The Swim: I went in, pretty much accepting that I was going to have a slow swim. I figured 40+ minutes, and maybe a little heavy on the + side ;) So as I had to JUMP OFF THE DOCK (I guess that will teach me not to go to the pre-race briefing since I had NO CLUE), and I treaded water waiting for the gun, I thought to myself, we are going to take this steady and slow Katie, if you have to hold back on the bike, no point in jacking your HR on the swim for an extra minute or two, and just have to hold back even more on the bike. So out I went, nice long smooth strokes (thought of you Klafter and that conversation we had about IM last year), and just kept my focus on that and my stroke. The hard truth is I have not spent nearly enough time in the pool, certainly not enough to claim I am training for half ironman races, and there was a little part of me that honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to do it. Seems silly after all I've done, but that is the truth. And while I did have that bicep tendonitis, that is no excuse for all the times previously that I didn't get in the pool. Anyway, I passed people from 4 additional age groups, which kinda surprised me, since most of them were men. And imagine my surprise when I got out of the water in 37 minutes! Absolutely thrilled me, and tells me that if I actually spent time in the pool, that 34-35 minute goal for the swim is in my reach.
T1: My transitions were awful time-wise. I limped out of the water to my bike - ankle was hurting badly and I simply could not run on it. It killed me to walk! Me, the queen of transitions, walking to my bike. That really messed up my time in T1, where I normally am first or second.
The Bike: Good Lord. And it didn't go well for the reasons you are thinking if you read my pre-race blog. First 30 minutes were great. I was doing very well on my mission, and keeping it below the HR and power targets that Brett had given me. I was quite encouraged, and felt like, ok, this will be doable. My average power was 151 and climbing. Target was 155-160, and I started out a little easy to bring the HR down. My heart rate, for the most part, was staying below my threshold of 153. Then it all went to hell in a handbasket. The pain that I had experienced the day before turned out not to be a phantom pain. I thought it was a run issue because it started there, but I realized, it was not a run thing, it was a bike thing, I just happened to get off the bike 30 minutes in on the Saturday. Left hip flexor I think is the culprit. Never had an issue with it before. It just hurt to turn the crank, and applying any kind of real power was excruciating. And we were riding into a pretty good headwind, so that made it even more challenging. I tried shifting position, I even came out of aero to help it, but I could not make it go away. I was literally crying in pain by the time I got to the turn around. I actually thought I would have to DNF, because I did not see any way I would be able to run with this. With my PMA, I tried to find something good, and the only thing I came up with was that beer would start sooner, and maybe I'd get to see Lance in the pro tent after all (which thanks to April I had a VIP wristband for). I took every ibuprofen I had with me - only 3. Once we turned around and had the wind at our backs, it got a little better, but I could only push 90-120 watts for the most part. The sad thing is that even only pushing that (and my FTP is about 210), I was cruising along at 22 mph in sections. Imagine if I had power! One interesting thing to note - somewhere around 45 miles, some guy went by me and said 'lookin strong Katrina!', and it really lifted me. After that I started to encourage everyone I passed. I have to just tell you that my pain subsided a bit when I started doing that. The power of PMA!! That's probably what kept me under the 3 hr mark - yes, shocking, I just made it under 3 hours. 2:56. Although, we all showed 57 miles on the garmin - the course was long, so even still, it would have been 2:53 then. Just to show how bad it was - my swim placement was better than my bike placement! 24th out of the water (again, amazing!), 26th off the bike. I'm usually top 3-5 on the bike.
T2: I could not walk when I got off the bike. I stood there for a good 10-15 seconds once I got through the mats, and then limped/hopped my way over to my rack (which was a long way away). On the bike I had thought to myself, okay, there is pain you run through (mental) and there is pain you do not run through, or you make things worse. Which is this? I really wanted to be able to call Brett. But of course I couldn't. So I had decided that I would start the run - no way was I DNF'ing without at least trying. I took every ibuprofen I had in my little ziploc bag of goodies - 5 this time - and I limped out of the transition area.
