Hey there! Ready for another crazy race report? Grab your cup of (decaf) coffee, and enjoy!
3, 2, 1......
Sodus 2012 Race Report: My new favorite discipline
Pre Race
I think I covered my thoughts on this race ad nauseum, so I won't bore you with the details. My sprint PR is a 1:22, and I had no illusions of breaking it. I've been so unlucky with injury, equipment malfunction, etc. that I knew I would be happy with a working bike and working feet. I also have been supremely unmotivated for speedwork or any kind of formal training, so I knew that my fitness was nowhere near what I wanted. As long as I gave it my all, I knew I would be okay with it.
This race is about 30 miles away from us, so no ungodly wake up was necessary. Up at 5:30, coffee and PB toast down the hatch, load the bikes, and out. We got to the race site about 6:30, unloaded in a prime transition spot, did a warm up, and donned our wetsuits to get in the lake. The water was 73 (perfect) and a bit choppy, but the whitecaps disappeared about 100 yards out. The current was a bit nasty in the fact that it pulled you away from shore, so the last bit of the swim was gonna be annoying, but, overall, considering this is the lake of unpredictability, it was a good year for the water!
Swim: 15:17 (800 yards, including a few hundred yard run uphill in the sand to T1)
Bike: 43:17, 13.1 miles, 18.2 mph
The course is a one loop rolling terrain-there are a few decent climbs in the first half, along with head and cross winds, but once you start heading back to the lake at mile 7, you can really fly. I had two goals for this bike: one, to have a shifting bike, and two, to not chicken out and lose free speed on the downhills (I am so bad at that). After a quick T1, I mounted my 'roo and headed off!! The first 4 or 5 miles sucked big time. I still had some cross chaining issues, and the bike was really reluctant to swing into the small chain ring, so I embraced my inner "masher"and powered up the hills in the big chain ring. True to form, the first 7 miles sucked, but the last 6, I breezed through and hit pedal to metal for all the downhills. Yay! As I turned in to get pack to the point with less than half a mile to go, I heard "Hey #60, nice butt!" and saw the hubs. I was annoyed to be caught, but thrilled that it took that long :-P I hit the gas and spun my legs out to prep for the run!
3, 2, 1......
Sodus 2012 Race Report: My new favorite discipline
Pre Race
I think I covered my thoughts on this race ad nauseum, so I won't bore you with the details. My sprint PR is a 1:22, and I had no illusions of breaking it. I've been so unlucky with injury, equipment malfunction, etc. that I knew I would be happy with a working bike and working feet. I also have been supremely unmotivated for speedwork or any kind of formal training, so I knew that my fitness was nowhere near what I wanted. As long as I gave it my all, I knew I would be okay with it.
This race is about 30 miles away from us, so no ungodly wake up was necessary. Up at 5:30, coffee and PB toast down the hatch, load the bikes, and out. We got to the race site about 6:30, unloaded in a prime transition spot, did a warm up, and donned our wetsuits to get in the lake. The water was 73 (perfect) and a bit choppy, but the whitecaps disappeared about 100 yards out. The current was a bit nasty in the fact that it pulled you away from shore, so the last bit of the swim was gonna be annoying, but, overall, considering this is the lake of unpredictability, it was a good year for the water!
Swim: 15:17 (800 yards, including a few hundred yard run uphill in the sand to T1)
The swim is a one loop counter clockwise triangle. I lined up far left, where, oddly, there were only 3 women (com on guys, don't swim more than you need to!) This race is done in 2 waves...women go first and then men 5 minutes later. I hate it for the fact that I am a rabbit for my husband, who is a much stronger swimmer and biker (he usually catches me on mile 9-10 of the bike) but understand the RD's rationale in the fact that women tend to be slower, so why not start them first to minimize time on the course. After some pre-race announcement, we were off! The first few minutes were pretty rough, but then I settled into a decent rhythm. I am slower than the fast people, and faster than the stragglers, so, like many other races, I found myself swimming alone after the first 5 minutes or so. Not bad (I can breathe) but no draft. I rounded the first two buoys without issue, then ran into the current. I had some issues sighting, and the waves, though not bad, made me a bit nauseous. I ended up depositing some breakfast into the chop, and swam a bit off course, but nothing major. Out of the water in 14:17, and up to T1. Not my best, not my worst. I'll take it.
