Galena Triathlon: An Analysis.
I'm not going to call this a race report. Sure, I may have been participating in a race, but I was by no means racing the damn thing. So this is my in depth look at how the wheels fell off (not literally, thankfully) and what I can take away from the disaster that was my Saturday morning.
Just what went wrong?
I think it's safe to say...almost everything. Although in retrospect, it could've been worse. The best part of my race was probably my T2 time, which is a little funny to me considering that I'm absolutely horrendous in transition. But whatever! I'll take that one tiny victory.
Okay...
So...
Here we go...
How I drank Half of Apple Canyon Lake.
Everything I seemed to have learned about swimming the past 8 months went right out the window once the gun went off. Form...what's that? Kicking for kickings sake...oh yeah! Sighting...who needs to sight when you can't see through your goggles anyway?! And breathing? Why breathe when you can just drink the entire effing lake in massive gulps!!
In the pool I swim about a a 1:53/100yd. Comfortably. Without trying very hard. It's just something I do relatively well. On Saturday my pace calculated to be 2:30. This was actually slower than my swim pace from last summer's triathlon. Mmmm...yeah.
What.The.Hell. Grrrr...
My warm up felt great. The water was ridiculously cold, but once I got my core temperature down I was good to go. Fortunately for everyone, the water wasn't so cold where it takes your breath away when you get in...it was maybe 1 degree warmer than that threshold. I swam about 50 yards and felt good and confident. Sliced my toe on a rock somewhere along the way, but this would prove to be the least of my problems for the day.
I positioned myself toward the back of my wave just to gauge myself during the swim and not get beat up (too much). Within a few moments, the fun went off and we went flying into the water.
The swim, for the most part, is a blur. I went off course at one point and thankfully some girl went out of her way to grab my ankle and pull me back in. I couldn't see anything...in the water was ridiculously murky...above water, my goggles were fogged, so sighting was a huge challenge. I got kicked in the gut several times. I remember flipping onto my back for a while and trying to do the back stroke. The wetsuit felt really good on my body; however, around my neck the wetsuit was a major problem. It felt way too tight. I know folks say that it's supposed to be tight and feel like you're choking a little bit...but MAN...depending on how my neck was angled and cut into the suit, I may as well have been strangled.
I consumed water. A lot of water. Enough lake water that could've hydrated me for the next week and a half. I drank so much lake water, I actually threw a bunch of it back up (my apologies to folks around me and the waves to come).
I was working way too hard. And I knew it. And it wasn't until about 550 yards into the 660 yard swim that I actually started to calm down and find my groove. The straight away back in is when I began to relax and get into the flow of bilateral breathing and actually freestyling like I'm supposed to.
This was nothing like I imagined it. And certainly not the way I wanted to start my day.
Swim Time: 15:07. (670/800)
Mistakes:
- Completely ignored form and everything I know about swimming...and just swam, wasting too much energy up front.
- Worked myself up and felt frantic.
Lessons Learned:
- Practice more open water swims in wetsuit.
- Relax. Envision myself in my pool back home and just take it easy and try to ignore everyone and everything around me.
- After a few more OWS's, if my wetsuit is still giving me problems around the neck, consider trimming it down a cm or two.
T1
Nothing exciting to report here. My positioning on the rack in relation to the bike exit was a pretty decent spot. However pebbles kept getting stuck to the bottom of my feet so it took some time to get everything in place. Once I dried myself off and covered myself with sunscreen, I took off. Spent a little more time than I would have liked though.
T1 Time: 5:54. (598/800)
Pretending to know how to fix your bike when having mechanical problems.
Before the race ever even started, I made the executive decision to walk my bike up the first hill. It's a relatively steep sucker and the mount line is already on the incline. It's not uncommon, as about a quarter of the field decides to do this since you have absolutely zero momentum to get your butt up it.
The bike as a whole can be described in one word: SHIT! An exclamation! A proclamation, if you will. Not as in...oh man, we're royally effed. The only thing that could've made this ride any worse would've been getting a flat, slashing my tire or crashing. Had these incidents occurred, I may feel better about my time. However (and fortunately, I suppose) they did not.
About 3 miles into my 16.8 mile journey, I noticed a problem with my cassette? ...gearing system? who knows? To get myself up the hills, I'd simply drop into granny gear and spin my way up. Easy enough. Right!? Well...this only works when your granny gear complies with you.
Every time I went into my small ring, it kept trying to shift...but there wasn't anywhere for it to go. There were no more gears. I wasn't doing anything to my gear system to make it want to shift. And it would just start making this god awful, clicking, rattling sound and was insanely jerky when I pedaled, not smooth at all like it's supposed to be.
So I pretty much convinced myself that I could fix this little problem I was having. Not one, not twice, but three times I actually pulled over and examined my bike.
What was I looking for? Who knows! I think I was convinced that I was a bike mechanic in another life. Everything appeared to be fine. Even if it was obvious to me what the problem was, I would've had no freakin' clue as to how to fix it. But never fear, I continued to inspect and investigate the ever-annoying issue. Everyone was really nice and most people offered to stop and help me, but I'd tell them I had it taken care of. No reason to ruin anyone else's race, right?
Taking on the leading role as Little Miss Clueless, I hopped back on and made the best out of a very craptacular situation. I'd get as far as I could up the hill in the middle ring. Sometimes mashing my way up, killing my legs. Trying to maintain a smooth cadence. Other times...I'd get as far up as I could before hitting a standstill, where I was then forced to get off my bike and do the walk up shame up the rest of the way.
It was very frustrating.
Nutrition was relatively good on this leg. As was how I handled the ridiculous headwinds and cross-winds. I felt controlled on the downhill portions, too.
The best part of the course it that the 7 miles, for the most part, are all downhill. So once I passed the "Jesus Saves" rock, I knew I was home free.
I saw someone fall over when failing to clip out of his pedals...and 1 collision that looked pretty scary. There was also a girl having an asthma attack and the medics were pulling her off the course.
So while I didn't have any major catastrophic moments that ended my tri season prematurely, I did manage to eat a variety of insects along the way. Not my idea of smart nutrition.
Mistakes:
- Not having a solid back up plan for the bike.
- Not riding my bike the day before to make sure there were no mechanical issues as a result of traveling.
Lessons Learned:
- Do more homework on the anatomy of my bike. If I don't know what to look for, how the hell can I possibly know what to fix? Additionally...even if I were to find something wrong, it's slightly essentially to know how to correct the problem.
- Ride more hills. Ride more hills. Ride more hills.
- Keep my mouth closed when cycling to avoid insect digestion.
Bike Time: a pathetic 1:49:03. (773/800)
T2.
I'll admit. I'm pretty pleased with how T2 went over. Even though I racked my bike, all I really wanted to do was go and throw it off a cliff. I was just so happy to be off that damn thing. Mike had just finished right before I came rolling into transition, so he ran over and sprayed me down with more sunscreen as I was putting my running shoes on. Without thinking I popped in a few grape Enlyten strips...and then followed it with Gu...and washed it down with a swig of Gatorade.
Someone Raise the Red Flag, stat.
Enlyten Strips. Gu. Gatorade.
I should've done one of the above. Not all three in succession. Which brings us to...
Train like you race and race like you train...especially when it comes to nutrition.
I've been training on HEED the past however many months. I love HEED. It's not sugary like Gatorade. It is very easy on my already over-sensitive stomach. I absorb and digest it with ease. My body just meshes well with it. Ever since I've grown accustomed to HEED, everything else seems so...hmm...syrupy, for lack of a better adjective.
Mistakes:
- The fact that I devoured three sugary products, one after the other, without even thinking, in less than 20 seconds, was a recipe for disaster.
