Even though I had been planning on this race since late winter, I was scared to sign up because the description/recommendations made it sound really tough. I’d think about it and then pause with accounts of “relentless hills”, “challenging bike and challenging run” and a well accomplished local triathletes’ memory, complete with up-and-down hand-gestures, of a very hilly, paved run. Just over a week before the race, I finally signed up.
My goals for this race were to a) get down to a normal-sounding T1 (i.e., not 4:18 or 6:36) b) to finish at or below my Shawingan Lake time (2:49) on the Hagg Lake course which offers a lot more challenge especially on the run and c) to push it harder on each leg. I wrote little notes of encouragement and left them on my mirror: “I like hills. This will give you confidence.”
The Thursday before: After Mina’s Thursday night swim meet, we drove down to Hillsboro, which is outside of Portland. She herself had a great swim meet and left with her own body-marking! We got in at midnight and it is fair to say that it was a tough drive. Then, Mina woke everyone up at 6:45AM with the excitement of being in a hotel. So we had an early start to Friday which largely focused on me checking out the course. At this stage, I was still saying things to Rich about we’ll go see and then I’ll decide if I can do this race.
Henry Hagg Lake is out in the middle of rolling farm fields and is a pretty little spot. Artificial and all.
It was rather hot (mid 90s), which was also adding to my queasiness about the race. Saturday was suppose to be about seven degrees cooler but I’d never done any sort of a race in any sort of heat. I actually hate working out in hot environments. So we drove the bike/run course and I said “I can do this”. The course had plenty of hills but I really like hills and these ones were like-able especially for the bike. I knew the run would be the most interesting part of the race.
Rich and the kids had a snack and I went out on the bike. I had read that there was near 2000 elevation climbing during the 25 mile bike. I did one lap of the course and felt totally confident. I finally committed mentally to doing the race. I started to feel more excited than nervous and unsure.
Before leaving we got on swimming gear and jumped in the lake. It felt great. The beach is basically a clay beach. When stepping, your feet squish and clay melts away. Feels soft but weird. Mina loved breaking up pieces of it and making a collection. Miles loved, as always, looking for big sticks, which he called “his jet”.
![IMG_0003[5]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCePZR9chaFROU3CvGTrHjF0_MP_FzTBsRiZIxvLYUOB3tLk-FnOjr8Jgtfnc0kbQ4oLwOBtGTIN48lbs9PUkt7U8fw4o6DeSKjsuhNge1vK19FHaAcU3bscHTo61GxUUKtj3gLNXL5zpP/s1600-h/IMG_000353.jpg "IMG_0003[5]")
I first decided to go out without a wetsuit. This lake was about twenty (!) degrees warmer than Shawnigan. I went out a short ways and then came back for my wetsuit. Half because I, a new lake swimmer, was swimming by myself in an unknown lake with motorboats, and half because it had cold/warm pockets. Coming back in, I got to ask the AA person about the swim course. He’d just laid out a set of smallish markers. Unlike Shawnigan Lake, I didn’t feel intimated by looking at the swim course. That being said, it would still only be my third time swimming this distance!Anyways, we swam, had a fun time at the lake and then went into Portland for lunch/packet pick-up. Packet pick-up was at a really fancy triathlon store The Athlete’s Lounge.
The night before I noticed that my bike was making a really horrible sound when shifting up from the small ring to the big ring. This freaked me out. But I knew there was race day bike support and tried not to worry. After being really tired from the late drive up to Portland on Thursday night, we all went to bed before 9pm.
Race day. I slept really well and woke up 15 minutes before my alarm of 5am. I had a quick shower, and started eating my porridge which I had cooked the night before. Lesson learned from Rich’s Victoria race. I had a banana and an hard boiled egg. I think that I was really nervous because I had a really hard time eating. Normally eating is not a problem for me. I also started drinking Nuun. We woke up the kids at 5:30. We quickly packed the car and pumped my bike tires. At 5:45 we were drinking through the Hillsboro Starbucks. We were staying in Hillsboro so it also meant that we had 40 minutes to drive to the race location. I sipped my coffee and trying to ignore any butterflies. It looked like a beautiful day ahead and thankfully a little cooler.
