posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Race Report

Luckily race day #2 didn’t have to start terribly early.  Start time was 8:30am and the drive would only take 20ish minutes with simple parking logistics.  The morning was even cooler than Saturday and I don’t think most of us were ready for it to be in the low 50s.  While it would give us another beautiful day to race, it was a chilly start for sure!

Tony and I arrived as planned…picked up race packets and quickly spotted the rest of the crew doing their own preparations.  As expected, parking was conveniently located to packet pick-up and transition, which is always a bonus.  Set up went smoothly and once again Tony and I were racked in transition side by side.  We all reconvened with plenty of time to get some pre-race snapshots and then find a spot of sun (we were all cold!!) to wait.

This race was new to all of us racing from the team.  It took place at the Sandling Beach State Recreational Area at Falls Lake.  It is a unique distance…a hybrid between a traditional international distance and a half iron distance.  The distances were 1 mile swim, 40 mile bike and 9 mile run. 

The swim was a time trial start with all participants starting the swim one at a time going off every couple of seconds.  The 2-loop one mile swim was a triangular shaped course with the swim start/finish on a sandy beach area. We swam the first lap of the swim, briefly exited the water, and then re-entered the water to swim the second lap.   By the time we got to the swim, I think we were ready to get in the water since we were all quite chilly.  The water temperature allowed for a wetsuit legal swim, but we knew the water was going to feel nice compared to the morning air temperature! 

As I began my second day of racing I was not sure how I was going to feel.  I started swimming and realized that I was not feeling that bad!  I was able to get in my groove fairly quickly.  As expected, the water felt amazing, so not a bad start at all!!! 

As I rounded the first turn buoy the water definitely changed.  I could immediately feel the chop and the attempt to swim in a straight line was even more of a challenge than normal because I could feel like I was being pushed out from the buoy line.  I needed to sight more frequently and try my best to compensate for the current.  Overall, I think I did a decent job with the conditions.  As I approached the second turn buoy, I was getting a bit pinched between two men.  One of which decided to try to hammer over me and unfortunately I let that piss me off.  Wasted energy….I just don’t get it though…this is a small race and I certainly didn’t start at the front of the pack to battle the typically more aggressive swimmers!!! 

As I was sighting back into the shore, I was having a bit of trouble seeing the dancing man at the finish line.  After I finally spotted it, I felt like I was back at shore pretty quickly.  I made my way out of the water and just a few seconds out before I was starting the second lap.  This time through was a bit smoother.  I knew exactly what to expect and I did not have any body contact to distract me.  Before I knew it, I was making my way out of Falls Lake for the second time and headed into T1 to strip out of the wetsuit and jump on the bike.              

The 40 mile bike course exited the park where we made our way out onto the course before beginning the two 15.5-mile loops.  The bike course description is described as “rolling”, but definitely includes a couple of pretty challenging hills.  We were fortunate enough to ride the course a couple of times in training, so knew exactly what to expect….including the hills.  I had planned to take the first few miles very easy in order to keep the heart rate in check and try to figure out what I had in my legs for the day.  The loop section starts on Beaverdam Road and this is one stretch I was looking forward to the least.  It does not have the toughest climbs, but it is not flat and ends up being more challenging than you expect as you ride it.  Plus, it feels like it will never end!   I was glad to get though with Beaverdam Road for the first time but also knew at that point that my legs were feeling some fatigue.  I pretty much knew I would not be able to push like I usually like to on the bike…there was still a 9-mile run remaining to complete this double down challenge.  Usually during a race I am very focused on my Garmin data, but decided to take a different approach and really go by feel for the rest of the ride. The hills were just what I knew they would be and I tried to take them as easy as possible, keep the effort at a reasonable level and not spike my heart rate too much.  

The second loop was pretty similar to the first in the way I rode and the level of effort.  I checked my Garmin a few times during the ride, but it was nice to mix things up a bit and not have the extreme focus on the numbers that I typically do.   I was happiest after completing Beaverdam Road for the second time, even though the toughest climbs were still ahead.  There is just something about that stretch of road….

The 9-mile run course stayed completely inside the park boundaries. It was a two loop course with each loop being 4.5 miles, and because the run is entirely on park roads, much of the entire run course is shaded (even though heat was not a factor).  The first mile was tough running off the bike.  I thought, oh no!  This is going to be a very long nine miles!  Before the end of the first mile, I felt like I had a small twig in my sock.  I debated back and forth about whether I should stop and try to clean out my sock and finally decided that was the smart move.  While it did cost me about a minute or so, I think it was the right decision.  After that brief stop during the first mile, I felt like I finally got my legs within the next half mile.  YAY!  I saw Tony and the other guys soon thereafter.

As I progressed on the course I felt like I was able to stay on a pretty consistent pace throughout the nine miles.  I think making the decision to ride by feel on the bike helped me to stay strong on the run.    Overall I liked this run course…there were a few rollers we had to contend with, but nothing too crazy…just enough to keep us honest!  The bonus was the format allowed me to spot my teammates on course.

