I did the Mackinaw Multi Sport tri yesterday. This was my 4th tri, all others being international distance. I was excited about a shorter course, thinking I could worry less about finishing and just try to go as fast as I could. I have also spent the last several weeks really working to increase my biking speed and wanted to se if it paid off.
Drinving up to Mackinaw in the morning I could see the lightning in the distance. By the time I got there the storm had passed, just barely. The race was delayed about 40 minutes. It was an in water start as the entrance to the water was really rocky. I don't own a wetsuit, so I was not looking forward to getting into the water (70F). The started the guy and a couple turned back to shore within the first 200m. Not a good sign. The ladies wave started and I felt like I had no energy. My muscles did not want to respond and I felt super fatigued. This lasted about 300m, so I am assuming it was a function of standing around in cold water for 5 minutes. I need to get a wetsuit before steelhead next weekend! After I got warmed up I felt better. The course was a triangle and the first half was against the current. No whitecaps, but fairly good swells. This is my first event in really open water. The rest have been in small inland lakes, no current, no waves. I used to lifeguard in open water, but it has been a really long time. So, it took a bit of adjustment and several moutfuls of water to get me back on track. At this point I am wondering why I do this and if I am going to finish. The turn at the buoy changed that. Now the current is helping and life is good. There are still the occasional waves when the Sheplers ferry takes off, but no big deal. Overall, I would say this was my workst swim. The temperature and waves really got the best of me. Exited the water around 20 minutes, a couple hundred meter run and onto the bike.
The bike is the leg that I really hate. I previous races I spend the entire time getting passed- old people, young people, people on mountain bikes....It is really discouraging. This time I was determined not to let that happen. With the course only being 18 miles, I was prepared to go all out. Mind you, "all out" for me is something just over 20 mph :). The only concern for me was that the roads were still wet and I don't have a lot of bike handling experience. The first several miles were through the city, a lot of turns. Again, the lack of bike experience sorta caught me. The route I ride is straight, so I haven't actually tried any high speed turning. I did my best TdF impression and stuck a knee out, but I was just too nervous and ended up using the brakes a lot. The course was out and back and once you left the city it was a fairly straight shot. A few rolling hills, but nothing major. I did get passed by a couple of women, but the majority of people passing me were men, ~ 10. I was really happy with thihs since it meant A) I beat them all out the of swim B) I expected men will always be a bit faster than me on the bike. I did manage to pass a few people, including a 64 yo male, an out of shap 24 yo male, a guy with a flat tire, and a guy who dropped his chain! Hey, you gotta take what you can get! The single biggest accomplishment for me was: NO ONE on a mountain bike passed me!!! My split was just under an hour, but I blame that on slowing for the turns. I know I held 21-22 on the way out and 19-20 on the way back, minus the town section. This was FAST for me and my legs felt it!
Into T2 I hopped off my bike and instantly knew that I had ridden hard. Tight, tight quads and calves. The run followed the same course as the bike, through town, out and back. By this time vacationers were out and cheering for us. FYI-Mackinaw is the #1 tourist destination in MI. They were so supportive, and it was really great! My legs never did loosen up, but it wasn't too bad. On the second half of the run I did the sprint for 5, run for 10 to try to pick up my average speed. Not sure how much it helped, but made me feel like I was really trying. Finish time was about 1:50. I was pretty happy with that. This was a really fun race. Nice course, great crowd, challenging swim. I really enjoyed it and will be back next year.
Drinving up to Mackinaw in the morning I could see the lightning in the distance. By the time I got there the storm had passed, just barely. The race was delayed about 40 minutes. It was an in water start as the entrance to the water was really rocky. I don't own a wetsuit, so I was not looking forward to getting into the water (70F). The started the guy and a couple turned back to shore within the first 200m. Not a good sign. The ladies wave started and I felt like I had no energy. My muscles did not want to respond and I felt super fatigued. This lasted about 300m, so I am assuming it was a function of standing around in cold water for 5 minutes. I need to get a wetsuit before steelhead next weekend! After I got warmed up I felt better. The course was a triangle and the first half was against the current. No whitecaps, but fairly good swells. This is my first event in really open water. The rest have been in small inland lakes, no current, no waves. I used to lifeguard in open water, but it has been a really long time. So, it took a bit of adjustment and several moutfuls of water to get me back on track. At this point I am wondering why I do this and if I am going to finish. The turn at the buoy changed that. Now the current is helping and life is good. There are still the occasional waves when the Sheplers ferry takes off, but no big deal. Overall, I would say this was my workst swim. The temperature and waves really got the best of me. Exited the water around 20 minutes, a couple hundred meter run and onto the bike.
The bike is the leg that I really hate. I previous races I spend the entire time getting passed- old people, young people, people on mountain bikes....It is really discouraging. This time I was determined not to let that happen. With the course only being 18 miles, I was prepared to go all out. Mind you, "all out" for me is something just over 20 mph :). The only concern for me was that the roads were still wet and I don't have a lot of bike handling experience. The first several miles were through the city, a lot of turns. Again, the lack of bike experience sorta caught me. The route I ride is straight, so I haven't actually tried any high speed turning. I did my best TdF impression and stuck a knee out, but I was just too nervous and ended up using the brakes a lot. The course was out and back and once you left the city it was a fairly straight shot. A few rolling hills, but nothing major. I did get passed by a couple of women, but the majority of people passing me were men, ~ 10. I was really happy with thihs since it meant A) I beat them all out the of swim B) I expected men will always be a bit faster than me on the bike. I did manage to pass a few people, including a 64 yo male, an out of shap 24 yo male, a guy with a flat tire, and a guy who dropped his chain! Hey, you gotta take what you can get! The single biggest accomplishment for me was: NO ONE on a mountain bike passed me!!! My split was just under an hour, but I blame that on slowing for the turns. I know I held 21-22 on the way out and 19-20 on the way back, minus the town section. This was FAST for me and my legs felt it!
Into T2 I hopped off my bike and instantly knew that I had ridden hard. Tight, tight quads and calves. The run followed the same course as the bike, through town, out and back. By this time vacationers were out and cheering for us. FYI-Mackinaw is the #1 tourist destination in MI. They were so supportive, and it was really great! My legs never did loosen up, but it wasn't too bad. On the second half of the run I did the sprint for 5, run for 10 to try to pick up my average speed. Not sure how much it helped, but made me feel like I was really trying. Finish time was about 1:50. I was pretty happy with that. This was a really fun race. Nice course, great crowd, challenging swim. I really enjoyed it and will be back next year.