Recently in PR! Category

I raced the 15th Annual Tri for Real in Pleasanton yesterday. It was my 4th time doing this race and if you are interested you can read my history with eventhere. My goal for this race was to do it in under 2 hours and I did!

Before the race I met Muppet Dog Molly who was having a bad morning. I wished her well and went off to join my team mates at the edge of the nasty, duck poop infused waters of Shadow Cliffs. When you stepped in the water you had black goo squishing between your toes. It was majorly nasty. Once we got away from shore the water was fine and I did my best to draft. Coming in we had to swim through these nasty water weeds which was gross but c'est la vie with this race.

I was not last out of the water! My race club goes in our own wave and most everyone else at Forward Motion is way faster than me so I was happy. T1 was pretty quick due to my not wearing a wetsuit and I was out of there fast but then I got passed on the bike within a quarter mile by a couple of people. The last one to pass me took 5 or 6 miles and happened when I had stopped to help a fellow team mate with a flat.

As far as the stopping goes - I probably lost a minute or maybe 90 seconds but the rest seemed to really help and when I started riding again (because she told me to get going) I was much faster so worst case it was a wash and best case it really helped. Sadly, my friend's race was over.

When I got to T2 there was a trio of FoMo ladies screaming at me "GET OUT OF THERE!!! HURRY UP, PAMELA!!! GET MOVING!!!" at the top of their lungs. After I recovered from the red hot sting of feeling chastised I grabbed my stuff and hauled out of there yelling "You Guys are Making me Crazy!" with a huge smile on my face. Good times and I had my very best transition time ever.

I passed the guy on the run who last passed me on the bike but he was the only Forward Motion person I passed. Everyone else was way ahead of me. I got passed by several women in their 20s and 30s who had started behind me but the further I got on the run the better I felt when they passed me because it took them so long to catch up! I felt less excited about the 66 year old guy who passed me but what are you going to do? I just kept running, reaching for that sub 2 hour finish.

As I approached the finish I looked up and saw 1:55.something on the clock and was SO happy. I can't wait to see that finisher pic!

I waited a few minutes until Molly came in. She started 20 or 25 minutes after me so the fact that she was behind me by 2 or 3 minutes meant she had a great race. I told her there was a rule that if we didn't get a picture no one would believe we had met. Here we are - she is adorable and I look like an old but very happy hag

So here are the stats as I pulled them off my Timex watch (I didn't wear a HRM)

Swim - 700 yards 15:05
T1 - 1.45 (that's what no wetsuit will get you)
Ride 16.7 miles - 58:42 (17 mph)
T2 - 53 seconds! (That's what having 3 women screaming at you will get you!)
Run - 4 miles - 39:53 (it was hilly)

Total time 1:56.12

PR - 10 minutes off last year. Life is good.

What's next?

For sure:
Nike 1/2 Marathon on Oct 19
Oceanside 70.3 on April 4, 2009
Weight training and Abs Watch! Stay tuned for that.

Maybe
California International Marathon December 7
A 10K some time since it's time to have a 10K PR

I wish I could tell you I was floating on air with this PR - I should be. I feel good about it and it shows remarkable improvement in my ability but something is just not 'there' Maybe writing this post will help me figure this out.

As usual this will not be your standard "work up at 4, had a cup of coffee, pooped, loaded the car...." race report. I leave those to Steve Stenzel (if you haven't watched his latest video you must) and Amanda Lovato. When it comes to poop posts they are the pros!

So here's my race report:

Night before Prep: 2 Sammies from Quiznos (Sonoma Turkey and Bistro Steak Melt) and a cup of broccoli/Cheese soup) Perfect.

Pre-Race:

1).Did the packet pickup, put numbers on bike and race belt and forgot to put my number on my helmet - oops. I guess I'll have to find my pictures in the lost and found section when they come out. I think we all know that for me, the race is all about the pictures. I WILL find them.

2). Why is is so damned hard to get a wetsuit on? And why is it that no matter how much BodyGlide I use on my neck I always, always, always get a wetsuit hickey? So annoying.

