2011 Austin Triathlon Race Report
This year's Austin Triathlon was a hard race for me, mostly because of the run, but timewise, I still did well and met my expectations. I knew going into the race that it wasn't going to be my perfect race. I was coming off a big ramp up to my "A" race (America's Finest City Half Marathon) and was focusing a lot on my running (to the detriment of my biking and swimming). Also, while I was in San Diego for the race, I really didn't do any training the week after the race. Then once I got home it was time to "taper" again for this race. So it was a week of taper, a hard race, a week of vacation/recovery, another week of taper, then this race. Not ideal, but doable.
Pre-Race
4:30 AM wakeup, breakfast, get ready and out the door by myself at around 5:20 (Roger and Emmaline were coming later). Arrived a bit before 6 and got my stuff set up. Then I found Michelle in transition and we chatted for a bit before heading down to the swim start where we chatted until her wave went off.
Swim
The swim wasn't wetsuit legal this year, which I was fine with. I feel like it doesn't really help me that much and it's so much of a hassle to deal with. The water was super warm and really low. At some points we were swimming through a lot of plants and it was sort of icky.
The swim was pretty uneventful. I felt good, I did some drafting and made good buoy turns. I kept pulling to the right, though, which was sort of annoying. I did it last year, too, but I don't do it during other open water swims. I don't know if it's racing or if it's Town Lake. It's an out and back swim and like last year, the way back just felt really long and I felt ready to be done, but I wasn't tired or hurting or anything. I just felt ready to move on and do something else. I was pretty happy with my swim given that I swam 4 times during the whole month of August and only one of them was for longer than 30 minutes.
The end of the swim is awkward because there's a wooden ramp they stick into the water for you to climb up, but it's pretty abrupt. Thankfully, there were AWESOME swim exit volunteers that literally yanked me up and out of the water. I thanked them all as profusely as I could.
T1
The run up to transition is long. I trotted along through the dirt to my bike, grabbed my sunglasses and helmet, then my bike and headed out. It was a long run to bike out making for a 3 minute transition time. Better than last year when I was dealing with my wetsuit and it took me nearly a minute and a half longer.
On my way to the mount line I saw Roger and Emmaline with a Texas Iron cheering section! It was great to see them just before the bike to give me a little mental boost. I mounted my bike and my feet were a mess with gravel and dirt and mud. I remembered last year I tried to wipe them with my hands, thereby making my hands a big mess so this year I just jammed them in. That was worse because I spent the whole bike with rocks and gravel rolling around my shoes.
Bike
I'd been on my bike exactly 3 times in the month of August and it already isn't my strong suit. I killed this bike course 4 years ago in 1:23:15 but I knew that was impossible. Really, I was just hoping to be close to my time from last year (1:28:51). So I lapped my computer on each of the 3 laps and tried to keep them all around 29 minutes. I was mostly successful, coming in at 1:29:20 so just a minute slower than last year. But I knew I was pushing hard - much harder than last year.
The bike was also fairly uneventful, other than probably going a bit too hard. It was windy out there but I didn't care. I've made my peace with the wind. It pushed me up the hill so I figure we're even.
I stuck to my eating and drinking plan so that was all good and I saw Roger and Emmaline cheering on every loop (for this reason, I actually really like looped courses).
T2
I made my way back into transition just as my butt was starting to hurt from the saddle (and my butt not being used to the saddle over the last month). I walked through transition, got my feet wiped off (finally) and put my running shoes on. I grabbed a gel and put it in my jersey because it was my plan to eat it, but I really really didn't want to (and I never did). I walked…slowly…toward the run course.
Run
I really really didn't want to run. In fact, I just wanted to be done. It was ALL I could do to start running. I was drained and tired and my legs just didn't want to go. But somehow I started running and really felt like I was struggling. From the beginning I just felt horrible. I thought about quitting. I thought about walking. I thought about how slowly I was going. I thought about the gu in my pocket and wondered if I should eat it. But I didn't feel like I was bonking and I didn't know that it was going to make much difference at that point anyway. My stomach wasn't upset or anything, but it was still completely unappetizing.
I got through the first mile and looked down to see a 10 something on my watch. That was heartening considering I thought it was going to be a 12 something. I felt like I was going so so slowly. The miles did not tick by and I knew I was paying for pushing on the bike.