The Run: First mile actually went well - probably in part due to the initial ibuprofen from the bike, and partly from mental determination that I was not dnf'ing. I actually slowed myself down to keep the heart rate in check. I have run only 123 miles since Jan 1, and only 260 since Oct 1. With all my injuries, that is literally it. You guys know that is ridiculously low. And, aside from one 10miler the week before taper, the longest I've run since November is 7 miles, and most runs have been in the 4-6 mile range. So I had no idea what the run was going to be like in the race. The plan of course was to have an easier bike, and then kill the run. Killing the run was not really on the table anymore, but I was going to do what I could. So the first lap went well. The airport section sucked, the wind was so strong and we were running straight into it. It was also getting hot, and humidity was high. The second lap I planned to raise it up a bit. Although I seemed to be putting out a lot more effort, the numbers weren't getting better :) And I was watching the HR trying to keep it lowered, and out of zone 4. With the humidity and heat, this was hard, but I did it, though pace suffered. All I could think after the 6 mile mark was how much I wished this was my last lap. I was doing no walking, except through the aid stations and this was not intentional really, it was just so damn crowded you had to walk/slow way down to get anything. I started on coke around mile 6 - first time I've ever had to do that. I just kept focusing on my run form, and I have to say I think I looked pretty good out there, certainly better than most I ran by. Final lap, I was still running, and I planned to just throw it down, HR be damned, and if I went too hard oh well, I'd walk to the finish. And I did pick up my pace. I managed an 8:30 at the start of that loop. About halfway through that final loop, I just kept telling myself, you have less than everyone else behind you know, and many of those in front of you. Just keep going. I hit mile 12 and really just started to bonk I think. The last bit through the airport, where the wind had gotten ever stronger, I felt like I was barely moving, literally, but there was no damn way I was walking now, and I pushed through. I seriously thought to see a 13 minute mile when I looked at TP, but it was not nearly that bad, and as I turned out of the wind, I picked it up, and that last mile ended up being a 7:20 pace! Perceptions! And where my final burst in the chute came from I have no idea, but I saw some woman racing me into the finish, and I was like, no damn way anyone is passing me now, and I found some rocket fuel from somewhere and brought it home. Not sure how, but I managed to run 1:53, and I was SHOCKED. Less than a minute off my best run in a 70.3. So again, with the right training, this is very encouraging and bodes well for my run if I can get healthy.
So in my daily life, I am an Agile Consultant and Coach. Agile is a different way to develop software (vs the waterfall method.) One of the things we do is at the end of every Sprint (usually two weeks long), we look at what went well, what didn't, and what we are going to do to improve. Pretty cool eh? So I think I am going to do my race report as an Agile Retrospective.
What Went Well:
- I had the most fun ever for a race. My roommates were Awesome - Janet, April, James, Sylvia, Missy - thanks for such a great pre-race experience. No drama, no stress, just good times and a shared passion for triathlon - AAAAWEsome. My driving partner was even more Awesome ... aprilisawesome is not just a website name people! April and I sure did get to know one another during our almost 30 hours in the car. :) I'm sure she was like, uh, why did I think driving would be the way to go? Bah ha ha ha ha.
- My swim rocked. I mean, for me. Let's face it, I'm never going to 'ROCK' the swim, but for me, this was a great swim.
- The run. What the hell? Not sure how I managed to finish, never mind in 1:53 so this was great.
- My PMA.
What Didn't Go Well:
- The Bike. Really, the pain on the bike.
- Transitions. It's not that I really did anything wrong here, everything actually went quite smoothly. Reality is, injuries were the issue.
What I'll Keep Doing and Change to Improve:
- Keep having fun!
- Continue to improve my PMA
- Get in the pool and take the swim seriously - time in the pool will get me to my goal time.
- Get my bike refit - although I believe there are several factors at play on the bike, this is probably one of them.
- Get with Sadri and figure out what the hell is wrong with my hip flexor.
- Rest and recover - basically get healthy before we add any speed or volume.
This was a great race. I had so much fun. I love the course. I definitely want to come back here and race it to my potential, as I think it plays to my strengths, and I could do VERY WELL here. Next year, Galveston is definitely staying on the race list. Overall, I placed 24th in my AG. top 19%. Given what I've been through, and the issues I had, that actually is very good. I just have to keep convincing myself of that. :) I truly am quite encouraged by both the swim and the run. The bike is a health issue, and hopefully we can fix that soon enough to get in some quality training for Kansas. #PMA. Oh, and Hey. I learned how to tweet for real. Thanks April. Makes it all worth it! LOL.
Happy Training!
Kat
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