World Sprint Triathlon Championship New Zealand

Oct. 16
I'm sitting in the Grand Rapids Airport; the beginning of a really long 24 hours.  I'm headed to the ITU World Sprint Triathlon Championship in Auckland, New Zealand.  There will be over 3,000 athletes representing countries from all over the world. It is the site of the ParaTriathlon (I think I need to look that one up), Aquathon, Olympic, and Sprint Championship for age groupers (me), juniors, and the Elites. The Elite level includes two of the people from the USA that participated in the Olympics in London this summer.

I got here by qualifying at last year's US Sprint National Championship in Burlington, Vermont.  It was a really hard race for me; it didn't start until noon so I didn't have enough food units in my system and there was a gigantic hill 100 yards out of the transition.  Still, I finished well enough that I qualified for Worlds

The Sprint distance consists of a 0.5 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.2 mile run.  All told it takes me about 85 minutes to finish one.  Though I do well in tri's at the local and regional level, I'm a solid middle of the pack finisher at the national level which means I'll be thrilled to finish the race, in part because I pulled a calf muscle a little over a week ago.  I've been seeing the massage and chiropractors at one of our team sponsors - Lakeshore Chiropractic.  They've done their darnedest to get me race ready.

It is really hard to stay motivated for such a late season race.  My teammates - Wendy- my perpetual swim buddy  (and Marianne who really got me started swimming and another buddy Gabrielle also kept me swimming) and Kendra (who's done the late season rides, runs and open water swims) - have really helped keep me motivated.

Sunday I was out running in my Real Women Trisuit in Millenium Park in between downpours.  I saw a couple women walking and I said, "I know I look really stupid still training but I have one last tri to do."  They laughed.  I got a dose of riding and running in the rain doing my last brick.  Good practice for New Zealand because rain is always in the forecast this time of year.

My biggest fear is freezing to death.  The water temperature is 57 degrees.  I tried swimming in Georgetown Lake on Saturday and lasted a minute.  Ok, it was only 40 degrees outside and I'm pretty sure the water was colder than 57.  ITU rules prohibit you from wearing anything other than the race uniform - no jacket allowed.  With an air temperature the same as the water temperature, well, I'm just worried.  Teammate Jane G  loaned me her neoprene swim cap so I can try to stay warmer.  My coach, Kattie Carpenter-Rosa assures me that adrenaline will keep me warm.  I am a walking hyopthermia case so I'm just worried.

It's a huge honor to represent Team USA.  Here's me in my race uniform.  I'll post how to track the race later (it is Monday Oct. 22).

San Francisco
5 hour layover and no way to go walking because the ticket counter is closed until closer to boarding time.  Who knew?

Just saw a Facebook post from Auckland.  That caused my stomach to do a few backflips. I saw the pontoon-starting block dives for the Elite athletes and had a heart attack.  Thankfully someone posted that the Age Groupers (those 5 year groups of athletes) have an open water start which I had read earlier in the week.  The Aquathon swimmers had their pre-race swim today; they reported the water temperature is up to 60.8 degrees.  Since it is their Spring, it’ll only get warmer.  It was 57 when I last checked.  I was even more relieved when one of the swimmers posted that it wasn’t that bad – just cold hands and feet.  I’m feeling better already!

I saw my first TEAM USA person.  This woman got on the plane after me in Denver.  I saw her TEAM USA jacket and I pointed at my Real Women Tri shirt and at her and said “Me too!!” She smiled.  Once I board in San Francisco for the 12 hour flight, my guess is the entire plane will be teammates.

