Race Schedule and Results

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Bringing a win back to the ATL


So this past weekend I went back to THEE OH-IO (happy Kevin???).  It was the anniversary of my momma's 29th birthday and I was looking forward to a weekend of family and friend overload time.  Oh.  And a race. :)

It was my first race of the year and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tad nervous.  Training here has been eh to say the least and I wasn't traveling without my trusty mechanic.  But, I really wanted to go back to a course that I new and loved (plus, my sweet friend Nicole suckered me into it and promised me Noodles and Co Mac and Cheese when I was done.  Or was that me that suckered her into it?  Either way... there was yumminess waiting).

So Sunday morning I made my way to a familiar park - the one Tom and I did all of our training on for the last 6 years.  It was weird going back.  Like I was a foreinger to a very familiar place.  I'd done this race a half dozen times.  It was nothing new, but I kind of felt a little lost.

Until I saw Tracy, Jim, Zach and Nicole.  Then it was like I was where I was meant to be.  My mom and dad showed up just as I was finishing getting everything situated in transition.  We walked to the beach and got me all decked out in my wetsuit (which I think might have shrunk... yep, that's definitely what happened to it.)  My mother captured the obligatory horrible wetsuit dance pictures:
My wave was the OLY 34 and under, clydes, athenas and relays.  There were virtually no other red swim caps which kind of worried me (I could see me getting in the wrong wave), but I was right.  Before the swim, some guy said how happy he was that the water was so clear.  We all laughed because you couldn't see a thing in the murky green liquid.  Same guy mentioned that triathlon was stupid because he was up before Taco Bell closed for the night.  Loved it.  Definitely calmed some nerves.  With this being my first OWS of the year, I was prepared for the panic. It didn't happen. 

THE SWIM (1500m) 27:21 - The swim went well.  I was a tad warm in the full wetsuit, but I found some open water, some feet occasionally, and didn't get groped by too many people.  The swim was short (I know this because I'm not swimming that fast these days) and I still got beat by more than half of the participants, which is normal, but I was happy with things.

T1 1:29 - I thought that I would have a hard time getting out of the wetsuit since I told you before the it shrunk, but thankful the tri-slide worked like a charm.  I love that stuff.  Said hi to my mom.  She took another stellar picture of me.
Bike (40k) 1:10:04 (21.2mph average) - I was excited for the bike.  I love me some flat Ohio riding and like I said before, I've ridden this course many many times.  But this time, it felt so great.  I passed a bunch of people.  I played cat and mouse with a big guy who died on lap two, I climbed the "hills" at 16-17mph when I used to struggle up them.  I was a happy camper.  The one thing that was annoying was that the RD added a turn around in the parking lot which we used to pass by for the second lap in previous years.  I didn't mind this, but I minded the people who didn't come into the park for the turn around.  My parents were cheering at the entrance of the park and saw 5 go by and ignored everyone yelling that they had to enter the park before lap two. Cheaters suck.  That's all.

T2 1:16 -  Another stellar photo from my mom and Nicole cheering "Mac and Cheese, Mac and Cheese".  That makes me smile (but obviously not in this picture).
The Run (10k) 53:49 (8:41/mile average) - I left transition and asked my dad where I was at overall time wise (because somehow I was on lap 9 on my watch and had no clue what my total time was).  He yelled 1:40 and I knew that if I ran a 50 minute 10k that I would PR.  But it was getting hot.  And my legs were kind of not responding.  I hit the first mile in 8:20, but it's the toughest section of the 10k so I wasn't worried.  But then I hit the second mile in 8:20.  And the third mile I imploded.  I ate some Powerbar Gel Blast.  I took water.  But my legs were done.  The heat got the best of me.  I just wanted to keep from being passed.  And I did a decent job of it.  You have to run past the finish line around mile 4.4 and that's always hard, but I finished as strong as I could. 
And then cramped.  My calves just balled up.  It was nearing 90 degrees at that point and I felt it.  I got some water.  Rinsed my face.  Grabbed my gear from transition.  Checked the results. 

