Waconia's Whitecaps & Wind

Yesterday was my second triaathlon of the season. It was about 40 minutes southwest of my house in beautiful Waconia. The temperature was perfect for racing - the mid 70's. However, it was super windy. As I was driving up to the race site at the crack of dawn, I saw whitecaps in the water. These were no ordinary waves, these were like ocean waves.

The swim was an out, over and back, just 1/2 a mile. Going out was horrible. I was one of the last people to start and saw about 25 people pulled out of the water and another handful just decide to skip the race because the waves were so bad. It took a lot of energy for the first half and it was hard to site the buoys. I think I swallowed a gallon of water! Going parallel to the shore was also a bit hard because the waves were pushing you in. The way back was easier. It was a lot like body surfing! I was out of the water in 15 min 26 seconds. First in my age group and 3rd among ameteur women. Below I am in the middle of the picture starting to get out of the water.

My T1 was pretty slow. I am not sure why I am so bad at transitioning, but that is definitely one of the things I need to get better at. For the first part of the bike, the wind was almost pushing me over. Then I made a turn and was going straight into the wind. Part of the bike was with the wind and I think I average about 25 mph on flat terrain for about 5 miles or so. The rest of the bike was all in a cross wind or heading staright into the wind. I took the bike a little easier than last time (per coaches orders) but still averaged over 20 mph. It was another hilly course and this time I was prepared for it. I did the 25 miles in 1 hr 10 min. T2 was slow again too. I cannot believe how long it took me to take off my bike shoes and put my running shoes on!

The run went a lot better this time. It was shorter than my last race by 2 miles, but that should not affect my average pace that much. I did the run in 34 min 51 sec or 8:43 min miles. I shaved 1 min 15 sec off my per mile time from last time! I am still over a min slower than I should be, but it is nice to see improvement. The first 3/4 of a mile on the run was uphill. The rest was rolling hills with a few short flat portions. As you can see below I am in much better shape at the end of this run than at the end of the run from my last race. Overall I did the race in 2 hrs 4 minutes. I was 4th in my 30-34 age group out of 17 and I was 14th of 115 ameteur women. This was definitely a better experience than last time!

I think I executed pretty good on the things I wanted to work on from the last race. If I weren't training for an IM, I would probably work on my transitions more. However, I only have one shorter race left. My next race is the Racine half ironman in 3 weeks. The swim may be just as bad as this race because it is in Lake Michigan. I did read about the bike and run course and apparently they are pretty flat!

5 Hour Bike Ride

This weekend I had my first really long bike. I biked 91 miles in 5hours. My longest ride before that was on 3 hr 30min. I rode up north on the Paul Bunyan Trail, which is extremely hilly in some parts. I had to make a pit stop in the woods because there was not a bathroom or port-a-potty in sight. All I kept thinking about was how there are bears, wolves, and other scary animals up there lingering in the woods. The whole trail is surrounded by huge forests. On the bright side, I was one of the faster riders out there so I figured the bears would go after the slower people first! I felt like my nutrition was about right, but could have used one more water bottle. I also did an open swim up there. While I was swimming Mike and the girls were in the row boat. The water was a bit choppy, but there were no weeds and the lake is super clean.

My IM is now less than 11 weeks away. After the 5 hour bike on Saturday, I started getting worried that I may not finish the race. Two months ago I thought I had a chance at qualifying for Hawaii, now I just want to finish. I figure the swim will take a little over an hour. I am hoping the bike is around 6 and a half hours. That puts me at about 7hrs 30 min. I am thinking the run will take over 6 hours. At least on the run I will be able to walk if needed!

My next race is Sunday in Waconia. It is a little shorter than Buffalo with a 1/2 mile swim, 25 mile bike and 4 mile run.

Braving the Road

I have finally realized that I need to ride on the road, not on a trail. First of all, people on trails usually do not know the proper etiquette Secondly, the trails are no longer long enough for my riding. Thirdly, the trail I was going to ride on today turned into gravel. So.....

I rode on the road. At first it was a little scary, but I went early enough so there were not that many cars on the road. I ended up going around Minnetonka, Deephaven, Shorewood, etc and seeing a lot of Lake Minnetonka. There were a lot of rolling hills, which I hear the Madison course has a lot of. So, I spent most of my 3 hr 30 min ride on Hwy 5.

Speed workouts

This past week I did 2 speed workouts. For the first time, I went to the Gear West Track Workout on Tuesday night. I have not done a track workout since high school when I was on the track team for about a week my junior year! I was in the slowest group, but was still running 8 minute mile pace, which is good for me. My heart rate was at its max for the whole thing. I got home Tuesday night and, after a good night's sleep, I went to swim practice. We had a normal warm-up, then did drills and kicking relays. Then, came the speed workout again. We did 3X325's off the blocks at race pace. Normally this workout would not have been so bad, but I was still sore from the night before. And, I am still store today. Thank goodness I only had swimming today, I have a super long workout tomorrow - a 30 min open water swim, followed by a 3 hr 30 min bike followed by a 30 min run. Then, on Sunday, I have a 2 hr 15 min run. What a weekend!

Putting things in Perspective

I spent a good week being upset with myself about my performance at Buffalo. Then I remembered how long I have really been training for. I have been with my coach for only 2 months and been working out consistently for only 3 months. My last triathlon was 5 years ago. I was in super shape, a workout fanatic. During the year before that last race, I was working out at least 2 hours a day doing something. I did only train about 3 months doing sports specific workouts, but still I was in awesome shape. Two pregnancies and another 5 years to my age later, I am back at it. I am happy that I am, but discouraged that I am not bouncing back as fast as I thought I would.

My goal for this tri-season is to get faster with each race and be in good enough shape for IM WI. I am training with a lot of great and fast triathletes. I don't always realize it because my swimming is at a higher level than most. However, looking at times and hearing that they are racing in the elite division and professional division as far as my coach is concerned, I realize I have a long way to go. These people have been racing for a long time and most of them without kids. I am not going to use my kids as an excuse for not doing as well, but I also do not have the time to dedicate as some people do.

I have a 4.5 hour brick on Saturday and a 5 hour ride next Saturday. It is hard in the summer to be away from family for so long knowing they are doing something fun outside. I guess there is no more sleeping in on the weekends now either!

The Hills of Buffallo

On Sunday, June 1st I did my first triathlon in about 5 years. The race did not start until about 9am, which is late for triathlon, so I got to sleep in a little bit. The water temperature was a cool 66 degrees, but felt pretty nice with a wetsuit. The swim was .9 miles and I did that in 22 minutes 29 seconds. It was the 4 best female finish. The transition went OK. I took a little longer so I could hydrate, which I will probably never do again. I did the 24.8 mile bile in 1 hour 13 minutes, just under 20 miles an hour. The bike was filled with a few large hills and many, many more little hills. Every time I got to the top of one hill it seemed like I could see another. Once I got done with my bike, I realized I had not prepared well enough for it. I am definitely adding more hills to my workouts! My run went really poor. I ended up walking for about 10 minutes of it, but still finished the 6.2 miles in 58 minutes. The run was one big hill going up and down hill coming back. By the time I hit the down hill I was so tired that I don't think it mattered. My total time, with transitions, was 2 hours 40 minutes. I placed 14 of 39 in the 30-39 female age group. If I would have done 8 minute miles, I would have probably placed in the top 5.

Lessons learned:
1. Ride the bike course beforehand so you can prepared yourself for hills.
2. Practice, practice, and practice transitions.
3. Make sure hills are part of your workout.


Next triathlon: June 29th at Lake Waconia.