Joined
·
3,542 Posts
<p>Lake Meridian Sprint: 1/2 mile swim, 15.8 mile bike, 3.1 mile run</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My original plan was an Oly as a tune-up for a HIM in September. I just haven't been feeling up to all of the training lately and as the days have gone by, I realized that I just do not have an HIM in me this year. But, I couldn't let this race go either. It was my team's inuagural road race (we also host an Xterra event) and no way was I going to miss this. I swim, bike and run all over that area. So I changed my entry to a sprint and decided to enjoy the race with my teammates who were either racing or volunteering. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The family and I got up at 4:30am to find it raining. WTH? I did the no rain dance. Please??? I'm begging!!!!</p>
<p>The whole family was volunteering- Steve was transition security, Courtney was kayak support and finish line medals and Ty... Ty was plunge support. I'll explain later.</p>
<p>We all had breakfast- me oatmeal w. brown sugar, cranberries, coffee and gatorade. The family- what else fuels volunteers better than donuts?</p>
<p>Got the car all packed up and we were off to pick up a friend of Ty's who was also volunteering as plunge support. Out the door at 5:20. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>We arrived in Kent to find no rain and one last parking spot. Phew!</p>
<p>I said good-bye to the family and made my way into transition. Got transition set up- it was already very crowded but I was amongst a ton of fellow teammates. Very cool- lots of excitement and encouragement all around. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Swim- 1/2 mile swim. My OW swims are in this lake each week. It was a deep water start- which are my favorite. The Oly men, then women, then Sprint Men then women, all in 5 minute intervals all took off. I started in the middle, found some feet and just stayed on them. I spent most of my race drafting and being pummeled. Very cool- I realized that I was swimming in the middle of the pack. Wooo-Hooo! We thinned out after the second buoy but quickly got crowded again after the third buoy as we joined the Oly swimmers and then headed into the super sprinters. </p>
<p>I came out of the water and began the trek up to transition. My swim time was about 20 minutes, it took several minutes for me to get to transition and cross the mat so official Swim time- 23:17.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>T1: 1:48</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bike- 15.8 miles of well.... HILLS!!!! The swim was the flattest part of the entire race. And this is no joke. The bike takes off and begins a false flat with 3 short but moderate climbs out for 5.5 miles. We passed the super sprint turn around and continued our false flat to our turn to begin the loop of hell. The loop, 4.8 miles consists of 10 hills. All of them doable- if you know they are there. Then it's back out onto the road with a couple of short climbs and the downhill back into town. Oh, but they were really nice and threw in one more hill going right into transition. </p>
<p>I spent my time out to the loop keeping a steady pace, drinking, and just focusing. I knew that if I didn't go out too fast, the loop would be no problem for me. I hit the first hill after the turn and felt pretty good. The second- not bad. The third, I'm killing this. And then the fourth, the big steep one. Bannon and I agreed that this was the hill that was going to cause problems- short and steep and comes up without notice. I held back a bit from the group in front of me- and that was a good thing too. I watched 3 people drop their chains, and 4 people come to a stop and walk. The other, well, she scared the living crap out of me as she went back and forth across the road. No, this was not a closed course either. Yikes!!!! I put it in the lowest gear, stood up and just picked off each person. I got to the top and was feeling great. I had done it!!!! It was cake from here on out. I chose a steady pace to get back into town, had a gu, drank some and spun nice and easy up the last hill. Bike time: 59:12, average 16mph- I'll definitely take that on that course. No problem!!!!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>T2: 1:13</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Run- After 15.8 miles of hills, what does a triathlete want on the run? How about 3.1 miles of hills? Okay we can do that.</p>
