Blue Lake Olympic Triathlon

June 11, 2006
Troutdale, OR
.93m Swim, 25m Bike, 6.2m Run

Prior to deciding that I needed a "change" I was slated to have spent this last week in Europe. Oh my goodness am I happy I didn't go. I've had a very calm week. I've continued to try to map out what's next for me professionally. I had several great workouts in the past 7 days and I felt ready to go out and have fun. Of course being me I couldn't just leave it at that. So I started overanalyzing things which is just part of who I am. I figured out there were 3 other women in the Athena division with me meaning I'd only have to beat 1 to get an award. Sweet! By Wednesday though there were 6 total which meant I'd have to beat 3 people. Then I started looking at the times from last year and the year before. Hmmmmmmmmmmm there were a lot of fast people. In fact the slowest per minute mile pace in the last 2 races was like 13 minutes. I started to doubt myself.

Then I remembered that this was just a training day for me. On the advice of my coach I'd been riding and running at Blue Lake for the past 4 weekends. Last week I did a 50m bike followed up with a 5m run. I just had to trust my training.

Pre-Race

Spent the day alternating between total fun and relaxation and total frustration. Can I just tell you that I went to 5 stores looking for the Jelly Belly Sport Beans. I am totally hooked on these new Jelly Beans that have electrolytes in them but everyone was either out or had discontinued them. Ack! I didn't need to spend my whole afternoon looking for these things but I have been training with them and I had run completely out last week.

On the fun and relaxation front, Preston and I had met up with our friends for breakfast where we had yummy sweet potato pancakes. Then later in the evening we went to a party at my coach's house which was great fun because there were a lot of other triathletes there and it's always fun to talk shop :)

In honor of my first Olympic Triathlon (Chicago, 2004) I stuck to my routine and had cheese ravioli and watched Seabiscuit. I'd already gotten everything prepped for the next day and I finally settled into bed around 10:30pm after a pep-talk from Preston about how the only thing I needed to worry about at the race was where I would stop to pee. After many variations on that theme (including how I should whiz my way to victory) I fell asleep.

Race Day
I woke up 5 min before the alarm clock went off feeling refreshed and ready to go. The air was cool but the sky was clear and the forecast was for sun. I got dressed, mixed my bottles, ate my PB&J bagel and Preston and I headed out for the 25mile drive to the race site.

One really cool thing about today was that my two best friends were coming out to cheer me on. It would be like 2 worlds colliding as they had never met before but I was super excited for them to finally meet and that they were coming out to watch me race.

I got body-marked with #38 which coincidentally was also my race # at Hawthorne Farms. I got the end position on my rack which was awesome. Once I had everything laid out, I milled around, people watched, used the facilities and just soaked up the scene :) Before I knew it 7:30 had rolled around and it was time to suit up. Let me tell you if you don't already know how freaking difficult it is to pour a 200lb person into a skin-tight neoprene wetsuit. It's like an Olympic event just getting it on. I bodyglided myself up and probably blinded many of my fellow racers with my white stomach. Yep, that's right I was going for the shorts and sports bra ensemble under the wetsuit today.

Here's the explanation on this logic (since I know there are many new triathletes that visit my blog). For my first triathlon I wore cycling shorts with a swimsuit over the top as there weren't any triathlon suits that fit me at the time. After my first year I started wearing a XXL 1pc DeSoto triathlon suit which was awesome and I now have an XL one. But when you're doing a longer distance like a 1/2 Ironman for example it SUCKS to have to take all your different belts (race belt, fuel belt etc) off in order to use the facilities. So in anticipation of my upcoming 1/2 Ironman I decided to switch to the 2 pc race attire so I'd have easier access.

Swim
I was in wave 4 which consisted of relays, Clydesdales, Athenas and men aged 20-29. The buoys seemed pretty far away but I knew that my only goal was to come out of the water feeling completely fresh for the bike. I seeded myself at the back appreciative of the warmer water temp. It was crisp but definitely comfortable. The buzzer blew and we were off. I have been working on a rhythm for my swim stroke the last few weeks which I decided to use today. 4 strokes, breathe, 2 strokes, breathe. I hit the first buoy dead on which is shocking since I tend to drift when open water swimming :( The rest of the course was a straight long line to the final buoy and then into the shore. I felt smooth and strong as I glided past each buoy and I only got run over once by a dude doing the backstroke. Before I knew it I was sighting on the finish arch and wading through the seaweed towards the timing mats.

I knew I'd had a good swim because I felt great coming out of the water but a glance at my watch almost stopped me dead in my tracks. 26.05!!!!!!!!! Holy mackeral.

.93 miles
Official Swim Time: 26.05
100 yd Pace: 1.35

T1 - 4.32
The run from the swim was pretty long and once in transition I struggled a bit getting out of the wetsuit as I was trying to avoid ripping my timing chip off. Shoes, helmet and tanktop on and I was jog/walking my bike to the bike start.

