Cooper Sprint Tri: Dress Rehearsal

I have had the most fun this summer training for Redman 70.3 Half Ironman.  I usually enjoy training, but this has just been such a blast.  I can think of only a few runs and bike rides that were just awful, and most of that had to do with the heat.  I am almost sad to see the training come to an end as race day approaches.  I intend to devote a blog post to training highlights, hopefully I can share that before race day on September 26.  As much as I've been practicing swimming, biking, and running (and often running right off the bike), I have not had many opportunities to practice putting it all together. I feel that I have improved a great deal since my last triathlon in April and I wanted to get another shot at doing everything in a race environment.  Fortunately for me, there was a sprint tri at the Cooper Center in McKinney this past weekend.  Looks like I found myself a dress rehearsal!

I arrived just after transition opened at 6:00 am as I wanted to have plenty of time to set up my area and get a feel for the race layout.  There were no other bikes the bike rack designated for my bib number so I was able to get the end spot!  The transition area was small-ish so it didn't matter too much, but I was excited to have a spot that would be so easy to find.  I wandered around a bit and visited with some friends as I waited for the race to start.  The weather was wonderful and the temperatures were in the upper 60s before the race started.  I shivered a little bit and wished for a moment that I had brought a light jacket.  Such a change when we have grown accustomed to much hotter weather!  Normally I would hang out with Mr K, but his mom-Linda was visiting us and they were coming a bit later.  No reason to wake her up in the middle of the night to get to the race so early. I had plenty of time to swim a warm-up lap so I took full advantage of it.  The pool at the Cooper Center is simply divine - outdoors and heated with wide, 50 meter lanes.  I did not want to get out after my warm-up because I knew how chilly I would be waiting for the race to start.

Swim
I never have time goals for the swim because I'm more interested in keeping a smooth, easy pace and good form.  This swim was 350 meters, so 7 lengths in the gorgeous pool.  I got very fortunate as I did not have too many people directly ahead of or behind me.  I was passed once and it happened to be at the same time I was trying to get around a slower swimmer.  Definitely not "smooth" in those moments, but I was able to recover my little pocket of space and swim on.

I was really enjoying myself and was a little bit sad when the swim was finished.  I could see Mr K and Linda on the side of the pool and gave them a small wave as I started the last lap.  I have to find time to get back out to that pool for a swim.  My official time for the 350m was 8:51, not blazing fast but important to note that at my last tri in April I swam 400m in 11:26.  Looks like my training this summer has made a difference.  Even better, I really enjoyed it and felt as if I met my goal of a steady and smooth pace.

Bike
One of my big goals for the day was to practice transitions.  My set-up worked well for me as well as thinking of top-to-bottom and vice versa when it came to switching from swim gear to bike gear.  My time in transition (T1) was 1:39.  Still not as fast as I would like, but way faster than the 3:00 from my April race.  The bike course consisted of two, six mile loops and had some pretty decent "hills" on the route.  I say "hills" because they are not really all that bad compared with other parts of town, but still enough of an incline to be challenging when put in a single six mile loop.  I got a good start and focused on pedaling hard and following all of the triathlon rules about passing and proper distance between bikes.

I didn't have any time goals here either, I just wanted to ride hard and see what I could do.  I was able to wave at Mr K and Linda as I came through the end of the first loop.  It was so nice to have them there! I passed several people, especially on the second loop which was more congested as most people were finished with the swim by this point.  I was only passed once, which felt pretty good!  My ride was over before I knew it - 37:27 was my time and my average speed was 19.23 mph. Of all the improvements that I have made this summer, I think that my bike fitness has been the biggest!  So exciting!

Run
My heart felt so happy as I headed back into transition because I was about to run - my favorite!!  I got in and out with a T2 time of 2:06, which was almost 30 seconds faster than my last race.  Not super fast, but getting better!  I didn't really know what to expect on the run as I have not been doing speed work in the same way that I usually do.  I have been training by heart rate the summer and that has meant bringing my run paces back a little bit in order to stay in my training zone.  Again, I had no goals for this other than to practice all of the transitions and test out my gear so I ran by feel.  I was passed early into the run by a 13 year old boy.  This guy looked like a pro - even handled the aide station so smoothly!  He ran beautiful negative splits and ended up about a minute faster than me on the run and 1st place in the 14 and under age group.  It is so impressive to see all the kids race at these events, they are really good at it too!  I was surprised to see that my 1st mile paced at 8:54 - a great start and that certainly inspired me to keep on working.

Much like the bike course, there are a decent amount of "hills" on the run.  I passed a few more people and was enjoying the cooler temperatures - no doubt that was helping my pacing as I had trained in temperatures that were over 20 degrees warmer much of the time.  There was a good deal of shade on this course as parts of it followed the running path at the Cooper Center. Mile two chimed on my watch  at 8:36 - yay for negative splits!  This run felt pretty short and I decided to push the pace when there was just under a mile to go.  I got a boost with a nice downhill coming into mile 3 and also from the sounds of the crowd and the race announcer.  Back to the Cooper track and through the finish line in 26:30 - not a shabby 5K!  My last mile came in at 8:16 so super yay for negative splits!  My run was a minute or so slower than my last triathlon in April, but I feel like the whole picture is much more balanced now.  In April I felt like a runner who also swam and rode a bike, but at this race I felt like a triathlete.