Lessons Learned:
- Don't give myself so many options for nutrition for a sprint distance race.
- Don't give myself any options that I haven't trained with.
- Don't be stupid and think that because a certain product worked for you last year, that it'll work for you this year.
- Don't even think about mixing so many electrolyte based products together in one sitting.
T2 Time: 2:35. (617/800)
GI issues on the run (pun intended? or not? you decide.)
I was so excited to be off the bike and onto the run. The run is my thing. I can run. I love to run. I get satisfaction out of going and pounding the pavement.
As you may have guessed...I paid the price for my T2 mistake.
I run out of transition and to the base of the hill. Unless you're in it to win it, the strategy for pretty much everyone else, is to walk the hill. All 230-something feet of it.
And as I'm walking...I'm feeling my stomach revolt. I have enough GI issues, so I'm typically used to dealing with them and moving on. But normally my GI problems are on the...uhmm...top end, to put it politely...and this problem was a whole new territory for me. By the time I got to the crest of the hill and begin running again, my body alerts me that we have a major problem and need to take care of things quickly. Except running only seems to make this problem worse. Much worse. So I'm walking...as fast as I possibly can...clinching every last muscle in my body...hoping for a bathroom. I'm half tempted to go knock on the door of one of the houses along the course.
A volunteer informs me that at the turn around, there's a porta potty. So...I try and pick up the pace as much as I can.
Upon arrival at the turn around...I go to open the door...and it's occupied.
And I wait.
And wait.
And wait some more...about 6-7 minutes pass. And I decide I can't wait any longer.
I sip a pinch of water. Suck it up. Say a prayer. And haul ass back to the finish line.
I paced about 10:30 on the 2 miles back to the finish as my body wanted to crap out on me (no pun intended).
I go through the finishers area in about 10 seconds and book it to the bathroom.
Finally.
Sweet relief.
Run Time: 58:34. (767/800)
Mistakes:
- Waited too long to get into the porta potty on the course.
- Stupid mistake with fueling.
Lessons Learned:
- Keep moving forward.
- We all have bad runs. Just suck it up and get it done.
- You'll pay the price for poor nutrition on the run.
Clearly...this race isn't an accurate indicator of my training. Lots of things happened. Lots of things didn't happen. But in the end, I finished. And somehow...miraculously through all of this...I still didn't place last overall...or last in my age group. Nor was I second to last. Okay...so maybe I was third to last in my age group, but I'm not complaining.
A race that should've taken me no more than 2:45 to complete, took me a ridiculous 3:11:12. seriously. That's absurd.
On the bright side...it shouldn't be too difficult to beat my time next season. Right!?
It's time to pick myself up and keep moving on.
Just what went wrong?
I think it's safe to say...almost everything. Although in retrospect, it could've been worse. The best part of my race was probably my T2 time, which is a little funny to me considering that I'm absolutely horrendous in transition. But whatever! I'll take that one tiny victory.
Okay...
So...
Here we go...
How I drank Half of Apple Canyon Lake.
Everything I seemed to have learned about swimming the past 8 months went right out the window once the gun went off. Form...what's that? Kicking for kickings sake...oh yeah! Sighting...who needs to sight when you can't see through your goggles anyway?! And breathing? Why breathe when you can just drink the entire effing lake in massive gulps!!
In the pool I swim about a a 1:53/100yd. Comfortably. Without trying very hard. It's just something I do relatively well. On Saturday my pace calculated to be 2:30. This was actually slower than my swim pace from last summer's triathlon. Mmmm...yeah.
What.The.Hell. Grrrr...
My warm up felt great. The water was ridiculously cold, but once I got my core temperature down I was good to go. Fortunately for everyone, the water wasn't so cold where it takes your breath away when you get in...it was maybe 1 degree warmer than that threshold. I swam about 50 yards and felt good and confident. Sliced my toe on a rock somewhere along the way, but this would prove to be the least of my problems for the day.
