Leadman was hard but fantastic too. I managed 2nd in my AG and 21st F-OA. I'm less stoked about the 2nd as the AGs were pretty slim on the womens side BUT am pretty damn happy about 21st OA - it doesn't sound (read) like much but man there were some seriously fast chicks here.
Swim was short, but felt great considering how little swim training I actually did this year. They said the water temp was 62, then they said 58 at the briefing, but it didn't feel that cold actually. Managed a 41min swim, not bad, lack of training considered. Heated change tents were nice. It was cold out, so knee warmers, arm warmers, 2nd full zip jersey, full gloves, wool socks and toe covers. While my T1 time looks long (6min), I was faster than most (there were a lot of struggling with full compression socks, full bra changes - not fun when wet).
Bike was good but challenging. If I did this event again, I'd skip the deep dish wheels (I ran the Reynolds 66s) and go with my small Campy wheels instead. Hell a road bike with shorty clip-ons would have been better for me. The thermal currents up the valley as we descended Mt. Bachelor were very hard to ride through - I was being pushed all over the place and at 40+mph that's no fun. I'm a pretty aggressive decender but not this time - sitting up, on the brakes the whole time. Sucked. Amazing scenery, and a very challenging bike course. I'd also change my gearing to have at least 1 more granny gear i.e.: a 25 on the back. I ran a 54-42 w/11-23. That was tough gearing. I should have put the 12-25 on at least, but completely forgot. My menopause brain fog getting the better of me I'm afraid. I could have even swapped the 42 for a 39. I am so spaced out about stuff like this these days. I need a checklist for everything! Overall I felt pretty good on the ride, except I always had a nagging side stitch, high up, and it was hard to take full deep breaths. Elevation perhaps? I don't know... Rolled into smoky town with a 4:09 ride. I should have been ~30min faster, I blame my gearing choice and my wheel choice (EDIT: I blame my overall lack of training. Sheesh, I can't believe I tried to blame my equipment!)
The run is essentially 5mi up and 5mi down, but by the time I got back to town, the smoke from the forest fire at Sisters was pretty bad. I basically couldn't run up any hills, I just couldn't breathe, couldn't get enough air, and I'd feel a bit nauseous as well. So I resigned myself to a slow 2hr walk-every-hill-and-run-the-rest strategy. Well, the first 5mi took 1h05, the second took 40min. I actually passed quite a few people out there on the run, even on the first 5mi segment! and on that back half I picked up the pace and ran with a couple young guys. I felt quite good for the last 5mi, and burned it back in, I really really wanted to beat 7hrs. My 1/2IM PR is 5:59, I'm not fast, and I knew that this was going to be at least 30min to 1hr slower than a 1/2 time. So I was pretty damn happy with my 6:46 and my placing.
Crossed the line, got a sweaty hug from P (who earned 4th in his AG!), got a beer from Deschutes, watched mdraeger finish (you go girl!), watched Rappstar finish 1st, chatted with him briefly ("So AndyPants *is* real!" was pretty much the convo). Showered, hot tub, beer, sausages, bed. :-) The next morning, made the athlete's (disappointing) breakfast, finally met Fleck & his speedy wife face-to-face (after all these years), picked up my hardware. 8hr drive home to lots of laundry and a dog who missed us very much.
I took today off work just to rest & relax & hang with the dog, and also to clear my brain, put the race to rest mentally. Tomorrow I need to be able to turn my focus to the Seattle Marathon in 9 weeks. And also to let tri go off to some other space for a while. ... I don't know if I have another long course race in me. Heck I don't even know if I have a sprint in me. But conveniently, I don't have to think about ANY of that until next spring. Amen and hallelujah.
This week: some easy running with a 10mi on the weekend. Then it ramps up. Also: going to cut the gluten out for a 2 week (maybe 3 week) experiment. Yes that means beer too. Been struggling with a lot of bloating lately, and I know it's not dairy (did the dairy exclusion experiment about 9mo ago). So I'll try this. Can't hurt.
