We got there Saturday about noon, and checked in to the
race. It was freaking cold. Let me tell you, I never imagined in a
million years that I would be having the same weather thoughts over a race in the
southern US in May as I had for Muskoka, a race in northern Ontario in
September. But here we were. I had two jackets on and was still
shivering. And I brought the green soccer socks along too for racing, just in case. Crazy!!
My race buddy this time was stud Dynamo athlete, Carmen
Brahim. Man, the girl is FAST. We couldn’t check into the room yet, so we
grabbed lunch, as well as nutrition for the race (since yes, I left my gels at
home…WTF…which apparently was an omen of things to come). I ordered a simple baked potato at Jason’s,
and this is the monstrosity that came out – imagine my look when I saw this:
At any rate, we eventually got into the room, did our
workouts, got the bikes checked in and decided on dinner. Got to
say hello to Lane, who was racing the Championship distance that weekend. Bed time rolled around quickly, and by 9ish I
believe I was asleep. Miracle! Not sleeping much at all the night before
probably helped. ;)
One other note: this was my bike's swan song. Last race for her. She has been my reliable hardworking companion for the last 5 years, and has seen me through a lot of riding and racing. She sat proudly in her transition spot for the last time this weekend. Happy she got to ride on the new race wheels, and still had one guy say 'nice bike' on the way by!
One other note: this was my bike's swan song. Last race for her. She has been my reliable hardworking companion for the last 5 years, and has seen me through a lot of riding and racing. She sat proudly in her transition spot for the last time this weekend. Happy she got to ride on the new race wheels, and still had one guy say 'nice bike' on the way by!
Wakeup time came early at 4:20 am. My typical race day bathroom issues were my
steadfast companion for the morning…you would think by now my body would know
what it is supposed to do on race day…sigh.
Couldn’t eat much, which is not good, but it is what it is. Carmen and I were out the door right on time
per our schedule, and off to transition.
It was actually a lot warmer than had been called for, though still
chilly for mid-May in the South. Got
thru warmup, everything set up in transition, and so excited to get racing and
see what the day would bring.
Race Plan: Very simply "Execute the
Plan". That’s it. Do what Coach said to do and see how it plays
out. Just execute. This was our first race together, so it was essential that I follow the plan and let the chips fall where they may.
(And on that note, also the first time I was racing a tri wearing Dynamo, and so a whole new colour scheme going on, which is kind of awesome that it's green, given green is my favourite colour).
(And on that note, also the first time I was racing a tri wearing Dynamo, and so a whole new colour scheme going on, which is kind of awesome that it's green, given green is my favourite colour).
SWIM (37:40)
By the time we got into the COLD water, I was pretty
chilled. So much for the ‘Warmup’. Standing around on concrete in barefeet … not
so smart. I was feeling really confident
about the swim. Been swimming faster
than ever, by quite a margin. The plan
was to swim aggressively. If you’ve been
following my journey over the years, you know my usual plan is ‘take it easy on
the swim’ and ‘no point in blowing yourself up here, save it for the bike’. And almost always ‘can I actually make it
through the swim?’. Lol. This was NOT THAT. Go hard.
And at the turnaround, go harder.
If you think you are going to hard, that’s fine, you are probably still
not going as hard as I want you too. Swim
with your lats, not your legs. OK. Got it.
And to be honest, my last race (Muskoka 70.3) was the best I’ve ever
felt in a swim, and I am way better now, so I took that feeling, and amplified
it, and went out there to execute.
This swim is pretty straightforward. Against the current for the first 800, and
then with the current in a straight shot back from the turnaround. I feel like I went hard this whole swim. First 500 I was feeling like I was going too
hard, was really out of breath. At first,
I thought it was just being in the wetsuit again, and I did a quick
arm/shoulder adjustment, but then realized I was kicking too hard. I let up on that, and everything felt better.
Maybe I let up on the kicking too much? Regardless, I felt like I was going harder
than in any previous race. I can say my
upper body hurt almost as much as my lower body the day after the race. After I stopped kicking so hard (and really
felt the buoyancy of the suit!), I could feel more power going to my upper
body, and really focused on using my LATS J. I was
breathing every 2nd stroke, and I never do that unless I am doing a
hard set, and even then only at the end of it, which is part of what made me
think I was going harder. I NEVER let up
a bit…just kept thinking, if you’re questioning the intensity, you are on the
right track. After the turnaround, I was
still passing people, both from the wave in front, and from my wave (all half
women). Long and strong. And the last 500 I tried to turn it up even
stronger. I was expecting sub 35. With the
current (which I didn’t really feel too much to be honest) I was thinking even
33 something could be possible. Imagine my dismay and shock when I saw almost
38. WTF.
I felt like I was going hard, and I felt like I was mostly on course,
although I was not hugging the buoys, except at the turnaround. Training Peaks says I swam almost 2400
though, instead of the 2100 I should have.
