Well, I've returned a half Ironman finisher and couldn't be more elated. When I thought about recapping the race, I just didn't have all the words yet so I thought I'd share the photos and let them tell the story. I plan to put my thoughts together to share as a race report on Sunday's post. For now, here is my story in photos:
Dallas Athletes did it again, they put on another great race. The vibe for this race was totally different than previous races I've attended. First, we started at 9:30 am so I felt refreshed and ready for the day. Second, because the start was so late transition set up was in sunlight! That was a whole new experience. And finally, the overall feeling from the athletes was chill and pure joy to get one more race in before the end of the season. Even the announcer noted that there was a confidence with this race as no one was asking him which sport comes first! I woke up at 6:30am took Gordon for his walk, ate a chocolate chip waffle with strawberries and an Ensure. Since I've been getting water belly on my runs I chose to use the Ensure as the only liquid consumed that morning and then just sip water as needed on the bike (thankfully that seemed to do the trick). I had already packed everything up so I just choked down my nerves about further injuring myself and got on the road. There were no lines for body marking, check in or timing chip pick up. The announcer said there was only 254 athletes competing today. I think that definitely impacted the cool/calm vibe that I really needed. I met a lady who was wearing a tri kit that I've been wanting and was relieved to hear it was comfortable (and cute!). I met up with my friend Noel and my parents before the start for some encouraging words. This line up was the easiest it's ever been! Probably due to having such a low number of athletes but also because everyone knew what to do. The swim went great! I felt confident and my breathing was regular. That is until I got totally blocked by several swimmers. They were all roughly swimming at the same pace right next to each other and I just couldn't get past them! I swam the 250 meters in 4:56 and got 4th in my age group. I really think I could have shaved off more time if I was able to get past the clump of swimmers, but oh well. Transition went well even though I threw on a long sleeved shirt over a wet torso. I was out of there in 1:49, the fastest in my age group. I owe Matthew big time for teaching me to roll my socks off my feet during transition set up so I can quickly roll them on my wet feet and go. I'm also loving the transition method described in my training book to take everything off top to bottom and then put everything on bottom to top. It takes all of the thinking out of transition and I remember everything!. Hopping on the bike I felt nervous. I didn't want to be in pain for 16 miles. Thankfully. there was a strong tail wind with lots of rolling hills so I allowed myself to coast while going down them to give my hip a break. But, whenever there's a tail wind there's going to be a head wind and sure enough as soon as I turned around for this out and back, there it was. It generally didn't give me too much grief except for the last 3 miles where it was strong and there was no rest for my hip. On the way out I was averaging 20 mph but on the way back, every time I looked at my speed it wavered around 15-13 mph. I decided to not push and instead give it my all on the run since generally my hip feels ok running. The roads were nice and the turn around was in a school parking lot so it was easy to keep up speed. For the Old College Tri, the turn around was on the road and you had to slow down a lot to make the sharp turn so this was a perfect solution. Transition from bike to run was pretty slow, much slower than usual for me at 1:42, 6th in my age group. What slowed me down was a cramp in my left foot as I was putting on my running shoes. At first I tried to get it to stop but then figured it would work itself out once I start running and thankfully it did. Because this was such a late start and breakfast was forever ago, I had a honey flavored Honey Stinger Gel on the run out, which is my least favorite flavor of Honey Stinger Gel but it's what we had at home and did the trick. My run started out strong, every time I looked at my pace it was right around 8 minutes per mile. At first I thought to myself, 'you're pushing too hard, you don't normally run this hard, you might throw up.' But then immediately I started thinking, 'this is the last run of the season, just run as fast as you feel you can, don't worry about what your pace is.' And I did just that. The sun was warm so I eventually took off my long sleeve jersey and passed it to my mom. The run course is two loops around the Denton ISD stadium and down a street. I've been spoiled by the Keller triathlons because the run course is in a gorgeous wooded park so running in a parking lot wasn't super engaging BUT the finish was so great here. You finish in the stadium, making it feel so official :) I finished 5K in 24:47, second in my age group and with a 8 minute mile pace. I had to walk it out for a bit to let my body get used to the idea of not moving but I felt great! I had pushed myself just hard enough to feel exhausted but not far enough to feel sick. I found my parents and Matthew (who came home early from his camping trip to cheer me on) and we chatted while I waited for my times to post. I can't explain how thankful I am to have parents who come out and cheer me on at literally everything I do. It's so awesome having such a supportive family. And of course I am so appreciate that Matthew not only came home early to cheer me on but hung around waiting for times even though the Cowboy game was starting soon. When I went to go look at the times, I didn't think much about my rank, just wanted to see my overall time. But there it was, I was ranked 2nd! With an overall time of 1:35:57. I was so excited! I had spent the previous 2 days worrying about my performance due to my hip and it was all for not. Lesson learned: there is no point in worrying about something because in the end you have no idea how it's all going to turn out. What a way to end the season! Just the confidence boost I need as I get ready for New Orleans 70.3!
