DKH Tri Race Results

Ok, now that I am up from my nap, a race update :)

Poor Timmy was all heart and his body just didn't quite keep up with his goals.  He wasn't ready for the race, and to be honest, I was relieved.  I was worried about him, since he had only been in the water once before the race.  His back is tight enough to make a set of six pack abs very jealous, and the poor guy is hobbling around here, still needs to get used to the bike and stretching out his back.  So he was a good sport and tagged along as my paparazzi/pit crew/time keeper/cheerleader.

Me, I was exhausted, in bed after 1 am, alarm going off at 5, its not a great combination for race day.  Woke up and feet felt ok, not great, but better than previous races.  Hour commute to the race location and by the time we got there I was actually awake, but still yawning.  It was a nice race, a little disorganized, but not bad at all, especially since it was sponsored by a local hospital and was only their second year running this event.  They has MORE VOLUNTEERS than any other race I have been to, which speaks highly to their hospital system, nice to see everyone unite around this.

The swim was great, an easy half mile lake swim.  Having Tim with me on the lake swim this past week he noticed something about my stroke that I always auto-corrected when there was a line on the bottom of the pool.  I pull to the right.  It makes sense if you think about it, with my left shoulder being the disaster one, my stroke on the right is much stronger, so off I go to the left.  This made this past swim much easier, because instead of being surprised and frustrated with my veering off course, I was able to adjust for it frequently.  It worked well.  Also, for the first time in the swim, I pushed it pretty hard, out of the water in 12 minutes, just a hair slower than what I do in the pool.

The bike, I had to catch find my legs the first couple miles and get down some water but I started cruising along pretty well and got the 12 miles done in 40 minutes, not my fastest, but 18mph, I'll take it.  Especially since I was slowed up on one section of the race where the marking and directions were poor and I quite literally had to stop to ask a volunteer whether I was supposed to turn or go straight.  Like I said, not perfect organization, but a nice race.  My bike, well, she is fabulous :)  talk about an awesome ride, comfortable, stretched out, I think I could have problems if I ever had an impressively hilly ride- just not enough gears to drop, but she gave me a great ride today!

The run, well, as usual, not my strong point, 32 minutes, just a hair over 10 minute miles for 3.1 miles.  The first 200 yards were not pretty, with my left calf in a tight ball and not heeding to my pathetic pleas of "stop, please stop, pretty pretty please with sugar on top?"  Eventually it did let go but it made me very cautious for that first mile.  The one big difference I noted was that my body felt better and stronger on the run, I think at least in part due to the fact that I carried water with me instead of trying to chug a glass at the water stations.  My stomach handled this much better, and overall I just felt better.  My feet, well, they weren't perfect, but they weren't bad at all, they didn't hold me up, thats for certain.  The last quarter mile I came across a guy walking, and I have to give props to him, after a little prodding I got him to not only run with me, but actually push pretty hard to the finish, no way I could have finished the way I did without your help, so thanks nameless man :)

I came across at 1:29:45, very happy with that, and then come to find out I was 4th in my age group, 2nd in the big girl category :)  and 11 woman overall, not half bad! :)

Beautiful day, awesome race, very glad that I did it, but also very glad that I was able to be lazy the rest of the day.  Next up, Madison in 2 weeks, Detroit in 3.  The plan?  In the meantime I need to get some longer workouts in.  I have been cramming in the bikes, doing 25+ miles at least a couple times a week.  But I also need to get some longer runs in, at least 4 or 5 before the Detroit race.  Madison will be a good warm up for me, but I need some longer workouts to get a feel for the endurance aspect of this race, as it will likely take me 3+ hours.  For now... nothing but rest and rehydration. :)