I had no idea how I did compared to the rest of the women in my age group.  The wonderful thing about triathlon is that everyone's age is written on their calf so you know who is around you.  I didn't see many women on the course as this race was 60-something percent men (according to the race website) and I certainly didn't see anyone with my age on their leg.  I was stalking the race results and was beyond thrilled when I saw my name in second place in my age group!  Looks like we would be delaying the post race brunch a bit as we stuck around for the awards.  It is hard to beat standing on a podium, it is one of those things that doesn't come around all that frequently, and I milked every moment of it!

My dress rehearsal race was a huge success.  While the distances were only a fraction of what I will put together on September 26 at Redman 70.3, it gave me a shot of confidence and also a glimpse of just how much fun that day is going to be - I am fired up now!!

Baylor Tom Landry Tri: Time to Tri Again

I had an absolute blast at the St Paddy's Day Tri, my first triathlon, on March 15.  I really enjoyed the new challenge that it presented and I jumped at the opportunity to try it again, this time at the Baylor Tom Landry Tri presented by our friends at Tri-Now Endurance on April 19.  The swim and bike were both a little bit longer than the St Paddy's Day race and I thought it was a great chance to bump up those distances.  We also love supporting Coach Frank and Debra and looked forward to participating at one of their events instead of volunteering.

Mary: Finish Line Coordinator Extraordinaire

Swim
Last year Mr K, Keith, Becky, and James all trained together for their spring goal races (Ironman Texas 70.3 for Mr K, Keith, and Becky and Ironman Texas for James).  They seemed to have the most fun together training and racing and I was finally able to be a part of their little club as we waited together for the swim to start.  The swim was 400 meters (100 meters longer than the St Paddy's swim), but I was a little relieved to see that the lanes were 25 meters instead of 50 meters. Those 50 meter lanes felt so loooonnnnng!!  Of course, 25 meter lanes meant 2-way swimming in the lanes and therefore more traffic.  The first swimmers hit the pool in a frenzy!  So fast!  It was a little bit nerve-wracking watching them go as there were so many near collisions!  Thankfully, the pace slowed as more and more swimmers entered the pool.  I watched James, Keith, Mr K, and Becky take off and then it was my turn.  My swim during my 1st tri wasn't bad, but I wanted to feel even better about it during my 2nd attempt.  As I got to the end of each lane, I squared up and got a good start at the next length - thinking only of one lap at a time.  Sometime during the 2nd or 3rd lap I noticed that my timing chip felt pretty loose on my ankle.  I was not about to lose my timing chip in the bottom of the pool and I stopped at the end of one of the lanes and attempted to re-affix it.  This happened one other time during the swim and a couple of lane later I stopped and tightened it as much as I could.  The other people swimming around me did not bother me, but I was pleased to find myself in a "pocket" of low traffic for the second half of the swim.  I was happy to see the last lane and gave it my best shot to add some speed to my closing lap.  My time ended at 11:26, certainly nothing to write home about - but I felt good about the swim and that was the goal for the day.

Hanging with Coach Frank and the Tri-Now Gang

Bike
The distance from the pool to the transition area seemed fairly long, but much of it was on grass which beats running barefoot on pavement.  It felt like I was there forever, trying to get my bolero on wet arms and tying my shoes - but my total time was 3:01.  I'm looking forward to those transitions getting speedier with practice.  The beginning of the bike course took us over some of the famous Dallas potholes, but that didn't last too long.  I am still learning how hard I can go on the bike, so I gave it my best.  It is a good feeling to pass people and I didn't get passed until near the end.  The bike course was 16 miles and an out-and-back so I was able to prepare for what would be coming my way on the return.  It was also fun to look for my friends as they headed back to T2.  We rode into the wind on the outbound trip and there were hills both ways.  I'm not really in bike shape right now and I'm certainly not in hill shape so I was okay with my time of 55:47 (17.2 mph).

Run
I felt like my T2 time was faster than T1, and it was at 2:30.  The girl next to me came in as I was tying my shoes and was out of there just ahead of me.  She would end up winning our age group and her transition time was a blazing 48 seconds!  I have so much to learn and practice! I passed her in the first quarter mile of the run and she cheered "yay 40 year old!"  I love being able to see what age group people are in by looking at the back of their leg - tells me who my competition is!  Running off the bike is never easy, but I try to go into it with an open mind.  I am usually surprised to see that I am running faster than I feel like I am.  The run course was also an out-and-back and it is such a mental boost to hit the turn around - home stretch, baby!  I saw Keith, Mr K, and Becky out there and that also gave me a huge boost.  The final half mile or so was on a beautiful, winding track in a garden-type area.  It took us past the finish line where I saw Mary (finish line coordinator extraordinaire) and the rest of the gang waiting for me.  That last little bit felt like it took forever and I focused on passing anyone who was in my path.  Finally, finally the finish line was in sight and I ran as hard as I could towards it for a 5K time of 25:39 - a full minute faster than my run at St Paddy's Day Tri.  I was so proud of my run, it was not that far off of my 5K PR and it was the fastest in my age group by 2 minutes!  I received my medal from Mary and felt quite grateful to be done.  We had a great time taking pictures with the Dallas BIG letters (I am a sucker for these things - well done, Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau) and chowing down on burgers and chips.

I was curious about the final results as this race had a smaller field and I did not notice anyone else in my age group ahead of me (unless they were wayyyyy ahead of me!).  Imagine my surprise when I found that I was 2nd place in my age group!  The cool thing about triathlons is that you get to stand on a real podium when you receive your award!  I was over the moon with excitement!  A podium finish in my second triathlon!

To say that this was a confidence boost would be an understatement.  I have so much to learn and practice, but I feel really good about my beginnings in the world of triathlon.  I am so looking forward to extending my distances and fine tuning my training.  I can't wait to do it again!