Bike: 43:17, 13.1 miles, 18.2 mph
The course is a one loop rolling terrain-there are a few decent climbs in the first half, along with head and cross winds, but once you start heading back to the lake at mile 7, you can really fly. I had two goals for this bike: one, to have a shifting bike, and two, to not chicken out and lose free speed on the downhills (I am so bad at that). After a quick T1, I mounted my 'roo and headed off!! The first 4 or 5 miles sucked big time. I still had some cross chaining issues, and the bike was really reluctant to swing into the small chain ring, so I embraced my inner "masher"and powered up the hills in the big chain ring. True to form, the first 7 miles sucked, but the last 6, I breezed through and hit pedal to metal for all the downhills. Yay! As I turned in to get pack to the point with less than half a mile to go, I heard "Hey #60, nice butt!" and saw the hubs. I was annoyed to be caught, but thrilled that it took that long :-P I hit the gas and spun my legs out to prep for the run!
Run: 3.19 miles, 26:23, 8:15 pace
Before I get into the run, which I had thought was my favorite part...let me talk about T2. Which was previously known as "transition" 2, or, getting ready to go from bike to run. As the hubs was in ht pursuit, he entered T2 seconds behind me. The RD's, a husband and wife team that rock the local races, know us pretty well, so they started ribbing us about drafting on the course, and then busted out with the "new" rule....if you are husband and wife, and you enter transition together, you must kiss! We laughed, then happily obliged. Turns out, we were the second couple to fall into transition together (the female winner and her hubs did it too), so they renamed our transition "transKISSion". Nice! With those shenanigans out of the way, I still pulled off a 51 second T2 and hopped on outta there to get onto my run, where I (try) to make up some time with! This 5k course is a two looper...you run out of the point, up a hill,a round a block, do it again, then back to the point. It's not flat at all, but there are some nice downhills to counteract the crap first hill. I wore my orthodics for the first time in a race, and my foot did pretty well....not too fast for me (I usually do about 25 flat on this course) but not bad, either. The inserts are stiff, so I lose some bounce, but I held a steady pace, passed a few women, and only got passed by one in return (who happened to be in my AG. Damn). I was sorta hoping to land on 1:25:xx, but forgot how damn long the last stretch was and also where I am (honestly) at with running. I pulled into the finishers chute in 1:27:14, and the hubs was just a few minutes behind me (but really 3 minutes ahead of me) for a 1:24:17, good for a new PR for him! (Technically, he has a faster PR but they cut the swim that year to 500 yards, so this is a "legit" sprint PR :-))
Whew! We hung out a bit post race and got some eats....chatted with friends (including my awesome blog stalker and volunteer extraordinaire, Stephanie....you rock!), and I found out that I managed to snag 3rd place in my AG (12th overall, but the field was super small, only 70 women). Even though it wasn't my best time at all, I was really happy to place in my new AG (yep, I'm 30-34, even though I'm still 29....they base AG off your age as of 12/31).
I busted out my lil mussel guy from Musselman to pose with my hardware...hey, they told us to travel with those mussels! (Check out the huz's expression in that pic. I think he might be secretly plotting to steal my medal and/or Mussel. I don't blame him on the former...he did beat the pants off me!)
Final thoughts? Always a good race, and Boots and Ellen did a great job. It's also good to know that I am in no worse shape speed wise than during Ironman training....but I really do need to find that extra gear to be able to kick it in for sprints. Maybe if I did more than one a year or any type of speed work, I would find it :-P
Next up...Rochester Tri, August 25th. It'll be a new race for me-can't wait!
See ya Next Year, Sodus!
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