Monday, August 13, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Season Summary Part 2
Okay, so now onto Galena. I really love this race for a few reasons. It is a pretty place to race with great scenic views, and it is only a few hours from home, and they have good food afterwards which is a key element for me. Coming up to Galena I trained pretty hard so my legs were not as fresh as they would be for an A race but I did feel ready. The weather was even great race morning for a May race. It really unpredictable how May or even June races can be. Sometimes it is 50 degrees when you wake up and pouring or 80 degrees and sunny. That is why I LOVE Chicago.
My wave went off a few after the start which left some fun time to socialize with other triathlon friends (One of the reasons I love this sport). This swim is super short and COLD. But cold doesn't bother me nearly as much as warm or hot does. So I was off sprinting as hard as I could. The swim went by just fine nothing exciting then transitioned up the hill onto what I forgot was a HARD bike for Illinois. It was only 17 miles or so but it never seemed to end! One hill after another kept coming and coming. Finally! On the to run. The run went fine but I could tell once running that my legs were totally flat from training. We are talking no movement, I actually felt like I was moving bricks. Finally the race ended and it wasn't too bad. My time was actually slower than last year which I couldn't believe because this winter I trained even harder. Overall it was a fun weekend, EXCEPT bringing a 2 year old. HUGE mistake. My husband came down with the flu the night before we were going to leave. I decided to be a great wife and Noah with me. It ended up to be the worst night of sleep ever before a race. I have yet to bring him to a race that I have to travel to. I don't think I will bring him to any until he can go to the bathroom and order from a menu.
OHHHHH, I cannot wait to talk about Elkhart Lake Triathlon. This is another race that is fun to do because it is so pretty. However, the bike is atrocious. Let me say this, I do most of my training around 90% on a trainer not outside. As a result I really stink at hills but excel on flats. This course takes you out a few miles to a car track. You do several loops on the service road before leaving and coming back to transition. The course is super technical with really sharp hills, none too long just steep. The run is some rollers but basically flat. I like that.
So the swim starts off with an elite wave. I was in it with Lauren Jensen and a few other girls. For some reason my swimming skills leave much to be desired. I probably could push myself harder but I always find myself getting bored after 5 min of swimming so my mind wanders. I came out of the water as per usual my Dad was there telling me how far off I was from Lauren. It was 1 min or so. I thought great I will bike my heart out and she might gain only a min. She lives in this area and rides hills all the time. If she is only 2 min ahead maybe I could run her down. As I start the run and my Dad yells at me 2:20, I thought to myself, OH what the heck just run your own race and that is it. I did feel really good but didn't expect much. Around 2 or 3 miles into the run I started to see a person maybe a mile or .5 miles in front of me. I pretended there was string on the person pulling me in. It seemed to be working. Every step I was coming closer and never let my eyes off of the back of their head. I didn't even know it was a women until the mile 5 aid station when they told me she was only a few hundred meters up. I still didn't expect to catch her but I was so happy to know that I was pulling her in. As we came back into town I really started to let it go, I WANTED to finish on EMPTY. Nothing less or more for that matter. There were two turns before the finish on every turn she turned her head to look at me. I loved that. You know when people do that they are hurting. Note to all never look back I think it is a sign of giving up. Listen for foot steps and breathing. You can tell if your competition is breathing harder. As we approached the finish shoot I passed her right before it. I was thrilled! It was truly a great run for me. I gutted it out not knowing what to expect. Always put in, sometimes your body will amaze you!
My wave went off a few after the start which left some fun time to socialize with other triathlon friends (One of the reasons I love this sport). This swim is super short and COLD. But cold doesn't bother me nearly as much as warm or hot does. So I was off sprinting as hard as I could. The swim went by just fine nothing exciting then transitioned up the hill onto what I forgot was a HARD bike for Illinois. It was only 17 miles or so but it never seemed to end! One hill after another kept coming and coming. Finally! On the to run. The run went fine but I could tell once running that my legs were totally flat from training. We are talking no movement, I actually felt like I was moving bricks. Finally the race ended and it wasn't too bad. My time was actually slower than last year which I couldn't believe because this winter I trained even harder. Overall it was a fun weekend, EXCEPT bringing a 2 year old. HUGE mistake. My husband came down with the flu the night before we were going to leave. I decided to be a great wife and Noah with me. It ended up to be the worst night of sleep ever before a race. I have yet to bring him to a race that I have to travel to. I don't think I will bring him to any until he can go to the bathroom and order from a menu.
OHHHHH, I cannot wait to talk about Elkhart Lake Triathlon. This is another race that is fun to do because it is so pretty. However, the bike is atrocious. Let me say this, I do most of my training around 90% on a trainer not outside. As a result I really stink at hills but excel on flats. This course takes you out a few miles to a car track. You do several loops on the service road before leaving and coming back to transition. The course is super technical with really sharp hills, none too long just steep. The run is some rollers but basically flat. I like that.
