-- 9th Overall and 3rd Amateur --
My main goal for this race was to maintain a positive mental attitude and focus throughout the race. Being in "the zone" has happened for me in the past in swimming, but was always very elusive. I wanted to see if I could make it happen in triathlon.
So...I did a fair amount of mental preparation and correction going into the race. I knew that I had done the physical work to have a good swim, bike, and run, but I needed to do some mental work. Thus far my biggest enemy has been myself.
In preparation for the race, I loaded up on some salt as I knew it was going to be a hot day. I took 6 salt stick tablets before bed, went to bed early, got a really good nights sleep, and took 4 more salt tablets and 2 Ibuprofen with breakfast in the morning. I ate my usual breakfast of 2 sports bars and drank 3/4 of a water bottle full of sports drink with caffiene on the way to the race.
Race morning I felt calm and relaxed. I had rehearsed my race in my mind and was confident that I would do well. I set up all of my gear in transition, made the usual bathroom trips, and hung out at a picnic table with some friends after transition closed. I waited to put on my wetsuit until later because my wave didn't start until over an hour after the pros. It was warm and I didn't want to add any additional heat to my body. It was fun to catch up and visit with people while I waited. Eventually I got my wetsuit on and headed down to the swim start.
I started to line up on the far right side of the start, but it was a bit congested. I told everyone over there to watch out for my super fast ex-collegiate swimmer friend Mary, and then proceeded to go line up by her. I think everyone gave us some extra space then :). I was pleased with my swim start. In the past, I often had a slow start because of poor reaction time and mistakes made with timing of dolphin dives, knowing when to start swimming, etc. My plan this time was to run into the water a ways and then start swimming. Once we started, I noticed that all of the other girls around me were dolphin diving and getting ahead. I changed my plan and started dolphin diving and then swam at a strong pace. Soon I was out into clear water. I spotted another girl in my age group out ahead of me and made a slight push to catch up to her. Along the way, another girl gently brushed the left side of my goggles with her hand. I caught up to the other girl in my age group and then hung on her feet for most of the race. The water was fairly calm and smooth, so it was nice swimming. My left goggle started to get a slow leak (probably from when it was bumped earlier). Eventually I could only breathe to the right because otherwise the water drained into my eye. As I rounded the last turn buoy, I had to shut my left eye completely because of the water in my goggle. I decided to continue on like this as there was only a short distance left to go.
I got out of the water and ran at a moderate pace into T1. I had a little trouble getting my wetsuit off because it got stuck on my timing chip and my watch, but I eventually made it out ok. Matt and I had practiced transitions the day before in the basement, but trying to get through transitions quickly when I was tired from swimming was a little harder!
I got out on the bike course and focused on my cadence. In the past I really grinded it out at a low cadence, so the goal was to maintain a cadence of 90-95 the entire bike. Mike told me to cover my powermeter with a piece of electrical tape to hide the watts. I did, but I was a little nervous about riding just on cadence alone. I trusted him though, and did it anyway. I used key words to help maintain my focus on cadence throughout the bike ride and focused on nutrition as well. I took 3 salt stick tablets per hour and made sure to hydrate consistently. I also did 2 gels per hour, taking a total of 4 gels on the bike. My method of storing/taking gels was definitely subpar and will be addressed in the future. I thought it was a good idea to store them in a ziplock baggie so that I could just grab the whole thing and stuff it in my back pocket. This ended up not being such a good idea because the baggie got all smushed around in my pocket and I had a hard time finding the opening to get the gels out. Eventually, after taking 2-3 gels, I ended up taking the entire baggie out, holding it in my mouth while I rode, taking the gels out, putting them back in my pocket, and throwing the stupid baggie away at an aid station--ugh! My stomach felt a bit nasty towards the end of the ride and I thought I might have to make a pit stop, but decided to push through it and risk the possible consequences. I was so focused on biking and getting my feet out of my shoes coming into T2, that I forgot to start my Garmin in order to get the satellite connection.
I successfully got my feet out of my shoes (although it was a little too early) and rode into T2. Once at my rack, I struggled a bit with which direction to rack my bike (something to work on in the future). I finally got the darn thing on the rack after turning it around a couple of times, put on socks and shoes and ran out of T2. This is when I remembered that I forgot to turn on the Garmin and also that I had forgotten to take some Ibuprofen in preparation for the run (which I usually do on the bike). I hit the on button on the Garmin as I ran and figured it would locate the satellites eventually. I also took 2 Ibuprofen from my pocket and threw them into my mouth, thinking that the first aid station would be in approximately the same place as it had in years past, near the purple concession stand. Unfortunately it was not, so I tried to swallow the Ibuprofen without liquid. One went about 1/2 way down my throat. I choked and coughed it back up into my hand. I threw it back into my mouth as I ran and was then able to see the first aid station (thank goodness!!). I grabbed a cup of water and washed them down. Meanwhile, my Garmin was still trying to locate the satellite. Finally it asked me, "Are you indoors right now?" "No!" I thought. I turned it off and kept running. I waited about 10 seconds and turned it on again. This time it found the satellite right away, but then lost it almost as soon as it had found it. I figured, "oh well" and continued running. I just wanted it mainly for pacing purposes anyway. I knew that I was running well, just off of feel because I was not getting passed by anyone and I felt strong. I thought about picking up the pace during the first 6-7 mile loop, but told myself to conserve, given the heat, and see how I felt when starting loop #2. This ended up being a smart decision. After a while I had some phlegm in my throat, so I decided to spit. My spit was reddish/orange! For a split second I thought, "Oh my God! I'm spitting up blood!" Then I remembered that the Ibuprofen coating was that color and laughed at myself a bit for thinking so irrationally :)
I made sure to be a good gatherer at the aid stations, and took 2-4 cups of water per station (when I could--the areas were pretty congested) to dump over my head. I tried to alternate water and cola with water and sports drink when I could and hit the sprinklers that people were spraying as often as I could. I used my pre-planned strategies to keep my thoughts positive and stay focused.
I started loop #2 of the run. I still felt strong, but decided to keep the pace the same. My effort felt a bit harder, and I thought I might be going faster, but the watch said that I was staying consistent with my previous pace. I decided to reassess at mile 9. Mile 9 came and I decided to continue at status quo with another reassessment at mile 11. I looked and looked for the mile 11 marker, but it was no where to be found. Eventually I saw mile 12. I picked it up as much as I could (not too much though) and ran what felt like the longest 1.1 miles ever to the finish line. Whew!
Overall I was very happy with my race results and finish. I did a great job staying focused on the task at hand, staying in the moment, and maintaining a positive mental attitude. All of these helped to make the race easier physically and mentally. I had a lot more fun during the race and was really proud of myself for achieving this goal.
I continue to have areas where I can improve in the future:
-transitions can still be faster
-I need to continue to focus on maintaining a cadence of 90-95 during training rides and racing as it is much easier than riding at a cadence of 83-88 as I have in the past
-I believe my bike can get faster
-I believe my run can get faster
-I can continue to improve my timing with small things during the race (starting my watch at the appropriate time, taking Ibuprofen at appropriate time, better storage of gels, racking bike in T2, timing of taking feet out of bike shoes, etc.)
Thank You's:
-Mike for helping me keep my head in the game
-Matt for listening and assisting me in helping to mentally prepare for the race
-Rick and the other Zooters who were out there racing and cheering
-TriWisconsin, GearGrinder, and other friends for their support while racing and spectating
