Musings of an Endorphin Addict: Race Report: Lakelane Bi-Tri Classic 2010

Imagine you are swimming, gliding through the water. Nothing can hold you back. You run to your bike, slip on your shoes, and you are off hammering a way to a PR bike ride. You head back to rack your bike and take off on a run which makes you feel like you are running on clouds.

Well, that wasn't me today. I swam like a rock. Biked like a ninny on the hills. AND cramped during my run. I definitely did not get the improvement that I wanted to see. But let's start this again with the real race report.

My road crew (Camo-Man) and I packed up the car the night before. So I all I had to do was get dressed, eat, brush my teeth and walk out the door at 6:15. Like I said, nothing went according to plan. Leaving the house at 6:30 started my day off with some unnecessary anxiety about having enough time to set up my transition paraphernalia. We arrived in Canton about 7:20 and Camo-Man being the excellent road crew that he is dropped me off so I could get registered and body marking while he checked my tires and made sure my bike was all set.

As I walked back to the transition area, my road crew pulled up with Dolce - all shiny and prepped for the race. I set up my transition area and made my way to the port-a-potty lines....made it through the line before the race, much to my bladder's relief. We made our way down to the beach where my tri photographer (again, AKA Camo-Man) took a pre-race picture of me with Gene and Glen who all signed up for the 3rd wave of swimmers. Don't we look like we are ready to rock Lakeland Park?

Gene, Glen and me...being a non-conformist and not
wearing my T3 gear

We put on our red condom caps pulling them down over my ears to keep out the water. I hate those things. They definitely remind me of condoms with their thin lycra material and while I'm sure they offer some protection, it certainly isn't a 100% guarantee that they won't rip. And the following statement is an example of when I say shocking things at inappropriate moments. I turned to Gene - with my husband standing right there mind you - and say, "You sure do look good in a condom."

Condom Caps - not a pretty sight

The race director started the 1st wave. I went into panic mode. Again, I asked the age old question of "Why do we do this to ourselves?" I really do think I am an idiot at this point to even think about doing these types of events. Who would want to do this?

I think I am actually praying in this picture.

Finally, it's time for our wave to begin. All that's left are red (3rd wave) and yellow caps (4th wave). Like Gene said when he looked at our pictures later, "Carla, you can't walk on water." Well, why not? I think I should have tried.

Walk on water? Sure, why not?

I followed the novice triathletes sage advice for the open water swim - stay at the back of the pack, stay on the outside and relax. I let everyone else take off in front of me. I went to the outside and I felt good for about the first 100 yards. I got into my groove and had my freestyle going.....until I ran into my first swimmer. I've discovered that anything which disturbs my mojo really disturbs my confidence. Now not only do I have to site the buoy, but I also have to watch the swimmer I just ran into. I put my head down and start swimming again...oops...I found another swimmer. As I popped my head out of the water, I realize that every sound is magnified. WTF? Why am I hearing my breathing so clearly - so loudly and itensely? Why do I hear every slap of the water against my head? I tried to ignore the magnified sounds, but this issue really started to freak me out. I wanted to keep the water out of my ears, but decided the magnification was not worth it. I pulled the cap above my ears on both sides and start swimming again. After rounding the first buoy, I can't seem to calm myself down. I flip over on my back...ggrrrrr....I did not want to spend time staring at the sky. I wanted to improve my swim time 1st and foremost. Finally, I decided to site my line again...and discovered that I am a horrible back stroker. I was falling way off course, swerving to the outside away from all of the other swimmers. At least I wouldn't run into anyone, right???? After a few flip flops between my freestyle and backstroke, I finally round the final buoy. Unfortunately, you can tell from this picture that I definitely at the back of the pack. I was NOT the last red cap out of the water (by about 3 others), but I did have some yellow caps pass me...which was discouraging enough.

No, I haven't caught up to the wave in front of me.
I'm way back in the pack.

I make my way out of the water and I think this picture says it all. Even Camo-Man said it looked like something was bothering me when I came out of the water. I felt very discouraged with my swim and could feel my PR slipping through my fingers like the sand from the beach slipped between my toes.

Not happy with that swim

My transition felt like it took forever. I poured some water over my toes to make sure I cleaned all of the sand off of my feet. I put on my socks and bike shoes, clipped on my race belt and helmet, put on my bike gloves and sunglasses....and 3 minutes and 11 seconds later (grrrr)...I was off.

Me and Dolce off for a ride!

At the lake swim last week, I told a fellow novice triathlete that the bike course was pretty flat....boy do I have a poor memory. The first half of the loop out has long sloping hills which makes for a bad ride for me since every time I shifted into uphill mode I felt a gust of wind as someone passed me! The second half of the loop is much flatter. I felt much stronger during this portion of the ride and even chatted with a few volunteers at the turned around. Once on my way back, I tried to keep up with "the purple bra" lady ahead of me. I slowly picked up steam on the flats and came within probably 75 yards of her....until we hit the second half of the loop back....the hills. She left me in her dust. Amazingly, I still look like I am smiling when I come back in for T2.

When I hit T2, I realized I had made a horrible mistake. I left my running shoes double knotted and had to take the time to untie them before slipping them on....grrrr......I made my way out of the bike area and out on the run course. I had a woman ahead of me and passed in pretty quickly. I passed a few people on the run which made me feel better because even though I don't have one strong leg of the triathlon I do feel the running portion is probably my strongest.....even though I am still slow. My legs felt pretty good transitioning from the bike to the run, or at least better than they did in the Tremont Triathlon. I got to the 2 mile marker and started feeling my hamstrings tighten up. Oh crap. A couple of times in the run I had to stop and stretch my hamstrings which were starting to cramp on all of the hills. To add to my aggravation, I had a gentleman in front of me, who I passed while he walked and I thought I was putting distance between us until he started to run again just as my hamstrings cramped.

Yes, this is him, my nemesis. The interval runner.

If I had strong legs, my plan was to pass and kick his ass at the end; however, my legs had an idea of their own. Let's loaf and let the fat guy beat us. Great plan! Yah, great plan.

I finished my run as stopped to stretch my hamstrings immediately. Once I felt I could move without cramping, I made my way to the refreshments and grabbed two bananas. Apparently, I need to work on my hydration and intake of potassium and magnesium especially when I am doing a hilly race.

I finished the race and waited for my time to be posted. Unfortunately, I was not going to be happy. I didn't improve on the swim. My bike was basically the same and my run was SLOWER! Tell me how that happened? Oh wait. Oh yah. Cramps. Grrr. I didn't feel the need to stick around for the awards. I've never received an individual AG bling bling. After dropping Dolce off at Little Ade's in Pekin, I dove into my bed as soon as I got home with a slight headache which is another sign of dehydration. When I woke up, I checked the triathlon website and discovered I actually finished 3rd in my age group.

Female 40 to 44

Overall

------- Swim -------

------- T1 -------

------- Bike -------

------- T2 -------

------- Run -------

Total

Place

Name

Age

Rnk

Time

Pace

Rnk

Time

Pace

Rnk

Time

Rate

Rnk

Time

Pace

Rnk

Time

Pace

Time

Lyn Bergman

12:50.75