Race Schedule and Results

Sunday, June 12, 2011

My naked race report


So I did it.  I raced naked.  It was joyous and liberating and I'll probably do it again.  I loved every one's comments about it and have a lot to say about it if you are interested.  More than anything, I loved not knowing how fast I was going.  I wore my watch (cause it's a habit), but didn't start it and didn't know what time we started (the waves were all late anyway).  My bike computer (which I thought I would still use) read "0" all day - something wasn't working.  And it was awesome!  I went by feel alone.  I pushed harder than I think I usually do.   And you know what???

I freaking PRed by a lot!

Here's the race report... I'll try to keep it short, but I do have pictures so YAY!

Overall Stats:
Swim (.5 miles) - 14:24
T1 - 1:21
Bike (17 miles) - 48:08 (21.2mph)
T2 - 1:04
Run (3.1 miles) - 24:07 (7:47's)
Overall time - 1:29:01
2nd out of 31 in Age Group
68 out of 500 Overall


So Saturday, I totally just chilled. Tom signed up for his first ever bike race so I was his cheering squad.  It was a 9 mile, 3 loop course and he was entered as a Cat 5.  Poor guy was so nervous.  He did great, until he got a flat with 3 miles to the finish.  Dang it.  But he's addicted so he'll be out there again.  I counted a lot of bikes, and 3 horse and buggy's.  We weren't in Delaware, anymore. :) See the buggy in the back???

This morning I woke up ready to race.  I love that feeling.  Stomach was a little sloshy, but nothing unusual.  The race site is only 15 minutes from our house, at most, so we didn't have to leave super early.  I love local races.  Got to the race site, got everything checked in, and met my parents who were unbelievable in coming out to see us race at an ungodly time on a Sunday morning.  I'm so blessed to have them both.  Plus, my mom played photographer for the day so we were able to get pictures!  Always a plus! (Thanks mom...)

Around 7, we started to put on our wetsuits.  Does this ever get easier?  Seriously, this is not an easy feet.  Thankfully the TRISLIDE works wonders and the baby, for the most part, slide right up.  I love my Hurricane 5 from TYR.  I feel like a poser in it since I'm so stinking slow, but looking good is half the battle, right?

The swim was fine.  I positioned myself waaaaaay outside because the water is deeper and because there was no one there.  I swam with all of the 30-34 year olds (guys and girls) and only groped one girl's butt so all in all, a successful swim.  14:24, I'll take that - I haven't been working on the swim too much so I can't expect anything amazing here.

T1 was nice and zippy, but the run to the mount line was loooooong.

The bike was awesome.  Without a computer, I just went by feel and I felt great.  I was passing a crapton of people and only counted three people who passed me - they were from the wave after me and were smoking.  Tom was one of them, but I was proud that it took probably 16.25 miles for him to catch me... it's usually way faster than that.  I did find myself looking at my computer a lot.  Like I said, it always read "0" so I didn't get any data from it.  Bad habits are hard to break I guess!  But I just felt like my Kestrel was floating... the fit is so perfect and it's a fast bike! Tom and I made it into transition together which was fun.  I ended up averaging 21.2mph which was awesome.  Tom thought that the course was a little long so it might have been faster.  Who knows, who cares!  I was the 5th fastest woman on the bike out of 172.  And I was the 47th fastest overall out of 500.  That's pretty cool!

T2 I just did my thing and ran out with Tom.  He said "let's run this together". Ha... well, it was good to start together.

The run was a familiar course, and although it's a simple 3.1 miles, the course is kind of wacky as it's part on a gravel path (which happened to be super muddy and filled with puddles) and then part on a grass trail over a dam.  It's really hard to pass people up there though so I honestly had no clue what I was running.  Tom had taken off about .5 mile into the run and that was fine.  I needed to go by feel.  I passed a few people and found a groove.  It was great not constantly looking to see my pace.  I thought I was sluggish, but looking at the results, I finally put a run together, averaging 7:47's for the 5k!

