The olympic distance race is held in Columbus, GA. I had no idea that it was THAT MUCH hotter a few hours south. Apparently I'm the only one who didn't know that (according to Marc Waddell) so I guess it's those Canadian roots showing themselves again. And honestly, it has not been hot this summer in ATL. No, it's been wet. I have ridden more in the rain this summer than in all my riding combined. So I was definitely not prepared for heat.
Thanks to the aforementioned rain, the race directors made the determination to alter the swim course. The river has been very high, so they cut it to a 500m swim that we were to do twice, with about a 300m run in between. So, a bit of a bummer, since the only reason I chose to do an oly was because of the swim. It's so close to a half, it's great prep. And I do mean the only reason -- I don't like oly's, frankly because of the swim. Thanks to its disproportionate percentage of swim time compared to other tri distances, I never do well in them.
At any rate, the hotel was, I dunno...like 32 seconds from transition? Lol. It was actually pretty freakin awesome. And the transition itself was tiny! Probably one of the smallest races I have ever done, with only 253 participants. (although Beast of the East still take . That being said, there were some of the more well-known triathletes from Atlanta there racing. I think the timing is just good as a prep race for some of the upcoming 70.3's. Certainly that is why I did this race. Well, I could have chosen Richard B Russell, but frankly I really felt that I needed a race that was going to be nice to me for my first one back, and CC is basically flat. :) that means 'nice to me'.
The swim was fine, although I never really felt like I got into much of a rhythm, which is to be expected after only 500m. Literally in my workouts it takes that long into the main set (aka after warmup) to start feeling anything remotely like a swimmer. That would be of course because of a) my age and b) the fact that I am not actually a swimmer. :) Us old folks take a little longer to get the engines revving. I also did not choose wisely on the tri suit. I decided to wear my lulu kit, and it turns out that it does not go so well in the water. A skinsuit of course would solve that problem, but I haven't yet invested in one. I basically was swimming with a parachute on. HA! The other interesting note - even thought the swim was 'shortened' the Garmin shows a total distance for this leg of 1825 yards. This includes all the running, of course, but still...longer than a typical oly swim. Time: 22:xx
The bike was definitely not my favourite course. First off, I found it a little dangerous. And in discussions after the race, that seems to be the consensus. Riding on the greenway (or whatever they call it there) when it is not closed to traffic, is not a hot idea. We were hopping curbs to get on and off the greenway - yes *on purpose* ...yikes. And there is a massive 90 degree turn at the bottom of a pretty steep hill, and it was completely unmarked. I know we are responsible for knowing the course, but still. I was FLYING down the hill (as is my MO) and was lucky not to completely wipe out. Second, I was alone for a lot of the race, and it was not all marked, nor were there volunteers at the key turns. There were definitely a few points in the bike course that I wasn't sure I was on track. I believe it was Laura who told me she actually DID go the wrong way, and it was only thanks to one of the guys on the base saying she was going the wrong way that she got back on track. As for my performance, I had gone in thinking I would stick around 150W, and if I could do that I'd be pleased. When I started out, I was significantly higher than that, and after 15-20 minutes, still felt good and that it was sustainable, so I kept my target around 165W. I ended up at an average 162W, which given where I've been for the last year is pretty okay with me. In fact had the course been on a real road, I probably would have been around 165W, but with all the stops and starts and slowing down for pedestrians, it was hard to sustain constant power. I was quite please with the overall bike time, and particularly thrilled that I finally had some real speed back, averaging in at 20mph. Time: 1:09:xx
The run was pretty good. Getting hot, though, no doubt. Not exactly FLAT per se, but I guess in the grand scheme of things...maybe overall flat. About mile 1.5 the photographer told me I was the first female, which I found hard to believe. However, given the out and back of this section, I was able to verify for myself. As it turned out I was 3rd female at that point. Which actually made me pretty ecstatic. I was aiming for an 8:15-8:30 pace overall. I got passed at mile 2.5. No way I could catch her, she was just way more fit than I was. Managed to hang on to my pace though. Mile 5 I got passed by a 30 year old, and I didn't feel bad about that one! I'm twice her age (just about). I managed to push through and pull out an average 8:20 pace, which I was thrilled with, especially given the heat. Time: 49:xx
So, I ended up 5th OA, 1st in my AG, with a total overall time of 2:23:23. Had there been a Masters category, I would have won that. Happy to report also that my time would have won several of the younger age groups too ;) Absolutely thrilled with that result, given where I am in my training and my fitness level. Not too shabby for 12 weeks back. Kinda shocked the shit outta myself too. Oh, and I got one of the best texts EVER as a result. Was texting with Klafter, and I reported on my results, saying 'not too bad, especially given the olys are not my specialty'. His response? "Your specialty is kicking ass. I don't care what the distance." Thanks friend - you sure know how to bolster a girl's confidence! Thanks for keeping the faith :)
Post Race Retrospective given its three weeks later: I totally trashed myself in this race. :) When I reported to Brett the week after that I couldn't get my heart rate up and was struggling to complete workouts, he says 'ya, I am not surprised. You outraced your fitness, which I expected, cuz that's what you do". lol. He knows me well. So we took it easy that week, knowing I was heading into a mini-training camp the following week in Muskoka.
All in all a good experience. Apparently my "brick is in the mail" since they somehow didn't get all the trophies (which are bricks) made. I don't have it yet, but I think it is hilarious that they were willing to mail me (literally) a brick. Glad to be back racing. I've sure missed it.
Happy Training
Kat
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