rac report Kokopelli 2011: Redemption

I did not crash! That is probably the most important thing about this race. It wasn't a perfect race, but it was a good one.

I drove 5 hours down to St. George to get to the race venue, stayed overnight in a hotel I would probably not go back to. I had dinner from one of my favorite restaurants (Durango's) that is now only located there. I also got to listen to James Marsters read Harry Dresden, one of the funnest things ever. So all good things.

As usual, I forgot a couple of things. One I could replace by buying more BodyGlide at the registration booth for the race. The other was sandals, which I regretted not having for the drive, mostly.

I got up plenty early for the race, which didn't start until 9:30 for my wave. They actually did the sprint first, which I personally appreciated a lot. That way there was a lot less crossover potential on the doubly used course, particularly at the bike turnaround.

They also did the kids' race first, which was lots of fun for me to watch. I got choked up thinking about my own kids doing triathlon with me and my husband. It's really satisfying to see your children face those challenges bravely, and the difficulties are not that much different. On a different scale, but there are still kids who sale through and kids who cry and puke, but keep going. Or don't. It's all good.

I got to watch the sprinters leave in waves. Everyone had a color coded cap, so you could see during the race who was in your group and who wasn't. My group had salmon colored caps, so while I was in the water I could occasionally look up and see people who I was actually competing against, at least until I was out of the water. I liked that. I also liked the sense that the race was well organized. They had aid stations on the bike as well as the run. I didn't use the bike stations, because I carry my own gatorade, but it was nice nonetheless.

The water was perfect. There is no water as nice to swim in as at Sand Hollow State Park. I could literally see straight to the bottom in many places and I didn't have the sense that I was breathing in dead fish. The water was cool but not cold. We jumped in off the dock and that was a great sensation. I usually walk in slowly. I chatted with another woman there who had done some of the same races I had and who asked me about Ironman St. George. Then we were off.

I could sight easily because I had new goggles, my Speedo Hydrospex which are the best goggles in the world and the only goggles that should ever be sold IMHO. The one mistake I made was that I turned at the wrong buoy on the second lap and started swimming across the course. A guy on a kayak came after me and told me to go back. I probably lost a minute or so from that. Not a big deal in the end. I tried not to beat myself up over it. I was passing a lot of guys who had started in earlier waves and that was a theme for the whole course. It wasn't bad because there weren't a lot of them. In a couple of spots I became aggressive swimming between people. Sorry if I was rude to anyone!

I got out of the water and from that point on, it was almost impossible to tell who I was competing against and who I wasn't. Obviously, I wasn't competing against the guys since they started in different waves. But there were two waves of women, one of the younger women who started at least 5 minutes earlier. I kept checking legs but a lot of numbers wear off in the sweat of a race and they're kind of hard to spot on a bike anyway. I shrugged and just kept going at my own pace. I usually take more than 2 minutes in transition, but this transition was under 45 seconds because of the shoes on bike plan. I was actually #1 among all the women in T1, so that is something I have definitely improved on.

As last time, I put my shoes on my bike and biked barefoot a bit until I could get my feet in. I'm pretty sure I need a lot more practice on this. I certainly didn't see anyone else in barefeet. At mile 4, we hit a significant hill. I geared down, determined not to stand. In a longer race, it makes sense to stand so you can work out some kinks, but this wasn't long enough and sitting is a more efficient way to pedal. You don't lose energy to uneven strokes. My bike computer was fixed this week so that it accurately represents my speed. Before it was always about 10% ahead because it was set for 700 cc wheels and I have 650 cc wheels. That made me feel a little slower, plus the fact that it was uphill. But I got my gus in and kept going.

At the sprint turnaround, you can bet I went slow and didn't pass anyone, even if they looked like they were going through. At the Olympic turnaround, I slowed almost to a stop to turn. That was also where I got a chance to see how many women were ahead of me. I'm not perfect at spotting women vs men in biking gear. Sometimes it's obvious. Sometimes not so much. I counted 5 women ahead of me, the best one about 10 minutes ahead. I didn't think I would catch them, though in fact I caught one. She caught me back in transition, though. I ended up finishing third on the bike in final times, and that's about what I can do on my best days. A couple of guys complimented me on my biking, and I said I have a nice bike, which I do. One of the guys said that yeah, but I had to have an engine to turn those wheels. I do have a good engine in my biking legs.