<p>The run course took us cross country, over some hills and then up another hill and down onto the paved trail of doom. It was here that I would finally get to see Ty and Kyle on the plunge. The plunge is this nasty long crazy steep hill. I have never been able to run this entire hill. Not once, ever in three years of trying. I hate this hill. The owner of the team thought that what the racers needed was some hot teenage guys out there on the plunge, as nekkid as a teenage guy can get (and be legal) to help motivate people up the plunge. (think TdF) Ty and Kyle did so in crazy style- war paint, beads, plungers, tri-shorts and running shoes. </p>
<p>I ran past Ty and Kyle on my way down and out to my turn-around knowing that there was no way my son was going to let me walk that hill. Ugh. I made the turn around feeling pretty good and then started feeling more confident as I neared the plunge. As I approached I heard- Hey everyone, this is my mom, my mom is gonna run the plunge and we're gonna get her up it. And from there it started- Ty would scream, this is my mom Tammy and she's running the plunge. And Kyle would say, this is his mom Tammy and she's awesome. And for 4 minutes these guys never once let me slow down- when I tried, they plunged me in the butt with their plungers. I laughed and smiled my way up that entire hill. It didn't hurt that runners coming down the plunge were laughing and clapping and cheering as well. When we got to the top, I gave both of them a hug and as I started running again, Ty yelled- I love you Mom- you're awesome!!!</p>
<p>It was what I needed. Run time: 39.21 (a little over a 12 min. mile pace)</p>
<p> </p>
<p><img alt="Plungeboys.jpg" class="bbcode_img" src="http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/tamster_09/Plungeboys.jpg"></p>
<p> </p>
<p>I cruised into the finish line- which of course, was uphill and into Courtney's arms who put my medal around my neck. For as long as I've been racing, she has wanted to do that. Final time 2:04:and a few seconds</p>
<p>I then hustled straight over to transition to give Steve a giant sweaty hug too!!! </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This was an awesome event. Very family friendly- they served breakfast to the famillies, volunteers and athletes- never running out of food- even after Ty and Kyle came across the finish line after the last finisher. I told the RD- this is the most difficult sprint tri I have ever done!!!</p>
<p>All in all, I am very happy with my times. I finished 44th out of 73 women and 10th in my AG. Dang, I didn't do too bad. And that, I think, is a great way to end my tri-season. Healthy and happy!!!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My original plan was an Oly as a tune-up for a HIM in September. I just haven't been feeling up to all of the training lately and as the days have gone by, I realized that I just do not have an HIM in me this year. But, I couldn't let this race go either. It was my team's inuagural road race (we also host an Xterra event) and no way was I going to miss this. I swim, bike and run all over that area. So I changed my entry to a sprint and decided to enjoy the race with my teammates who were either racing or volunteering. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The family and I got up at 4:30am to find it raining. WTH? I did the no rain dance. Please??? I'm begging!!!!</p>
<p>The whole family was volunteering- Steve was transition security, Courtney was kayak support and finish line medals and Ty... Ty was plunge support. I'll explain later.</p>
<p>We all had breakfast- me oatmeal w. brown sugar, cranberries, coffee and gatorade. The family- what else fuels volunteers better than donuts?</p>
<p>Got the car all packed up and we were off to pick up a friend of Ty's who was also volunteering as plunge support. Out the door at 5:20. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>We arrived in Kent to find no rain and one last parking spot. Phew!</p>
<p>I said good-bye to the family and made my way into transition. Got transition set up- it was already very crowded but I was amongst a ton of fellow teammates. Very cool- lots of excitement and encouragement all around. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Swim- 1/2 mile swim. My OW swims are in this lake each week. It was a deep water start- which are my favorite. The Oly men, then women, then Sprint Men then women, all in 5 minute intervals all took off. I started in the middle, found some feet and just stayed on them. I spent most of my race drafting and being pummeled. Very cool- I realized that I was swimming in the middle of the pack. Wooo-Hooo! We thinned out after the second buoy but quickly got crowded again after the third buoy as we joined the Oly swimmers and then headed into the super sprinters. </p>