Will post pics if I can find them.
AP
------------------------
"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS
Swim was short, but felt great considering how little swim training I actually did this year. They said the water temp was 62, then they said 58 at the briefing, but it didn't feel that cold actually. Managed a 41min swim, not bad, lack of training considered. Heated change tents were nice. It was cold out, so knee warmers, arm warmers, 2nd full zip jersey, full gloves, wool socks and toe covers. While my T1 time looks long (6min), I was faster than most (there were a lot of struggling with full compression socks, full bra changes - not fun when wet).
Bike was good but challenging. If I did this event again, I'd skip the deep dish wheels (I ran the Reynolds 66s) and go with my small Campy wheels instead. Hell a road bike with shorty clip-ons would have been better for me. The thermal currents up the valley as we descended Mt. Bachelor were very hard to ride through - I was being pushed all over the place and at 40+mph that's no fun. I'm a pretty aggressive decender but not this time - sitting up, on the brakes the whole time. Sucked. Amazing scenery, and a very challenging bike course. I'd also change my gearing to have at least 1 more granny gear i.e.: a 25 on the back. I ran a 54-42 w/11-23. That was tough gearing. I should have put the 12-25 on at least, but completely forgot. My menopause brain fog getting the better of me I'm afraid. I could have even swapped the 42 for a 39. I am so spaced out about stuff like this these days. I need a checklist for everything! Overall I felt pretty good on the ride, except I always had a nagging side stitch, high up, and it was hard to take full deep breaths. Elevation perhaps? I don't know... Rolled into smoky town with a 4:09 ride. I should have been ~30min faster, I blame my gearing choice and my wheel choice (EDIT: I blame my overall lack of training. Sheesh, I can't believe I tried to blame my equipment!)
The run is essentially 5mi up and 5mi down, but by the time I got back to town, the smoke from the forest fire at Sisters was pretty bad. I basically couldn't run up any hills, I just couldn't breathe, couldn't get enough air, and I'd feel a bit nauseous as well. So I resigned myself to a slow 2hr walk-every-hill-and-run-the-rest strategy. Well, the first 5mi took 1h05, the second took 40min. I actually passed quite a few people out there on the run, even on the first 5mi segment! and on that back half I picked up the pace and ran with a couple young guys. I felt quite good for the last 5mi, and burned it back in, I really really wanted to beat 7hrs. My 1/2IM PR is 5:59, I'm not fast, and I knew that this was going to be at least 30min to 1hr slower than a 1/2 time. So I was pretty damn happy with my 6:46 and my placing.
Crossed the line, got a sweaty hug from P (who earned 4th in his AG!), got a beer from Deschutes, watched mdraeger finish (you go girl!), watched Rappstar finish 1st, chatted with him briefly ("So AndyPants *is* real!" was pretty much the convo). Showered, hot tub, beer, sausages, bed. :-) The next morning, made the athlete's (disappointing) breakfast, finally met Fleck & his speedy wife face-to-face (after all these years), picked up my hardware. 8hr drive home to lots of laundry and a dog who missed us very much.
I took today off work just to rest & relax & hang with the dog, and also to clear my brain, put the race to rest mentally. Tomorrow I need to be able to turn my focus to the Seattle Marathon in 9 weeks. And also to let tri go off to some other space for a while. ... I don't know if I have another long course race in me. Heck I don't even know if I have a sprint in me. But conveniently, I don't have to think about ANY of that until next spring. Amen and hallelujah.
This week: some easy running with a 10mi on the weekend. Then it ramps up. Also: going to cut the gluten out for a 2 week (maybe 3 week) experiment. Yes that means beer too. Been struggling with a lot of bloating lately, and I know it's not dairy (did the dairy exclusion experiment about 9mo ago). So I'll try this. Can't hurt.
Will post pics if I can find them.
AP
------------------------
"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS