Since my last post in July many things have happened. A few of the highlights are my last couple races of the season that I never got around to writing....sorry. First, was the Eugene Triathlon that was on August 25 and the second was Best in the West on September 7th & 8th. Amongst those events I also had my 25th birthday on August 17th. I had the most amazing cake. My mom and I made it. It is suppose to be the cat bus from the movie My Neighbor Totoro; one of my childhood classic movies. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you watching it.
Originally, I did not have the Eugene Triathlon on my schedule of races, but getting injured earlier in the season made me miss a few races, therefore, cutting my season short. Plus, a friend asked if I wanted to race it since he was directing it. Eventually, I agreed to race as I was helping with setting up the venue for the race. This was supposed to be a triathlon but ended up being a dualathon due to a blue green algae bloom. I did the sprint which was the normal bike and run distance. I don't remember what the distance was for the first run, but I'm thinking it was probably about half of a 5k. For this race, since there wasn't a lot of participants, they started all the guys at the same time followed by the women at a 5 minute lead. Before the first part of the run was done I had already passed quite a few men and just continued to pick them off through the bike. By the time I got to the final 5k I was in first place over both men and women. I ended up winning by 6 minutes. I was unsure of this when I crossed the finish line but I must say it was a great confidence booster to beat everyone with even a 5 minute handicap.
My family was unable to get any photos so I had borrow some
from the event site. Credit goes to the photographer.
My last race of the season was Best of the West. I ended up racing both the sprint and the olympic. Saturday was the sprint, which is always a fun race, plus I had to keep my title :) I was about 5th or so coming out of the water but passed quite a few of them through transition. My swim was a little slower this year but I made up for it on the bike bettering last years bike split. The run went well and it's always such a nice run. I also bettered my run split from last year by knocking off about 37 seconds. I won with a time of 1:06:12 and placed 4th overall men and women.
The following day, Sunday, was the olympic race. This is the first time I have raced it, but since I live so close to the venue I am able to get some training in on the course. I was a little tired before the race started but I didn't think much of it and figured I would do just fine. The swim felt great but was a little slower than I wanted. I knew I had to make up time on the bike in order to be a top place contender. When I was about half way through the course I could really start to feel my legs fatiguing a lot faster than usual. I tried to push through for the rest of the course to catch the last two that were ahead of me but I couldn't get my legs to spin any faster. So I figured I still have time, I am a strong runner and should be able to catch them on the run. As I was coming into transition off the bike I fell right at the dismount. At that moment I think I was more embarrassed than anything, but everyone was so helpful and made sure I was ok. As I went through transition I felt like I was moving so slow, but my results don't show that. When I was about 300-400 meters in I had to stop for a couple seconds to regain my composure. I was a little shaken up after that and was about to cry. Not because it hurt (which it did sting a bit) but I think more of a natural reaction. Once I got going again I was fine because I was now focused back on racing and not on the blood running down my leg. Although, it didn't really help when I passed several people and they asked in such concern if I was ok. The rest of the run went alright. I gained quite a bit of ground on the girl in second but just like the bike I couldn't get my legs to move any faster. I ended up finishing 3rd overall in a time of 2:25:20. Was not my best performance but I'm still happy with it after racing the previous day, falling, and volunteering all weekend.
The lovely road rash. I couldn't sit normal for probably about a week.
The most amazing face cutout ever made by my sister Cassandra!
Overall, the season was a great learning experience. I wasn't able to do all the races I wanted to due to injury and other events that were out of my control. Seeing with how I somewhat sabotaged myself in a few of my races I know that I need to develop a tougher mindset and know that there will be obstacles. I should already be a master at this with being a competitive athlete for so many years. Alas, learning how to handle them, I feel will be one of the biggest keys to having a great season. Knowing that, I am super excited for the 2014 season. I've already picked the races I want to compete in and am also planning on going to a training camp in Mallorca, Spain with Joe Friel as the coach. He is one of the sports best coaches. I can't wait to go on that trip and see what advice he gives me.
We got a bunch of snow a few weekends back, which of course always means I have to go out and play in it. I also like to include everyone in the family....including my pets :) Here is my cat, Jasper, playing in the snow.
This event, Boulder Peak Triathlon, turned out to be quite an event, and I don't necessarily mean just the race itself. The traveling went really smooth aside from some lightning on our last plane ride home. Thankfully, it was far enough away that it didn't cause any problems.
Leading up to the race I had workouts everyday and it was my plan to get in the water each day as well, since I was told that swimming at altitude is like breathing through a straw. However, on the first day I went to the reservoir to swim there was a lightning storm, and I guess you are not allowed to swim in that type of weather. Some of kind of safety thing :P On a side note, I thought it would have been a fun experience. The next day, which was the day before the race, I was to swim, bike and run. I did the bike and the run first and was planning to leave the swim for last. You know, wash off all the sweat from the previous two exercises. Nah, actually I just like to leave the swim for last. Anyways, I finished the bike and run and was just headed over to do my swim when all of a sudden Thor got really mad (at who knows what; yes, I did just watch Thor and the Avengers) and brought on another lightning storm. Lifeguards seeing this, started to herd everyone out of the water.
At this point, I was really starting to wonder what Thor's deal was. Because everyday he brought on a thunder storm. I will have to admit though, on the first night he gave us (me and my sisters) a marvelous show. The only noises you would have heard from us that night was a bunch of whoas, ahs, and oooos. On a more serious note now, I guess I just was not meant to swim before the race.
Swim caps can be such a pain!
It was finally race day and I would be hitting the water at 7:07. Through the course of the race I would be racing at 5,202 ft up to 6,394 ft. elevation. Like the race at Pacific Crest the weather was perfect. Nice and cool in the morning and it wouldn't be heating up too bad until the time I finished. Usually, at most of the races I've raced the waves have colored specific swim caps. Here they did the start different by allowing the athletes to pick which wave they wanted to go in based on their approximate swim time. So all the women wore pink and the men green. This confused me a little at first but it didn't take long for me to remember why. Then there was the Elite group, that I raced in, and you had to have certain time qualifications to race in that wave.
I was the second wave to hit the water and it always seems like it takes forever for the start. Plus, it was weird being in a wave with only 9 girls... The men were off and now there were a couple minutes before I would have my turn to run into the water. 5...4...3...2...1 GO! I took off towards the water and tried to get ahead of a few before starting to swim, but there wasn't enough land to make a huge difference. Right before I hit the water my knee buckled backwards. I'm still not really sure how that happened but I'm guessing the sand had something to do with it :/ I felt it a little for the first few 100 meters and then forgot all about it. All the way out to the last turn, which was the only turn, I was pretty much by myself but still could see a few of the girls ahead of me. The water was so nice and flat that it made for a great swim, almost as if I wasn't racing. Then all of sudden as I turned and was on my way back I started to get passed by the wave behind me. My once calm water now turned into an angry, rage of sea monsters! This was quite disheartening getting passed but I knew my swim hasn't been super strong this year so I tried to make the most of it by trying to latch on to some of the athletes who passed me. As mentioned earlier about swimming at elevation, I didn't find it difficult to breath at all. Felt the same as going for a swim in Foster Lake, which is just over 500 ft elevation. Now it was on to phase 2. The bike!
This part of the race turned into a first time event for me. I was about 2-3 miles in to the course and being that the roads are still open to traffic there was a commuter bus stopped just ahead. The athletes that were in front of me were going around it on the left. I was about to go that direction as well but then the bus started to move forward so I figured I would stay on the right like we were suppose to. Apparently, this bus driver was unaware that there was a race commencing right then and decided to turn off to the right without using his signal. At this point, I was about 8 yards behind him and when I noticed he was turning I slammed on my brakes. I didn't have enough time to go around him and I ended up slowing down just enough that I hit the back of the bus lightly. I almost fell over as well but was able to get my foot un-clipped in time. It took me a little bit to regain myself but was able to get going without too much lag time. As I passed the incompetent bus driver I may have said a few unpleasant things that aren't worth repeating. Now that I got myself composed again it was time to climb the 1,283 foot hill. It was a fierce climb! But it was nice to have all the spectators cheering the whole way up. The rest of the course was more mellow. A fair amount of downhill and a few rolling hills.
The run was not any better than at Pacific Crest. If anything, it may have been a little worse. As I look back on my run there shouldn't have been any reason for it to have been worse. First, I was able to get in a couple more weeks of running, even a couple track workouts (that went great!) Second, the course was flat. Lastly, it was warm but not hot and there was an aid station every mile. So I have concluded that my mind was not in the right state and therefore, I sabotaged my run. I'm sure I could blame some of it on the elevation, but honestly I don't believe it had much of an affect. As far as elevation goes, I think most people struggle with it because everyone always makes a big deal out of it. But people forget to realize that the body adapts very quickly. Therefore, I can not blame my performance on elevation. I'm sure it sounds like I'm being very hard on myself, and maybe I am, but at least I can learn from what happened and what I did and work on those things as to not repeat in future races.
Starting the run.
On a happier note, my main goal for this race was to qualify for the Hyvee Triathlon in September, and I qualified!!! So this made for a bitter/sweet race. I was 8th in the Elite division and 7th in my age group. I finished in the time of 2:29:02.
On another awesome note, this race also had a Pro division. They started about an hour after the age groupers so I was able to at least watch the run, which was a pleasure. Lisa Norden raced. If you don't know who that is, she was the silver medalist at the 2012 Olympics. At the awards ceremony I was sitting about 5 feet away from her. I had the perfect opportunity to go talk to her but I was too much of a chicken. Next time though......right?!?!? :D
Leading up to Pacific Crest was definitely a challenging time for me. Especially, after having a great performance at Wildflower. I originally was set to race at Blue Lake and Tri Monroe but had to pass on these two events and settle for racing at the Pacific Crest Triathlon before my race in Colorado. Right after Wildflower I came down with a cold. I was so excited after my win that I wanted to get right back to my training and I think this may have put too much stress on my body because I came down with a cold a few days later. This wasn't really a surprise, considering the effort put out in the race, the pressure I put on myself and the long drive back to Oregon. With all this I didn't allow my body enough time to recover. So I guess this was my body's way of saying "settle the hell down and relax!". Of course, this is not an ideal way to recover! I will definitely try to find a way to avoid this in the future. It took me about 2 weeks to get back to consistent training and then the following week I got injured!
I was so excited to be back running and to do an actual workout. I decided to do part of it on a trail that had a slight incline to add some "hill" training to my workout. I was on the second to last interval and right when I was turning around to take off I rolled my ankle on a rock going downhill. Instantly, it started to swell and the tears started to roll down my face. I've rolled my ankles plenty of times while running and most of the time I can just continue to run on them and they're just fine, but that was not the case on this one. The journey back home was awful. I was about a mile and a half from home and had no way to get a hold of anyone to pick me up. So I ended up gimping all the way home. At this point, I was glad I could still walk on it. Once I got home and my family sympathized with me some I then headed off to go take a shower. I wasn't able to put much weight on my ankle during that time and when I went to get out I almost fell. Turns out that during that 10ish minutes my ankle swelled even more and now I was unable to put any weight on it. Then the tears returned. I was so upset. Not only because my ankle hurt and I couldn't walk on it but because this would set me back in my training and I didn't know how long that setback would be.
I usually hate seeing pictures of injuries and such, but I figured I show those of you that like to see those kinds of pictures ;)
The initial sprain
A few days later, now the swelling was in the whole foot and up the leg.
This is several weeks later, swelling gone down,
but bruising in the toes and ankle.
I ended up going to urgent care. My family was worried that I might have broken something. Thankfully, that came out to be a negative. I had just sprained it really bad. I ended up having to be on crutches for about 3-4 days. From there I slowly started to put some weight on it. At this point, I wasn't able to workout at all. After about a week I was finally able to swim but couldn't kick much. My training eventually became a swim intensive block. Most of these swims were at foster lake so I wouldn't have to worry about pushing off the wall. Open water swimming is a bit difficult to get in some good speed workouts, but I did get plenty of open water/endurance work. A week after that I was able to add in some stationary biking. Finally, the week before Pacific Crest I was able to get in some more consistent workouts but was still unable to run much. The week leading into the race I was finally able to run without having to stop and I got in about 3 runs, none being more than 30 minutes.
I usually don't like to race unless I know I'm in good shape and can be a contender for overall female winner, but I needed to get in a race before Colorado to check where my fitness was and to get another race under my belt since it'd been awhile since Wildflower, which was the first weekend in May! Here is how the race unfolded...
Gettin' my race face on!
The morning of the race was perfect weather. Sunny, about 65 degrees, barely any wind and the water was perfectly flat. I was in the second wave and it was an in water start. The swim course was two loops. This is the second time I've done a swim with loops and I actually didn't mind it since I didn't run into any of the later waves. The first loop took me awhile to get my rhythm but once I was starting the second loop I finally got a little more relaxed and consistent in my stroke. I'm not sure how my placing was when I exited the water but my swim didn't feel like it was super fast.
Swim start
First transition went pretty smooth. I was a little nervous on how the transitions were going to play out since they were at two different locations. The first one was at the lake. Here you had to put your wetsuit and anything else you had at that transition in a bag that had your race number on it. The race volunteers/officials would gather all the athletes bags so you could pick it up after the race at the second transition area.
The bike course was a one way from the lake to the second transition, which was at a middle school near the Sunriver Village. There were a few rolling hills but it was mostly flat. Since I felt that I didn't have a very good swim I tried to make up for it on the bike. I passed quite a few people, both female and male. There were other racers on the course since this event also had a duathlon, bike race and I believe a few others. There were so many racers on the course that it gets difficult to tell which ones are in your race or not, but I'm pretty sure I passed some that got ahead of me in the swim. I was so uptight for this race that a few muscles in my back started to cramp up. By the time I got to transition they subsided. Second transition also went pretty smooth. By this time, it was starting to get pretty hot.
Almost to transition 2
Now it was time for the run, which is what I always look forward to since this was my sport for so long and I am a strong runner. However, at this race I did not feel strong. My legs just wouldn't move like I wanted them to and I felt exhausted through the whole 10k. It took a lot of mental toughness to get me to the finish line. All I wanted to do was stop. I would look forward to each aid station and that helped get me through by pushing myself to get to each one also since I was feeling very dehydrated. Finally, I came to the 5 mile mark. I had only one more mile to go! But that last mile felt like it took forever!!! I was so glad to be done.
Final stretch of the run! Yay!
Even though this race did not go how I wanted it to I still did well after coming off an injury. Also, I was very grateful that my ankle didn't hurt at all during the race. It still has some swelling but after putting it through the race it is definitely getting stronger and I shouldn't have to worry about it too much longer.
Done!
I ended up finishing 5th overall and was 1st in my age group according to how they did the awards. But in actuality, the first place female was in my age group. So I would have been 2nd. Now that I finished this race I knew what I needed to work on to finish out the season strong.
This is the second year I have participated in the one and only Wildflower Triathlon. Last year's experience at Wildflower was probably my worst race ever. That includes my whole running career, which started in middle school.To quickly sum up my race last year, my swim and bike went decently well. But since this was my first Olympic distance triathlon I did not know how to fuel properly for this distance. Since sprint triathlons are short enough that you can make it through on just water. It was also very hot and I failed to take that into account. So while on the bike I probably only took in about 8 oz of watered down gatorade. By the time I got to the run I was getting seriously dehydrated. I had to walk and at every aid station I tried to take in some water and more gatorade but it just didn't seem to help. I constantly felt like fainting. Once I finished I was very upset on how the race turned out and started to hyperventilate. (For the record, I have never done this before in my life! I didn't even know that that was what I was doing until a volunteer medic came over to help me) To cut this part short, from going into hysterics, being over heated, and seriously dehydrated, I was taken to the medic tent and ended up having a couple IVs.
What I have just shared with you is embarrassing to me because I always figured that something like this would never happen to me. I felt I was stronger than that, and smarter. However, even the strongest and well prepared people will experience things such as this. The good news, I made sure to figure out how to fuel myself for an Olympic triathlon and have never had this issue again! And I hope I never do! Oh, I almost forgot to mention, that after all that happened I still managed to place 4th in my age group (20-24).
Now for the part I'm sure you all are waiting to read about. My race experience this year. How did it compare to last year? There is no comparison! I had a score to settle at this race and I definitely settled it!
This year I decided it would be best to camp at the event. The previous year I stayed at a different area that was about 15 minutes away. My sisters (all three of them) came down with me and we arrived at Wildflower on Friday. Found ourselves a nice camp site near a tree and pitched our tents. This first day was insanely hot. I felt like I was in a sauna! I think the temperature that day got up to about 91 degrees, or at least it felt that hot. Back in Oregon the warmest it had gotten was about 75 degrees. So I was definitely not accustomed to this kind of heat. With the heat being what is was, it was crucial to stay hydrated. I made sure to drink as much water as I could but sometimes water doesn't seem to get absorbed very well. Therefore, it was on to the fruits and vegetables full of water! In particular, cucumbers, seemed to do wonders. I felt so much more refreshed after eating one. I might also add that I ate it plain. Just peeled it and then ate it. No need for dressing or anything else slopped on it.