<p>I came out of the water and began the trek up to transition. My swim time was about 20 minutes, it took several minutes for me to get to transition and cross the mat so official Swim time- 23:17.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>T1: 1:48</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bike- 15.8 miles of well.... HILLS!!!! The swim was the flattest part of the entire race. And this is no joke. The bike takes off and begins a false flat with 3 short but moderate climbs out for 5.5 miles. We passed the super sprint turn around and continued our false flat to our turn to begin the loop of hell. The loop, 4.8 miles consists of 10 hills. All of them doable- if you know they are there. Then it's back out onto the road with a couple of short climbs and the downhill back into town. Oh, but they were really nice and threw in one more hill going right into transition. </p>
<p>I spent my time out to the loop keeping a steady pace, drinking, and just focusing. I knew that if I didn't go out too fast, the loop would be no problem for me. I hit the first hill after the turn and felt pretty good. The second- not bad. The third, I'm killing this. And then the fourth, the big steep one. Bannon and I agreed that this was the hill that was going to cause problems- short and steep and comes up without notice. I held back a bit from the group in front of me- and that was a good thing too. I watched 3 people drop their chains, and 4 people come to a stop and walk. The other, well, she scared the living crap out of me as she went back and forth across the road. No, this was not a closed course either. Yikes!!!! I put it in the lowest gear, stood up and just picked off each person. I got to the top and was feeling great. I had done it!!!! It was cake from here on out. I chose a steady pace to get back into town, had a gu, drank some and spun nice and easy up the last hill. Bike time: 59:12, average 16mph- I'll definitely take that on that course. No problem!!!!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>T2: 1:13</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Run- After 15.8 miles of hills, what does a triathlete want on the run? How about 3.1 miles of hills? Okay we can do that.</p>
<p>The run course took us cross country, over some hills and then up another hill and down onto the paved trail of doom. It was here that I would finally get to see Ty and Kyle on the plunge. The plunge is this nasty long crazy steep hill. I have never been able to run this entire hill. Not once, ever in three years of trying. I hate this hill. The owner of the team thought that what the racers needed was some hot teenage guys out there on the plunge, as nekkid as a teenage guy can get (and be legal) to help motivate people up the plunge. (think TdF) Ty and Kyle did so in crazy style- war paint, beads, plungers, tri-shorts and running shoes. </p>
<p>I ran past Ty and Kyle on my way down and out to my turn-around knowing that there was no way my son was going to let me walk that hill. Ugh. I made the turn around feeling pretty good and then started feeling more confident as I neared the plunge. As I approached I heard- Hey everyone, this is my mom, my mom is gonna run the plunge and we're gonna get her up it. And from there it started- Ty would scream, this is my mom Tammy and she's running the plunge. And Kyle would say, this is his mom Tammy and she's awesome. And for 4 minutes these guys never once let me slow down- when I tried, they plunged me in the butt with their plungers. I laughed and smiled my way up that entire hill. It didn't hurt that runners coming down the plunge were laughing and clapping and cheering as well. When we got to the top, I gave both of them a hug and as I started running again, Ty yelled- I love you Mom- you're awesome!!!</p>
<p>It was what I needed. Run time: 39.21 (a little over a 12 min. mile pace)</p>
<p> </p>
<p><img alt="Plungeboys.jpg" class="bbcode_img" src="http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee184/tamster_09/Plungeboys.jpg"></p>
<p> </p>
<p>I cruised into the finish line- which of course, was uphill and into Courtney's arms who put my medal around my neck. For as long as I've been racing, she has wanted to do that. Final time 2:04:and a few seconds</p>
<p>I then hustled straight over to transition to give Steve a giant sweaty hug too!!! </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This was an awesome event. Very family friendly- they served breakfast to the famillies, volunteers and athletes- never running out of food- even after Ty and Kyle came across the finish line after the last finisher. I told the RD- this is the most difficult sprint tri I have ever done!!!</p>
<p>All in all, I am very happy with my times. I finished 44th out of 73 women and 10th in my AG. Dang, I didn't do too bad. And that, I think, is a great way to end my tri-season. Healthy and happy!!!</p>
</p>
