Memphis in May Sprint Tri Report

 

MIM Race Report-

 

Where to start….it was a great weekend.   My mom came down to Tunica with me on Friday, which was really nice.  She got to see the course, help me set up the bike, and listen to the pre-race instructions and what all the components of the Tri were going to be and where to watch for me. But, honestly, I had pretty much decided it was going to be ok.  (Even if I had to dog paddle the swim)  We did get out and walk the transitions from swim and bike.  I loved the way they had transition set up.  You bike had to be in a certain numbered row, so it was not difficult to find my stuff.   

 

I have to admit, when I looked at the Olympic swim, I wanted to puke.  I can’t even THINK about how far the swim for HIM and IM are.   I know I will get there, but I had a second or two of panic just thinking about it.

 

We got back to the room by 8 and I was asleep by about 9:30.  I had been up since about 3 that morning, but I was pooped!   Unfortunately, I woke up at 2:30 that morning.  I was ready to go!  Luckily I got back to sleep about 4 and slept for another hour.   I was up showered and  ready to go by about 6.   I remembered to put glide on the back my neck and areas the wetsuit my rub on my arms.   I think pretty much had body glide or aquaphor ointment on every part of my body.  Even my legs, so the wet suit would come off easier.   In retrospect, its kind of hard to get the body marking on my legs AFTER I but the glide on…lesson learned.  One of thehe great thing about MIM, is you can that the hotel is on the course.  So I just had to walk down to transition with my bag and get things set up.   I got marked early, so I wouldn’t have to wait in line.  Then I filled up my bottle for the bike and pumped up the bike tires.   I found Lesley, my coach, and asked her if I should use the wetsuit since the water temp wasn’t supposed to be to bad, but it was going to be wetsuit legal.  She told me to go with the wetsuit.   So, off I go to put the wetsuit on…if you have never put one one, its like trying to squeeze into pantyhose that are to small.    I got it up to my hips fine and then realized I was looking at a zipper in the front…..uh, Einstein, the zipper goes in the back.  Crap, I had put the damn thing on backwards.  I have probably put this thing on 4-5 times and NEVER have I put it on backwards….until race day.   I am a rock star, I tell you!!   So we all amble off toward the swim start. 

 

Swim start picture and wetsuit picture here.

 

My nerves had settled down and I was no longer worried about puking.  I kept drinking so I wouldn’t overheat or get dehydrated.  My mom met me at the swim start and was able to watch the entire swim.   The swim was a time trial start.  We all lined up and off we went about every 3 seconds.   I remembered to start the Garmin just seconds before the swim.  Someone had thought to tell me that I wouldn’t be able to see in the water.  Meaning you can’t see your arms below you or really anything around you unless you pick your head up out of the water.  I thought, ok, no big deal….I was wrong.   I went into the water fine and started out toward the only buoy I would have to swim around.  I managed to use a freestyle stroke and then I just could NOT cope with not being about to see. I had NO idea I had gotten so used to being able to see the bottom of the pool, seeing nothing, freaked me out big time.  I managed not to panic and did some kind of stroke that looked kind of like a breaststroke, but it took a minute or to do settle down and even to that right.  To top it off, my goggles completely fogged up.  So everything was blurry.  I just kept thinking, if I make it to the next sight buoy, its not far to the finish.  It wasn’t pretty, but I got it done in 17:20.   It seemed like 40 minutes.    I made it out of the water, and stripped the wetsuit down to the waist, pulled off my goggles, swim cap, put my ear plugs into my swim cap and walk/jogged to the bike.  

