2010 Lake Pflugerville Triathlon Race Report
Pre-Race
I was excited to race the Pflugerville Triathlon again this year. I did it in 2007 (which I think was the first year) and it was a good race. Nice and small (500 people) which I definitely like.
We planned out when we would arrive based on the time transition would be closing, which, according to the race packet was 7:15. So we arrived, parked, headed to transition and just as I arrived, they announced transition was closing in 10 minutes at 7 AM! I went into panic mode, racing around trying to get everything done. I'm usually on auto-pilot and can get everything done efficiently and quickly, but things just weren't going well and I was goofing everything up.
Add to that the fact that my rear wheel was practically flat when Roger went to put my bike on the car. It had been fully inflated the night before. My race wheels are tubulars so it isn't like I can just change out the tube quickly. We pumped it up and took the bike pump to transition (which I never do). I also tried to leave my timing chip in transition next to my stuff. Jack saw it (thank goodness) when he came over to check out my tire.
Roger checked in with the race folks and told them the packet said 7:15, so they gave everyone a few extra minutes, which was nice. But running around like a crazy person made me feel a little like a rookie and left me feeling a little anxious. My other pre-race glitch was that I forgot the straw for my aero drink. Last month I didn't have the right bracket, now I was missing the straw. Brilliant. I can't win with my aero bottle!
I managed to calm down, use the bathroom (twice) and prepare myself to race. Just before the swim start, I felt a tiny twinge of nervousness. It seems I always feel a slight 5 second pang - no matter how many races I've done. Ah well. I said goodbye to Roger and Emmaline and headed into the water, positioning myself in the front (like I always do).
Swim
I started my watch and headed out into the swim. Man, was it rough! My wave was everyone under 35 and boy were we battling it out. I have a bruise on my elbow and I found that when I got out of the swim, my watch was paused - someone must have kicked or hit it! Once I made the turn, things calmed down a lot and I was able to really find my rhythm. I focused on really using good form and I felt really strong in the water.
As I was getting closer to shore, there was a lot of plant-life tangling around me as I swam. At one point, I was so tangled up, I stopped to pull myself free of it. As I ran out of the water, I was still pulling bits of flotsam off my head and arms. Roger yelled out that my time was 10 minutes, which I was grateful for since my watch was accidentally paused. It was a good swim and I was really happy with 10 minutes. (And it was the 4th fastest swim in my age group - yay!)
T1
The run to transition was sort of long and there was a precariously wet set of stairs to get down into the transition area. As I grabbed my helmet and unranked my bike, a familiar wave of nausea hit me. I pushed myself through it and told myself to keep moving and it passed.
Bike
I started out feeling pretty good on the bike. The course was fairly flat with a few little rolling hills here and there, but nothing long or major. I continued on and was happy with a 17 mph average pace. But as I continued on, the miles started going by more slowly. I took some drink and tried to keep myself tucked, but the wind was picking up and my IT band started acting up a bit. (It had been twitchy the week leading up to the race). My average speed started going down down down until it was nearly to 16 mph.
So I just really tried to keep my cadence nice and high as much as possible and rode on. There was a nice flat section with a tailwind and I rode hard, trying to pick up my average a bit. By the end, I was happy to see 16.5 mph on my bike computer.
T2
I hopped off my bike and ran into transition, put on my running shoes, grabbed my race belt and visor and headed out.
Run
The run started with a steep, but short little run up the grass. Ick. Luckily, the rest of the run around the lake was almost completely flat. Unfortunately, it was also sunny and windy. Yuck. So I slogged through the run. It seemed to be forever and I was just really pushing so hard and feeling like I was going so slowly. I took water and walked for a little bit at each water stop and felt a little better, but it was hot and windy and I was ready to be done for the day.
Finally, I saw the finish line and Roger and Emmaline cheering for me so I picked it up the best I could and gave it all I had.
I really had no goals for this race and I purposefully didn't look up my times from 3 years ago and didn't figure out what kinds of times I might want to do. I'm still slower than I was 3 years ago, but I'm also getting faster and starting to catch back up. I'll get back there, eventually!
total time: 1:36:15
288/468 overall
17/31 in age group
500 swim: 10:07 (2:01/M) (4th in age group)
T1: 2:04
14 mi bike 50:55 (16.5 mph)
T2: 1:25
3 mi run: 31:43 (10:34/mi)
I was excited to race the Pflugerville Triathlon again this year. I did it in 2007 (which I think was the first year) and it was a good race. Nice and small (500 people) which I definitely like.