As I noted last post, Matthew, my dad and I participated in the Keller Monster Sprint Triathlon on Sunday. This was a special race for me as it marked one year that I've been participating in triathlon. Last year, I participated in the race by myself and Matthew was unable to come cheer me on due to our new dog being super sick, so I went, raced and came home without really taking part in the festivities. This year was totally different in such a good way! Matthew and I woke up at 5am to get ready, eat breakfast, walk Gordon, and pack up the car. I ate my usual race/ride day food: english muffin with almond butter, strawberries and honey. I also added, for the first time, a bottle of ensure. Matthew drank them all year during his training and after reading more about nutrition and fuel, I became aware that I need to be taking in more calories on my race day mornings.. Thankfully, the race was just 15 minutes from our house so we left at 6 to get to body marking, which opened at 6:15. Pulling into the parking lot, we happened to park right next to my dad and mom! Thankfully parking was easy to find. We all walked together and waiting in line for body marking. This went by really quickly, much quicker than last year so it was nice not having to wait in a super long line. However, the volunteer to marked my body did my numbers/age wrong. She put my number on both my arms and my age on both my legs. I can't gripe about it though, because she was up at 6am marking up 700 athletes. We all separated to set up our transition areas. Mine was a cinch with my handy new transition bag that Matthew gave me Saturday as an early Christmas present! My dad seemed a bit nervous but was generally smiling and enjoying his morning. Next, we all went to go get our timing chips, again another endeavor that went seamlessly. My dad and Matthew wanted to check out the pool to see the 50 meter set up instead of the normal 25. Here's our pre race photo. Then, it was time to put away our jackets and flip flops and grab our goggles and swim caps to get ready for the start. The start was, as last year was, a little chaotic. We all have numbers that are assigned to us that correlate with the swim time we estimate we will do at registration. However, with 700 athletes, it was challenging to get all of us to organize together and get in number order. I will say that the race staff did a great job of updating everyone on what number we were on, but the athletes themselves were pushing to the front when they didn't have the corresponding number, which was kinda a bummer. Athletes entered into the pool every 5 seconds so being #268, I waited about 30 minutes before I jumped in the pool. But I was able to make friends to pass the time. I couldn't be happier with my swim. I estimated 6 minutes for 300 meters and swam it in 6:28, 6th in my age group. The time starts outside of the water and ends several yards from the pool exit so I think my time was right on. The bonus was that I passed nearly 6 people! What a self esteem boost and definitely a reflection of my work on swim technique. Running into transition, I took off my gear according to my plan, top to bottom, and then put everything on bottom to top. I rolled my socks which made putting them on my wet feet WAY easy and I put on a light jackets since it was pretty cool outside. The race staff did a great job of letting you know when you could mount and dismount your bike, and the course was clearly marked with lots of support cars driving around. The bike went by pretty fast. I was so pumped after the swim that I decided to just give the race everything I've got since it's the last one of the year. Who cares if I end up hurting my hip? I've got time to let it heal. I just couldn't let this opportunity go by. So my plan was to average at least 15 miles an hour. I realize this is not super fast, but for someone who had only been lightly cycling 30 minutes 2X a week for the past 10 weeks, I thought that was pushing it. for 12.5 miles, I ended up with 46:15 and 8th in my age group, averaging 16.3 mph. (Matthew averaged 21 mph!!) Getting off my bike and moving into the run, I was feeling great. My hip wasn't hurting and I was loving the feeling of pushing myself again. I decided to continue pushing to the end. However, as soon as I started running I realized that I had a case of water belly as the liquid in my belly sloshed. I can't figure out how it happened because I only drank a couple of ounces of water on the bike. I wonder if I need to eat more starchy/carb food for breakfast to help soak up the ensure and water. But, I powered through, only taking a sip a little over halfway through and hoped I wasn't getting dehydrated. I finished 3 miles in 26:54, 6th in my age group, 8:59 pace, with an overall time of 1:23:21, a PR by two minutes, with being injured the past 10 weeks. Matthew, my mom and mother-in-law, Christine, were waiting for me at the finish. I took some photos, ate some pancakes and drank free beer. While we were waiting for my dad to finish, we looked at the rankings and at that point I had gotten 5th in my age group! I was elated! I later found out the final results placed me in 6th and while I was initially bummed, I didn't let myself stay that way, especially since I've only half trained for the past 10 weeks. . Finally, we got to cheer my dad on as he crossed the finish line! I was so proud! I'm so lucky to have parents who share my interests and go out and buy bikes and cycle for a couple years and then try triathlon! What a crazy year this has been! I started out with my first tri completely alone and this time I got to participate with my husband and dad and have my mom and mother-in-law cheer me on! What a treat! I am so looking forward to next season! Super big thanks to Dallas Athletes for putting on another great event! It went off without a hitch and there's nothing like beer and pancakes at a finish to motivate! Also special thanks to my mom and Christine for being cheerleaders. It truly does make participating so much more fun to hear cheering from the sides of the course!
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Welcome!I'm Sadaf, a 30 year old wife, foodie, greyhound/cat owner, cyclist turned triathlete. Follow me on my journey of life and triathlon. Archives
May 2015
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