We got to the race site around 6:45AM. Rich and the kids took my bike to get checked out while I went for body marking and to set up my transition. One of my main goals was to lower my T1 time, so this was going to be my first race without socks, bikes gloves or any additional layers on top of my tri kit. The weather meant I really didn’t need these things. My transition spot meant that I had a long and hilly run up from the beach…
and then a run all through transition. The upside being that I didn’t have to run as long with my bike/bike shoes. My bike was thankfully not making the horrid noise anymore. I went for a jog, both testing out the steep hill from transition starting the run and my legs. I felt good. The check-in line was getting really ugly and I was thankful for our early arrival. Rich had spotted two other members of the Vo2 team, Gio and Erik. Always fun to see familiar kits and faces.I got on my wetsuit and went for a pre-race warm-up swim. I felt good. Happy.
Gio and I about five minutes before the start of his race.
The orange cap wave aka the women! There were around 65 female racers. Notice the male wave ahead of us.
The swim. It was a wave start, starting with bibs 1-20 belonging to elite athletes. Then a men’s wave. Then the relay wave. Then the women. Last year, only about 150 men and 50 women raced the Olympic distance. The sprint seemed more popular at this course. I spotted Rich and the kids right before I swam off. There was a count-down, horn blast and we were off. This was only my third time swimming this distance (1500m or near a mile). I tried to focus on staying on course, trying to draft and pushing harder on the second lap. I found it difficult to stay behind people when "drafting". I couldn’t see a thing and would repeatedly look up and they were gone somehow, not necessarily infront of me just away from me. :) For the last half to quarter of the second swim lap, I increased my kick. Mainly I fought off a negative dialogue about the swim and just focused on doing it as best as I could. Rich told me that if I can swim for an our at generally a higher pace in class MWF, I can do half an hour at a high pace during a race. Hmmm. Maybe one day. My swim time was 28:37. So an improvement on Shawnigan Lake and I was happy with that. I still have much room to improve with open water swimming. Up out of the water, running up my first of several hills of the day! As I was climbing the hill, I could hear Rich yelling that I was looking strong.
T1- a big goal here… and I did it. I dropped this to 2:18! I skipped out on socks and gloves and any clothing. Got my bike and was out there. Rich and the kids missed seeing me off on the bike.
The bike. I am a hill climber. 25 miles with many rolling hills, one rather LONG hill of a good grade and one hill with a steeper climb. My main goals were to ride the flat sections fast (22mph+), and to work on descending faster. This course meant that I was constantly working my gears and thankfully the horrible noise never returned. I passed a bunch of women early in the race and then didn’t see many women at all. So I was mainly passing men. 
T2- I was actually less happy with this. I fiddled with my new race belt (why can’t I clasp these things) and my watch. Took another GU and drank some Nuun. I picked up my *BLUE* race number and put it on. I realized that I hadn’t seen any female runners with BLUE race numbers. Hmmm.
The run. I had already determined that this would be the hardest part of the race. I ran out of transition with a guy in a black unitard. He looked strong and were were starting off with the same pacing. I decided to test out Rich’s advice of trying to stick to someone. He started running ahead and I told myself to not let him go. After a mile, I was back at his side. He said “you found your running legs?”… I said “yes, my goal was to stay with you.” He said “now what?” I said “I don’t know.” He asked me my target pace and I said “I don’t know…sub 50.” He started running off. I didn’t know what to think of that. I followed this guy the entire run. He’d get away and I’d catch up. I was generally faster on the descending and he was faster on the climbing. I was trying to pace myself up and push it down. A few times he pulled a good bit ahead and I had to work steadily to stay with him. At about the Sprint 5K turn-around point, the first two women in BLUE numbers passed me heading back. They both looked really strong. One was about 30 seconds ahead of the other. I yelled something encouraging at them and kept going, watching for more women in blue. I semi-walked and drank water at every aide station. It was getting rather hot. I was thankful for the visor and anytime I ran under shade. I told myself three hills up and three hills down because that my simple way of looking at the run course. I started to see some other bibs in blue. I saw some women who I couldn’t see. And there were tons of women in other non-blue bibs. I just stayed with my “friend”- black Aquaman, age 42. Two women passed me on the run and I passed a few myself. The first women FLEW by me. The second women stayed in sight. Somewhere around mile 4, my friend told me that I had my sub 50 and that we’d been running under 8 minute miles for the entire run. (I need to learn to use my watch and/or do math while racing). He complimented me on my running, and me him. I was starting to be really happy with this race and expected, based on last year’s numbers, to be near top 15 for women. At under 1 mile, I think that he expected me to take off. He congratulated me on a great run and awesome race. I started running faster and pulled ahead of him. I passed Rich and the kids again and Rich cheering loudly.