Swim:
1). I used anti-fog spray in my goggles for the first time and could see the WHOLE TIME! I didn't have to stop once to clear my goggles and I didn't bump into a single kayak. So awesome!

2). At this race last year I had a major cramping problem when I came out of the water. You have to run over river rock to get out and once I stood up my right leg cramped up so painfully that I fell down and sat there screaming for help. I got none and it took 2 attempts and 2 or 3 minutes to be able to use my leg and get out of there. I was SO hoping that didn't happen this year so I took extra Potassium the day before, drank a double dose of Nuun on the ride up and ate a banana in the morning and was very careful to keep my feet relaxed during the swim. I felt fine as I got to the finish but alas....

3). My swim went well. I let the pack go at the beginning so I didn't freak out or hyperventilate going too fast but I caught up to the middle of the pack by the turn around and passed a few people on the way back. My legs were relaxed and I felt good and as I came out the water I just stood up and started to go for it and then... next thing I knew -KABLAM! I had a giant cramp and fell down. ARRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!! I sat there pulling back on my toes with people running around me asking - "are you okay" and saying "whoa - look at that!" because my foot was so contorted. Fortunately a course marshall stepped in and gave me a hand up so that I could stand without putting pressure on it until my leg was straight. I thanked him and off I went.

Time 29:00 compared to 33 last year. I hit T1 happy as could be under the circumstances.

T1: good enough and I'm out of there, minus my Garmin. I did have a stop watch with laps so I could capture my time (sort of). I only show 35 seconds. So Swim + T1 = 30:07. Not bad.

Bike:

1). I had forgotten to re-set my bike computer so I attempted to do that while on the ride. The problem is that because of my clip on aero bars it's hard to get both buttons at once and it's kind of a 2 hand operation. I almost biffed it big time and started to run off the bike path into the weeds. It was a perilous, wobbly moment in which I could have crashed and had a very bad start to my race. I left well enough alone and just focused on riding.

2). Last year I got passed often and constantly. This year, not so much. My goal was not to get passed by anyone in my age group.

3). No such luck. It took them about 10 and 12 miles to do it but I got passed by 2 women in my division. One of them had the audacity to pass me going downhill and say "Whheeeee!" as she did it. I wanted to kill her. I tried to stay on her and even passed her at one point but alas, she got away from me.

4). You know that old rule about always have your own water? It's a good one. Last year they handed out water bottles at the 1/2 way point so I counted on that. I had my aero bottle full of Infinit but that was all. This year - no water. So that was a drag but since I had the Infinite I was okay and I did take in the entire 300 calories on the ride. Lesson learned - always take a water bottle.

5). Aero bottles with those mesh things suck. I wore at least 50 calories of Infinite on my glasses and handlebars so make that 250 calories downed on the ride. I need a cap for my aero bottle.

6). I saw a woman fixing a flat and I called out "do you have everything you need" and she called "my pump is broken" and I started to stop and then, for some reason, I decided that she said she was fine (I swear I heard her say "I'm fine- thanks") and I kept going. I know that wasn't true because after the race the announcer said "to the guy who gave up his bike pump -you can pick it up at the stage". I feel like such a heel and I'm so sorry. I should have just stopped and handed her my pump. SORRY! I hope that next guy, the nice one, wasn't too far behind me.

Ride time: 1:23 which works out to 18 mph. GO ME! Last year I DREAMED of hitting 17 and didn't come close. Much better. 15 minute improvement over last year.

T2: less that 2:29 which is what the watch says but I forgot to hit the lap button for a while. Nothing of note except that not every single person from my race club was done already as was the case last year. I was very happy about that.

Run:

1). It was hot but it was okay. I just kept chugging along and was pulling sub 10 min miles for a while. My Garmin which I picked up in T2 and spent way too long getting on, kept telling me I was running 12:35 or 11:55 or some such nonsense and I'm starting to hate it. I had to hold it up to the sky to get it to register half the time. So annoying.

