Preface: Let me begin this story by saying I've done this race twice before, in 2001 and 2002, then had a baby in early 2004. This was my first foray back into long course racing since early 2003.
Introduction: It was going to be hot in Spokane, at least 95degF (35degC), so I knew the run would be nasty. I had modest and totally achievable goals: sub-6hr, which would mean a 40-42min swim, a 3h15max bike and a 2hr run, all of which are well within my capabilities. Any time I made up on the first two legs might have to roll into the run, as the heat would for sure slow me down.
We (me, hubby, daughter) pulled into Spokane around 3pm on Sat, checked in, picked up my package, hit Luigi's for an ealry dinner, then back for the pre-race briefing. Met Francois by the pool - I didn't really want to meet Mr. Short & Studly in my bikini, but that's how it ended up ;-). (He actually spotted Kate at the pool.) We had a good chat about the race, and about training for IMWA, it was nice to finally put a face to the name.
Got all my race bags & gear organized and then went to bed early. Got to the race site nice & early, set-up, stretched, chatted with folks, donned the wetsuit and got ready to go. Realized I had forgot my watch, but decided it was probably better to not have it anyways. I was here to have fun, and to test out some of my IM training (esp. nutrition and fluids).
Swim: I am not a fast swimmer, my time at this race in 2002 was 45min, but I have been working on my swim quite a bit (140,000m in last 9 months) so I was hoping for 40-42min. Pulled a 37:27, which is PHENOMENAL for me. Huge improvement. When I saw the clock, I gave out a woohoo, and knew it would be a fun day.
T1: fast (for me again), 2:31, got my super tight wetsuit off in record time (a minute and half faster T1 than prior years).
Bike: started conservatively, spinning in my small ring. I was not trying to kick ass on this ride, I wanted to ride at more of an IM race pace to save some oomph for the run and to get a feel for how I'd do at that pace . Aimed for a 3h15 or better. Within 10k, it was really obvious that something was wrong. My ass was killing me. I had PAIN shooting down my left leg (like nerve pain). My left hip was getting very tight. My saddle felt loose, so I suspected it had moved out of position somehow. By 30k, I was in so much pain, I had to stop and adjust my saddle. When I got off to look at it, it had slid ALL THE WAY BACK and the nose was tilted upwards. AUGHHH!!!! I had been training for MONTHS with my saddle in a forward position, with my nose slightly tilted downwards, and here I was blowing this ride with a completely WRONG saddle position. I was extremely pissed at myself because I forgot one of the Ten Commandments of racing (esp. when racing long):
ALWAYS RIDE YOUR BIKE THE DAY BEFORE THE RACE.
Even if it's only for 30min, you can check out the mechanicals, do any last adjustments, etc. I remembered telling Francois the night before that I hadn't ridden at all that day, and didn't think I'd get time to do so. I also barely checked my bike at all. I felt like such an idiot. I've done how many tris (lots) and have never NOT checked my bike over the day before a race... such a rookie mistake.
OK, saddle adjusted as best I can, I continued to ride (and immediately felt better with the adjustment made), and picked up the pace/effort level. I rode strongly for the rest of the ride (stopping once more to tighten my saddle bolt again), passing quite a few people in the last 20k. As a relatively weak cyclist, I have never passed people on the bike - it's usually the opposite. So it was a pleasant surprise to be passing people on the last sections, and in particular to be spinning past people on the hills. Very motivating. Total time: 3h17. I could have probably done a 3 even if the saddle hadn't been such an issue. Dammit. I drank 4 bottles of fluids (gatorade or water) and had 4 gels. The extra water bottle at the aid stations were great for keeping my head cool. Nutrition worked just perfect.
T2: 0:41. This race has a very fast T2. Love it. Passed probably 15 people in T2 alone. Hit the portapotty, big pee, so I was definitely not dehydrated (again, fluid intake seemed great, bang on, better than in training, better than expected).
Run: also known as "REVENGE OF THE SADDLE"... I started feeling great, bang on my desired pace for the first 4miles, most of my legs loosened up by then... except that left hip. By mi 4, it seized up pretty good and I was walking. I walked miles 4 thru 9. As I neared each aid station, I kept saying to myself I should call it a day, I don't want to hurt myself, but as I got to the aid station, drank/took a gel/whatever, I decided to walk to the next aid station. I did this for those 5 miles. Needless to say my 2hr run time goal was shot, so the decision now was whether or not to just finish. It was so tempting to quit. But by mile 9, I had realized that as long as the terrain was flat or downhill, I could run, but that any slight incline aggravated the hip. The Troika run course is an out and back, slight incline out, so slight decline on the way back. I manged to "run" from mile 9 until the end. Total run time: 2h44. Nasty.
Total race time: 6:42:30. But I am glad I finished.
The PT and med team that helped stretch out my hips afterwards said it was very likely that the saddle position AND the heat caused the hip cramping. Being a "Coastie", those kind of temps are pretty hard on me. Thank god IMWA is in the early part of summer and down South (typical max highs in Busselton for Nov are 27deg) and not a month later. I will still have to work on training for heat (which will be a challenge), but I am FAR more confident that my modest goals for IMWA are achievable... and that even if things go sideways that day, that I'll finish regardless.
