Lake Norman 2008 Race Report

I almost didn’t do this race for a variety of reasons.

1. I’m a little burned out of racing. It takes so much time to pack up for a race, and I was dreading the 2.5 hour drive out to the race site.
2. My muscles were still very tight from alot of tough workouts. (I did lots and lots of stretching, which helped!)
3. My friend, Kathy, did not get into this race. Last year, we went together, and it was alot of fun.

Loosened muscles and the desire to see if I could improve my time over last year tipped the balance in favor of doing it. My goal was to cut 1 minute off last year’s swim time and get sub 50 in the bike.

I want to thank my blog buddy, Karen, for sending me a Zoot tri suit. I wanted a new suit that was more hydro and aero dynamic than the one I have now. The Zoot suit was super in this regard! Thanks, Karen!

Official Results

Swim 750m: 15:44, 4th AG
T1: 2:01
Bike 16.8 miles: 49:26 1st AG
T2: 1:25
Run 5k: 26:22 6th AG
Overall: 1:34:57, 4th AG

I did not get a podium spot this time. A woman sped past me right before the finish line and caught me off guard, taking third place away from me. Read the run part of this report for more about that story! It was, at the same time, both exciting and disappointing. And yet, I feel a great sense of relief that I’m not crushed about missing the podium this race. I had a great race, had fun, met some nice people. Overall, it was a great day, and I’m glad I went.

I met my goals of beating last year’s swim time by 1 minute and doing a sub 50 bike split. In fact, I beat my overall time by over four minutes! I feel good about that. If I had been racing any other age group besides my own, and the 35-40 crowd, I would have gotten a podium spot. I feel good about that, too. I also got the #1 bike split in my age group, and the #9 bike split overall females. I feel great about that.

Swim 750 m

I swam very strong during the first half of the swim. I was in tight a pack of females for the first five minutes, but not much luck drafting. Every time I tried, it just felt too slow. Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be…? I sighted every 4th stroke. I swam nice and straight, so I started sighting less often. That worked well.

After the turn-around, the sun was in my eyes, so I couldn’t see a darn thing. I’d stop every so often to look for the buoy, but the glare was overpowering. So I just headed toward the light, and hoped that was right. It was. Stopping slowed me down, so my second half was probably alot slower than my first. I should have trusted my instinct of swimming toward the light and not stopped so much.

When I exited the water, I was pleased to see my swim time at 15 minutes.

Bike 16.8 miles

A little voice inside my head told me not to do my flying mount today. In retrospect, I think my subconscious mind knew that my tight muscles would not allow it. (Later in the day, I tripped on the stairs, and recovered. But – OUCH – my tight muscles did not like the quick reaction!)

There was not a bottle neck to fly past anyway at the bike mount line, so I just stopped and clipped in. I started out hard right away, wanting to put everything into my bike split today. After all, this was a sprint race!

I chanted “knees to the top tube, tight tight tight” the whole bike, except when going up a hill, sometimes I’d chant “work it, work it, work it”. These are things that Coach Troy says in the Spinervals DVD’s. Chanting stuff in my head helps me maintain focus.

At one point, some freakin’ idiot pickup truck trailing a boat turned off a side street in front of me. I had to slam my brakes, my back wheel skidded sideways, and I almost wiped out. DICKWAD! That cost me 10 seconds (and I lost third place by less than that)!

A couple cars got in my way as they slowed down waiting to pass other bikers. I cut them off very aggressively, going around them on the right, and holding my hand out while corning in front of them. I did not want to slow down and wait for the bottleneck. Please don’t try this at home, folks, as it’s not a good idea. I just can’t help myself when I’m racing on the bike.

I passed everybody that I saw, including alot of males. I passed one female in my AG near the end. I really pushed hard after that to make sure she didn’t pass me back.

Only one hill was steep enough to be worthy of coasting down. Otherwise, I got into high gear and spun down the hills, trying to go a bit easier to give myself some rest.

I watched my bike computer, and tried to keep avs up to 20.4, as i knew that would give me a 49 min split. It kept drifting back down toward 20 mph, and then I’d push harder to bring it back up.

This bike course felt harder than bandits – I’m sure because I was working alot harder!

Run 5k

At the beginning of the run, the woman who I had just passed on the bike, passed me back. I asked what her name was, so i could gauge my place. She was Celeste, who i had tagged as the #2 spot, based on last years results. I recognized another name on the race list as a one of those super fast chicks who would take #1, way ahead of everyone else. So, I figured that put me in third place.

After exchanging names, I said “Have a good run”. She wished me well, too. I followed Celeste for a while, holding her pace, but she gradually slipped away. I didn’t have it in me to keep up with her.

I looked over my shoulder alot to check for oncoming females. This course is winding, so it was hard to see very far back. About half way, a female was coming up that looked like she could be my age. I picked up my pace trying to hold her off. When she was just a step behind me, I asked her “Are you in my age group?”. She replied “No, you’re good”. I said “Thank God, because I can’t hold you off any longer!”. She tried to encourage me to stay strong and follow her. I didn’t have it in me, so she slipped away too.

The run seemed to last for ever. The course seemed less flat than I remembered it from last year. I chose not to look at my stopwatch, so I was unaware of my pace or time. I did not notice any mile markers either, so the run just dragged on and on, and I had no idea for how much longer. I just wanted it to be over. I did not feel strong on this run, the way I did at Bandits. I guess because I had put it all into the bike.

Once inside the finish chute, I thought I had safely nailed third place. Just then, a woman in my age group sprinted past me! I said “Oh Crap” out loud, and screamed alot of nastier swear words inside my head! I did NOT see her coming at all! I picked up my pace and almost caught up to her. After crossing the timing mat, I slumped over in defeat. The crowd cheered me on to keep going – I had forgotten that there are TWO timing mats. It was too late to make another attempt at catching her – so she got me!

After I crossed the SECOND timing mat, she asked me what my name was. When she learned who I was, she smiled hugely, and said that she’s been trying to beat me all season. Without even thinking, I replied something along the lines of “That’s great, way to go”. Nice things don’t usually come out of my mouth when I speak without thinking! I am very glad something good came out at that moment! Good sportsmanship is not a skill that I ever needed before. Before I became athletic.

After she received her award for third place, I went over to congratulate her. We chatted for quite a while. Turns out that she is the woman who I beat by a mere 7 seconds at White Lake. This day, she beat me by exactly 7 seconds. That’s pretty funny! I am genuinely happy for her, even while being disappointed in myself.

It was nice to make a friend out of a rival. I told her about this blog – don’t know if she’ll check it out. Just in case: “Hi Maureen! You did GREAT! ”

It Ain’t Over Till it’s Over!

I learned two important lessons today. I will always make my own mad dash for the finish line, even if I think nobody is chasing me down. And I won’t ever again forget that there are TWO timing mats at the finish.