Monday, June 04, 2007

Milkman Triathlon Race Report.



The results are posted. I analyzed them and am starting to feel better about my times. A few things I guess I’ve taken for granted at the last couple of races.
This was a regular triathlon, meaning swim first and run last. Man, I forgot how hard it is to run last. Plus they advertise this race as the Best of the US New Mexico State Championship and the best d0 come out. Check out the results and just look at how many names are associated with Los Alamos. Seriously I think they need to give all of us locals an altitude handicap to make it a more evenly distributed race. Also look at how many are not in the Athena class. Come on are we going to let those skinny, oxygen deprived Los Alamos women stomp all over us… apparently so.
But I think the biggest thing that contributed to my overall feeling of dissatisfaction over my performance was that Geek Girl was not there. I guess I’ve used her as a gauge to my performance, and I had no gauge this time. Her excuse for not being there… something about the taste of the water in Lake Van – what’s a little alkaline taste, and she had to do some silly little half iron in Arizona that was supposed to be a cake walk. Poor excuses if you ask me.

Here is the breakdown.
Swim – I swore it was longer than last year, but I checked times among some other folks that were there last year and their times were comparable, so I guess it was the same length. I’m just a slow swimmer, which was evident in the Jay Benson when I was dropped in the pool by almost the same number of people I dropped on the Bike course.
I’ll try not to dwell too much –
Last year’s swim time: 14.33.9. This year’s swim time (with wetsuit): 13:59.5. Delta = 0:34.4 – pitiful.

T1 – okay I have to give myself some major credit here – I rocked my transitions!
2006 T1 = 3:19.5 (no wetsuit); 2007 T1=1:48.4 (with wetsuit); Delta = 1:31.1!

Bike – I knew there was a hill, but I forgot that it was basically the first half of the ride. Plus this year the wind was in my face going out and last year it was in your face coming back and stole some of the down hill momentum. Last year I did this on a mountain bike, this year my road bike. My average speed is good, but I guess I expected to more here.

Last year’s time = 58:52.1 (avg. speed 12.7mph); this year’s time 48:02.1(avg. speed 15.5 mph); Delta = 10:50.

T2 – I remember Jeff saying – “Good job, Baby!” as I left T2. The tone was that of I’m impressed. I know now why he was impressed. Check this out.
2006 T1 = 2:09.1; 2007 T1=0:53.4 (smoking!); Delta = 1:15.7!



Run – I had a side stitch for 2.5 miles. Hydration!! I have been using a camel back during the bike in all my races – because I have hydration issues. This race I opted not to use the camelback to reduce my transition time. I justified this decision because I knew they give water bottles at the turnaround point on the bike, and I basically just hydrated in the lake. So I put my bottle holder back on my bike and had a bottle of water ready to go. I drank maybe half of it. At the turn around I didn’t need water so I refused the free water. I also knew I would wear my fuel belt on the run and could hydrate easily during the run. I also had Cliff Bloks during the run as well as my own water, but it was too late. So I had to walk a little to relieve the stitch pain. At the 2.5 mile marker I vowed not to walk any more and by the time I got back on the pavement at the Lake the stitch miraculously disappeared, so I was able to finish strong. Still – it is way harder to run after biking than swimming after biking, and it was hot, and… I’ll stop complaining here.
Last year’s time = 40:54.6 (13.2 min/mile); this year’s time= 37:43.4 (12.1 min/mile); Delta = 3:11.2.

Last year’s overall time = 1:59:49; This year’s overall time = 1:42:26; Delta = 17:23.

Still was the only under 40 Athena this year, so I walked away with a first place trophy.

The really cool thing about the whole race was that not only was Jeff and the boys there, but Dennis and his family where there along with another coworker and his wife and some of our neighbors. Dennis and his wife really got into the cheering mode as they had posters and a cow bell (see them in the far right of the photo). It was pretty cool and I was very honored to have him there. They didn’t stay for the awards ceremony, but I had the announcer tell all that I dedicated this race to Dennis, and the trophy I won for him is sitting on his desk today. So despite how I feel about my performance, I am honored to have raced for Dennis. I know it meant a lot to him, and that is the only part that mattered about this whole race.







3 comments:

jbmmommy said...

You totally rocked that race! Over 17 minutes improvement over last year, that's awesome. I'm sorry you felt something was lacking with your rival to track with, but you really should be proud of numbers like those. Great job. I'm glad that Dennis and his family were able to be there, too.

Unknown said...

You improved in every single aspect of the race. Plus you got a cool trophy for Dennis. There is no reason to feel anything other than AWESOME about how you did. YOU ROCK!!!!

Herself, the GeekGirl said...

Wow! Way to beat your own time from last year! That has to be a terrific feeling!