I came in 4th at Lake Norman…so close to placing!!!

Here are my splits:

Swim 750m: 17:01 (seemed longer than 750, and no wetsuit)
T1: 1:56
Bike 16.8 miles: 51:24 (moderate hills)
T2: 1:32
Run 5k: 27:40 (if only I didn’t suck at running…sigh)
Overall: 1:39:31

In Retrospect (writing this a few days later)

  • In reviewing the results, I see that the third place woman passed me during the run. I didn’t see her at all. She must have passed me within the last few minutes, too. If I had seen her I would have dug in deeper to try and beat her. The thing is, I kept looking at my stop-watch, thinking I am way off last year’s third place winner’s time of 1:32, so there’s no way I can place in this race. That made me not willing to dig in deep and fight my fatigue during the run. Lesson learned: do your best no matter what!

Quick Notes (writing this day after race)

    lake_norman_swim.jpg

  • My strategy for this race was an experiment. I went all out the whole time. I didn’t worry about my quads burning during the bike – I just rode hard. I wanted to see how I felt on the run after going all out on the bike. On the run, my legs felt fine. The problem I had was that I was out of breath the whole time; I had to stop and walk three times for about 30-45 seconds each time.
  • I started out too fast in the swim, and couldn’t hold the pace. After about 200m, I was out of breath and had to stop and do breast stroke for a bit to rest. Then I started out at a more manageable pace. My swim time is not great, but included quite a long run to the Transition. Also, my swim time isn’t that far off other women in my age group.
  • After rounding the buoy on the swim, the sun was directly in my eyes. It made sighting the buoy very difficult. What I did was do breast stroke a few strokes to sight the buoy, and then find a larger landmark beyond the buoy, like a tall tree. Then I’d start swimming and again and aim for the tree. Every so often, I do breast stroke and re-check to make sure the tree was still a good thing to aim for.
  • My T times are good this race. I tried a new idea with my bike shoes: prior to racing, I loosely velcro’d the two straps closest to my toes. Then all I had to do during T1 was slip the shoes on, and do the third strap. Once on my bike, I reached down and tightened those first two straps. I did the reverse on coming into T2 (pre-loosened the two straps while riding, so all I had to deal with was one strap in T2.) I’d like to get some tri bike shoes that only have one strap to begin with!
  • More about T times. I skipped socks for this race. I had practiced that a week before Lake Logan. My feet felt fine during my 5 mile training run. But, as soon as I stopped running, I noticed painful blisters on the feet. No problem, I can live with a bit of pain after a race, as long as everything is a-okay during it. However, the wounds were not healed in time for Lake Logan, and I couldn’t bear the thought of no socks at that point! But, all was healed in time for this race, so I skipped socks. (I will wear socks for the Duke 1/2 – too long of a race to chance no socks.)
  • On the way downhill, right before the toughest uphill of the course, a woman in front of me pulled out to pass some guy. Then, she stopped pedaling and stuck next to the guy. I had to hit my brakes. I yelled “on your left” to give her a clue that I was waiting to pass. Maybe I should have yelled “blocking” or “keep pedaling” instead (suggestions…?). This really pissed me off because it totally blew my hill strategy, and I struggled up that next hill. It further pissed me off that she passed me on the way up. My hill strategy is to pedal downhill and get going as fast as I can down, even if it means super-spinning, to give me the most momentum for the up.
  • On the bike, a woman named Candy, who I sort of know from my kids school, was just ahead of me. I passed her. Then she passed me. Then I passed her. Then she passed me. We did this the whole race, and it helped to have her to egg me on to keep working hard. I was careful to drop back 3 bike lengths each time, which annoyed me to no end, but I didn’t want to get a penalty. At one point, I heard a motorcycle coming up behind me and I dropped back further just to be on the safe side. Luckily, he kept driving by. (Where was he when that chick was blocking!?) We passed alot of other bikers too. After the race, Candy spotted me and asked if I was the “44” who kept passing her on the bike. She said I was a great biker, and thanked me for helping her. I replied that she also helped me. We chatted a bit, and I invited her to join my lake swimming group. She’s also doing the Duke 1/2.
  • While leaving the race, I walked out of the transition area with my bike. I noticed the volunteer look at my bike, then look at my body. I realized that he was checking to make sure that I was taking the right bike. I said “Oh, you mean you check bikes on the way out – Thank You!”. He smiled and said Yes, they do check. I’d be devastated if my bike went missing.
  • I went to this race with my friend, Cathy. Her parents live at Lake Norman and we had a lovely weekend visiting with them. I attempted to water ski, but failed miserably. I have arthritis in my hands which makes them very weak. I could not hold onto the rope tight enough to get up. I told Cathy and her parents that I have zero natural athletic ability, but they didn’t believe me. It’s true, though – my progress in the sport of triathlon is due to pure persistence. I keep tri-ing. The only thing sore today are my hands and forearms from the attempts at water skiing.

Official Race Results

Race Photos