Sorry for the length. And sorry that I missed trailbait (who came up to hubby and said "Are you Mr. AndyPants?" hee hee). And we did go to Azteca for Mexican afterwards ;-)
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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS
Introduction: It was going to be hot in Spokane, at least 95degF (35degC), so I knew the run would be nasty. I had modest and totally achievable goals: sub-6hr, which would mean a 40-42min swim, a 3h15max bike and a 2hr run, all of which are well within my capabilities. Any time I made up on the first two legs might have to roll into the run, as the heat would for sure slow me down.
We (me, hubby, daughter) pulled into Spokane around 3pm on Sat, checked in, picked up my package, hit Luigi's for an ealry dinner, then back for the pre-race briefing. Met Francois by the pool - I didn't really want to meet Mr. Short & Studly in my bikini, but that's how it ended up ;-). (He actually spotted Kate at the pool.) We had a good chat about the race, and about training for IMWA, it was nice to finally put a face to the name.
Got all my race bags & gear organized and then went to bed early. Got to the race site nice & early, set-up, stretched, chatted with folks, donned the wetsuit and got ready to go. Realized I had forgot my watch, but decided it was probably better to not have it anyways. I was here to have fun, and to test out some of my IM training (esp. nutrition and fluids).
Swim: I am not a fast swimmer, my time at this race in 2002 was 45min, but I have been working on my swim quite a bit (140,000m in last 9 months) so I was hoping for 40-42min. Pulled a 37:27, which is PHENOMENAL for me. Huge improvement. When I saw the clock, I gave out a woohoo, and knew it would be a fun day.
T1: fast (for me again), 2:31, got my super tight wetsuit off in record time (a minute and half faster T1 than prior years).
Bike: started conservatively, spinning in my small ring. I was not trying to kick ass on this ride, I wanted to ride at more of an IM race pace to save some oomph for the run and to get a feel for how I'd do at that pace . Aimed for a 3h15 or better. Within 10k, it was really obvious that something was wrong. My ass was killing me. I had PAIN shooting down my left leg (like nerve pain). My left hip was getting very tight. My saddle felt loose, so I suspected it had moved out of position somehow. By 30k, I was in so much pain, I had to stop and adjust my saddle. When I got off to look at it, it had slid ALL THE WAY BACK and the nose was tilted upwards. AUGHHH!!!! I had been training for MONTHS with my saddle in a forward position, with my nose slightly tilted downwards, and here I was blowing this ride with a completely WRONG saddle position. I was extremely pissed at myself because I forgot one of the Ten Commandments of racing (esp. when racing long):
ALWAYS RIDE YOUR BIKE THE DAY BEFORE THE RACE.
Even if it's only for 30min, you can check out the mechanicals, do any last adjustments, etc. I remembered telling Francois the night before that I hadn't ridden at all that day, and didn't think I'd get time to do so. I also barely checked my bike at all. I felt like such an idiot. I've done how many tris (lots) and have never NOT checked my bike over the day before a race... such a rookie mistake.
OK, saddle adjusted as best I can, I continued to ride (and immediately felt better with the adjustment made), and picked up the pace/effort level. I rode strongly for the rest of the ride (stopping once more to tighten my saddle bolt again), passing quite a few people in the last 20k. As a relatively weak cyclist, I have never passed people on the bike - it's usually the opposite. So it was a pleasant surprise to be passing people on the last sections, and in particular to be spinning past people on the hills. Very motivating. Total time: 3h17. I could have probably done a 3 even if the saddle hadn't been such an issue. Dammit. I drank 4 bottles of fluids (gatorade or water) and had 4 gels. The extra water bottle at the aid stations were great for keeping my head cool. Nutrition worked just perfect.
T2: 0:41. This race has a very fast T2. Love it. Passed probably 15 people in T2 alone. Hit the portapotty, big pee, so I was definitely not dehydrated (again, fluid intake seemed great, bang on, better than in training, better than expected).
Run: also known as "REVENGE OF THE SADDLE"... I started feeling great, bang on my desired pace for the first 4miles, most of my legs loosened up by then... except that left hip. By mi 4, it seized up pretty good and I was walking. I walked miles 4 thru 9. As I neared each aid station, I kept saying to myself I should call it a day, I don't want to hurt myself, but as I got to the aid station, drank/took a gel/whatever, I decided to walk to the next aid station. I did this for those 5 miles. Needless to say my 2hr run time goal was shot, so the decision now was whether or not to just finish. It was so tempting to quit. But by mile 9, I had realized that as long as the terrain was flat or downhill, I could run, but that any slight incline aggravated the hip. The Troika run course is an out and back, slight incline out, so slight decline on the way back. I manged to "run" from mile 9 until the end. Total run time: 2h44. Nasty.
Total race time: 6:42:30. But I am glad I finished.
The PT and med team that helped stretch out my hips afterwards said it was very likely that the saddle position AND the heat caused the hip cramping. Being a "Coastie", those kind of temps are pretty hard on me. Thank god IMWA is in the early part of summer and down South (typical max highs in Busselton for Nov are 27deg) and not a month later. I will still have to work on training for heat (which will be a challenge), but I am FAR more confident that my modest goals for IMWA are achievable... and that even if things go sideways that day, that I'll finish regardless.
Sorry for the length. And sorry that I missed trailbait (who came up to hubby and said "Are you Mr. AndyPants?" hee hee). And we did go to Azteca for Mexican afterwards ;-)
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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS