Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Wine Capital of Canada Olympic Triathlon – Race Report – Part II

Sorry I left you guys hanging on the race report.  I had to hit the road yesterday morning!

TRANSITION

I tried to be purposeful.  Blot the feet with a towel.  Put on socks, bike shoes, helmet and get out of there.  There were even still bikes on my rack – yay!  I thanked one of the triathlon officials for being there as I ran out and took off!DSCN0746

THE BIKE

I felt great leaving on the bike.  I stayed in an easy gear to spin the legs out and get the heart rate down.  Traffic control was great on the course as the first few intersections we went through were quite busy.  The folks did a great job of making sure we were safe.  Soon after coming out of transition was a big hill.  I pedaled and pushed, the heart rate rising.  I could hear someone behind me but they were obviously waiting for the downhill to make their move.  After the hill I was able to gear down and pedal with a bunch of power.  I passed a few people, a few people passed me.  I downed one gel about 20 minutes in, as per my plan.IMGP2096 There were some nasty clouds in the sky that morning and I really hoped we wouldn’t get rained on.  So much for wishful thinking!  It began to rain as I turned the corner on to Highway 97.  This is the part of the course that is perfect for getting in aero and just going.  With the rain I was definitely feeling more cautious.  I was sitting up more.  Perhaps not picking off people ahead like I would have liked.  In Calgary it is either sunny or it snows so I don’t have too much experience riding in the rain.  Shortly before coming into transition the rain stopped.  I downed my second gel about 10 or 15 minutes from transition.  Despite riding more cautiously I still rode a few minutes faster than last year.DSCN0752I like this picture.  My parents were out on the course and found a couple of spots to take pictures at.  My mom spotted me and she was walking towards me to get closer for a picture.  I told her she should hurry up or she’d miss me and this was the picture…  Guess I was riding fast!

Bike – 40 km + T1 +T2 – 1:22:04
Garmin Bike Time – 1:18:27
Overall 84 out of 143

THE RUN

I tried to act quickly in transition.  Unfortunately I have no way to figure out what my T1 and T2 times are though.  I racked the bike, took off the helmet, changed shoes, stuffed a gel in my pocket and took off with my visor and my Garmin in my hand.  This year I used my Garmin Edge on my bike and the Forerunner on the run, where as last year I only used my Forerunner.

Ugh, my legs felt heavy…  I have definitely not done enough bricks yet this year!  Soon after coming out of transition was an aid station and I grabbed a water and a Gatorade.  I tried to dial back the pace a bit because of my plan to even or negative split.  The course is two loops with plenty of rolling hills.  Last year it was so hot and sunny on the run course.  This year it stayed overcast pretty well the entire time which felt great.  I chugged along on the run, debating when to take my last gel.  At the aid station at 2.5 km or at 5 km?  I’m not really sure why I settled on the 5 km mark, but that was the one I picked!  Although I had hoped to run consistently, what I was doing was consistently slowing down, just a little bit.  I kept moving though, only walking at the aid stations to down fluids.  Some folks just blew past me on the run like I was standing still.  I tried to see where the girls in my age group were at.  I knew I was ahead of a few, but I couldn’t tell how many were in front of me.  Oh well, not much I could do about that!

With 1K left to go I felt something loosen around my waist and my race belt fell off.  The elastic end came loose through one of the buckles.  I turned around to pick it up.  Rather than fiddling with it I just crunched it up in my hand and carried it.  Then finally…the finish line was in sight.  I had no idea where my net time was in relation to last year’s until then. DSCN0759 DSCN0760I saw that I could squeak in under 2:56 so I took off down the hill to the finish.IMGP2116

Run – 10 km – 58:16
Overall 99 out of 143

Final Time – 2:55:37
Overall 99 out of 143
34 out of 61 Women
Women 30 – 34: 4 out of 9

The number 3 girl in my age group beat me by a solid 11 minutes so there was no contest for an age group prize.  The girl who came in first was also third female overall.  If they separated out top 3 overall from age groupers I had a shot at an award, but it was not to be.  Oh well, I cannot be disappointed in my day at all, swimming, biking and running strong and improving over last year’s time on the same course by 3 minutes.

I changed soon after finishing and grabbed some food.  They were cooking up burgers for us, plus they had some potato and bean salads, cookies, fruit and chips.  A great spread!  Family members could eat too by donation, which is a nice touch.  I stuck around for the door prizes and awards and that was that.  I’ll leave you with a few more pictures from the day!IMGP2130Hey…look at that, I forgot to turn my Garmin off…oops!  IMGP2139 IMGP2140

And by the way, thanks so much for all of your great comments on the blog or on Facebook.  You guys are great!!!!!

18 comments:

Heather said...

Awesome!!! Worth celebrating!!!!

Julie said...

Great race -- and awesome to see you improved from last year!! :)

TNTcoach Ken said...

Damn race belt! There was your eleven minutes..........Ha, great job especially with the rain!

kristen said...

Congrats again! Riding in the rain sounds no fun...glad you managed to go faster than last year despite having to be cautious.

Marlene said...

Great second part to the report! Riding in the rain must have been nerve-racking! Congrats on the time improvements. You also placed well overall!

Wes said...

Way to start the season off with a bang! 102 and counting :-)

Heidi said...

Fantastic! You did great.

Beth said...

Very exciting start to your tri racing season Leana! With many great things to come! :) Oh and I can't tell you how many times I've struggled with race belts in races. I've ended up carrying an awful lot of numbers... ;)

Molly said...

Great job on the coures PR and kicking off your year in style!!! Way to push through!

Lindsay said...

congrats!! sounds like a great race. a few hiccups, sure, but those are always gonna be there in some form or fashion. too funny about the pic your mom "got", it's always nice to have them there though!

Badgergirl said...

Great job on the race!

ShirleyPerly said...

Congratulations, Leana!!

I don't love riding in the rain but at least on straight flat courses it doesn't usually seem to make much difference speed-wise, except when stopping. Way to push through on all segments of your race well!!

Rainmaker said...

Congrats on the race! Well done!

It's amazing how much of the race scenery reminds me of IMC. :)

J said...

Great job on your first tri of 2010!! Awesome job!! You look great in all the photos! That is nice they wet suit strippers! I can't imagine trying to get one of those off after swimming!

Aron said...

wow you did GREAT girl!!! now that chris is doing tris and i have gone to a couple i am just in awe :) you are amazing! keep up the awesome work!

Alisa said...

You did fantastic!

I really need to work on my bike to run transition. I also like your idea of letting the legs spin a little when you first get on the bike to let your heart rate come down---so true.

I am working on figuring nutrition out but I could use a set strategy--must work on this!

Way to go girl!

Marathon Maritza said...

Wow, Leana, GREAT JOB! You did awesome!!! What a great first tri of the year!

Nicole @ Haute Runner said...

Great job!!! I love reading your race reports- even if you make me feel slow!!! What an awesome improvement from last year. You are going to rock IMC!!