 

Thank you, to all of you who suggested having a water bottle to rinse of my feet with.  It was great to get the rocks and grass off.  I got out of the wetsuit faster than I thought, and got my gear on.   It was very cloudy and looked like rain so I opted to go without sunglasses.  I have to master the art of running in bike shoes to the mount line, I keep feeling like I will slip and fall.   Unfortunately my bike computer did not work for some reason, so I had no idea how fast or how far I had gone.  My legs were a little tired but not bad.  It drizzled some, but it wasn’t to hot or humid.  If it was windy I didn’t notice.  I averaged about 14 on the bike and it took me 51 minutes.  I am a little disappointed about that.  I thought I would be closer to 16.  My T2 time was 1:57.  Not to bad.  My socks were wet, but it wasn’t hard to get my Hoka’s on.  I grabbed my visor, drink bottle and got going.  My goal was to keep the run at less the 13m/m.

 

The run sucked.  No two ways about it.  I just could NOT find my groove.  The run was flat with the exception of the start.  It was up a long steep grade.  I ended up walking up most of it.  It had gotten really humid and I was HOT.  At the water table at mile 1.5 I dumped a glass of water on my head.   I was really struggling.  I don’t know why.  Was it heat, was it fatigue, was it just me?  About mile 2.5, I saw Lesley running toward me.  I said, “uh, your running the wrong way!”  Of course she had finished a LONG time ago.  She had actually run out to find me.  J   It really lifted my spirits.  I averaged a 13m/m average.   I guess it’s not bad, but I was disappointed in how I felt during the run.  I ended up at 39:08 and finished in 1:52.   I came in 8^th of the 14 Athena’s in my group.  I wasn’t last, but if I had been, I would still be proud to have finished.

 

So, my first sprint is done…..PICTURE

 

Things I learned:

 

Bring your own bike pump.  Having to borrow someone else’s is a pain and annoying.

 

Swim, swim, swim.  The 50 meter pool is my friend.  I will be in it every Friday when I get back from Alaska.  I have been intimidate by the length, but I had a epiphany at the swim which went something like….Hello, dumbass, the 400meter you have to swim is longer than the 50 in the pool, so why is it you were intimidated??????  Yeah, it doesn’t make sense.  Also, get some dark goggles, don’t depend on being able to see.   Did I mention, swim, swim, swim??

 

Get on you bike a pedal a bit to make sure everything is ok. Stuff gets rattled around during transportation.  If I had gotten on it for just a few minutes I would have known that the computer wasn’t working.  

 

Nutrition- I ate a granola bar about 5:30 and that was it until the run.  I wish I had used a GU before the swim or before the bike.  The total time being under 2 hours does not call for a lot of nutritional support, but mentally while on the bike I wished I had eaten a little more.  

 

Your feet are going to be wet, period.  I dripped water down onto my feet the entire bike and then got to run in wet socks.  So, do I learn to go with out?  Will biking a longer distance make my feet dry when I stop for the run if I go sockless and then put on socks for the run.   I know many people run sockless, maybe one day that will be me, but I am a sock girl. 

 

Last lesson….train like Lesley tells me.  Don’t skip or scrimp, just do it.  Individually, its not hard, but put all three sports together and its tough.  But, I can do it.    I can learn to swim in murky lake water.  I can learn to bike at greater than 16mph and I will make my run under 12m/m.  I have support and help.

 

Speaking of support: My tri group Memphis Thunder Racing are the absolute best.  Every time someone passed me ( and it was frequent) on the bike or run, I would hear “Go, Thunder!!”   It made me feel really good and not alone.

 

 

Looks like you have something new to add to your signature line :).

Great job Kat! You rocked the race - heck, you just plain rock!

 

Good post-mortum! It looks like you know what you gotta do going forward - - wonder about the socks, though, what kind do you use? I used to get blisters just from feet sweating (not sure if I'll ever be a Tri girl), so I switched over to Injinji socks but I'd think that technical fabric socks should make that wet transition a little drier....

I actually dried of the feet pretty well, but they still got soaked from the water dripping off the clothes.  I just stayed wet between the swim and the sweat.   It was also overcast, so there was no sun to dry anything out, but it kept the humidity down, so no sun was ok.  I think I am going to start trying to cycle and run with no socks, which kind of freaks me out.  I like my socks.