There are days in your life as a coach and an athlete when you wonder if toeing the start line is your best choice. Are you properly prepared? Will racing be a positive deposit in my training and overall focus for the year? Are there barriers that I expect to encounter?
I signed up for the Loveland Lake to Lake Olympic Distance race pretty early in the year. The decision was made that it was going to be a TTT Team Race and that parents, family members and coaches were encouraged to participate so I jumped on board. I had not done an Olympic distance before so decided to take on that distance as a new challenge.
My training was not race specific but overall I felt that my base training had me ready for the distance and I was excited to challenge myself and test my ability and try to push my speed out of my comfort zone. I ended up having the opportunity to race the IRONMAN Boulder 70.3 two weeks prior to this race so with that addition my training stayed status quo and the focus of the Lake to Lake became a fun day with good training deposits.
As race week arrived and the emails from the race started coming in, I started to research the race a bit to learn the course and try to establish expectations. That’s when the nerves started to set in. I came to realize that there was a decent amount of climbing in the bike - something that I had not focused any attention on - and started to worry if a decent ride was possible. There was talk of an 8% grade and plenty of climbing in between. I talked to several people - all of whom had done the course before and received mixed responses. Some said it was a great course and that speed was possible, others said extremely challenging both in terrain and speed. I arrived at packet pickup Friday and decided to drive the course so I would have a visual in my mind of what to expect. It turned out that a huge thunderstorm moved through as I was driving. It seemed as though the course climbed and climbed and that there would be little opportunity to recover. I decided instead of worry about it to shift my mind-set - accept my training where it is knowing my limitations that I expect and not let the bike ruin my race. Ultimately I would love to have a 2 hour bike finish but it may be longer if I can’t get my average speed up. I looked over the map a few more times and accepted it for what it was.
Race morning arrived. I was fortunate to stay with friends in Ft Collins so the early wake-up wasn’t quite as early. I arrived at the race just before 5. I settled into transition, visited with friends and team members and headed to the swim start. I spent a bit of time acclimating to the water and met my wave to head out.
Here are the goals that I had set -
1640 yds Swim - 32:00
30 Mile Bike - 2:00
10K Run - 1:10
TOTAL 3:42
SWIM - 1.5K (watch reading 1859 yards) - 36:20 course time
The swim start went off without a hitch. I started to have issues with water in my goggles and stopped to tread a few time in attempts to fix the issue. (Looking back now - it appears to be an issue a lot lately so may be time to address that!) Spotting was a challenge between the sun and the now choppy water and how far away the buoys were. I found that once a buoy was sighted it sometimes turned out to be the opposite side of the rectangle - and based on the flow of swimmers around me - it seemed others were having similar problems. I pressed on focused on the caps around me and trying to keep up or get to the next one in front and worked my way through the course.
I arrived at shore - my watch time 34:14 - note course time - that was due to the timing mat being at the end of the .25+ mile run to the transition area! I was fortunate to find a nice man who helped unjam my wetsuit zipper and was in for a pretty decent. Time for the bike.
BIKE - 30 M - 1:38:37
A deep breath and take it one pedal at a time. There were several men that passed as we were getting started. They were riding aggressively. I tried hard to focus and stay settled. Two women passed in full race gear - race wheels - aero helmets - the works. Next thing I knew I was passing several of these people as they were on the side changing flats. I continued on. Nancy M. passed me about Mile 8 shouting some encouraging words as she passed - she continued on to take 1st in her age group! My watch alerts every 5 miles - I don’t pay attention to it much in between. My first few splits were within a range that I like to see and I had gained a bit of ground that I hoped would be enough to make up for the time lost climbing. I continued to ride. I was passing people pretty consistently but being passed too so hard to judge if I was gaining or maintaining ground. The hills and climbs were as expected but there seemed to be really good and fast recoveries between them. I made it up the steep climb to Horseshoe Reservoir and thought there is one more big climb right? That wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. Turned out that was the climb. I had made a mental note of a landmark to mark the end of the climb and the return to town and the rollers into the finish and there it was. Candy G. had told me there were 5 rollers on the return road. I started to count them - realized I lost count - but knew it was either done or one more at that point! Approaching the bike finish I was feeling good, legs good, nutrition seemed ok although I hadn’t had much and it had been a good fun ride. I not only made it through but had beat my planned time by 22 minutes!!
A quick transition and feeling energized to start the run.
RUN - 10K - 1:00:12
I settled into the run and decided to listen to my body as I progressed. I wanted to push some as this is a shorter distance than I am usually running off the bike in a race but also didn’t want to run out of fuel and energy. An out and back course so I turned my focus into seeking out people that I knew. Ran into Ian M. from the Teens team - not who I expected - his comment - “Hey Coach, I think I took a wrong turn!” - a few extra miles builds character Ian! I continued on. Focused on keeping my body cool as I passed through aid stations and focused on running and trying to maintain my pace. Settled in with a girl for a few miles who liked my pace - we talked a bit and continued on. Reached the turn around and headed back toward the finish. Still trying to stay cool and make sure I had enough in me to finish strong. Saw Joan on the course - she seemed to be having a great day and also ended up first in her age group! Saw Candy and approached the finish. I had joked with Bob in the days leading up to the race and again on race morning that he wasn’t allowed to leave me after they all finished the sprint race. He said they would be done over an hour before me and that there were no guarantees. I set my expectation on a quiet finish. As I rounded the last corner approaching the finish, Bob was there to greet me on the course and not only Bob but the whole Teens group including parents and family. He said since I am here you have to sprint to the finish - so I took off - getting high fives from everyone as I passed them. It was really cool!
Finish time 3:19:28 - 8th Place in my age group. My highest finish to date. I was extremely excited about my day and how it all came together. And it was so fun to share it with so many people that I knew. It definitely keeps you energized knowing that you may run into friends on the course.
On the opposite end of town, my daughter Abby was racing her longest Tri distance to date at the TriBella Super Sprint. It was extremely hard not to be there to watch her but I thought about her a lot throughout my race and hoped that she had as much fun as I did. As soon as I finished I went to collect my phone to get an update from her. She had finished ahead of goal time and taken 1st in her age group!! It was fun to talk to her as I drove home and hear her re-cap and share mine with her!
It is so fun to reflect on the past few years and how triathlon has evolved into such a big part of our lives. So many friends and such an awesome community that supports you every step of the way. Onto the next event. One Day...One Step!
No comments:
Post a Comment