I positioned myself toward the back of my wave just to gauge myself during the swim and not get beat up (too much). Within a few moments, the fun went off and we went flying into the water.
The swim, for the most part, is a blur. I went off course at one point and thankfully some girl went out of her way to grab my ankle and pull me back in. I couldn't see anything...in the water was ridiculously murky...above water, my goggles were fogged, so sighting was a huge challenge. I got kicked in the gut several times. I remember flipping onto my back for a while and trying to do the back stroke. The wetsuit felt really good on my body; however, around my neck the wetsuit was a major problem. It felt way too tight. I know folks say that it's supposed to be tight and feel like you're choking a little bit...but MAN...depending on how my neck was angled and cut into the suit, I may as well have been strangled.
I consumed water. A lot of water. Enough lake water that could've hydrated me for the next week and a half. I drank so much lake water, I actually threw a bunch of it back up (my apologies to folks around me and the waves to come).
I was working way too hard. And I knew it. And it wasn't until about 550 yards into the 660 yard swim that I actually started to calm down and find my groove. The straight away back in is when I began to relax and get into the flow of bilateral breathing and actually freestyling like I'm supposed to.
This was nothing like I imagined it. And certainly not the way I wanted to start my day.
Swim Time: 15:07. (670/800)
Mistakes:
- Completely ignored form and everything I know about swimming...and just swam, wasting too much energy up front.
- Worked myself up and felt frantic.
Lessons Learned:
- Practice more open water swims in wetsuit.
- Relax. Envision myself in my pool back home and just take it easy and try to ignore everyone and everything around me.
- After a few more OWS's, if my wetsuit is still giving me problems around the neck, consider trimming it down a cm or two.
T1
Nothing exciting to report here. My positioning on the rack in relation to the bike exit was a pretty decent spot. However pebbles kept getting stuck to the bottom of my feet so it took some time to get everything in place. Once I dried myself off and covered myself with sunscreen, I took off. Spent a little more time than I would have liked though.
T1 Time: 5:54. (598/800)
Pretending to know how to fix your bike when having mechanical problems.
Before the race ever even started, I made the executive decision to walk my bike up the first hill. It's a relatively steep sucker and the mount line is already on the incline. It's not uncommon, as about a quarter of the field decides to do this since you have absolutely zero momentum to get your butt up it.
The bike as a whole can be described in one word: SHIT! An exclamation! A proclamation, if you will. Not as in...oh man, we're royally effed. The only thing that could've made this ride any worse would've been getting a flat, slashing my tire or crashing. Had these incidents occurred, I may feel better about my time. However (and fortunately, I suppose) they did not.
About 3 miles into my 16.8 mile journey, I noticed a problem with my cassette? ...gearing system? who knows? To get myself up the hills, I'd simply drop into granny gear and spin my way up. Easy enough. Right!? Well...this only works when your granny gear complies with you.
Every time I went into my small ring, it kept trying to shift...but there wasn't anywhere for it to go. There were no more gears. I wasn't doing anything to my gear system to make it want to shift. And it would just start making this god awful, clicking, rattling sound and was insanely jerky when I pedaled, not smooth at all like it's supposed to be.
So I pretty much convinced myself that I could fix this little problem I was having. Not one, not twice, but three times I actually pulled over and examined my bike.
What was I looking for? Who knows! I think I was convinced that I was a bike mechanic in another life. Everything appeared to be fine. Even if it was obvious to me what the problem was, I would've had no freakin' clue as to how to fix it. But never fear, I continued to inspect and investigate the ever-annoying issue. Everyone was really nice and most people offered to stop and help me, but I'd tell them I had it taken care of. No reason to ruin anyone else's race, right?
