If you read
HIS post from earlier this week, then you already know that we did our first triathlon of the season last weekend. It was in Pleasant Prairie, WI, where we stay at a Radisson right next to the outlet mall. This automatically qualifies this as my favorite race in the Midwest and is the primary reason we keep going back. I could tell you all about my great finds at the Nike outlet, but since this is a triathlon blog I'll try to stay focused on the race.
So the race. Oh the race. The quote in the title was the first thing I said after shedding a couple tears (just a couple....
there is no crying in triathlon you know) at the finish line. So that gives you an idea of how the race went for me. But my bike is pretty, yes?
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| Me with my new QR CD.01! |
Here's how it went down:
I was in the LAST wave of the Olympic distance race, starting at 7:10am (why they always put the old ladies last, I'll never understand). After getting to transition at 5am -- to get a good spot on the rack and make sure we had ample time to prepare -- it was a lot of standing around and waiting. Not my favorite thing to do, but at least we had lots of friends to chat with to pass the time. Before I knew it, I was lining up with my wave, and OFF we went!
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| 32m 53s | 1640.42 yards
| 02m /100 yards | |
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This
was about :30 slower than last year, but consensus was that the course
was a bit long so I guess it's not so bad. I did have a very calm start, but
my sighting was horrific. I swam all over that damn lake trying to make my way from buoy to buoy. I also tried my darndest to catch a draft and
I just couldn't make it happen. I have skipped some training swims, and
don't have much OW experience yet this year, so I guess I shouldn't have
expected much better.
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| 1h 06m 51s | 21.30 miles
| 19.12 Mi/hr | |
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BY
FAR, the highlight of my day. The course was short - they announced it
as 21.3, which is about what was on my odometer - so I'm counting it at
the correct length. Even so, a 19mph+ average for me at the Oly distance is
definitely a PR. I was angry after the swim, so MADE myself push this
HARD. My legs were still so fatigued but I didn't let up. Averaged
18.3 at PP last year, so couldn't be happier with this!! Love the new
bike. LOVE.
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| 1h 01m 10s | 6.20 miles
| 09m 52s/Mi |
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This is where the race REALLY went downhill.
I'm actually embarrassed by this performance. I should have been able to run this
at least 5 minutes faster, and this was about 1:30 slower than last
year. I was having major problems with my asthma (allergies OUT of control this year!) and just couldn't get a
good breath. That started to worry me, plus I was definitely feeling
the bike in my quads, and I basically gave up. THAT is what upsets me. I
gave up....at like Mile 5. I walked. Why did I give up? I need to be
stronger than that. SO disappointed in this.
My overall time was 2:45:26. Which, when factoring in the short bike course, probably would have given me about a 1 minute PR. In hindsight, I guess it really wasn't that bad, but it's hard for me to get over the disappointment of giving up on myself out there. What I learned is that I need to want it. I need to be willing to hurt and to NOT give up when it gets too hard. I also learned that I can't put major time pressures on myself because this sets me up for failure. I race better with "process" goals, such as striving to nail my nutrition or catching a draft in the swim. I KNOW this about myself, so I'm not sure why I momentarily thought I could or should set myself up with aggressive time goals. I will definitely be more execution focused going into the Door County Half Ironman.
I've already stated that I'll be back next year to get revenge on that run course (or just do more shopping at the Nike outlet). In the meantime, back to Ironman training as we know and love it. 6 hours in the saddle (oh, and a little 2:30 long run) on tap for this weekend. Giddy up!
- HER
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