Keuka Tri 2023: Till Ya Legs Hurt

So, apparently I am the slackiest slacker for race reports post Texas - lets see - uh - 3 weeks ago, I did a lil Olympic local race.  Whoops.  I'm fully aware that most of you use this as a mechanism for insomnia, but for the sake of shits and giggles, I like telling stories anyways :) Let's roll!

The Keuka Lake Tri is an awesome local race located in Penn Yan, about an hour away.  It was a mainstay for us back in the beginning days, but the last time i raced it was 2019  - and the last time I did the Oly was prep for Ironman Lake Placid 2018.  Seems like a lifetime ago - and it basically was!

New management took over the race last year - my buddy Joe, who also runs Peasantman, and was clearly out for the lease on Keuka Lake - which is fine by me!  He asked me to be part of his "First Knight" racing team as a nod to his medieval theme, and I was so down to do it!  Put me in a kit and direct me toward your start line - I can't promise anything serious but I will sure have fun and smile the whole way!

Pre Race was pretty uneventful - I helped prep the day before, then Greg and i got up at o dark thirty to travel to the race.  Typical me, I set up shop then threw a party, finding all my like minded crazy people and giving out hugs, high fives and celebrating like the party it was.  Oh we were here to race?  My bad.  I'll never learn or change, and am totally fine with that.  I got to hang out with a few of my awesome athletes, my coach (who keeps trying to keep my eye on the prize, god help him), my old training buddies, and a few new people!  A few girls caught up with me to say hello and thank them for helping them through their first tri back in 2021, which is always so cool to hear - we are such a fun family as triathletes and when people have a good time and good experience and come back for more, it makes me smile!

I waited for the swim start with my friend Blair, who is part of Team USA and sick fast.  She's also ridiculously nice, so any evil plotting I have in mind is moot - I want to see her kick butt and she does the same for me....she just happens to kick it a little faster lol.  I had few expectations for this race - I wanted to give it my all, but really haven't done much with speed since Texas, and was cognizant of that.  With the water a balmy 58 (BRRR) and almost zero hills under my belt (with a HILLY bike) what could possibly go wrong??

Swim - 1523 yds: 30:14 (1:51/yd)

The swim went off in two waves for the Oly (YAY for no time trial start!) and the women were part of wave two.  The Olympic swim was two loops, and not terribly technical but man was it COLD.  I did the standard - double cap, blew bubbles, etc., but the fact of the matter is, I am not great with cold water.  I have Reynaud's and get cold so quickly, so a chilly swim can kind of mess with me.  Nonetheless, the race conditions were the same for everyone, so you go at it with what you have!  The course was kind of triangular, and there was some decent chop going out, but it evened out after about a third of each loop.  I pulled my Rae special and swam super comfy, and as straight as I could - and mostly alone.  Someday I will find feet.  Today was not that day.  I exited the water in 28 minutes and change, but the run to T1 was pretty long and up some wet stairs where you had to watch it, so the official swim time was just over 30 minutes.  Carry on.

Bike: 25 miles: 1:21:30 (18.5)

The sprint course for Keuka is this wonderful 14 mile out and back, with one climb and some fast sections.  I am an idiot and signed up for the stupid race double the fun.  The Olympic bike starts out much like the sprint, then turns right for a 5 mile uphill portion from miles 10-15 that has about 800 feet of climbing and makes you wish you had hella more gears.  In training for Texas, I rode....very few hills.  And i knew this going in, telling myself that maybe they wouldn't be as bad five years later.  News flash - I am still a moron.  I spun it out the first 10 miles, hovering around 20 mph, then turned right and watched my little bike computer tell me I could run faster (I'm not kidding, guys, there were portions where I was riding 8mph, and see ahead for my run pace LOL).  I played leapfrog with a dude here that would pass me, and then I would spin up and pass him.  After the third time, I asked him if he had done this race before and he said no, so I offered him a pro tip to not blow his load on this section of the course - to spin it easy and then give it hell at the turnaround.  I joked with him that we were not in the same AG and he laughed.  (He found me after the race and thanked me for this - see, not all decisions I make are bad!)  The rest of the bike was uneventful - I made the climb to the turnaround and saw Blair about a zillion miles ahead of me, a few fast bike friends and then as I hit the zoom back, I flew anywhere from 25-35 on the way home (in aero - WEEE!!)  As I hit T2, I laughed at myself, as my avg speed was exactly what it was for Peasantman, in the rain.  Whoops.  Maybe you want to work on some hills and not average Ironman power, Rae?  Good talk, thanks.

