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June 2, 2008
Black Bear Triathlon Race Report
First of all - will somebody PLEASE make me feel better by telling me that I'm not the only one in this world that hates to clean their bike? I think it might be my least favorite thing in the world. Okay, that's a bit dramatic. But I really don't like to do it. Even though it only takes about 10 minutes. So instead of cleaning up my bike, taking off the race wheels and getting it set up to be ridden normally again I'm blogging. And eating ice cream. :) I did already do my swim and run so does that count for anything? And yes, I know, I'm pathetic. :)
Anyway - onto the race!
Race morning dawned bright and early and beautiful! I have really lucked out this year with great race weather. It's something that I think I take for granted too often!
O and I got to the race site in plenty of time and I went about my usual pre race routine. Setting up transition, 15 minute warmup jog, stretching, checking my bike in transition, hydrating, checking out the swim course, checking my bike in transition, checking my bike in transition, checking my bike in transition. Did I say that I checked my bike in transition? :)
Regardless, with about 30 minutes to go before race start I got on the wetsuit and went down to the lake to get in the water. I wanted to make sure to get a good swim warmup and also get used to the cold lake water because I'm a bit of a cold water wimp. But on race morning the water seemed much warmer than the day before. I still can't believe O got in there on Saturday with no wetsuit! :)
Anyway, I was swimming around prior to the race, minding my own business, trying to "feel" that smooth stroke that I know is in me somewhere - when...all of a sudden - WHAPPPPP! Head on collision with another swimmer and MAN did it hurt. I stood up and was literally seeing stars. My teeth felt loose! OUCH! I wasn't really sure what was going on around me and then I see the guy that I ran into and he (along with a few others) are asking me if I'm okay. What? What's going on here? I finally realize the situation and all of a sudden I'm fighting back tears. I'm not one to cry easily but wow did it hurt and my teeth seriously felt like they were going to fall out of my head.
I assured them I was fine and the man that I ran into was fine too (I have to say, I think I took the worst of it because he seemed like nothing even happened - although he was twice my size!). I swam a little more just to make sure I still could swim and then I climbed out of the water to find O. When I saw him I was fighting back tears again! GEEZ - get ahold of yourself Shutt! I think I was just shaken by it all and while I knew I wouldn't even think of it during the race (which I didn't) it really did hurt at the time. So no, no cycling crashes so I thought I would try something new - a swim crash! ;)
Finally onto the race where I started in the 3rd wave and was excited for a great swim! The swim was in a lake and 750 meters and while I didn't really have time goals for anything else, I did want to try to swim under 11 minutes.
I went hard from the gun and was doing pretty well with sighting and then (as Maija mentioned in her race report) we turned around the first buoy and all of a sudden there seemed to be lots of bodies from the first 2 heats to get around! It was interesting trying to navigate around the slower swimmers because quite honestly I'm not usually in this position! But I did the best I could and swam as hard as I could and as I exited the water and started running up the beach I looked at my watch and saw 10:56. Close enough! :)
T1 was a long one (in the results the swim and T1 are together so I don't exactly HOW long it took me to get up the hill and to my bike but I guess around 2:45!). I saw Maija in transition, along with some other gals and then off on the bike where my goal was to catch as many people as possible! It was nice having some of the age group men in front to try and catch pretty much the whole way.
And the bike course was HILLY! Both down and up. If you knew the course really well you really could have rolled, stayed aero the whole time and never touched your brakes. But I wasn't familiar enough with it to do that so I was riding my brakes down some of those hills and sitting straight up! I did FINALLY break that 40 mph barrier though! I was so excited to look down once and see 45.4 on my bike computer. WHOO-HOO! No matter what else happened in the race I had at least accomplished my one goal of breaking that 40 mph limit! :)
I rode really hard on the course and pushed as well as I could. It was, afterall, only a sprint and I didn't have a full 10K to run afterwards!
I finished up the bike, had a quick transition and then took off down the trail to start the run. I saw O early on in the run where he told me I was in first but I didn't want to let up too much because there was a heat that started AFTER mine that definitely had some ladies who could be moving fast, fast, fast and I didn't want to lose the BOUS spot that way!
The run was so beautiful. It was on some gravel/dirt paths and some grass with one big hill and the rest either very gentle rolling or flat. It ran through the woods and along the lake and past a little barn and WOW - very scenic! I would love to run on those trails for training so I could take in the scenery a little more because yesterday I was just trying to get finished!
I kept trying to pick off the age group guys ahead of me, one by one. As I would pass one I would focus on the next, etc... to keep me motivated and running strong. Finally, I saw the little covered bridge that the course takes you through that was my signal that the end was near! I sprinted through the bridge and up the little grass hill to the finish and YEAH was done! I had my first post race interview too as the guy announcing all the finishers asked me some questions over his microphone. I'm sure I said some dumb things. :)
Regardless, although I finished first in my heat I didn't want to get my hopes up too much in the case that someone from the heat behind me snuck in there! O was pretty sure that this wasn't the case but I didn't believe him until I saw the results. :) Luckily they had the results up very quickly and by the time I had done my cooldown jog and got my stuff from transition the results were up! And, as I wrote in my entry yesterday, I was VERYYYYYYYY excited! Yeah for BOUS!
