Buffalo Trails Triathlon Race Report...my luckiest race yet

My 28, 2012.                                                     I set my alarm for 4:30 AM race morning, but since I went to bed a little after 9 the night before, my body woke up a little before 4 AM.  I laid there and thought about the race until my alarm finally went off.  I had packed most everything in the car the night before the race to minimize stress on race morning, but the forty-five minutes that I'd given myself to eat, finish last minute race packing (filling water bottles with  water + heed + sustained energy) and morning bathroom routine went by really fast. 

Tyler (my husband and amazing supporter) and I left the driveway at 5:15 AM, right on time.  We drove up Hwy 68 all the way to Maysville, Kentucky. It was a nice, straight, country route, and I was grateful that Tyler decided to come with me (I left it up to him) to support me (including driving me, so I could concentrate on thinking about the race rather than the road). 

We arrived to the race site around 6:45 AM, and I went through the pre-triathlon race routine: packet pickup, body marking, and transition set up.  This was my 6th triathlon race ever, and first tri race in over 10 months, so transition set up is still a bit stressful for me.  The race started with the swim a half mile upstream from where the transition area was, so a cute trolley picked up racers and transported us to the swim start.  I tried to get on the first two trolley trips, but somehow timed both so that the trolley was full by the time I tried to get on.  The third  and final trolley trip came back around and  boarded the rest of us.  I met a few athletes while waiting for the trolley, and was able to ask one of them who had done this race before 'at what mile this Big Hiney Hill the race director had warned us about via email was located along the course'.  He answered my question, and gave me some other helpful tips about the bike course.

The trolley dropped us off at the top of a hill with a gravel road as our path to the river (swim start).  Those who had done this race before knew to wear sandals, but those of us who had not walked cautiously and whined a lot about the gravel on our sensitive feet as we made our way to the start.  Shortly after we reached the rest of the athletes along the shore of the Ohio River, the race director announced that the race would be delayed 30 minutes because there was fog on the river, and the barge that we were jumping off of for the start of the race could not travel down river until the fog cleared.  It was already 71 degrees and humid at this point, so of course my immediate thought was 'this is going to make it even hotter by the end of the race', and although I think my body does not deal with heat as well as many other athletes, I reminded myself  that 'this will make it hotter for everyone, not just me, so deal with it.'

   

A few minutes before 8:30, the barge arrived, and I walked up the ramp and positioned myself in the first row to enter the water.  The National Anthem was sung, the Cannon was shot, and we were off! My goggles fogged up the minute I entered the water, so all I could see during the swim was colors and shapes.  Luckily, the guide buoys were big and bright red, and the athletes swim caps were bright orange, so I knew to just follow red and orange. The swim was downstream, and while the current wasn't as fast an in previous years of this race from what I've heard, there was a bit of a current to help us along.  The last 200 meters of the swim, however, were unexpected: I started feeling pushed around a lot (to the side, and backwards).  I had swam in the ocean and in lakes before but had never swam in a river, so I thought maybe this was just some strange phenomenon about swimming in a river as you get closer to the shore.  I found out from Tyler after the race, that a barge went by as we were swimming, and caused a huge wake (thus the strange resistance and tossing around I felt towards the end of the swim), which made all the spectators say "ooooh that sucks for them!"  I exited the water, knowing I wasn't the first person to exit the water, but I felt there weren't too many ahead of me. Turns out I was the first female to exit the water! I ran up a couple flights of stairs, turned left, and was in the transition area.  I did my transition (not at lightning speed) and took off on the bike. 