We planned out when we would arrive based on the time transition would be closing, which, according to the race packet was 7:15. So we arrived, parked, headed to transition and just as I arrived, they announced transition was closing in 10 minutes at 7 AM! I went into panic mode, racing around trying to get everything done. I'm usually on auto-pilot and can get everything done efficiently and quickly, but things just weren't going well and I was goofing everything up.
Add to that the fact that my rear wheel was practically flat when Roger went to put my bike on the car. It had been fully inflated the night before. My race wheels are tubulars so it isn't like I can just change out the tube quickly. We pumped it up and took the bike pump to transition (which I never do). I also tried to leave my timing chip in transition next to my stuff. Jack saw it (thank goodness) when he came over to check out my tire.
Roger checked in with the race folks and told them the packet said 7:15, so they gave everyone a few extra minutes, which was nice. But running around like a crazy person made me feel a little like a rookie and left me feeling a little anxious. My other pre-race glitch was that I forgot the straw for my aero drink. Last month I didn't have the right bracket, now I was missing the straw. Brilliant. I can't win with my aero bottle!
I managed to calm down, use the bathroom (twice) and prepare myself to race. Just before the swim start, I felt a tiny twinge of nervousness. It seems I always feel a slight 5 second pang - no matter how many races I've done. Ah well. I said goodbye to Roger and Emmaline and headed into the water, positioning myself in the front (like I always do).
Swim
I started my watch and headed out into the swim. Man, was it rough! My wave was everyone under 35 and boy were we battling it out. I have a bruise on my elbow and I found that when I got out of the swim, my watch was paused - someone must have kicked or hit it! Once I made the turn, things calmed down a lot and I was able to really find my rhythm. I focused on really using good form and I felt really strong in the water.
As I was getting closer to shore, there was a lot of plant-life tangling around me as I swam. At one point, I was so tangled up, I stopped to pull myself free of it. As I ran out of the water, I was still pulling bits of flotsam off my head and arms. Roger yelled out that my time was 10 minutes, which I was grateful for since my watch was accidentally paused. It was a good swim and I was really happy with 10 minutes. (And it was the 4th fastest swim in my age group - yay!)
T1
The run to transition was sort of long and there was a precariously wet set of stairs to get down into the transition area. As I grabbed my helmet and unranked my bike, a familiar wave of nausea hit me. I pushed myself through it and told myself to keep moving and it passed.
Bike
I started out feeling pretty good on the bike. The course was fairly flat with a few little rolling hills here and there, but nothing long or major. I continued on and was happy with a 17 mph average pace. But as I continued on, the miles started going by more slowly. I took some drink and tried to keep myself tucked, but the wind was picking up and my IT band started acting up a bit. (It had been twitchy the week leading up to the race). My average speed started going down down down until it was nearly to 16 mph.
So I just really tried to keep my cadence nice and high as much as possible and rode on. There was a nice flat section with a tailwind and I rode hard, trying to pick up my average a bit. By the end, I was happy to see 16.5 mph on my bike computer.
T2
I hopped off my bike and ran into transition, put on my running shoes, grabbed my race belt and visor and headed out.
Run
The run started with a steep, but short little run up the grass. Ick. Luckily, the rest of the run around the lake was almost completely flat. Unfortunately, it was also sunny and windy. Yuck. So I slogged through the run. It seemed to be forever and I was just really pushing so hard and feeling like I was going so slowly. I took water and walked for a little bit at each water stop and felt a little better, but it was hot and windy and I was ready to be done for the day.
Finally, I saw the finish line and Roger and Emmaline cheering for me so I picked it up the best I could and gave it all I had.
I really had no goals for this race and I purposefully didn't look up my times from 3 years ago and didn't figure out what kinds of times I might want to do. I'm still slower than I was 3 years ago, but I'm also getting faster and starting to catch back up. I'll get back there, eventually!
total time: 1:36:15
288/468 overall
17/31 in age group
500 swim: 10:07 (2:01/M) (4th in age group)
T1: 2:04
14 mi bike 50:55 (16.5 mph)
T2: 1:25
3 mi run: 31:43 (10:34/mi)
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