Here I come (not the one with the unzipped jersey) and my “friend” is right on my tail! He passed me right at the finish but that was okay! We shook hands while our chips came off and I thanked him for his help. His name was Doug.
Post-race. I look at the clock and am really confused. I estimate my time to be 2:52. I couldn’t believe that. That didn’t make sense. Totally bummed. Walk back to my transition. Happy to be done but surprised that my time wasn’t so good. I’m opening a chocolate milk when I remember that I didn’t start at 8am but in the waves afterwards! So that meant my time was perhaps more like 2:42. Yippee! I find the kids, give hugs and am delighted that I met my race goals! I’m REALLY happy. I’m cleaning up my gear, and Rich finds the results. 3rd in my age category and 10th female overall! YIPPEE! YIPEE!! I’m REALLY REALLY happy. And I really can’t believe that I almost didn’t do this race because I thought it was too hard for me. This race gives me confidence.
Awards Ceremony! I get to go up for a medal for the 3rd in age category!
New tradition: post-race massage! Ahhh…
Looking-at-the-results-in-the-tent-early-the-day-after-and-while-my-family-is-still-sleeping: WHAT!!!!!!!!!! 2:36:23!!!!!!!! Sub 2:40 and I’m the happiest person in the KOA campground! I also noticed that the two women before in my age group were elite racers. I had no chance of being higher in the AG but was happy to be in their company! Four of the nine women ahead of me registered in the elite wave, whatever that means. Places 1,2,3 and 5. The women who won is the reigning National Master Champion. The women who is 62 rocks! What inspiration!
TOP 10 OVERALL FEMALES – SINGLES
NAME AGE OVERALL* OVERALL AGE DIV* SWIM*PLACE AFTER SWIM* T1(TRANSITION)* BIKE* TRAN 2* RUN* PL AFTER RUN CITY/STATE
1. Ann Davidson 46 F 2:21:08* 1 *0:28:27 *77* 1:57* 1:08:41* 17* 1:15* 24* 0:40:48* 10* Portland, OR
2. Kaytee Petross 31 F 2:21:19 *1 *0:24:59* 23* 2:04* 1:10:43 *26 *1:14 *18 *0:42:18* 13* Troutdale, OR
3. Brynje Enderle 32 F 2:23:47 *2* 0:26:45* 53* 2:24 *1:11:03* 29 *1:15 28* 0:42:19 *14* Portland, OR
4. Debbie Potts 38 F 2:27:35 *1* 0:25:35* 29* 2:46 *1:11:33* 33* 1:19* 27 *0:46:22* 37 Bellevue, WA
5. Kristina Lackner 39 F 2:28:49 *2* 0:27:17 *61* 2:08* 1:08:19* 15* 1:22 *19* 0:49:43 *56 *Sherwood, OR
6. Lauren Binder 62 F 2:31:22* 1 *0:25:40 *30* 3:00*
1:11:37* 34* 1:18* 29 *0:49:46 *57* Portland, OR
7. Susan Barth 29 F 2:33:35* 1 *0:25:29* 25* 2:46 *1:20:02 *96 2:12* 62* 0:43:06 *16 Portland, OR
8. Joy Roberts 38 F 2:35:03* 3 *0:26:21 *43 *2:15* 1:15:14 *49 *1:19* 38 *0:49:53* 61 *Tigard, OR
9. Kristy Aalberg 45 F 2:35:44* 2* 0:29:51* 105* 3:16* 1:16:21* 66* 1:14* 64* 0:45:01* 26* Portland, OR
10. Annie Richardson-Lander34 F 2:36:23* 3* 0:28:37*
82* 2:37* 1:15:07* 48* 2:12* 57* 0:47:49* 45* Bellevue, WA
About 20 minutes after the race. Notice that I’m still BEAT red!
![IMG_0005[6]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzT8-smJTVW3JF5lGCbR1ksE8CS3EOtC3lB1xdW7Nd5hUUk2xLuIcdzbAgM3xL5Eqh4wi2gAkaTpZjmUv6hLBAMudRFxO2J00xMXUo_-q4nPIXLWaNAhyphenhyphenEUwOtK8fV_pGNPv3x4y-KSwAU/s1600-h/IMG_000563.jpg "IMG_0005[6]")
After some food and relax time at the lake, we took a car ride….
and stopped at the local Rogue Pub to celebrate!
Here is another race report from that day: Race Center
No comments:
Post a Comment