For the rest of Friday I tried to stay out of the sun as much as I could but still made sure to walk around as not to tighten up. I ventured down to the expo area, which was about a mile or so from our campsite, so I could pick up my packet and then take a dip in the lake to get a feel for it. And let me tell ya, that water felt so lovely! Plus, this would be my first race wearing the blueseventy helix wetsuit, and it was quite comfortable. A lot more flexible than the last wetsuit I had. However, getting the thing on in that kind of heat was not that much fun, but once in the water I was fabulous. That pretty much sums up day 1.
Saturday turned out to also be a very hot day. This was the day for the Long course and Mountain bike races. I wanted to watch the Long course racers not only because that is the pro race but also because my coach, Erich, was racing. They started at 8:00am and the temperature in the morning was very nice, almost chilly, but for racers it was perfect. Sadly though, that temperature rose rather quickly as the race went on, which is about 4+ hours of racing. I was able to watch the start of the race but wanted to get back to our campsite so I could get my easy run and bike done while the temperature was still tolerable. Also, so I could see the finish and not have to worry about getting my workouts in later. To my surprise, the long course run went right by our campsite. I got to see the pros and Erich run. Plus, when they went by I knew if I wanted to see the finish I would have to hustle on down soon after they went by, and I made it just in time. Erich's race results didn't meet his expectations but the absurd heat may have been a factor, not to mention he hasn't been training for long course. Nice Job Erich!
This pretty much sums up day 2. Even though I got in a lot of walking that day I think it was best. Much better than laying around the campsite.
Erich over half way done on the run!
It was finally race day! The weather was not at all like the previous two days. Instead, it was just like Oregon! Overcast, cold, windy and spitting rain. The rain stopped relatively quick, but the cold and wind stayed with us throughout the day. So maybe this was to my advantage since I'm used to training in this type of weather.
The first wave of the day, which was the collegiate waves, went off at 9:00am. My wave was not to start until 10:10am, after all the male waves had gone. The waiting part felt like it took forever! Especially since the wind was so cold and fierce that it chilled you rather quickly. I actually wasn't too nervous by the time it was my wave's turn to go. Maybe I got all my nerves out the previous two days.
The swim was not a very fun one. I had a great start into the water and had good position, but due to the crazy wind the water was very choppy. The way out felt like it took forever. Thankfully, I got a good feel for the water and didn't get a ton of mouthfuls like I did at Nationals last year. Not to mention, blueseventy's helix wetsuit helped tremendously but keeping me more buoyant and flexible in the water. Once I got around the turn buoy to head back to T1 it was much faster cause now I was flowing with the water instead of fighting it. I came out in about 14th position. Through T1 I passed most of them and when I headed out for the bike I was now in about 3rd or 4th position. Swim was 27:57.
Swim start - I'm on the far right
The bike went really well. This course is famous for its hills. I've been told that this is one of the hardest triathlon courses and so far it has been the hardest one I have competed in. Besides having the hills to deal with there was now another factor, wind. This is an out and back course so I only had to fight with the wind for half of it. From the very start I was passing people left and right, well actually just on my right, otherwise it's against the rules and if caught I could get a penalty. Anyways, there were so many people (mostly men, since they went before all the women and I was wave 2 of the women's waves) on the road that I constantly had to stay towards the center line of the road and had to yell "on your left" A LOT! I always disliked having to do that, o'well. I took advantage of all the downhills and straightaways and hills now that I'm thinking about it. The hills actually aren't that bad. People just seem to have a natural fear of them though. There were a few sections on the course where there were big gusts of wind. That made nervous a couple times, and I had to get out of the aero position. Coming into T2 I was now in 2nd position off the bike. Bike was 1:17:19.