I looked back at previous races, and they are all way closer to
2100. Even Muskoka where I actually went
way off course, I only swam 2180. So
DAMMIT. I sure felt like I was swimming
1’35s and that’s what it was if I swam 2400…but that’s immaterial since they
don’t care what garmin says ;) Big Sad
Face on this one. Even though I was 2nd
AG out of the water – I’ve never been anywhere close to that, and in the top
22% for the half women – again, that is a VAST improvement over where I used to
be. Still Big Sad Face. Nothing to do though but put that aside and
move onto the bike. (and get my ass to
Masters where hopefully Maria can whip me into shape).
BIKE (3:02:49)
I didn’t know how this was going to
go. This is a seriously legit bike
course. Very tough. And my bike fitness just isn’t back where it
was, yet. I had very specific power targets
for this ride, and like I said above, this race was about execution. The hills were pretty serious. I repeatedly went from running out of gears on
the bottom end to not have enough at the top end. The interesting thing is that I actually had
to keep reeling myself back in. And literally
on every hill I had to tell myself to ease up.
I was going way too hard. Consistent
delivery is what is key to a good endurance race, and I knew that the run I was
looking for was going to require diligence here on the bike.
Nutrition was pretty good on the
bike. Probably could have gotten in a
few more calories, but overall not bad.
Hydration also good. Thankfully
it was not hot, so I had less of an issue here than usual. And, surprise surprise, I actually had to
pee. Of course, it took me THIRTY
minutes to make it happen. 3 attempts on
3 different descents..nuthin! ARGH. Finally found success on the 4th
one, but seriously lost time because of this.
So silly! Sounds gross, but
honestly this is something I am going to have to work on.
The first 90 minutes of this ride
I didn’t feel great. My hips were really
tight and kinda ‘hurt’. I hoped it would
go away, and I guess somewhere around the middle it did to some extent. Either I got used to it, stopped focusing on
it, or it actually started to feel better…not sure which. I did my best to stick to the race plan. In the end, I did okay. I was pleasantly surprised at the average
power I was able to sustain – much higher than I expected, and I am also highly
encouraged that I finally am seeing a speed in the mid 18’s again…I’m still
nowhere near where I was or need to be, but I was worried it was going to be
way worse than that, especially on this tough course. I felt better on this ride though than any
other ride this year. And my power
was stronger in the back half than the front. HOWEVER, final analysis shows that I spent
almost half an hour above my threshold, which SHOCKED me, but is a big area for
improvement. Just very simply can’t be
doing that. Uses up way to much of my
CHO stores, which I need on the run.
At the one opportunity to see the
competition, I did not pay attention to the girls in front. I was focused more on the one girl in my AG
that was my competition, and currently just behind me. Had I done that, an
overall podium slot might have been possible.
At the end of the day I ended up 2.5 minutes out of 3rd OA,
and I definitely feel like I could have made that up on the bike without it
impacting my run. And who knows, I might’ve
found a little more juice on the run too.
I had NO IDEA that I could potentially take an overall spot. Strategic mistake on my part.
RUN (1:49:56)
My focus here was, again, on execution of the plan- the name of the
game today. This is definitely not an easy run. Some pretty serious hills from mile 4-10. Kept my HR where I was
supposed to at the beginning which was actually relatively easy to do. I had a hard time getting my heart rate up where it should have been for the rest of the run though, and the same was true on the bike. But I kept trying to go harder. Just kept picking people off. “We
just have to get this sucker to the run where you’ll go Pacman on folks”. This was the theme of the day thanks to
Coach. Seriously the best pre-race
visual I’ve ever received, and it just kept me going. Every time I passed someone, I literally
whispered ‘gobble gobble’. One guy I
passed and he picked up his pace as if ‘no girl is going to pass me’. When I stayed strong, he finally just said ‘nice
running’ and let me go. A few ghosts I
had to let go but vowed I’d get them on the way back -- and I did, both of them. The one issue I had was a serious pain in my
left hip, and radiating into my lower back. Haven’t had this before. I ran through it, but I thought if this
continues through the whole run, I could be in trouble. I tried to let it go, not think about it,
assume it would go away, imagined and mentally applied Reiki healing to the
site, and sure enough somewhere around 3ish miles I think?? I realized it was
gone.
