Triangle Triathlon 2006 Race Report

I did the 2006 Triangle Triathlon today at Lake Crabtree park.

The week prior to this race I was incredibly stressed out about it because I had set a goal to complete the race in 1:25, which I thought was too high. That time is 5 minutes faster than my time at White Lake, yet no wet suit on the swim, one extra mile on the bike, and there are hills! I even wrote down exactly how I would cut out 5 minutes. But each time I looked at my goal sheet, I would think about this race with dread, so I ended up crumpling up the piece of paper and decided I would just go do the best I could and have fun. I even decided to not wear a stopwatch.

In the end, I did wear a stopwatch, but it wasn’t stressful, and I did really well. I focused on a going strong and steady and I tried hard to pass people, and mostly I tried to have fun. In the end, I beat my goal by almost 2 minutes.

Here are my official results:
Swim 750m – 13:45
T1 – 1:34
Bike 15 miles – 42:09
T2 – 1:49
Run 5k – 24:00
Overall – 1:23:16

My bike split was 3rd fastest in my age group. If I can keep making good
progress in my running pace, than I think I can place in the top 3 at a
race, maybe next season.

I came in 6th in my age group out of 20 females. That’s top 30%
I came in 41st out of 207 for all females. That’s top 20%.

Memorable moments:

• As always, I was so nervous right before the race. I went to the bathroom twice. I had to go again later, but didn’t have time. While waiting in the water for my wave to start, I was shivering even tho it was 80 degree water. I shiver when I’m nervous. As in past races, as soon as the start horn sounds, I do just fine. I’ve learned to just accept this pre-race jitter thing that I have!
• For the first half of the swim, I was next to the same woman. She was breathing every other stroke to her left, and I was breathing every other stroke to my right side. Our stroke rate must have been in synch, because each breath I looked right into her goggles. It was neat – I wish I knew who it was. I lost her at the buoy.
• A couple of times on the bike I passed people, they passed me, and I passed them. It was fun! I won out each time.
• The best part was when I passed a woman in my age group on the run, and heard her say “Oh Crap”. 😀
• In the final stretch of the run, there was a woman who had 44 on her leg. I was waiting to pass her at the very end, so she wouldn’t have time to re-pass me. But, she turned off for a second lap…so I guess I was already way ahead of her. I will remember that strategy for next time, altho…maybe holding off would allow someone else to pass me (read next item)
• The results show I was only 2 seconds ahead of another woman whose run split was alot faster than mine. Phew, she almost caught me!

One thing I do in training is to sprint the last 1/2 mile of my runs, as fast as I can, no matter how fatigued or sore I am. This has really paid off in being able to finish strong in my races.

The weird thing is that I am not at all tired or sore today. I don’t get why the 5 mile road race I did a few days ago, which took 41 minutes, left me wiped out – while this race, which took twice the amount of time, left me feeling energized !??!