The longest swim distance I had raced before was 500m so a few months ago the swim leg scared me. I knew that no matter how many times I swam 1500m in the pool an open water swim is a different ballgame. I did an aquathlon at Lake Grapevine a few weeks ago to help me feel more comfortable swimming distance in open water and it served its purpose well. After that day, I was looking forward to the swim leg of the tri. I didn't expect to be fast but I knew I could handle the distance and feel good doing it.
I printed out a nice detailed Olympic tri training schedule but only loosely followed it. I missed a lot of workouts and cut others short. My motivation has been hit or miss since Rock N Roll, honestly. The long layoff from my ankle injury just took me out of my rhythm and I never quite recovered even though my ankle has long since healed.That said, I headed into today a little undertrained across all 3 areas but especially on the bike. I wasn't too worried though because I wasn't really looking to be competitive and I felt confident that all those long runs in marathon training last fall had prepared me for a 3ish hour event.
4:30 came early this morning and I quickly dressed, gathered last-minute items, and headed out for the short drive to the race. I set my transition area up in accordance with my transition practice yesterday and the order I planned to put items on.
A little before 7 my group (all women doing the international distance) got in the water and started our swim. In every previous OWS I'd spend the first 30 seconds or so forgetting that I knew how to swim and freaking out that I couldn't see in the water. Today, however, I immediately began swimming strong strokes and felt comfortable in the water, even with so many other swimmers around me. I started out near the back but ended up passing several people including some men from the previous group. I had practiced in my pool swims getting faster as I progressed so I knew I could hold and even increase pace without worrying that I would run out of gas. I felt great throughout the swim and finished in 41 minutes, not competitive but within my goal time. I can't say I enjoyed the swim leg of previous tris but I enjoyed this one. The nice thing about the longer distance is it gave me a chance to find my groove and settle in.
After the swim I ran out (thankfully, not in the mud as in previous years) and headed into T1. I had prepared to wash my feet off assuming they'd be muddy but instead just slipped on my bike shoes (never-worn before tri shoes I'd bought 2 years ago, breaking the "don't try new things on race day" rule because well, I wanted to check them out), Garmin, gloves, helmet, and sunglasses. It felt like a pretty fast and purposeful T1. Transition practice definitely helped out with that.
Then it was out to the bike course. This is where I should admit that after the aquathlon last month, I felt good about the swim but now the bike become my scary leg. Frankly, practice rides on the tri bike always leave me with a sore neck and shoulders. And I hadn't gotten as much saddle time this year as I should have. Plus, the bike leg brings the danger of crashes with other cyclists, drivers, cones, etc. But previous tri bike legs had always gone fine so I suspected today would as well. And it did.
I wasn't blazing fast-my 18mph average was decent but largely due to the bike. But I felt comfortable out there and while tri bikes aren't the most fun for training rides (especially on a trainer, dear God especially the trainer) they are made for races. I didn't really push my pace (which turned out to be a good decision) but my legs felt great.
T2 was long, only because I had to wait in line for the porta-potty (hey, 3 hour event). Then I was off to the run leg, which I had always banked on being my strength. After all, I'm a runner first and foremost, who swims and bikes a little. This was my bread and butter and a 10k is a short run for me. How hard could a 10k feel, even after 22 miles on the bike? Heck, I did a 10k after 20 miles in my marathon and felt fine.
When I started out on the run my legs felt a little heavy. I told myself that was no big deal, just something to be expected after the bike leg and I'd shake off the heavy leg feeling soon enough. I was right about that but alas, once I began running I realized several things: 1. It's HOT. 2. It's humid. 3. There's not even a hint of shade on the run course. It was 4 loops around a not at all scenic course by the convention center. Occasionally we'd get a teaser of a breeze but no real relief. The sun shone brightly overhead with no clouds to block it. It felt like running in an oven.
My 10k PR is a hair over 50 minutes but that was a stand-alone event in cool weather so I knew it wasn't realistic to expect that. Still, I figured I could finish under an hour, at least. But between my lack of any long training sessions and the feeling of being in Satan's furnace, I was beat. No joke, I walked more in a little over an hour of running a 10k today than I did during my whole marathon in December, and my average pace wasn't much faster than my marathon pace. I almost never walk during an event but I just had no pep in my step today. I used every mental crutch I had to keep my focus off how oppressively hot it was but running a boring loop course in the heat with no music and minimal crowds is just tough. It didn't feel like that 4th lap would ever come but finally it did and I found the energy to run my way across the finish line in 3:06, a little over my goal of sub-3:00 but satisfactory all things considered.
This is the look of satisfaction, exhaustion, and relief:
It wasn't really till afterward that it dawned on me that this was more than twice as long as any tri I'd done before, and from the time I first started training for it to the minute I crossed the finish line I never doubted I could finish it. I didn't foresee such a poor run leg and that was disappointing to me but I'm already thinking ahead how to better prepare for that next year (electrolytes in my aero drink bottle on the bike, ice towels on the run, more hot weather training, better bike base). I finished my first international distance tri, well longer than the "My First Tri" I did 6 years ago that started it all, and I have to remind myself that's actually a pretty big deal. The only longer race I've done was my marathon, and weather was much better for that.
Most importantly, today told me that my goal of a half-Ironman in 2015 is a realistic one. I could do the HIM swim comfortably today, and I've done 9 half marathons so that distance is a good one for me. The 56 mile bike is a big step up; I haven't ridden that far in at least 5 years. But I've got plenty of time to build my bike base and extra motivation to actually do the cross-training in my marathon plan this year (I generally made that a rest day last year). I'm targeting Calgary 70.3 in July 2015 and their average high that time of year is only 70 which after today sounds almost chilly ;)
For now though I shift to the last phase of my year's training schedule, the strength-building phase. I'll largely take the next 2 months off from running, aside from a short run here and there, and I'll get to the gym 3-4 times a week for weight training, with a weekend bike ride. Aside from giving me relief from the heat and a change of pace from all the cardio of the last year the weight training should help me go into marathon training in August in stronger, better shape and hopefully set me up to be faster and less injury-prone. I couldn't tell you the last time I really did any weight training so it's no doubt way overdue. I'm looking foward to the change of pace though, which is important to avoid burnout. Campion Trail, see you in a few months, and gym, we'll be getting to know each other again.