Nutrition was gels at 3,6,9,11. More than I’ve ever done. And I was so
focused on it that I really kinda fumbled at the first one. The aid station was early (can’t do gel
without water), and I wasn’t ready. (Good
lord – I’m an agile coach and I teach people every day that responding to
change is more important than following a plan…WTF). And then I dropped the water cup. And tried to pick it up. It was a cluster. And then took a few seconds to high-five Lane
who happened to run by at that exact moment.
My focus was completely shot for a minute there. In retrospect, I’ve finally figured out that
this is where my AG competition passed me.
And I never saw her. I knew I’d come in before her on the
bike. And I never saw her pass me on the
run. I had no idea she was in front of
me. Imagine my surprise when at mile
5.5ish I came up on her. (of course, I don’t wear contacts, and I literally had
to be within 2 feet of her to be sure it was really her). I seriously couldn’t believe my eyes or figure
out how it happened. But I decided that I
was running past her and that was that. And I did. She never caught me again. Then I caught #4 (I didn’t know she was
4 at the time) but just couldn’t hold her.
Hydration was not good. I just have a really hard time
getting enough water down out of cups while running. I either need to accept I have to stop and
drink, or I need to start carrying a handheld.
I don’t like wearing a fuel belt, and I don’t like stopping. So I guess I am buying a handheld.
Unfortunately, for most of the back half of the run I had no
one to overtake. I was mostly alone. Certainly miles 8-12 I was almost completely
alone. But I just kept focusing on
keeping my cadence up and moving the legs. I never thought before about the
variance in distance of what you are running vs the official course. I will be now. At the turnaround, my pace according to
Garmin was an 8:10. Turns out it wasn’t,
according to the official distance. And
I was basing my race time on my garmin, without taking this into consideration. Lesson learned.
Last mile was uphill and it was super hard to keep the pace,
but I managed it. (and sorry Coach, we all agreed – there is nothing ‘net
downhill’ about it). I wish I had had
some ghosts to pick off. Surprisingly my
pace was pretty steady the whole run. Last
quarter mile was a bitch though. But I
saw a woman up front, I recognized her kit - I knew she’d passed me late in the
bike and I was never able to catch her back up.
As we headed up that GOD AWFUL RAMP close to the finish I saw she was
definitely slowing, and I decided I was taking her. I had no idea what spot I was in, and though
I knew she wasn’t in my AG, I wanted one more spot higher OA (whatever that
was). So I am still surprised at how I
muscled up that ramp – in any other race I feel certain I would have walked –
made that crazy S turn over the tracks, and just gave it everything. The truth is, I had no idea what the run time
was, or that I was that close to 1:50 – I’d stopped looking when I started
chasing her, and my mental calcs had my finishing in about 1:47-1:48 based on
somewhere early in mile 12. Thank goodness
she was there, because it provided that extra push, I passed her right after
crossing the tracks, just before the chute, and never let up. I ran a bit long according to garmin (13.3)
which is why my numbers were off in my head. Thanks to her though, I managed to
pull in my first ever 1:49 run off the bike.
Super happy with this, even though I had hoped for more. A huge PR off the bike, and on a pretty tough run course.
So in a time of 5:33:58 I took 1st place AG, and
5th OAF. So close to an OA
podium spot, which is so exciting for me.
It wasn’t a huge race, but I executed my plan pretty well, and where I fell short we can work on improving. (although I am still not sure what to do about that swim). Lots learned here, and it bodes well for the
next 4 months.
Congrats to all my Dynamo teammates that raced at
Knoxville. The Green were super
strong! Haley with 8th Pro,
Gerry with 3rd AG in the Champ race, Carmen with OA Female in the
Half, Thomas with 3rd AG Half, Lyn with 1st AG Oly, and
Justin with 2nd AG Oly. And I’d
be remiss if I didn’t mention Erin Humsi who raced IMTX the day before,
culminating in a 2nd AG win and a slot to Kona!! #GoGreen!!!!
So much fun to be racing, especially with such a great team like Dynamo.
Feeling super positive about the months to come as I keep moving towards
Chattanooga. Mostly, I am so thrilled
and honoured to be working with my amazing Coach, Matthew Rose…so grateful to
have such wise guidance. You are really
helping me achieve my goals.
Get out there and train. And please help support my fundraising campaign for Crohn’s and Colitis
as I race for a cure!
Happy training,
Kat
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