Getting back into aero position
Starting the run
I had yet to have any visual contact of the girl that was in 1st position. But I felt strong coming off the bike and I knew that I would be able to catch her if she didn't have a very strong run. At this point I still wasn't sure how far ahead she was, but thanks to some of the male athletes they let me know about how far ahead she was and encouraged me to catch her. One gentlemen told me that she was only about 30 seconds ahead of me, and this really excited me. I was now about 1k into the 10k course and I finally saw her. From there I started to real her in and ended up passing her around the 2k mark. From there I didn't look back and just focused on how many other people I could catch as well as not having to stop at all on the run, as I had the previous year! I had quite a few guys encourage me a long the way by saying "Nice", "Yeah" or something along those lines. My favorite one though, is I was coming up on a group of older gentlemen (I think they were in there 50s) and I could over hear them talking about how awesome it was to pass a lot of these young guys and at that point I passed them and then one of them said "we have just been chicked!" in a half serious yet playful tone. I finished strong and felt good the whole way, relatively. I finished the run in a time of 40:09 and had an overall time of 2:28:36. Times were a bit slower this year due to the choppy swim.
Home stretch
Just finished and am all sweaty and smiles :)
I ended up winning my age group which was 25-29, even though I am technically still 24, and I also was the overall Olympic female winner (1st out of 714 female finishers). This is my biggest win so far and I am so thankful to my family, Erich, friends, and sponsors for helping me achieve this goal! I couldn't have done it without you guys! :)
25-29 Age group awards - Yeah, bottle of wine!
Male and Female Olympic overall winners - Got an awesome transition bag!
Overall, I am very pleased with the way the race unfolded. It didn't have a lot of control over the swim but wish I would've been able to swim it a bit faster. Same goes for the run, which I did have control over. But I can not beat myself up about it considering that I have not been able to consistently run or do a workout for about 2.5 months due to my ankle issue. I am happy to report that I did not feel it at all during the race and should be able to now get back into more running! Yay!
I always have a hard time writing a race recap. I'm not sure why, cause it's pretty straight forward. So I guess I better dive in and get into the meat of the event.
This was my opener race. Heart of the Valley Triathlon that took place on Sunday, April 21st. This was a sprint distance race (750m swim, 12 mile bike, 5k run). I usually dislike pool triathlons (and still do) but there are not a whole lot of triathlons in Oregon that have open water swims in April. At least I can say that swimming at the Osborne Aquatic Center was quite delightful. Their facilities are impeccable. Plus, it was nice to swim in a 50 meter pool vs. a 25 yard pool. It makes swimming with multiple people in one lane more tolerable and easier to pass or be passed. Although, it is quite a change from training in a 25 yard pool. I'd get about half-way through the 50 meters and my body wants to do a flip turn and head back. But after several laps my body and mind adjusted.
I guess the first thing to start with is the weather. Since this seems to always be a factor in racing. Leading up to the race the weather was on and off rain. I was a little worried that this would continue throughout the weekend. Thankfully, the day before it only rained in the morning and as the day went on the roads dried out. Race morning, it was overcast and the temperature was about 47 degrees. Not quite ideal temperature but I'll take that over having rain.
I was in wave #4, which was the last wave of the day to go. About an hour and 10 minutes after the start of the first wave. They were running a little bit behind schedule (30ish minutes) so I had plenty of time to warm up and get mentally prepared. Finally, it was our turn to start. There was 3 people in the lane with me and I was the first person to go. The other two followed in 10 second intervals. The first few laps went alright until I got passed by both of the people in my lane. I made sure not to let a gap form and was able to pass one with a few laps to go. My swim was 11:57.
All ready to go and waiting for my wave
Swim to bike transition went very smooth. Of the few girls that came out of the water before me I passed through transition and at the very start of the bike course. It definitely pays to be able to mount your bike with your shoes already attached. At this point I wasn't sure how many women were ahead of me so I went out to chase them down. When I came to the turn around point I realized I was the first woman. I saw the second one a little ways behind me and made sure not to let her gain on me. This was a hilly course so I made sure to take advantage at every spot possible. I ended up riding a 33:28 for my bike split.
Stupid shoe!
Bike to run transition wasn't as smooth as my swim to bike. My dismount went beautifully but when it came to put my running shoes on...phew, that took more time than was needed. I was having the hardest time getting on my right shoe more specifically. This could have been due to having my ankle taped. (I've had an ankle issue for about the last month. Still not sure what caused it) Finally, I got the darn thing on, grabbed my race belt and was flying out of transition to start the run. My legs felt quite heavy from the start but quickly loosened up. The run course was two loops in a residential area. So it was pretty flat, which worked out great since I hadn't been able to consistently run for the past few weeks. I ended up clocking in a time of 19:13 for the 5k, which was almost a minute faster than any other female.
At the finish!
