I don't chase boys; I prefer to pass them. -Ultramax event t-shirt
This is all about my race so if anyone is reading this and is bored with my tri-geekdom you might as well skip it. Cool video at the end though.
Log: Sat. race day. Monday: flats ride, solo, headwind, 17.6mph. Beautiful cool night/70degrees. Why do I always feel the urge to "moo" at cows who are minding their own business? But I do it every time. When I'm riding alone that is.
My weekend was pretty consumed by the race events at the beautiful Innsbrook resort. Morgan went with me to pick up my packet/t-shirt/volunteer info friday night and decided to enter the kids aquathon to be held Sat. afternoon. That's my girl! Listened to pre-race talk about course changes etc.. Chatted with fellow tri-club members who are surpisingly hard to recognize sans workout gear, ponytails and sunglasses.
5:30am...pack my bag and drive to site in beautiful sunshine...but a little humid. Works for me. Didn't forget anything. Whew! Body marked and transition set up by 7:20am...stand around and wait to go down to the water. Enjoy the all estrogen atmosphere. The guys race tomorrow and usually they are all business and I always feel like I'm in their way. Very different vibe today and we like it! Get in portapotty line twice (anxious bladder).
Cannon went off about 8:20am. I knew to position myself towards the front because of all three sports...swimming is still my strongest. And swimming is hard to do when someone is kicking you in the face and/or swimming over your legs and I wanted to avoid that. Fast pace out and then as the pack thins I can settle in. Works like a charm until I start to get a little winded. Stopped kicking as hard and let my arms to the work. Felt great after that....and was 5th out of the water! (a little over 8 minutes) Cap and goggles come off and I run up the hill to slip socks/biking shoes/helmet on and run out of transition to the bike mount. Key here is to bring the heart rate down a little and get a comfortable spin going. Ha! I was in 5th place! And surprise surprise...I forgot to start my bike computer. So I was never sure how my time was. First 5-6 miles is HILLY....like sucking wind/legs burning hilly. Got passed by a few but got passed by a few more on the flatter section in the middle of the bike. This is where aerobars (the cool looking bars that allow you to stretchout over the handlebars of you bike which creates a more aerodynamic path and generates more power) make a difference. That is going to be my next investment. Anyway...the second half of the course I had to myself. This is also the part of the race where I can tolerate taking calories in. Gatorade and shot blox do the trick. I'm a heavy sweater so I need to take in alot of fluids even in a short race. Talk myself up and over the last big monster of a hill and back into the resort. Loose dog creating a moving obstacle but managed okay. (a little over 1:05 for 17+mile bike) Dismount, rack bike, loose helmet, switch shoes, snap on race number belt and off I go again. Encounter huge hill (buzzkill!) and I am walking in the first 1/4 mile of the run. Bummer! So much for that goal. I was not alone though. Even seasoned triathletes talk about walking this course all the time. Sometimes you can even make up time that way. First mile slightly uphill, second mile is huge hills and the last half mile is finally sloping downhill. I finished with a smile on my face in 24th position overall (top third!!!) and 5th in my age group. 3.25m run was a little over (33 min). first race where I felt I finished strong and can't wait to do it again next year! Maybe the long course.....
Here's the video if you're interested(click on the video link)....you can see me in the first few seconds...in a red tank with lovely blue goggles on. We were just about to take off...
Video - In contrast to the weather faced by the men on Sunday, the women's race on Saturday was in many ways the perfect day. Appropriately, our raceday video is set to Hoku's song by the same name. You know the download drill by now. It's a Windows Media Video. (15.27MB). Enjoy.
Log: Sat. race day. Monday: flats ride, solo, headwind, 17.6mph. Beautiful cool night/70degrees. Why do I always feel the urge to "moo" at cows who are minding their own business? But I do it every time. When I'm riding alone that is.
My weekend was pretty consumed by the race events at the beautiful Innsbrook resort. Morgan went with me to pick up my packet/t-shirt/volunteer info friday night and decided to enter the kids aquathon to be held Sat. afternoon. That's my girl! Listened to pre-race talk about course changes etc.. Chatted with fellow tri-club members who are surpisingly hard to recognize sans workout gear, ponytails and sunglasses.
