs but nothing horrible. I’m still a bit hesitant in saying the problem is fixed though as my knee didn’t start hurting the last time until 35-40 miles into the ride. This was obviously shorter. When I used to do tris several years back I would go out way too fast on the bike and then have nothing left for the run so I tried to stay a little reserved for this reason too. Drank Perpetuum aero bottle on the bike (finished it) but nothing else.
T2 2:21. Another hammer gel and water pre run
Run - 6.2 miles 1:01:36
Run was really nice, all on golf cart paths so closed to traffic. Again, hilly but I don’t think there really are any flat courses around GA. Took me the first mile to get my breathing in a normal range. I tried to follow an old guy that seemed to be paced evenly and not too fast, not too slow. I stuck with him for the first couple of miles to keep from pushing too hard since I was breathing so hard and needed to get my HR down. Definitely didn’t get enough bricks pre race which I think was part of my breathing issue in addition to some good hills right off the bat. Drank water at mile 2 or so, Gatorade at 3.5 or so and water again around 5ish. Can’t remember exactly where the aid stations were but I did 3 drinks (about half a cup each) total on the run. Skipped one of the stations they had. I felt pretty comfortable on the run for the most part. I walked quickly while I drank the fluids but other than that, ran the entire course. Knee felt fine on the run!
Race: 3:10:37
Driving back from the race I had on some Nicki Manaj, 'Moment for Life', some of the lyrics that made me smile:
This is my moment, I waited all my life I can tell its time
drifting away I'm one with the sunsets, I have become alive
I wish that I could have this moment for life, for life, for life
Cuz in this moment I just feel so alive, alive, alive
What a gift it is to be able to physically compete in triathlon, no matter where you place, how long it takes, it's just an amazing feeling to be out there doing it. All in all I think it was a good day, especially for my first tri in 7 years and breaking the ‘nothing new on race day’ rules with all of my bike changes and no open water/wetsuit swims. It definitely could’ve gone the other way rolling the dice like I did. The only soreness I had was in my calves which I’m not sure if it’s from the race Saturday or running around all day on Sunday volunteering at Iron Girl triathlon. Knee is hanging in there so we'll cross our fingers. Tomorrow training ramps back up!
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