Thankfully, I had all that run training under me or I would have completely crumbled. But I was still in a very bad place mentally. I've never felt like that during a triathlon. Ever. It was horrible and miserable and I really just wanted to cry. Those miles were so slow. It was the slowest hour of my life. I thought about quitting so many times - I can't even count.
But somehow, for some reason, I just kept going. I saw a sign, it said something like, "Tri because you can and not being able to is even harder." That made me feel like a jerk for thinking of quitting so I kept going. Also, having done longer stuff (and this length triathlon 3 other time, I knew I could do it). Roger and Emmaline kept me going - every time I saw them, it was like a new burst of energy. Betsy kept me going. And Karen Smith, who passed me and hollered out some words of advice about my form, really kept me going. When I finished the first loop and saw 29 minutes on my watch, I realized I was actually running at a pretty good clip. I was baffled about why I felt so slow. So I kept thinking about Karen's words and really concentrated on my form and just kept going. (Thank you Karen!)
It wasn't any easier, but once I hit mile 4, I knew 2 miles was doable. I made a deal with myself that I could walk the water stops - something I hate doing. After the water stop, I picked it up again and just kept running. 1 mile to go - keep running. When I had about half of a mile to go, I knew I was going to make it and I gave every last bit I had. With about a tenth of a mile to go, Roger was there, cheering and carrying Emmaline and running beside me, which was hilarious.
Finally I was done and I felt emotional and awful and relieved all at the same time. It was probably the most emotional I've felt at a finish with the exception of my half-Ironman. I was wiped out and it was just a hard day.
I'm so glad I didn't quit or walk the rest of the run (other than the water stops in the second lap). In the end, I ran 1:01:05, which is actually pretty great (obviously not a negative split, but I'm still happy). It's 3 minutes faster than last year which makes me very happy. And really, with my bike and swim each being about a minute slower than last year with much less training, clearly I'm doing better than last year. Overall, my time was 3 minutes faster than last year which is great.
I wasn't sore at all the next day after the race which confused me a bit (because I was really sore after my half marathon 2 weeks ago). It doesn't really matter, but it was odd. Either way, each race I do is a good training day for my body and a good lesson for future races.
Results:
3:07:00 - 23/41 in age group, 146/312 total women
swim - 30:42 - 2:03/M
T1 - 3:09
bike - 1:29:20 - 16.7 mph
T2 - 2:42
run - 1:01:05 - 9:51/mi
Pre-Race
4:30 AM wakeup, breakfast, get ready and out the door by myself at around 5:20 (Roger and Emmaline were coming later). Arrived a bit before 6 and got my stuff set up. Then I found Michelle in transition and we chatted for a bit before heading down to the swim start where we chatted until her wave went off.
Swim
The swim wasn't wetsuit legal this year, which I was fine with. I feel like it doesn't really help me that much and it's so much of a hassle to deal with. The water was super warm and really low. At some points we were swimming through a lot of plants and it was sort of icky.
The swim was pretty uneventful. I felt good, I did some drafting and made good buoy turns. I kept pulling to the right, though, which was sort of annoying. I did it last year, too, but I don't do it during other open water swims. I don't know if it's racing or if it's Town Lake. It's an out and back swim and like last year, the way back just felt really long and I felt ready to be done, but I wasn't tired or hurting or anything. I just felt ready to move on and do something else. I was pretty happy with my swim given that I swam 4 times during the whole month of August and only one of them was for longer than 30 minutes.
The end of the swim is awkward because there's a wooden ramp they stick into the water for you to climb up, but it's pretty abrupt. Thankfully, there were AWESOME swim exit volunteers that literally yanked me up and out of the water. I thanked them all as profusely as I could.
T1
The run up to transition is long. I trotted along through the dirt to my bike, grabbed my sunglasses and helmet, then my bike and headed out. It was a long run to bike out making for a 3 minute transition time. Better than last year when I was dealing with my wetsuit and it took me nearly a minute and a half longer.
On my way to the mount line I saw Roger and Emmaline with a Texas Iron cheering section! It was great to see them just before the bike to give me a little mental boost. I mounted my bike and my feet were a mess with gravel and dirt and mud. I remembered last year I tried to wipe them with my hands, thereby making my hands a big mess so this year I just jammed them in. That was worse because I spent the whole bike with rocks and gravel rolling around my shoes.