So the swim starts off with an elite wave. I was in it with Lauren Jensen and a few other girls. For some reason my swimming skills leave much to be desired. I probably could push myself harder but I always find myself getting bored after 5 min of swimming so my mind wanders. I came out of the water as per usual my Dad was there telling me how far off I was from Lauren. It was 1 min or so. I thought great I will bike my heart out and she might gain only a min. She lives in this area and rides hills all the time. If she is only 2 min ahead maybe I could run her down. As I start the run and my Dad yells at me 2:20, I thought to myself, OH what the heck just run your own race and that is it. I did feel really good but didn't expect much. Around 2 or 3 miles into the run I started to see a person maybe a mile or .5 miles in front of me. I pretended there was string on the person pulling me in. It seemed to be working. Every step I was coming closer and never let my eyes off of the back of their head. I didn't even know it was a women until the mile 5 aid station when they told me she was only a few hundred meters up. I still didn't expect to catch her but I was so happy to know that I was pulling her in. As we came back into town I really started to let it go, I WANTED to finish on EMPTY. Nothing less or more for that matter. There were two turns before the finish on every turn she turned her head to look at me. I loved that. You know when people do that they are hurting. Note to all never look back I think it is a sign of giving up. Listen for foot steps and breathing. You can tell if your competition is breathing harder. As we approached the finish shoot I passed her right before it. I was thrilled! It was truly a great run for me. I gutted it out not knowing what to expect. Always put in, sometimes your body will amaze you!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Season Summary - Part 1
Since I just started blogging I wanted to summarize the races that I competed in this year. Most of my friends usually have a race report following a race. I am taking a short cut. This will be a SEASON summary. I want to delve into each race for just a paragraph or two. This might be a two parter (or more because I have a fairly short attention span for sitting down. Or Noah might wake up and I will have to go back to Mom mode. Here it goes in order of completion.
I signed up for St. Anthony's the day it opened thinking it would be a great way to motivate me through the freezing cold Chicago winter. I was right, it really was motivating all winter knowing I had to race in April against some of the best amateur competition in the country. One thing I didn't think about, the heat! When we arrived to St. Petersburg I was already a little nervous about the heat considering we were still training in cold weather gear still. Acclimation wasn't I word I have had to use yet in my triathlon career. NOW I use it. I was NOT acclimated at all to the warm weather.
The swim start was really fast as I knew it was going to be. Half way through the swim I felt a rush of water in my wetsuit and though it had ripped open! For the rest of the swim I kept thinking OH MY GOSH my wetsuit is going to come off at any moment. Turns out it was fine, it was just a little big! Off on the bike I went. It was a super fast course, flatter than a pancake which is perfect for me coming from Chicago. My problems didn't start until the run. I knew something was wrong right away. I just wasn't right. I felt like I was breathing to hard but not going anywhere. I came out of T2 with the another women who I normally could run with. I started putting water on my head but couldn't catch my breath. I started feeling nausea's. I realized after the race and walking a ton (I have never done that in a race before!!!!) during the 10k that I was not acclimated to the heat. Note to self, never race a warm weather race that early in the season. That being said I think I was probably about 2 min or so slower on the 10k from walking the water stations and then most of the last mile. So I was happy with a heartfelt effort. Plus I learned so much from that race that I think I already used this season. If anyone is interested, St. Anthony's puts on a great race that is well organized and very competitive. I would do it again in an instant if it wasn't hot and humid.
I signed up for St. Anthony's the day it opened thinking it would be a great way to motivate me through the freezing cold Chicago winter. I was right, it really was motivating all winter knowing I had to race in April against some of the best amateur competition in the country. One thing I didn't think about, the heat! When we arrived to St. Petersburg I was already a little nervous about the heat considering we were still training in cold weather gear still. Acclimation wasn't I word I have had to use yet in my triathlon career. NOW I use it. I was NOT acclimated at all to the warm weather.
The swim start was really fast as I knew it was going to be. Half way through the swim I felt a rush of water in my wetsuit and though it had ripped open! For the rest of the swim I kept thinking OH MY GOSH my wetsuit is going to come off at any moment. Turns out it was fine, it was just a little big! Off on the bike I went. It was a super fast course, flatter than a pancake which is perfect for me coming from Chicago. My problems didn't start until the run. I knew something was wrong right away. I just wasn't right. I felt like I was breathing to hard but not going anywhere. I came out of T2 with the another women who I normally could run with. I started putting water on my head but couldn't catch my breath. I started feeling nausea's. I realized after the race and walking a ton (I have never done that in a race before!!!!) during the 10k that I was not acclimated to the heat. Note to self, never race a warm weather race that early in the season. That being said I think I was probably about 2 min or so slower on the 10k from walking the water stations and then most of the last mile. So I was happy with a heartfelt effort. Plus I learned so much from that race that I think I already used this season. If anyone is interested, St. Anthony's puts on a great race that is well organized and very competitive. I would do it again in an instant if it wasn't hot and humid.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Giving this a try!
Okay, so it only took my a few years of thinking about starting a blog to actually pull the trigger. By nature I am goal oriented. So the goal for this blog is to give me a place to talk about triathlon, life, and whatever else comes to mind at the moment. I hope to post periodically about training tips, racing tips, or anything else I find amusing to discuss. Please feel free to make fun of my poor attempt at joining the blogging craze! I hope I can keep you entertained!
Jenny
Jenny
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HyVee Age Group Race
Finishing 1st!!!