Taking on the leading role as Little Miss Clueless, I hopped back on and made the best out of a very craptacular situation. I'd get as far as I could up the hill in the middle ring. Sometimes mashing my way up, killing my legs. Trying to maintain a smooth cadence. Other times...I'd get as far up as I could before hitting a standstill, where I was then forced to get off my bike and do the walk up shame up the rest of the way.
It was very frustrating.
Nutrition was relatively good on this leg. As was how I handled the ridiculous headwinds and cross-winds. I felt controlled on the downhill portions, too.
The best part of the course it that the 7 miles, for the most part, are all downhill. So once I passed the "Jesus Saves" rock, I knew I was home free.
I saw someone fall over when failing to clip out of his pedals...and 1 collision that looked pretty scary. There was also a girl having an asthma attack and the medics were pulling her off the course.
So while I didn't have any major catastrophic moments that ended my tri season prematurely, I did manage to eat a variety of insects along the way. Not my idea of smart nutrition.
Mistakes:
- Not having a solid back up plan for the bike.
- Not riding my bike the day before to make sure there were no mechanical issues as a result of traveling.
Lessons Learned:
- Do more homework on the anatomy of my bike. If I don't know what to look for, how the hell can I possibly know what to fix? Additionally...even if I were to find something wrong, it's slightly essentially to know how to correct the problem.
- Ride more hills. Ride more hills. Ride more hills.
- Keep my mouth closed when cycling to avoid insect digestion.
Bike Time: a pathetic 1:49:03. (773/800)
T2.
I'll admit. I'm pretty pleased with how T2 went over. Even though I racked my bike, all I really wanted to do was go and throw it off a cliff. I was just so happy to be off that damn thing. Mike had just finished right before I came rolling into transition, so he ran over and sprayed me down with more sunscreen as I was putting my running shoes on. Without thinking I popped in a few grape Enlyten strips...and then followed it with Gu...and washed it down with a swig of Gatorade.
Someone Raise the Red Flag, stat.
Enlyten Strips. Gu. Gatorade.
I should've done one of the above. Not all three in succession. Which brings us to...
Train like you race and race like you train...especially when it comes to nutrition.
I've been training on HEED the past however many months. I love HEED. It's not sugary like Gatorade. It is very easy on my already over-sensitive stomach. I absorb and digest it with ease. My body just meshes well with it. Ever since I've grown accustomed to HEED, everything else seems so...hmm...syrupy, for lack of a better adjective.
Mistakes:
- The fact that I devoured three sugary products, one after the other, without even thinking, in less than 20 seconds, was a recipe for disaster.
Lessons Learned:
- Don't give myself so many options for nutrition for a sprint distance race.
- Don't give myself any options that I haven't trained with.
- Don't be stupid and think that because a certain product worked for you last year, that it'll work for you this year.
- Don't even think about mixing so many electrolyte based products together in one sitting.
T2 Time: 2:35. (617/800)
GI issues on the run (pun intended? or not? you decide.)
I was so excited to be off the bike and onto the run. The run is my thing. I can run. I love to run. I get satisfaction out of going and pounding the pavement.
As you may have guessed...I paid the price for my T2 mistake.
I run out of transition and to the base of the hill. Unless you're in it to win it, the strategy for pretty much everyone else, is to walk the hill. All 230-something feet of it.
And as I'm walking...I'm feeling my stomach revolt. I have enough GI issues, so I'm typically used to dealing with them and moving on. But normally my GI problems are on the...uhmm...top end, to put it politely...and this problem was a whole new territory for me. By the time I got to the crest of the hill and begin running again, my body alerts me that we have a major problem and need to take care of things quickly. Except running only seems to make this problem worse. Much worse. So I'm walking...as fast as I possibly can...clinching every last muscle in my body...hoping for a bathroom. I'm half tempted to go knock on the door of one of the houses along the course.
A volunteer informs me that at the turn around, there's a porta potty. So...I try and pick up the pace as much as I can.
Upon arrival at the turn around...I go to open the door...and it's occupied.
And I wait.