2). I did slow down toward the end as it starts to go uphill but I did okay and I passed a woman in my age group. I passed a lot of people and I was happy about that. I was also just cooked by the end as in 'stick a fork in me - I'm done and I don't think I'll EVER race again". However - last year I got passed just before the finish by a woman in my division and I let her go. She beat me by 18 seconds and I was NOT going to let that happen again so I really pushed it.

3). 3 women from my club where at the finish cheering me. I can't tell you how much that warmed my heart. I'm going to send them an email and thank Julie and Caroline and Kimberly - you're the best!

Total time: ~1:05 which is not what I wanted but not too bad.

Update - Official results 10 out of 18 in the 50 - 59 division (6 out of 13 in the 50 - 54)

Swim 0:29:29.5
T1 2:20.2
Bike 1:23:29.1
T2 1:29.5
Run 1:05:35.1
Finish 3:02:23.3

I don't know what I did to my watch but obviously something is off.

Conclusion:

I ran under the finish clock when it said 3:32 and my wave went off 30 minutes after the start. My watch said 3:00:43 and I didn't really put 2 and 2 together in that moment. I knew I had 30+ minute PR and I was happy but in a second I went from wanting a big PR to wanting a sub 3 hour finish. When I saw my official time of 3:02 I was disappointed because my watch said 3:00 and I liked that better. And then I was disappointed that I spent time messing with gadgets because that alone cost me a minute, I'm sure. And if only I had picked it up here and there I could have had my sub 3:00 finish. The big problem is that I will not do this race next year because that cramping business is just too unpleasant so now I have no chance to redeem myself.

Please - feel free to slap me into reality I had a 31 minute PR on an Olympic distance race and that is cause for celebration not remorse. I guess I'll just have to make up on the New York Triathlon or the Nations Triathlon next year. Yeah - that's it. There's always next year. And there's Sept 21 when I will do my "A" race which is a sprint and I WILL go all out.

And done reasonably well. I had a big PR and will write a race report tomorrow.

Thanks for all the well wishes. I really needed them!

I'm back! After a forced rest of 5 days I managed to get back in the saddle yesterday (literally) and I managed to make my race today. My hammy is just fine but my inner thigh hurts - the way it is supposed to hurt after a race. My buns are sore, too and that's okay with me.

Yesterday I did a 30 minute Spinverals workout that focuses on technique. There were some cadence drills that had you ramp up the rpms every 10 seconds and then rest 40 seconds. Due to my previous experience with the trainer spontaneously falling over I was a little reluctant but Shelly had sent an email that said 'make sure it is locked in there' and I looked and realized I had not done that. doh! So this time I was fully clamped down and then I made my son look at me on the bike and make sure I was really straight in the vertical axis and then, just for good measure, I put a little rug under the right side of the stand. And then I spun that baby- I even got up to 150 rpm which was awesome for me! And I did not fall over - it was like a miracle.

Today I had my race. It is a 4 mile run on a hilly course. I didn't know how I would do but I went out and just did it. I was actually ahead of this other woman on my team until the 2 mile turn around. Then we ran together and then, in the last 1/4 mile I sort of lost it and she got in about 20 seconds ahead of me. Bummer - last in on the team AGAIN! And that's just the way it is but be that as it may this run was certainly an accomplishment for me because I placed 4th in my age group out of 17! I WIN!!!

I don't think I have ever been anywhere close to 4th. What's even more exciting is that the woman I was running in with is in the 30 - 39 age group. Granted - she rode a metric century yesterday but still - I'm feeling pretty good here!! Happiest of all was that my final mile was my best. Official Time: 41:34:7 (34/85 OA for women) Let me just repeat - I WIN!!!

Here are some visuals (click to enlarge):
My pace:

See that??!!! I went sub 10 minute the last mile and it wasn't ALL downhill although it was largely downhill. But then it went up. See??:

The only issue I'm having is with what my Garmin has to say about energy expended. I really don't think so:

Do you think my Garmin is giving me a hint to go on diet?

All of this leads up to my current thinking on Wildflower and training but I'll save that for another post.