The finish line was a welcome sight.  Tony was there and I immediately said to him“the off season starts now”!  This back to back race format was certainly a challenge, but I am glad that I tackled it.

Post-race included awards where a couple of the guys had podium places, including Tony being awarded third place overall for the double down challenge as there was a separate awards group for the folks that completed both races.  They somehow botched the recognition of the women that completed both races when they announced that only two women had completed it (when there was actually nine and neither I, my teammate April, nor the several women I was standing around were included in the two that were recognized).

I later learned that I had placed third overall woman of the double down challenge.

Those of us that raced were joined by several others from the team for a cookout there in the park.  It was a gorgeous afternoon and a nice way to celebrate our two day racing affair.

Later that evening Tony and I had a quiet dinner for two sitting outside at our favorite sushi restaurant.  My birthday was celebrated doing something I love to do with great people! What better way to start a new year than challenging yourself to do new things that are tough and outside your comfort zone?  Especially when I can share the experience with my husband and three amazing training partners!  I was thankful to start year 43 this way and know that this will be a fantastic 43!         

 

posted by Lee@Tri*Inspired*Life on Race Report

After Chattanooga 70.3 in May (which was my season “A” race, at least early season), I was not sure what I would tackle for the rest of the season.  Initially my thought would be some local Olympic distance or sprints.  One of my teammates that has also completed Choo, found a challenge that she threw out to the rest of us.  It was called the “Double Down”.  It was a collaboration between two local production companies.  The FS Series race called the Battle at Buckhorn (sprint) was on Saturday and the Set-Up Events race called the Sandling 50 (not a standard distance race….a total of 50 miles) was on Sunday.  They were offering a super economical price to race both (the total just a bit over the cost of one stand-alone race).  At first I thought…”nope”, but as the time passed through the summer, I thought it might be a cool challenge to go for.  What better way to spend my birthday weekend than racing back to back….right?!?!?!?  In the end, there were five of us that ended up going for the Double Down challenge! 

Saturday’s race is one of my favorite sprints.  Well now that I mention it, maybe it IS my favorite sprint since I have completed it four times.  In the days leading up to race weekend, I had thought about how I wanted to handle these races.  The final decision was that I would go for the sprint and give it an effort level like it was my only race for the weekend and then just give whatever I had left in the tank for the race Sunday.

Saturday morning was like a typical race morning.  No drama or hiccups….we left (generally) on time and arrived to race parking at the goal time.  The parking is a short-“ish”walk from transition, just still far enough that you need to plan accordingly.  Most of the team arrived within a few minutes of each other and we made our way together. 

Leading up Saturday, we had warmer days, but a couple of the mornings late in the week had temperatures cool enough that we expected a wet suit legal swim.  Also, temperatures for race weekend were expected to drop and feel very “fall like”.  Great racing weather!!!!! 

The swim included three waves….all women started at 8:00, men 39 & under at 8:07 and men 40 & up and 8:10.  They used the “ladies first” format that they started last year and I am glad they have maintained it rather than the mass start with the guys from a couple of years ago.  The water was 76 degrees and I felt good in the water.  I was able to quickly get my rhythm and maintain it throughout the 750 meter swim.  Plus, I felt like my sighting was really good (big win for me).  According to my Garmin, I swam 841 yards (769 meters).  With the wetsuit, I feel I should have averaged a quicker pace, but I will focus on the positives! 

The 17 mile bike course is fairly typical for our area.  A few rollers, a few flats and one memorable hill.  This year the race company threw in a bit of incentive by making the aforementioned “memorable hill” a Strava segment.  They awarded Queen of the Mountain and King of the Mountain for the first time this year.  The overall female winner won QOM, which is not complete surprise, but it was a neat concept to track. 

I feel like I rode fairly well overall.  The hill is around mile 12 but it was not until after that where I felt like I could really gain extra momentum.  I rode better than last year, but still my PR on the bike course stands from two years ago (and that was a hotter year….ugh!!).

Onto the run. 

The 5k distance in a sprint is never easy and I wanted to see what I had.  My run splits got progressively faster, which I will take.  I was pushing hard and was hoping to squeak out a sub-8 minute average (which was my Garmin PR from AGAIN 2 years ago), but I was happy with my effort.  I knew there were a couple of other girls in my AG really close and I stayed strong.  Little did I know that Tony was making up serious ground on me and passed me just 50 feet or so from the finish chute!  I was happy for him because I successfully served as his “rabbit” which gave him a super run time!!

We hung around for awards because we had a couple of podium finishers in the group, including Tony nabbing second in his AG. 

I finished fourth overall in my AG, but was pleased with my race effort and delivery. 

The team headed back to Raleigh where we met up for a great brunch (pancakes and French toast everywhere) to discuss our individual experiences and to chat about the longer of the two races the following day.  The rest of the afternoon was all about recovery and being in the best shape we could going into day two!!!     

Day two race report, still to come!!