And wait.
And wait some more...about 6-7 minutes pass. And I decide I can't wait any longer.
I sip a pinch of water. Suck it up. Say a prayer. And haul ass back to the finish line.
I paced about 10:30 on the 2 miles back to the finish as my body wanted to crap out on me (no pun intended).
I go through the finishers area in about 10 seconds and book it to the bathroom.
Finally.
Sweet relief.
Run Time: 58:34. (767/800)
Mistakes:
- Waited too long to get into the porta potty on the course.
- Stupid mistake with fueling.
Lessons Learned:
- Keep moving forward.
- We all have bad runs. Just suck it up and get it done.
- You'll pay the price for poor nutrition on the run.
Clearly...this race isn't an accurate indicator of my training. Lots of things happened. Lots of things didn't happen. But in the end, I finished. And somehow...miraculously through all of this...I still didn't place last overall...or last in my age group. Nor was I second to last. Okay...so maybe I was third to last in my age group, but I'm not complaining.
A race that should've taken me no more than 2:45 to complete, took me a ridiculous 3:11:12. seriously. That's absurd.
On the bright side...it shouldn't be too difficult to beat my time next season. Right!?
It's time to pick myself up and keep moving on.
Labels: Galena Triathlon
posted by Iron Jayhawk at 7:14 AM
11 Camper Comments:
Oh know, this is everything that I'm afraid of for my first ever Tri in two weeks.
GI issues are the bane of running. I'm glad you escaped it with your dignity. :)
Sorry that so many things went wrong, but on the bright side, you still finished! That, in and of itself, is really an accomplishment!
I would've been in the same boat as you with the GI issues if I too had had that many electrolyte based products. Gatorade, especially, does not play nice with my tummy.
It might seem like such a bummer but you will be so much stronger the next time around! Just think of it as one giant learning experience.
Sorry to hear that it went so poorly - but at least you managed to escape without any socially awkward mishaps. Think of the whole thing as a practice run, not a race.
Take the whole thing as a victory, BTW. Most people will never even try something like that - heck, I'm not about to try a tri.
Aw, Barb. I'm sorry the race didn't go as you planned. But you did finish, and you did learn a whole lot of lessons on the way.
Think of it this way, you could have wasted like 8 - 10 tris learning all those lessons... but instead you lumped them all into one race to learn right away. How efficent!
Hope your tummy's happier now. ;)
I think you got all of the "disaster" problems out of the way in your first race of the season. You are home free the rest of the way. Just watch out for the dreaded flat tire. Glad you are feeling ready to move forward. I know how a bad day can be disheartening
Our bikes make those same noises sometimes when we switch to granny gear on a hill. You need to switch all the way back up and then back down a few times to really get it to hang. It has to do with switching on a hill at the wrong time. When we first bought our bikes we almost took them back for that problem until we talked to the bike shop!!! Happens all the time in hilly Nashville...
Adversity breeds success...right?! :) Way to finish no matter what challenge was thrown at you! Great job!
Good job at staying positive and really figuring out what was good, what was bad, and what you can improve on. That's what sets the good athletes aside from the bad! Many people would have quit, or decided to quit the sport altogether! I'm proud of you! Everyone sucks at the first race of the season. Just wait til Kansas...you'll rock! And don't drink gatorade....
well at least you learned what not to do for next time. As long as you learn something from it, you'll be better off for next time.
I'm so sorry you had such a sucky race, but it sounds like you learned a lot which (and you can slap me around for this if you want) is almost more valuable in the long term than having a kick-ass race.
As for your bike, it sounds like your derailleur was off (the little thing that guides where the chain goes when you shift) and trying to put your chain too far too the inside. It probably did get knocked around a bit during travel. Sadly, I have absolutely no idea how you'd fix it, but I'm sure the friendly dudes at your bike shop can...
Better luck next time, sweetie! You'll totally kick ass at the next one.
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