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! :)

This might become a habit...

The whole racing naked thing is going to be a craze... you just wait and see.  All the cool kids are going to be doing it soon. 

I want to write a race report from yesterday's Olympic tri, but I worry that people don't really want to hear the details.  But my mom did a great job taking pictures, and well, it was a great race, so I'm going to.  Skim it if you want, just look at the pictures, or sit back with a drink and enjoy.

So yesterday was the Tri-Tech International Tri in Columbus.  Again, it was in our backyard so I was super comfortable with the course.  I was slightly worried about the run because it was a lot of trail running, but not nice trails.  More of grassy-area-that-is-sometimes-mowed-and-because-of-the-rain-here-in-Ohio-lately-more-mushy-muddy-and-uneven-than-anything trails.  I loves me some of those... let me tell you.  I didn't really talk much about the race - chalk it up to being a little nervous or the fact that I was super busy last week. Ehhhh

So Sunday we get up (like how I forged right ahead of all the prep??? I'm trying to make this easier for your reading pleasure) and it's kind of gloomy.  Not raining, but I look at the radar and it's coming.  But it's calm, and cool so I don't mind.  We load up the car and make our 15 minute commute to the park (have I mentioned that I love local races???).  I know it's a small race (um... there were 300 people total) so transition is tiny and the parking lot is fairly empty.  They had given Tom the wrong bib when we checked in on Friday (call it women's intuition or whatever, but I just had this sneaking suspicion that it wasn't right, even though the guy checked the list and marked us off) so we took care of that, got our timing chips, swim caps and transition set up.  We had primo spots in transition - SCORE!  Hit the potties one more time, met up with my mom and dad to give them our camera (they are the best sherpa's!) and then saw BDD who came to spectate!!!  YAY!

Wetsuit is going on easier and easier each time I wear it!  :)  The process is so less painful than it was in Knoxville.  Here's my obligatory wetsuit and swim cap picture.  And Tracy, you can't tell me that I look cute in a swim cap.  Totally unflattering.  Tom and I were ready to roll.

My wave was the Clydes, Athenas, relays, and anyone under 34 (although they did have a collegiate division and they weren't included in my wave) and with all these people, there were maybe 65 people in my wave.  Small.  It was an out and back course and let me just tell you - our water is not deep enough to do this.  And a note to race directors, please don't use orange and yellow swim caps when the buoys are orange and yellow.  The horn went off and I felt great, but my site buoys keep moving.  :)  I swam wide, because it was deeper, but people were walking on the way out which is a bad sign, as the way back, we'd be swimming closer to the shore.  It felt like forever to the turn around and then I had the pleasure of swimming into the oncoming waves.  Total cluster.  I loved the guy walking in the middle of the swimmers... the entire second lap.  He made good time for being in waist deep water. Ugh.  Anyway, I'm slow as always. 29:12, but comfortable so that's alright.  And I always smile running to transition.  I think it's still some of the "thank God I survived" mentality that hasn't left since I taught myself how to swim!

T1 - 1:15  Same as Tom.  Dang... didn't beat him.

The bike was one big loop and literally went 5 miles from our house so I know the roads.  I wanted to race naked again (no watch you crazy people... swimming, riding a bike and running with no clothes would be so so gross), but I planned on having my bike computer.  Buuuuuut, the hubby took it off my bike when he was cleaning it Saturday.  Sneaky little bugger.  So I had no data.  A little harder with an Olympic race.  I just hunkered down and went as fast as my legs would take me.  I felt sluggish at times, and really powerful at times.  Tom passed me at one point and told me I was going 25mph at that point.  I smiled... I felt like I was totally doing 25.  Heck, I could have been going 15 and I wouldn't have known. The bike was uneventful, until I had to turn.  No breaks.  For some reason the breaks on Kestrel are all messed up with my race wheels (the wheel seems true, but I can't go back and forth between my Ovals and my Flashpoints and it's really frustrating).  Anyone else have this?  In any event, I didn't feel it so much during the race because I wasn't breaking much, but I get to the dismount line and  in typical Colleen fashion gracefully try to stop, but my breaks barely slow me and then must have dried and I almost went flying. Awesome. I ended up doing the 24.8 miles (I hear it was a little longer than that... I don't know because someone stole my computer) in 1:10:09  (21.2mph).  I'm happy with that.  My mother captured this beautiful picture of me as I nearly face planted.  Ha! 

T2 - in and out 0:53.  Tom beat me again.  Dagnabbit

Like I said before, I knew that the 6.2 mile run was going to be a lot of trail (like 5 miles of it).  We run the trails all the time, but they just kind of suck.  They are bumpy and uneven and haven't been mowed lately.  It was drizzling all morning (which was great for the race, but not for the mud).  I just tried to not think about it.  I told Tom before the race to run in the mud and puddles and pretend you are a kid.  We can always wash our running shoes.  I forgot to tighten my speedlaces, but my shoes fit like gloves so I was fine.  I found a groove and stayed there.  It wasn't terribly fast or hard, but what I thought I could maintain.  I saw Zach and Jim and Tracey and Tom all ahead of me, looking strong and we exchanged our "good lucks" and "looking strongs".  It's so nice to have familiar faces on the course.  In a cruel and totally uncool fashion, we had to run past the finish line to finish another out and back before the end of the run.  By about mile 5, I felt like I was laboring.  I hadn't seen anyone in my age group (like all day), but there were two girls gaining some ground on me.  As I saw the mile 6 sign, and the finish line, I decided they would not pass me.  I had another gear.  Coach Tracy yelled and yelled for me to find that next gear and I gave it all I had. I probably looked like a total tool.  But those girls didn't get me!  6.2 miles in 49:45 (8:01's).  So close to sub 8's

Since I didn't start my watch, I had no clue what my finish time was.  My mom thought that she had calculated it around 2:38 which would have been super close to a PR.  We changed, loaded our gear in the car and went to look at the results.

Wait, did I read that right? A freaking 2:31:13?  I was so stinking excited. (and if you look closely, Tom's AG is listed below me.  He PRed by 11 minutes.  The kid is pretty badass right?).  They didn't have the awards ready to handout (we have to pick them up in a week), but I ended up nabbing 1st in my AG.  I was the 5th woman (not including the collegiate girls, but they didn't list them with our results).  I'm liking that.  It makes me feel like my hard work and struggles are paying off.  I'm still middle of the pack overall, which is fine (okay, maybe slightly better in this race), but I feel like I'm making some significant progress.  Who knows how that will equate to the long distance stuff, but I'm hoping it bodes well for me.

Thanks again so much to my mom and dad for capturing our day in pictures, enduring the drizzle, and cheering louder than anyone.  Tom and I are super lucky to have you!!!

And thanks BDD for coming out and cheering for us.  I know you had a looming 12 mile run and a crappy day on Saturday.  Hopefully hanging out with my mom and dad, cheering us on at the race helped take your mind off of things for a while!

Congrats to everyone who raced.  Tracy took first overall woman, Jim was first in his AG, Zack was first in his AG.  Tom kicked butt with an 11 minute PR.  I PRed by about 7.5 minutes.  I'd say it was a successful day.
 
I then proceeded to stuff my face at Bob Evans with all of these fabulous people and my parents and sister, then drive to the casino to drink away any post race soreness that I might feel.  I didn't hit the jackpot (sorry Jason... maybe next time because Tom and I would TOTALLY love a personal chef).  But it was the perfect end to a perfect Sunday!

Jump on the bandwagon kiddos... racing naked  is as cool as peeing on your bike. Right Triathlon Rocks??? :)