After the race I got showered up and some food inside of me and O and I waited for the awards. We got a chance to talk with Maija and her husband (and Frito and Cooper!) and her friend Esther some and then it was time for the longggg ride home. I'm not a very good traveler to say the least but I did okay yesterday. I wish we could have stayed to watch some of the half IM finishers just because I wanted to cheer on those brave souls who rode 56 miles on those hills intead of just the 18 that we rode! :) But alas it was time to head back to Pittsburgh!
The top 3 - I really need to grow an inch or two... ;)
And now it's off to clean up my bike...unless of course I should happen to check my email first... :)
Posted by beth at June 2, 2008 12:52 PM
Comments
i'm with you about cleaning of the bike being one of my dislikes... but you did an awesome job this past weekend... you are an inspiration...
Posted by: Kranky C Dale at June 2, 2008 3:07 PM
Congrats once again Beth; your on a roll. Your encounter with that guy in the water sounds really painful. Maybe it got your adrenalin pumping early and helped in the long run? Maybe you need to wear you bike helmit in the swim warmup.
Posted by: Dawn at June 2, 2008 4:36 PM
Congrats once again Beth; your on a roll. Your encounter with that guy in the water sounds really painful. Maybe it got your adrenalin pumping early and helped in the long run? Maybe you need to wear you bike helmit in the swim warmup.
Posted by: Dawn at June 2, 2008 4:36 PM
Oh yeah, Beth! What a fun report. You know what's beginning to shine through on these race reports? A sense of triathlon confidence; you're very humble, of course, but it's clear that you're growing into your place as a triathlete. It's so fun to read.
So, I'm sure you're not short and those girls are just very tall, right. ;)
Congrats on meeting your goal! I'm very excited for you!
Perhaps today you're not too sore since it was a sprint race? Good luck with recovery and, er, cleaning your bike. ;)
Meghan
Posted by: Meghan at June 2, 2008 4:56 PM
I hate cleaning my bike too.
And I am eating ice cream, even though I am in taper mode. I am rationalizing it by thinking that I don't want to do anything different during race week...
Your swim crash sounds awful--I had no idea! Obviously better than what happened last year, but it's great that you were able to compose yourself and race well after that.
Great job out there! You really attacked that course. Congrats on getting the PA BOUS spot! What a great accomplishment.
I didn't notice the descending heights of the top three until you pointed it out. Pretty funny. Obviously height doesn't matter that much in triathlon. Emma Snowsill is 5'3''
Posted by: maija at June 2, 2008 5:52 PM
That trophy is bigger than you are! Classic! Congrats again, Beth!!!! And, I HATE HATE cleaning my bike. It drives Jerome nutso....! :)
Posted by: Jennifer Harrison at June 2, 2008 6:42 PM
I saw you out there! You were awesome to watch! Congrats on a great race and on BOUS spot.
Posted by: Leah at June 2, 2008 6:44 PM
If you win you shouldn't have to clean your bike!! New rule!!!!
Congratulations on being BOPA!!!
Posted by: Audrey at June 2, 2008 9:03 PM
My friend Genine was taking photos yesterday. She took over 450! I found this one of you in there http://flickr.com/photos/catmarlson/2546946020/in/set-72157605405036973/
Posted by: maija at June 2, 2008 9:36 PM
Yes, it was me who cheered for you on the run! :)
Posted by: Leah at June 2, 2008 9:48 PM
way to go shorty! I am so happy you got the BOUS slot, you deserve it and will totally destroy that field, my $ is already on you! Especially if you continue to swim like a fish!
AWESOME!
Posted by: Bree at June 3, 2008 2:27 AM
way to go shorty! I am so happy you got the BOUS slot, you deserve it and will totally destroy that field, my $ is already on you! Especially if you continue to swim like a fish!
AWESOME!
Posted by: at June 3, 2008 2:28 AM
now i actually like to clean my bike! congrats!
Posted by: mary at June 3, 2008 12:24 PM
now i actually like to clean my bike! congrats!
Posted by: mary at June 3, 2008 12:24 PM
congrats Beth!! So exciting - you're going to rock the BOUS! Great race report.. sorry about that swim crash, I would have been weepy too..
Posted by: rachelross at June 4, 2008 1:38 AM
You will have a blast at the BOUS race in October. I attended the last two BOUS Championships, and I'm bummed I will not race again this year. I may be in Tempe to cheer for you though.
Posted by: Cathy Yndestad at June 4, 2008 11:13 AM
AWESOME! Way to go. Excellent report: picking off age group guys, love it. Keep up that fire and you'll rock BOUS.
Posted by: Ashley at June 4, 2008 11:27 AM
Hey there, I'm friends with Maija and Esther.
I got a few pictures of you at the race. You can check them out here.
Run:
http://tinyurl.com/3rth6z
Bike:
http://tinyurl.com/53e6w8
Great race, congrats!
Posted by: Matt Carlson at June 6, 2008 12:20 AM