Run: 6.23 miles: 45:36 (7:19/mi)

As always, the run is my fave!  I grabbed my water bottle, shucked my tri top and was off!  (Running in a sports bra is just hands down the best, and if the rules allow it, I'm down.)  I had zero idea where I was in the shake up, but was pretty sure I was 4th woman.  The course was tough as we were mixed with the sprint folks, and no one had body marking, so hey, this is what we do.  I saw my old coach heading in from lap one (dude smoked me on the swim and bike, as usual), and a bunch of RATs I danced with.  My athlete and friend Maria was at the turnaround (this was a 2 looper out and back) so I danced and high fived her.  My goal for the run was to be consistent and pick it up if I could - I was averaging about 7:15-7:20 for the first loop and it felt great.  As I hit the second loop one of the spectators commented "You're just gonna run down the field, aren't you?"  And I laughed and said - I'm trying! 

I'll admit, loop 2 was a challenge, but my mantra during the run (and actually, the whole race) is to just have fun and give it my all.  Hit the vollies at the turnaround and danced and high fived and they laughed and said - there she is - smiling again!  Bet your ass I am.  I ran down two women in the second lap that I thought were in the Oly (I was right) and the second pass was with a mile to go, so I hit the gas!!  Passed my crew that did the sprint on the way in, swapped high fives, and ran it in for a time of 2:40 - and a 10k time that was faster than my standalone 10k 3 weeks ago (I am such a triathlete LOL)

Post Race

Post race was just a continuation of the giant party - I came in 2nd female, and since 1st place female won OVERALL, I couldn't be grumpy about it (Go Blair!)  2:40 was about 3 minutes of my Oly PR, which is soft, but since I don't race them that often, I wasn't upset.  We stayed for the awards, caught up with our peoples, and called it a day.

Overall, a decent race - I need to work on Open Water swimming and biking hills and I know this, and I'm cool with it.  Since Texas, I haven't done a crazy amount of focused work, and I'm at peace with it.  When I toe the line at a race, I always try to give it all I've got, but they aren't all A races - and this was not.  It was a Sunday among good friends, doing what we love best - and sometimes, that IS the goal!

Up next - Musselman Half Ironman on July 9.  What's the goal here?  Darned if I know, but we will soon fund out!

Lilac 10k: Beautiful Mistakes

 Because why would we do rational things after Ironman?

This race write up/post Ironman blog is kind of a few weeks behind - the  actual 10k was May 21, but still worth noting, mostly because of the epic shitshow that it was.  You think I poop rainbows and sunshine?  Hah! Read on, folks!

So, after Texas, I did all the wrong things.  (Are we shocked?)  I knew it.  My coach knew it.  My coach knew that I knew it, but like the good guy he is, he only intervened when he got nervous.  I didn't train, but I certainly didn't recover, either.  I did what I wanted, when I wanted to do it, and how I wanted to do it - namely in the form of shit swim yards, shit bike miles, and shit run miles.  Some of those shit miles were super fun, mind you, but all shit.

I looked toward the summer with a few goals in mind - namely, swim form and getting my bike to operate the way I wanted.  I've talked a bit with a swim coach, and picked up a few tips to try (some I'm better at following than others) and also played a lot with my bike in terms of adjustments for fit and fixing the damned auto chain drop.  Felix (that's my bike) has been playing well on his own terms, and it took me far too long to get the hint that maybe I was the problem.