Bike
I have to give huge props to Coach David here because he has had me riding on the Blue Lake course these past 4 weeks. I felt like the team with home court advantage. I was comfortable with every inch of this bike course. I started conservatively knowing that the wind on Marine Drive can be a bitch. But the wind never came. I pedaled on towards the Portland Airport past houses and streets I'd ridden by so many times before. Past the Red airport parking lot where my car has spent many a day as I jetted off on yet another business trip. I pondered how awesome it was that I could just be out here with 400 of my closest friends on a beautiful day like today. The mountain was out (for non-Portlanders that means Mt. Hood was totally visible) and the river was calm.

One of the foods I've been training with are these Panda rasberry sticks. They taste great and each one has about 100c. Since today was largely practice for my 1/2 Ironman I packed the sticks. Unfortunately the Pandas never really softened and it was like trying to chew a shoe so I promptly went to plan B which consisted of GU and Sport Beans. I passed and was passed. I tried to avoid unintentionally drafting. I repeated my race mantra "Be Consistently Fast" as I pedaled towards the turn-around. Once I reached it I turned on the jets. I still had no wind but now I was on the back stretch. I had 9 miles to get home and I made the most of them. My legs felt great. I was loose, having a blast and much of the return trip I was averaging 22MPH. Nice! I rounded the final corner and dismounted.

I had just finished the best bike ride I've ever had in a race. I could not believe my watch was showing just over an hour and forty five minutes had passed. You couldn't have slapped the grin off my face as I ran towards transition :)

25.51 miles
1:18.09
19mph Average on my computer
18.7mph Official Average

T2 - 3.00
Racked my bike and proceeded to put socks, shoes, race belt, fuel belt and hat on. I was ready to run.

Run
This is always the toughest part of the race for me. After knee surgery last summer I was frustrated and discouraged in my efforts to regain some of my running speed. In January I was working my tail off to walk a 15 minute mile. Then I hooked up with Coach David and after weeks of interval training I was running 13 minute miles for 30 minutes at a stretch. I'm now doing my long runs at about a 12:30 pace so I was hoping to do something in that range today.

I did my first mile in 11.20 and my legs were feeling good. It was starting to warm up and in spite of the shaded path we were running on I could see others were suffering the effects of the heat. I immediately took 2 Endurolytes in a hope to ward off cramping. I had a lot of confidence as I ran along because again I was totally familiar with this terrain. I had run this course in training and I recognized familiar landmarks as I ticked off the miles. I did Mile 2 in 11.59 and Mile 3 in 12.01.

By the time I hit the 5k turnaround I was pretty warm but still feeling great. I was also starting to pass people. WOO HOO!!! I was passing people on the run. Lots of people were starting to walk as the day began to take its toll. People were pouring water over their heads trying to cool off. No problems for me as I had specifically been doing my long runs on the warmest sunny days when possible in an effort to prepare myself for the July heat I would face at my 1/2 Ironman in New York. I just kept on running. I used my Fuel Belt for water and GU20 between aid stations and ate some Sport Beans before I finished mile 4 in 12.17. I could sense that I was getting close as I was turned from the path back into the park. Mile 5 took 12.34 and before I knew it I was winding my way along the lake past the Mile 6 marker where I was obviously starting to pick up the pace as I clocked an 11.40 and I knew I had just a short run to the finish line.

Ran past my friends and up a short hill (who the heck puts a finish line at the top of a hill $*%&) and there it was. The finish line. I sprinted across and looked at my watch in disbelief.

6.2 miles
1:14.46

Going into the race I had 3 goals:

1. Beat my Chicago Olympic time of 3:57
2. Have fun and stay in Zone 2
3. Break 3:30

My final time was 3:06.33 which was of course a new PR - WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!!

I had taken more than 50 minutes off of my Chicago time. I was stunned. It was the perfect day. My legs felt great, I was a little sunburned but I was surrounded by lots of great friends (I even ran into a few old friends who I hadn't seen in quite some time) and I had erased any doubt that I had about my fitness going into my 1/2 Ironman.

I finished 5/6 in the Athena division where the women this year were smoking fast but I did achieve my goal of not finishing last in either the race or my division.

After the race Preston and I went to breakfast with our friends to celebrate the great day.

Post Race
As I finish this report I am still honestly in shock over my time. To cut 50 minutes at this distance is amazing. My confidence in my fitness is renewed and I know with absolute certainty that I am ready for my 1/2 Ironman next month.

It was a great way to spend a Sunday and I am so thankful that I get to participate in this sport. 2 years ago I had doubts that I could even finish this distance and today I'm plotting out how I will cut those 6+ minutes so I can break the 3 hour mark.

It was a perfect day :)