I knew the Big HIney Hill was around mile 8, so my plan was to stay 'comfortably strong' before I got to the hill.  The first 8 miles of the course were definitely manageable, with some rolling hills, so I was averaging 20.7 MPH for the first 8 miles.  Then came Big Hiney Hill.  This hill was nearly a mile long, and averaged 7.8% grade (which sucks).  I struggled up that hill, got passed by several men (one of whom I actually thought was a woman) and when I crested Big Hiney, my new average speed (over the last 9 miles) was reduced to 16.8 MPH (nearly 4 miles per hour!) My legs felt shot, but after that hill we were rewarded with some nice downhill sections.  I kept peddling hard as I went down the hills, but the relief I did get felt great.  I watched my average speed creep up over the remainder of the 25 mile bike ride.  At a left hand turn at the bottom of a hill on mile 15, a police officer at the intersection of this turn yelled to me " Are you the last one?"  I yelled back "I hope not!"  I pondered that question from the police officer over the next several miles.  I wondered if he A) really just wanted to go home and was hoping the race was over, and really thought I could be the last one, or B) was joking (so not funny, dude).  I believe that police officer needs some sort of training in 'athletic psychology' if he's going to work another race, but at least his question gave me something the think about over the next couple miles.  Around mile 16, I discovered that my bike would not go into the big gear anymore, which was unfortunate because there were some good long downhill stretches that last 9 miles that I just had to coast down (which is not my style).  As I biked into transition, I saw Tyler and another friend who was there supporting her husband, and that made me smile. 

I transitioned and took off on the run.  It was hot out, but I was keeping a pace I was relatively comfortable (and happy) with.  The first 1.5 miles of the run was on road, with no shade.  I passed a couple men (one of whom I thought was a female when he passed me on the bike, so that was a nice 'pick me up' to realize it was actually a man), and I was passed by one female who was running really fast.  At the 1.5 mile mark, we approached a huge set of stairs and were directed up them.  I ran up the first 3 stairs, and then decided to walk (it was hot, and the stairs were killing my calf's).  I got to the top of the stairs and was welcomed by some kids who were handing out ice cold towelettes to squeeze on ourselves.  It felt amazing!  I proceeded with the remainder of the run: 1.5 more miles on the grass, on a natural flood plain.  I am really clumsy and slow at running on grass, so I was less than thrilled to have to run on grass, with no shade for the remainder of the triathlon.  The width of space we had to run on was roughly four feet, with steep declines on each side.  I had visions of tripping on the grass and rolling down one of the hills.  Luckily, I only had a few 'ankle give outs' , but did not trip, and kept chugging along to the finish.

I crossed the finish line, not knowing what my finish time was, or what my place was, but somehow I felt content with my overall performance.  The results were posted about a half hour after I finished, and I saw that I was the 2nd place female overall ! I let out a little yelp and jumped up and down a few times.

2nd Place Overall Female Plaque, and prize money in the envelopes for: 2nd Place; Fastest swim split; and Fastest bike split.

I say this was my luckiest race yet because there are so many factors that contribute into how well one places in a race: there's all the internal factors that make up the individual athletes performance (race preparation/ training; adverse incidents, or lack thereof, on race day; how one handles various weather conditions; one's mental toughness; etc) and then there is the big external factor: who shows up on race day.  Looking back at the previous two years race results from this race, I noticed that with the time I did this year, I would have placed 1st in 2011, however, I would have placed 7th in 2010 (perhaps a little higher up, as the current in the river was much faster that year, but I certainly wouldn't have been top 3 overall)!  If you have the desire to receive an age group or overall award, then train and prepare to the best of your ability.  You can't control who shows up on race day, but if you've done the best you can do to get ready for race day, you just may eventually get lucky!

What I learned:

Get some anti-fog for my goggles.  Swimming in open water and not being able to see is frustrating.  

Get a bike tune-up before my first tri of the season, or any super important race, for that matter.  It doesn't make much sense to train your butt off and to prepare in every single other way possible, and Not make sure your equipment is in tune.  My bike time could have been faster if my bike was working properly, which could have won me the race (you never know).   

Either pony up the money for some tri running shoes, or take the 10 seconds to put socks on before the run during transition.  I earned some gnarly blisters on the short 5K run! 

I am lucky to have Tyler in my life.  He chooses to get up early, drive me to races, pump my bike tires, etc. on race morning; then takes pictures, cheers, and waits patiently for me to pass by him just a few times during a 2 hour race.  Triathlon isn't the best 'spectator sport', yet he comes to support me anyway.  He never complains that I spend hours away from home training, while he's doing side-jobs or working on our house.  He doesn't have the same innate competitive desire and drive I do, but he understands why I do what I do.