But the "race" (yes, thats in air quotes for a reason)- that came first.  Let's talk about it.  After two weeks of bullshit post Texas, I started back up with training - training lite. ….about half the volume of Ironman build. It wasn't crazy intense, but my metrics were way off (are we shocked?  its amazing how smart I can be with my athletes yet so stupid myself.  Yes, I own this). I wasn't failing anything, but my body without a doubt was reminding me that I pushed hard for a Kona spot for 4 months.  And then....a Boston spot for 3 months before that .  Basically, I had been going since November 2021 with a whole whopping 4 week break.  Duh.  I, of course, as "May Rae" did not grasp this yet, so when my running buddies suggested the Lilac 10k two days before the race I said...sounds terrible....what time??  LOL

Race day - on the heels of one of the most shit -tastic weekends I've had in years, I woke up with very few expectations.  I might know how to run low and slow, but I hadn't raced an open 10k since....2012??  My PR was a 44:01, a split from a half marathon.  Welp, let's see what we can do!  

My coach offered only two words of advice - "Get em".  With scientific instructions like that, I added in my own complicated variables of little sleep, a wicked stomachache, a super messy life, and zero speedwork and we were gonna go for anything under an 8 minute mile. Aim low, have fun - right?

 Very fittingly, I went to the race with my bestie, Laura (said fellow dumpster fire friend - though lets not kid ourselves, she nailed the race and I am not worthy for her coattails (yes, that's a joke)).  Regardless, she had me laughing and ready to have a blast - which was the point and so much needed - I love that girl!

The actual race?  Oh you wanna know about that?  Well, lets call it a beautiful mistake.  The 10k course was about 1.5 miles of downhill, a few rollers, and then a gradual climb to the finish.  I lined up behind Dumpster Fire Dave and his friend Inga (who regularly run mid 6s) and took a few super serious selfies with Laura's sister, Megan.  I had zero expectations other than a great pain face at the finish, which, with my current mental and physical state, was probably the smartest goal I set.  Before I knew it - we were off!

And, as follows, is my race - otherwise known as how to epically F*ck up a 10k.  We can do this one in
ten easy steps - its much more fun that way!

1.  Run the first mile out of the gate as fast as you can.  Hit the mile marker in 6:32 - realizing this is your second fastest mile ever in a race.  Realize that this is very, very bad.

2.  Make casual conversation with the runner that you tried to outkick at Running of the Green as you're gasping for breath, and she is ya know - actually racing.  Wave cheerily as she takes off.

3.  Throw down high fives and dance moves at the RRC tent and join the party.  Wait, I'm supposed to race?

4.  Hit the 5k point in 22:01 and realize that you have fully, and completely, run out of gas.  But you....signed up for the 10k. Shit.

5.  Walk the next two hills like the sucker you are, playing Maroon 5's "Beautiful Mistakes" on repeat on your ipod.  This song was made for me.

6.  Take a deep breath and laugh at your idiocy for this race and enjoy the sunshine - smile and realize that even though your life is an epic disaster there is really...nowhere else in the world you would want to be (I think part of this has merit!)

7.  Take the final mile with a smile and hand slap those wonderful RRC folks again!

8.  Throw down crazy pain face, complete with jazz hands, to your own personal photographer thats yelling crap at you as you try to run to the finish (Thanks Brian!)

9.  Cross the finish line, dry heave, and wonder why in the hell you paid $50 for this.

10.  Find all your awesome friends at the finish who talked you into this shit and remember....exactly

why.

With a finish of 45:50, and 3rd in my Age group (how the hell did that happen) Lilac 10k was a wrap.  With a pace of 7:22, it was uh....slower than half marathon pace, but hey, sometimes life is best experienced by just saying "F*ck it - let's do this" and even though it hurt - I don't regret it. (That may, in fact, bey life motto).

And thankfully, it finally opened my eyes to actually get my shit together for the rest of the season!  The goal posts have been moved a bit for June and July, but I'm FINALLY getting my groove back - thank goodness.  Up next is Keuka Lake Tri - an Olympic race that I haven't done since 2011 - check this out for a laugh!)  Goal?  Legit, to have fun!  The water will be cold, the bike hilly, and the run a blast - and with so many friends there, its definitely gonna be a party!!  LET's GO!