Because of the different start waves I wasn't sure if I had won or not but felt good about it since the 4th wave was with the fastest swimmers. They printed out the results so I was able to check, and was very excited to see that I did win. I had an overall time of 1:07:19. About 30 seconds ahead of the second place finisher, who I believe was the favorite to win the race.
Overall Female & Male Winners. We got lots of goodies :)
If you feel like reading another race re-cap here is one from Race Center. The article is pretty good but some of the facts are not correct.
Something goofy my sisters and I did today. Enjoy all 8 seconds :) The Smoking Orange
Last Saturday I participated in my very first bike race, and the only reason I did was because a recent acquaintance suggested this race. However, I was planning on doing a few bike races through the season to work on my bike racing skills, and this one was perfect timing! This bike race was a time trial one. I don't know if I could handle those other races where you start in a pack. (I know there is a specific name to this type of race, but since I'm still new to the scene of bike racing, bare with me) Anyways, they actually scare me a little bit. Probably, because I have no experience riding with a group of people. I've only been on one group ride and ridden with one or two people at a time. Otherwise, it's just me, my bike and the road. So group riding is definitely something I will need to be working on!
Ok, now for the specifics of race day. Since I had absolutely no idea how these events go I was a little nervous. Well, there are always a certain amount of nerves before any race. But I had no idea if I brought the right gear, what time should I show up, should I bike the course before I race it?
I ended up getting to the race an hour and a half before start time. We (a few of my family members) got there so early that we weren't sure if we were at the right spot since there wasn't any kind of race setup yet and there was only one other car there. I saw that there was a TT bike in that car so I figured we were at the right spot. We drove around a little bit to make sure and by the time we got back to the initial spot we started at, the race organizers were just starting to set up registration. Now that it was confirmed that this was the spot where the race was to take place we went and parked. By this time a few more people were starting to trickle in.
Since I still had no idea what to expect and came so early I figured I should ride the course. As I started to get my bike out and put my gear on I saw some of the other people pulling out their trainers, bikes and they were all decked out in their biking gear. Since it was a little chilly that morning I had on a pair of my running capris, a long sleeve and a bike jersey. My apparel may not have looked like I was a serious cyclist but at least my actual bike gear did. I had my amazing Cervelo P2 TT bike and my aero helmet. At first, I thought the helmet was too much and should've brought my road helmet since I didn't see any others with an aero helmet...yet. But there was no sense in thinking that my gear was over the top. Rather that I'm here to do my best with what I've got and to beat ya'll :) That may sound a little cocky but that is always one of my goals in any race I enter. I want to win!
I've now ridden the course and gotten a good feel for it. The "hills", how to ride the corners, good spots to surge, potholes to avoid, and the roughness of some of the road. I made it back just in time before the first racer was sent off, which was at 10:00am. My time to take off was at 10:22am. Each racer was to take off at one minute intervals.
Once I had gotten back to the start area there were many more racers now. A lot of them were spinning away on their trainers and others were going back and forth on the road. I now saw some of the other people's gear and realized that my gear definitely was not over the top.
It was now about time to get to the start line. So I put on my number, had one last bathroom stop and was now time to wait in line for my turn to go out and hammer it! This part seemed like it took forever as I was watching the clock tick closer and closer to my take off time. As the time got closer I started to get a little more nervous. Also, checking out my competition. Most of the women were decked out! Aero helmet, TT bike, race suit, etc. But this does not always mean they are fast. So my goal, other than to win, was to catch as many women ahead of me as I could and to not let anyone catch me!
5, 4, 3, 2, 1... GO! I went out as fast I could, but made sure not to burn myself out right from the start since the first hill was only about 100 meters into it. The rest of the course went pretty smoothly. There were a few other ups and downs but the biggest climb was the hill at the beginning of the race and at the end. On the way out I caught 3 women and after the turn around I caught another 2. Also, I am happy to say that nobody caught me or even got remotely close to me :)
Waiting
It's my turn next!
Off I go
And I'm gone
A nice view on my cool down ride!