I got my feet back out of my shoes on the last mile and ran into transition barefoot. Not sure if that was right, either. I put on my new super fast sockless triathlon shoes which I love and make me feet super fast, even if they are hot pink, my least favorite color. Then I headed out at what felt like a steady pace I could keep up for about an hour. I passed A LOT of people on the run. I think this is mainly because of the wave system. A lot of the slower men were still ahead of me because they started 15 minutes ahead. So I'd passed them earlier, in a way. They just didn't know it.

One moment was really fun, when I was passing a couple of teenage guys. They were going maybe 9 minute pace, but I blew by them. They made some comment about a fast chick. Then they looked at my leg and saw how old I was and they seemed to think I was pretty cool. That was nice. A lot of guys complimented me and I just waved. Honestly, I don't have the breath to talk while racing, especially on the run. If you heard me breathing, you'd understand. I almost drowned on a cup of water I tried to drink because I was breathing so hard and inhaled it. I admit that I counted every step. I was doing a mile in about 730 steps, which is fast for me. It was a hilly course and I finished in just under 8 minute miles total.

At the turnaround for the run I again got to see how many women were ahead of me. It was still 5, although one guy told me I was third. I figured he was just miscounting. There were 5 that I counted, and 3 three of those were within the 5 minute window that might mean I could catch them. I couldn't really tell their age. It was over 80 at this point, hot but not unbearable. I took in as much water as I could and took in one last gu. I hate gu, but I take it anyway, and I've gone to water over gatorade on the run because if it spills all over me, I don't get sticky.

For the first time EVER in a race, I was not passed on the run. One of my goals going into the race was to try to be passed by only a couple of women on the run. Not that I can control that absolutely, but that was what I wanted. I ended up finishing the run 6th of the women for that leg, and that's a really good result for me. I don't consider myself a runner. I run, but I don't love it. I'm most comfortable in the water, and I am always fastest on the bike. Sometimes I wonder if this is proof that I pace myself badly, but I actually think it just means I am newest to running, not starting until a few years ago.

Anyway, I hit the final uphill stretch and tried to push it in. I knew there was a woman under a minute behind me because I'd seen her at the turnaround. It's a pain not knowing exactly how close someone behind you is, but I didn't turn back to see. I didn't do an all out sprint, but I pushed hard and finished in 2:26. That's :31 for the swim (the fastest woman finished in :26, and I'm usually 3-4 minutes back from the fastest woman, so I think it was just long for everyone.) The bike I finished in 1:03 for 20 miles of hills. I wish I could have gone faster, but I was a little freaked out and kept slowing so as to avoid hitting other bikes and cars and the road on downhills. Need to work on that. The run I finished in :49, and it was really hilly, too, so I'm happy I kept it under 8 minutes per mile on that course and in that heat.

I got a bottle of water at the finish line, a quarter bagel, half banana and a quarter orange. I was still dripping sweat for the next ten minutes, so I stayed where it was cool under a tent. When I started to feel cool again and not so sweaty, I went out and looked at results. My results weren't up yet, so I went back to my bike and started to put things away to get ready to go.

This race had a spaghetti lunch/dinner free for athletes, so I went over and had that. I don't know if it was the food or me, but it was hard to choke it down. I felt bad, but I threw away the bread stick. I don't usually like them anyway. A couple more guys found me and said "363," you passed me on the run way fast. This is where I get into tricky situations. I mean to be nice, so I said that I had new shoes and they made me feel great. Looking back, that seems fine. But then one of the guys said he was fighting a blister on his foot that was killing him. I was trying to commiserate, so I told him I was dealing with the same thing from the 30 mile run I did on Tuesday when I lost two toenails. Now, looking back, I realize that sounded like bragging. Darn it! He mumbled something about how I must be in really good shape to do that long of a run and come do this race at my pace.

Sigh!

I went back to the results area and found out that I'd come in sixth, which was what I expected. The top three women had times listed under an hour, which was clearly wrong, but I shrugged it off. I was only 2nd in my age group as far as I could tell. The woman who beat me is an old, old nemesis of mine whom I haven't met up with for years. She's always ranked higher than me on the USAT lists, so I wasn't surprised she beat me. I was only surprised she beat me by only 7 minutes.

I had to get home and they passed out medals to all finishers, so I didn't figure it was worth hanging around for awards. I got back on my bike and rode it down to my car (including a protein drink), threw everything in the back except some snacks I'd saved for the ride home, and I was on my way, listening to more Harry Dresden read by James Marsters. It wasn't until I got home that I found out that the top three women had started earlier than I did, and had been kicked down. So I actually finished third overall, which is really cool, especially at my age. Maybe I should have hung around for awards, after all.

Feeling good today, and hungry. Good thing 14 made us biscuits for breakfast this morning.