I got to the finish line, super happy with things.  My dad had started his watch when my wave went off and told me he thought that I was somewhere around 1:29.  I had two goals for this race which I hadn't told anyone.  For one, I wanted to run sub-8's.  And the other... to finish under 1:30.  Last year on this course, I did a 1:33:59!

I checked the standings after everyone was finish.  I finished in 1:29:01 and came in 2nd out of 31 girls.  That amazed me.  I couldn't wipe the smile off my face!

It was fantastic seeing so many of our friends there.  Jim, Tracy and Zach Aust were there and kicked major butt (as always) coming in 1st, 1st and 2nd in their age groups (Oh... and Jim was 5th overall, Zach in 9th and Tracy in 19th and the 2nd female!!!)  They are my adopted family and we love them so much!  Tom had an amazing race, especially after hearing him tell me that he had nothing in his legs from the bike race the day before.  He finished in 1:23, 7th out of 50 in his AG, and 27th overall.  Oh... and he had the 9th fastest bike of the day out of 500!  Scary to think what he could have done without racing the day before.  We also got to see Dave and Meredith too which was fun.  Dave raced and although I know he said he didn't hit his goals, he looked strong on the course!  It's so fun seeing friends out there! Here's a picture with us and team Austome! :)
ULTRAFIT-USA did a great job with the race.  We love the Wendy's International Tri.  Great competition, surrounded by a bunch of people we know, on our home turf.  Doesn't get better than that!

So the question is this - I have an Olympic in two weeks.  Virtually the same course.  Should I run naked again??? :)

37 comments:

Lori said...

Great job, lady!

Caroline said...

congrats on your great race!
I have to say you got me at the naked...I did not know what it meant...I am behind on reading blogs because I was on vacation...
and then I saw the pics....ha ha!!!

Jason said...

Great job.....that is awesome.

BTW - did you check out you coming out of the water running while those others are walking? That is pure awesome.

And I just love the fact that in every photo you are smiling. That helps so much.

Congrats again on a great race.

Unknown said...

Awesome job Colleen! Congrats on the hardware and very cool the naked thing worked out for you! These kestrels are smoking fast!

Annie said...

So awesome! You looked great the whole time. Hope you have a good spot to hang your plaque :)

Ironman By Thirty said...

First off, congrats to Tom on the bike race. That is something I don't think I'll ever have the balls to do. My hat goes off to him.

Now, onto you. Freaking amazing! Holy crap!

You totally smoked it on the bike! Whether the course was long or short, it doesn't matter because you all biked the same distance and you still kicked the butts of 167 women!

Love that smile with your award. I don't think you could possibly smile any bigger. Love it.

You totally have to race naked again at the Oly!

PS: Little disappointed on the lack of groping during the swim though. Work on that for next time please. haha

Jon said...

Rockstar!!! Your bike split is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

You really killed it out there. Sprints are soooo much fun! And the hardware just makes it that much better.

Bummer about your Husband's flat!

Aimee said...

Woohoo! You did AWESOME! Congrats on your 2nd place finish! Yay!!

I think you should definitely race naked in your Olympic too! Why not?

Kristin Bradfield said...

Congrats!!!

Marci said...

Great Job Colleen... and yes definitely run "naked" again for the next race :)

Matthew Smith said...

Oh my word! You should race naked all the time. It's obvious that you pushed it without knowing how well you were doing. That bike time was crazy, plus, your run would have smoked me for sure. Way to go! Congrats to Tom on a great race too.

Rebecca said...

First I must say, I am a little green with envy - I LOVED Wendys International last year and super sad we didn't get to do it again with you guys this year (that was one of our first meetings, right?) . Anyway, wow, you rocked it! Never again can you complain about being slow, OK? OK!!!?? I agree with you on the naked race - sometimes a little change can not only be refreshing but great to teach you that you really can beat the clock... NO holding back, huh? Way to go!

Kim said...

couldnt be prouder. your bike split is ridiculous. and running sub-8s after that fast bike split? unreal. congrats my friend. (and you are looking VERY lean!)