After I crossed the finish line I went to find my family. First to see what they thought of it, which wasn't a whole lot considering they only got to see the start and finish, tell them a little of how it went, but mostly to let them know I was going to go for my cool down. I had never biked out in this area before and let me tell ya, it was beautiful! I was only planning on doing about 30 minutes but once I got out there it was very difficult to turn around. So I ended up doing about 40 minutes. When I got back from my cool down most racers had finished. I had no idea how they were going to be doing awards or when and I wasn't sure if I had placed or not so we decided to leave. Especially, since we were all starving! Later that evening I got online to check the results and I ended being the overall fastest female. Not bad for my first go at a time trial race. Or maybe it was because I got six inches of hair slashed off the night before ;)
Once upon a time there was a young girl around the age of 24, whom hails from the heart of the Willamette Valley, that fell in love with the sport of triathlon. Generally, she swims, bikes, and runs 3-4 times a week in each discipline. For awhile, she was swimming at a couple different pools, but lately it works out best to swim at the pool that is closer to her, which is the Lebanon Community Pool. Being that it is a community pool the lap swim times, with the biggest block of time, are in the morning from 5:30-8:00 am. She prefers these times, as it frees up more of her day to get her work done and have enough recovery before she proceeds to the second workout of the day. Plus, one great benefit to having an early swim is she gets to see the sunrise, which is always such a spectacular sight. As shared before in a previous post, she sleeps with a couple of manx cats every night. Her cat, Jasper, is very sensitive and does not like it when she leaves so early. Therefore, he is in a pouty mood until she returns. Sometimes it takes Jasper awhile to warm back up to her for leaving him in those early morning hours.
Lebanon Community Pool
A beautiful winter sunrise
Waiting for Her return and pouting
Being that she lives in Oregon, the weather is unpredictable. Sometimes she is able to ride outside when the roads are dry and if not, its an "enjoyable" indoor ride. On some days, the morning will start off absolutely gorgeous. The sun is shining brightly with only a few clouds in the sky. Then about an hour later the clouds role in and cover the sun giving it that wonderful grey color. Sometimes you can tell if the clouds are going to dump that lovely form of precipitation called rain, by how dark they are, but sometimes they will deceive you! As I have experienced this on several occasions. Then there are those workouts that are best suited on a stationary bike. It just so happens that those workouts sometimes fall on a day that is warm and dry. Therefore, it is time to be creative to have the best of both.
A dry and then rainy ride.
Enjoying the sun while getting in a quality workout
Beautiful daffodils with a little rain
Since she has been a runner most of her life and lived in the Northwest, it is no big deal to go out and run in the rain, cold, snow, frost, wind, hail, heat, sun, etc. Rather, it makes every run different and entertaining. The road a lot of times can be quite boring. That is why she prefers to run on trails, and she is in luck, for they are in abundance where she lives. Although, most all of the trails are quite hilly. A flat course does not exist out here, sadly enough. But hills build strength. Not only physically but mentally! Here are few pictures of the places she gets to run.
Early morning frost.
A lovely trail
After a rainy run
Old growth forest!
Now that you have read this far you get the idea of how a typical day/week of training goes. Sometimes however, there are things that happen that one would never plan on. And this just so happened to Kambria.
She went out one day riding her bike (Joon Pyo the TT bike) like she always does. That day's ride was a 2 hour adventure that started in Crawfordsville and made its way towards Sweet Home. Since Sweet Home is not super exciting she ventured out toward Foster lake. Normally she would ride about half way on the roads that are not traveled very often, but instead she decided to be courageous and ride on the highway. By doing this, she would ride all the way around Foster lake. A first for her, which always makes a ride more exciting to travel on roads that haven't been traveled before. And oh, what a beautiful ride it was! On one of the final roads on the way back home she saw a chicken in the ditch just a few yards ahead. The chicken looked calm as it was foraging in the grass and dirt. As she drew closer the chicken noticed her and didn't know what to expect and therefore, freaked out. Instead of freaking out before she was near him the chicken decided to cross the road as she was passing. This resulted in a blind panic to make it across the street where the chicken believed it was safe. By doing so, the chicken made contact with the back tire. Kambria tried to pass as quickly as possible to try and avoid a collision but was unsuccessful and felt a little thump. Thankfully, as she looked back the chicken was fine and did in fact make it across the road. We can now say we know where the joke came from "why did the chicken cross the road?"
Foster Lake
Looks very similar to the chicken that hit her
The day of her ride was one of the famous Oregon weather change by the hour day. It rained on and off all day. It was actually quite beautiful at some points of the day when it would rain when the sun was shining.
Sunny with rain falling!
*I was very unmotivated when I first started writing this post. It started out quite sarcastically and evolved into what you just read. Hope you enjoyed it. :)
