SOUTH BEACH

South Beach Triathlon, June 23, 2012

I have never been to South Haven, so when I saw there was going to be a tri there, I thought it would be nice time to check it out.  My husband Adam signed up too, and so we drove down the day before to pick up our packets and check out the course. 

The morning of the tri was early as usual.  We were some of the first to arrive. After setting up our things it was a long wait to start time.  They sent the Olympic distance off first, which meant I had plenty of time to think about how nervous I was.  Only one bathroom break before the race, which was a victory in itself!  I’m always hungry but can’t seem to eat anything.  So there I was wading in Lake Michigan, waiting to start, hungry with grumbling stomach, heart rate already over 100. 

See?  No waves at all!  Gorgeous day.

Finally time to go!  They had all the sprint women in one wave, 88 of us.  It was a beach start.  The whistle blew and we were running into the water.  It was quite a ways out before it was deep enough to swim, and by then I had gotten into a bad position almost in the back of the group.  I settled into my swim, through perfectly calm 66 degree clear water.  I could see straight to the bottom, covered in rippled sand, and I thought, “This is like a Pure Michigan commercial!”  I positioned myself a little further out from the crowd to avoid traffic.  It was only a 500 meter swim and it flew by.  Moving to the outside paid off, I was first out of the water for my age group.

Next came the bike, it started immediately out of transition with a short but fairly steep uphill.  It was at this time I laid eyes on my first nemesis.  You know you all have one during races as well, someone you keep going back and forth with, your eyes darting immediately to their calf to see what age group they’re in.  In this case, we will call her Spartan tri suit girl.  I ended up passing her and several others on the bike.  It was a fast, flat course with a tailwind on the way home. 

I came back into transition, and as I was hopping off my bike who pulls up next to me?  Spartan tri suit!  ARGH!  I run to my rack, fling my bike on it, my husband arriving at the rack just moments later.  I’m off on the run, up that same hill which magically became steeper since I rode up it.  It was at this time I decided I need to do more brick workouts.  I’m completely dead.  Sparty was just ahead of me, and now is when nemesis number 2, yellow-tank-pink-trimmed-shorts, arrives.  We battle back and forth, I pass Sparty, yellow-tank-pink-trimmed-shorts passes me.  Finally I tell myself to get out of my own head, just run my own race and stop worrying about what anyone else is doing. 

At the end of the run, the course went down a set of stairs from the street to the beach and you had to run in sand to finish the race.  If you weren’t already running on empty (I was) the sand would surely zap your last bits of energy.  I finished feeling happy that I performed the best I could.  The overall results were posted but no age group so it came as a surprise when they announced I was third place for my age group.  I also found out I was someone else’s nemesis!  I love the competitive nature of the race, but then everyone is friends afterward, congratulating each other on a job well done. 

Possibly the coolest part of the day was waiting for the last Olympic  racer to finish.  We were all gathered around the finish line for the awards ceremony, which they wouldn’t start until everyone finished.  Here came the last competitor, a 76 year old lady running through that sand through the finish line looking like a million bucks.  With a smile on her face.   

Grand Rapids Tri 2012

Grand Rapids Tri

I’ve been doing triathlons for the past few years and last year I moved up to the Half Ironman distance, my first being the GR Tri in 2011.  I did 2 last year and so the next logical progression was to train for a full Ironman.  I am signed up to compete in Madison on September 9^th!

Since last year was my first attempt at the 70.3, I had no idea what to expect.  I was full of self-doubt, whether or not I could even finish.  Since I had 2 under my belt from last year and an entire year of more training, I felt surprisingly more confident and less nervous this time around.

I usually start getting really nervous a few days before a big event like this.  But this time, I did not!  The day before, while I was out for a very short bike ride, I started playing all the negative thoughts in my mind.  What if it is too hot?  (My answer:  you will stay hydrated and it may not be your best time, but you will get through it).  What if it is too windy?  (My answer:  It’ll be windy for everyone, and I actually handle the wind pretty well…as I proved to myself at Fisk Knob recently).  Did I really train as hard as I should have?  (My answer:  You better believe it!  I did not even skip a single session according to my “plan”).  So, I went to bed that night and actually had one of the best pre-race sleeps of my lifeJ

The alarm went off at 4:15 am.  Man I absolutely hate getting up at that time of the morning.  (Getting up at a reasonable hour is one reason that I love Tri Allegan.  Why aren’t there more weekday evening triathlons?  I think RWT should sponsor one…).  I went to Barb Lindquist’s tri clinic a few weeks ago and one of the things that she suggested was to actually run right away after getting up in the morning, and then eat breakfast.  What the heck?  Yep, I was on the treadmill at 4:25 am.  So far, so good.