5:30am...pack my bag and drive to site in beautiful sunshine...but a little humid. Works for me. Didn't forget anything. Whew! Body marked and transition set up by 7:20am...stand around and wait to go down to the water. Enjoy the all estrogen atmosphere. The guys race tomorrow and usually they are all business and I always feel like I'm in their way. Very different vibe today and we like it! Get in portapotty line twice (anxious bladder).
Cannon went off about 8:20am. I knew to position myself towards the front because of all three sports...swimming is still my strongest. And swimming is hard to do when someone is kicking you in the face and/or swimming over your legs and I wanted to avoid that. Fast pace out and then as the pack thins I can settle in. Works like a charm until I start to get a little winded. Stopped kicking as hard and let my arms to the work. Felt great after that....and was 5th out of the water! (a little over 8 minutes) Cap and goggles come off and I run up the hill to slip socks/biking shoes/helmet on and run out of transition to the bike mount. Key here is to bring the heart rate down a little and get a comfortable spin going. Ha! I was in 5th place! And surprise surprise...I forgot to start my bike computer. So I was never sure how my time was. First 5-6 miles is HILLY....like sucking wind/legs burning hilly. Got passed by a few but got passed by a few more on the flatter section in the middle of the bike. This is where aerobars (the cool looking bars that allow you to stretchout over the handlebars of you bike which creates a more aerodynamic path and generates more power) make a difference. That is going to be my next investment. Anyway...the second half of the course I had to myself. This is also the part of the race where I can tolerate taking calories in. Gatorade and shot blox do the trick. I'm a heavy sweater so I need to take in alot of fluids even in a short race. Talk myself up and over the last big monster of a hill and back into the resort. Loose dog creating a moving obstacle but managed okay. (a little over 1:05 for 17+mile bike) Dismount, rack bike, loose helmet, switch shoes, snap on race number belt and off I go again. Encounter huge hill (buzzkill!) and I am walking in the first 1/4 mile of the run. Bummer! So much for that goal. I was not alone though. Even seasoned triathletes talk about walking this course all the time. Sometimes you can even make up time that way. First mile slightly uphill, second mile is huge hills and the last half mile is finally sloping downhill. I finished with a smile on my face in 24th position overall (top third!!!) and 5th in my age group. 3.25m run was a little over (33 min). first race where I felt I finished strong and can't wait to do it again next year! Maybe the long course.....
Here's the video if you're interested(click on the video link)....you can see me in the first few seconds...in a red tank with lovely blue goggles on. We were just about to take off...
Video - In contrast to the weather faced by the men on Sunday, the women's race on Saturday was in many ways the perfect day. Appropriately, our raceday video is set to Hoku's song by the same name. You know the download drill by now. It's a Windows Media Video. (15.27MB). Enjoy.
posted by mimikatemom at
12:26 PM
4 Comments:
Congrats on the good finish!
Now teach me how to put video into a blog!!!
Wow Erin. That wasn't at all boring. I thought it would be, but it wasn't. Congratumegalations!
I could do a tri if I enjoyed running or swimming even a LITTLE bit.
Just watched the vid. You look awesome except for the alien bug goggles.
Hi Erin, I finally got around to watching the video! It is so exciting to see you doing that! Nice job on such a strong finish!! The song was so appropriate too! I love that you are a part of the tri-world! If I didn't know that I would drown, I would maybe give it a shot, but I think I'll just stick to the running part! Haley is going to tackle a kid's tri at the end of June. I think I'm way more excited about it than she is!!
Keep up the blog, it's always fun to read. You are such an inspirational person and I always come away feeling happy just to have you in my life. Our girls emails are getting sparse with the nice weather so we should work on that!!
Hey, Bret saw some speaker at a conference and he had a quote that made me think of you. It is "Pain happens, suffering is optional". It reminded me of you because of the positive attitude you always manage to have regardless of the situation. I respect and love you to pieces for that!!
We need to plan our next girl's night or weekend soon. November is too far away to have that be our next big one!
Marathon training has officially started and it's exciting and scary all at the same time!! When's the next tri??
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