2:33:55 - 1st in AG

Not a PR, but I was thrilled.  I might have moved 600 miles away, but I was able to defend my title! :)

Mmmmm... and the mac and cheese afterward was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G (as was the company).

Gives me hope that my slow hill training is paying off.  Now if I can just do more of it...

Stay tuned for more pictures from my trip home! :)

28 comments:

Unknown said...

Congrats!!! Great race!

Jon said...

YES! 1st place!! Watch out GA, a new Boss is in town!!

Steve said...

Yay Colleen. :) very happy for you. :))

Ironman By Thirty said...

Yes, I am happy. Thank you. :)

You and your Noodles loving buddies (the Smith's) need to come do e GR Tri. They are a sponsor and you get a BOGO coupon in your packet.

Congrats on the AG win!!!!

misszippy said...

Booyah! Way to jump back into the race season. Congrats!

Heidi @BananaBuzzbomb said...

Woohoo! Fantastic race!!

TriMOEngr said...

AWESOME!! Loved every bit of this. LOL about the jokester at the beginning. I would never argue with a "short" course because it makes me FEEL faster regardless. Way to push through at the end. Yay for NOODLES!

Unknown said...

Congrats!!!

Only 600mi? Really, gotta go map that and see? We drove almost 600mi to get to Lubbock and we were nowhere even close to being out of Texas ...lol!

Tara Martine said...

Woo hoo! Way to capture the win!!!

Kristin Deaton said...

Yes you are amazing. That is all

Jill said...

Ahh...so good to read this 10 days before my first Olympic! I'm scared, but know I can do it! GREAT JOB! Amazing time! And really, that speed on hills? How did you do that? Training on hills, maybe? GREAT JOB!

Unknown said...

WOOT!!! Nice work girl
awesome bike split too :)

Kim said...

Like i said in my texts...col you are amazing! Be confident in your strength! What a friggin solid day. Your bike split is absolutely ridic. And then following up on that with a fast run. Amazeballs. Congrats friend!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Nice, congrats on another stellar race

ONEHOURIRONMAN said...

Living in the land of hills and humidity has its benefits!

MissFancyPants said...

Nice job girl!

Carolina John said...

training on the hills makes you fast on the flats. Great bike speed! I'll take a 2:33 oly any time I can get one.

try setupevents.com and look in the TrySports series for the Lake Logan oly try. It's just west of Asheville NC very close to the GA state line. I would LOVE to see you there.

Jason said...

Digging the wetsuit dance. You should get a bunch of pics and put it to music.

How cool is it that your mom is 29?

Anne-Marie said...

Congrats!! What a great way to kick off your season. Seriously, regular hilly rides will do wonders for your speed on flat courses!

The wetsuit dance pics cracked me up!

Unknown said...

Nice work out there girl!!! Congrats on the AG win!!!

Heather-O said...

Holy Moly you are FAST! Nice work on the bike!! Is this your first tri back since the accident?

Pamela McGowan said...

Nice race lady. You gotta love Ohio! I am racing my first tri of the season Sunday with a bad foot. Nervous but hopefully it will go good.

Matthew Smith said...

First off, way to defend the title and dominate again! You're awesome!!

Second of all, that mac and cheese is the BEST!!! Jenn and I love that place.

Third of all, I loved all the pics. You've got a great race photographer. The wetsuit dance was awesome! :)

Bluegrass Tri Chick said...

Way to go!! Awesome job speedy!

Alisa said...

Yeah! Seriously isn't trislide the best! I thought for sure the first I used it that the water would wash it all off and it wouldn't do me any good but it works like a freakin' charm.

Now, if only I could find something for saddle sores :) haha. Funny the conversation topics!

Wes said...

nice work! Way to represent Georgia!! :-D

Swim Bike Mom said...

Love the report and congrats on a great race!!

Kacie Darden said...

Well done!!! Looks like you had a really great race!