I like to get to the venue extra early so that I do not feel too stressed or rushed.  So, my husband and I were in the car by 5:45am and arrived around 6:15am.  Thankfully, the event was pretty close to our house.  Once I arrived I had planned to get a quick bike and swim warm-up in, but never did.  I got too distracted taking to friends and teammates and I guess I forgot about the bike warm-up (maybe next time).  I usually spend the majority of pre-race morning in the porta-potty, but I only went once and thankfully the nerves were under control.  I opted out of the warm-up swim as I was already too cold just standing around and didn’t want to get wet. 

Swim:  As we were wading in the water, I was still cold and getting quite nervous all of a sudden.  Seriously, there were an awful lot of people all wanting to be in the same water at the same time. Usually I try to line up about a third of the way back in the pack, but not this time.  My friends, especially Kattie and Marianne, have me believing that I am better than that, and I don’t want to get stuck behind slower swimmers.  So I opted to line up in the front, off to the side just a bit.  I did not hear a gun or siren or announcement, but all of a sudden, off the pack went.  I was freaking out for about 200 yards as everyone was jockeying for position and I could feel hands on my legs.  After a bit, I settled into my very own swim.  I had wanted to draft, but there was not an easy way to do this.  I just swam my own race and did not pay any attention to what anyone else was doing.  By the turn-around I was passing a few of the guys from a previous heat.  The swim went well overall and I felt like I got faster the longer I swam.  I found out later that I was the 8^th woman out of the water.  I had assistance from the wetsuit stripper---that was actually really fun as I laid down, feet in the air, and off the suit went.

Bike:  I was relieved to get on the bike, as this has always my best leg of the tri!  I was just hoping for no crashes and no flats.  I was having fun out there and making great time.   I saw teammates, Lonna and Heather, who were out on the bike course cheering.  Heather told me that I was in second.  What?  What did she mean?  Could I really be the second place woman?  Hmmm.  No matter what happened on the bike, I then decided to make it my #1 goal to be the fastest women on the bike there that day.  As it turned out, I was!

Run:  Deep sigh!  I was having a great race, but the hardest part was yet to come.  The heat and sun were building and so I really didn’t know how things would go.  I was thankful for my last minute decision, just prior to the race, to forego the GPS/ heart rate monitor.  I set out on the run and my goal was to stay relaxed!  I did not have a heart rate monitor to tell me that my heart rate was too high or the GPS telling me that I was going too slowly.  So I just kept running…relaxed!  The sunny parts of the course were tough and I was so thankful for the shady parts.  My husband, my mom and my dad were all spread out on the course.  With it being a double loop course, I got to see each one of them 4 times- they really kept me going.  My dad shouted out to me once that I was a few minutes behind the first place woman.  Again, I thought he had to be mistaken.  I thought that he probably didn’t even realize that there were 3 different race distances going on there that day. 

I crossed the finish line, from my vantage point the clock said 0:00:00.  Oh well- I did my best and I actually felt pretty well.  After crossing the finish line, one of guys told me that unofficially I was the second female.  I found out later that I was indeed 2^nd place (5:02) and there was a nice prize too.  All in all, it was a great race.  I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t thrilled with how I placed.  Mostly I was happy that I knocked 22 minutes off my time from last year.  Looks like all the training is paying off and I am still really enjoying competing in triathlons!

Duck Lake TT 6/16/12

For the start, I was 30 seconds behind Ellie and 30 seconds ahead of Claire Reeves.  When we were waiting to start, somebody's dad asked me if I was going to pass my sister, so I said "yes".  When it was time for me to go I clipped in my feet and got my hands in my drops.  I started out with 22mph, then slowed to 18mph.  When I came across the lake I caught up to my sister. To pass her I sped up to 23mph. I stayed ahead of her.

  Then I had another worry on my mind.....Claire.  I tried to keep 20 mph but it didn't work so I slowed down but still held her off for most of the time trial.  During the TT, I kept switching from my drops to my hoods and also making sure I was fully hydrated.  When Claire passed me she told me that when she passed my sister Ellie, Ellie was saying "WHERE DOES SHE GET ALL OF THIS ENERGY FROM?"  Claire also said that I spooked Ellie, so I was happy about that.  When I turned that last corner and saw the finish line, I made sure I was in my drops.  I was going at least 25 mph at the finish. I had a decent time that was like 45 minutes.  I lost by 2 minutes.  I got 2nd place though and it was fun racing.
                                       Kiersen K.