Matty O said...

Girls grope other girls in the swim... WOAH! I need to start becoming a spectator at these events and take this all in!!! LOL.

Great job to both of you, can totally feel your energy and happiness in your post.

You guys are doing awesome this year, keep up the good work!!!

Christi said...

What a great job! Congrats!

Kristin Deaton said...

Not like you need me to comment on your awesomeness but I will. congrats on a fantastic race. Going Naked rocks!!! I think you should for the next one. Who cares throw all caution to the wind and go with it!!

adena said...

awesome race report!! WTG love that you raced naked. What a great experience, and a great finishing time!

Unknown said...

Great job Colleen! Way to go. I like your word "crapton" too.

Thanks for the advice on my post. I am dragging today due to lack of sleep, and I am thinking I may just start in my normal wave. Maybe Cristina can talk me into elite.... Shelby also made some great points too, and she is "local" to my area, and knows those ladies I will be starting with as well.

Caratunk Girl said...

Congrats!!

It sounds like running naked works for you!! A huge PR? That is reason right there to race naked!! I am so stoked for you!!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Congrats on the poduim finish!! Wendys was my first ever tri, I was going to volunteer for it, was uip and everything, but I couldnt, you knew why.

I am almost postive that Tracy (based on the picture) is going to be a guest speaker at the Roll Tri Clinic this Saturday at Easton.

SingingJo said...

Nice job and excellent race report!! Way to go naked!! :)

Molly said...

Congrats on your finish!!!

I think you have a great future in naked racing : )

Patrick Mahoney said...

Great race but it took me a second to realize I should have read the post from 6/7 first. Unless you live on a planet where nakedness = a tri-suit. Which I guess would be cool.

It's late, sorry.

Wes said...

this is how we do it :-) congratulations! I smiled so much reading this, my mouth is sore!! Keep up the good work, and yes, race nekkid! :-D

DRog said...

WTG !!

had a feeling this might work for you....I enjoyed it A LOT two weeks ago in an Oly! But then again it was nice to have the info a week later for a HIM

Congrats on a great race - a PR and notching that Sub 1:30 goal:)

D

Chris said...

AWESOME JOB!!! Congrats...

Tri4Success said...

This is awesome! It's clear reading this just how pumped up you are over the results. Couldn't help but smile. Congrats on the big PR and congrats to Tom on tackling his first bike race!

Emz said...

Naked = PR. ?!

Hmmmm.
Here. I. Come. Seattle. ;)

Cory Reese said...

That. Is. AWESOME!

I too am enjoying running without my watch lately. I was starting to feel like a slave to the Garmin.

Way to go at the race!

Tricia said...

congrats!

Chris K said...

Based on this race the whole naked thing seemed to really work for you. Why not try it again.

Regarding Newton shoes. Contrary to what many think, they are not minimalist shoes. Not at all. They are engineered to promote a natural running gait, it's not like transitioning to Vibram's. My transition time was very quick. Maybe you can try running a few miles and increase that. If they feel "right" from the get-go then just wear them. That's what I did. They really are awesome.

Alisa said...

Great job! Racing "naked" scares me. You seriously killed the bike! Maybe sometime you could post tricks to getting faster...I'm trying :).

Another great race under the belt.

Alisa said...

PS My tri club just sent some info about your REV3 here in portland. They chnaged the course. I sent you an email to the email listed under "contact us" on your blog.

Unknown said...

and so freeing too! way run naked and PR girl.

MissFancyPants said...

Fantastic!! I think we rely on too much stuff...I have never raced with my garmin and my first race this year, I couldn't figure it out...lol

Carolina John said...

Very cool! I've done several races now going totally analog thanks to the weather and it's been ok. Glad you got a kick out of racing naked. But when you say you race naked and have pictures.....

Anne-Marie said...

Congrats!! What an awesome race for you! 2nd AG and 5th fastest bike - just awesome! :)

I might have to try this racing naked thing sometime!