Bike
I'd been on my bike exactly 3 times in the month of August and it already isn't my strong suit. I killed this bike course 4 years ago in 1:23:15 but I knew that was impossible. Really, I was just hoping to be close to my time from last year (1:28:51). So I lapped my computer on each of the 3 laps and tried to keep them all around 29 minutes. I was mostly successful, coming in at 1:29:20 so just a minute slower than last year. But I knew I was pushing hard - much harder than last year.
The bike was also fairly uneventful, other than probably going a bit too hard. It was windy out there but I didn't care. I've made my peace with the wind. It pushed me up the hill so I figure we're even.
I stuck to my eating and drinking plan so that was all good and I saw Roger and Emmaline cheering on every loop (for this reason, I actually really like looped courses).
T2
I made my way back into transition just as my butt was starting to hurt from the saddle (and my butt not being used to the saddle over the last month). I walked through transition, got my feet wiped off (finally) and put my running shoes on. I grabbed a gel and put it in my jersey because it was my plan to eat it, but I really really didn't want to (and I never did). I walked…slowly…toward the run course.
Run
I really really didn't want to run. In fact, I just wanted to be done. It was ALL I could do to start running. I was drained and tired and my legs just didn't want to go. But somehow I started running and really felt like I was struggling. From the beginning I just felt horrible. I thought about quitting. I thought about walking. I thought about how slowly I was going. I thought about the gu in my pocket and wondered if I should eat it. But I didn't feel like I was bonking and I didn't know that it was going to make much difference at that point anyway. My stomach wasn't upset or anything, but it was still completely unappetizing.
I got through the first mile and looked down to see a 10 something on my watch. That was heartening considering I thought it was going to be a 12 something. I felt like I was going so so slowly. The miles did not tick by and I knew I was paying for pushing on the bike.
Thankfully, I had all that run training under me or I would have completely crumbled. But I was still in a very bad place mentally. I've never felt like that during a triathlon. Ever. It was horrible and miserable and I really just wanted to cry. Those miles were so slow. It was the slowest hour of my life. I thought about quitting so many times - I can't even count.
But somehow, for some reason, I just kept going. I saw a sign, it said something like, "Tri because you can and not being able to is even harder." That made me feel like a jerk for thinking of quitting so I kept going. Also, having done longer stuff (and this length triathlon 3 other time, I knew I could do it). Roger and Emmaline kept me going - every time I saw them, it was like a new burst of energy. Betsy kept me going. And Karen Smith, who passed me and hollered out some words of advice about my form, really kept me going. When I finished the first loop and saw 29 minutes on my watch, I realized I was actually running at a pretty good clip. I was baffled about why I felt so slow. So I kept thinking about Karen's words and really concentrated on my form and just kept going. (Thank you Karen!)
It wasn't any easier, but once I hit mile 4, I knew 2 miles was doable. I made a deal with myself that I could walk the water stops - something I hate doing. After the water stop, I picked it up again and just kept running. 1 mile to go - keep running. When I had about half of a mile to go, I knew I was going to make it and I gave every last bit I had. With about a tenth of a mile to go, Roger was there, cheering and carrying Emmaline and running beside me, which was hilarious.
Finally I was done and I felt emotional and awful and relieved all at the same time. It was probably the most emotional I've felt at a finish with the exception of my half-Ironman. I was wiped out and it was just a hard day.
I'm so glad I didn't quit or walk the rest of the run (other than the water stops in the second lap). In the end, I ran 1:01:05, which is actually pretty great (obviously not a negative split, but I'm still happy). It's 3 minutes faster than last year which makes me very happy. And really, with my bike and swim each being about a minute slower than last year with much less training, clearly I'm doing better than last year. Overall, my time was 3 minutes faster than last year which is great.
I wasn't sore at all the next day after the race which confused me a bit (because I was really sore after my half marathon 2 weeks ago). It doesn't really matter, but it was odd. Either way, each race I do is a good training day for my body and a good lesson for future races.
Results:
3:07:00 - 23/41 in age group, 146/312 total women
swim - 30:42 - 2:03/M
T1 - 3:09
bike - 1:29:20 - 16.7 mph
T2 - 2:42
run - 1:01:05 - 9:51/mi
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