I got started in Tri’s 3 years ago.  Heather K. was doing the Grand Haven Duathlon and persuaded me to try the Sprint Distance.  Upon signing up various friends reported that it is hard to a Great Lakes swim; if it is too choppy they cancel the swim and you get to run twice as far (which I hadn’t trained for).  Of course everything less than “too choppy” can still be mighty unpleasant.  I survived the swim without throwing up (it didn’t occur to me that I have a bit of motion sickness and swimming in the ebbing tide was going to cause the same sort of reaction – which it did).  I remember standing at the start at looking at the finish to the swim and thinking, “Wow, that is a really, really long swim.”  I hadn’t been swimming that much and it had almost all been pool swimming.  Lesson #1 – figure out if you can swim in the waterbody.  Some of the Lake Michigan swims are protected, while others aren’t.  Once I’d signed up they mentioned you had to run 0.5 miles on the Grand Haven pier to get to the transition area.  You could either leave another pair of running shoes on the dock or run barefoot.  I had least had the good sense to take the insoles out of some old shoes so I could slip my sandy wet feet into them easier.  Lesson #2 – read those transition maps (if they’re posted  before you sign up) so you know what you’ll have to be able to do running-wise.  I was pretty worried about slowing down before the transition from the bike to the run so I slowed down way too soon.  Lesson #3 – bike or walk before the race at least the stretch coming in to the transition area so you know where to slow down.  No matter what you still have to err on slowing down too early or you’ll have a nasty crash (and probably be disqualified). The run ended on a hill which I wasn’t expecting.  Lesson #4 – see lesson #3 and apply it here – look at the last stretch coming into the finish line.  I’m “sprinting” up this hill and I can see the age on the woman’s calf in front of me and SHE’S IN MY AGE GROUP, so I sprinted even faster.  I almost puked before crossing the finish line.  It was a great motivator (I passed her), and it allowed me to know what happens when you push yourself to the edge.  After all of that I was hooked!!  

NEW ZEALAND
Better sleeping through drugs.  Yep, take one sleepy drug, combine it with a tired woman, and you 8 hours of fitful - but still 8 hours of sleep.  Bike and luggage arrived - yeah!  Tis always a worry.  Met a couple people from Team USA.   One of the women - I've seen 3 times in the last 2 years because we seem to always be on the same plane.  She is an elite athlete in the US, here she's just an Age Grouper like me.  Also met a couple - she's in my age group for the Sprint, and her husband.  Her husband has done a bunch of World's but his cancer returned so he's just watching.  Also met a woman who's doing the Olympic Distance.  I'm going to try and catch up with her for the swim and the bike.  Met a paratriathlete from Morocco.  He was helping us install our free NZ Simm cards in our phones, but alas, none of our phones seemed to work.  Got checked into my hotel and then off to registration in the cold, pouring rain and it only got worse from there.  Had brought my wetsuit to swim.  The location was TBA so I went to the Team USA headquarters and discovered they decided to move the swim to 1 and have the bike at 11.  Huge bummer.....so back to my hotel to unpack my bike.  Then I discovered that my helpful mechanic and loosened the brake, taken the headset off, and completely removed the cassette.  Shoot me!  I don't have those tools or skills to put it together.........so I carried my bike over to the Team USA mechanics who were happy as clams to fix it up.  I thought I'd have to leave it so I didn't bring a helmet.  It is illegal to ride in NZ without a helmet so I walked back to the hotel.  Time for a quick nap before the parade of nations.

Opening Ceremonies
Met up with some of the gang I'd met earlier which is amazing given there are 3000+ age groupers here.  Team USA is huge but so is New Zealand, Australia and Canada.  We lust over Team-Canada's gear and some of the past Team USA gear.  Apparently Team USA is retro this year - yep, think polyster track suits. I'm glad I didn't buy one.

The picture taking of Team USA was exciting. So many athletes.  The Parade of Nations was anti-climatic.  A fair number of people brought families so that was the biggest contingency of people.  I took pictures on my phone but that didn't work. They gave us free NZ simm cards but apparently the other simm card is the one that stores pictures. Oh well.  I'll get the Team USA picture later.

No training done yesterday except walking 6 miles back and forth.  Everyone is talking about the cold, wind, and rain.  Going out this morning for a run with Team USA on the course and later - the dreaded open water swim practice.

Team USA

Here I am just before opening ceremonies

Oct. 18 - Friday

It is weird to wake up at 5 am and find out it is Michigan's 3 pm!  Did the team USA run this morning.  Nice flat course!  Just finished the bike course.  I met a Michigan person on the bike ride- Pam Freeman.  Too funny to meet someone from Michigan.  Seriously scary course given the 25-40 mph winds.  3 hills, one of which I said "you've gotta be kidding".  It was the steepest hill I'd ever ridden a bike up but it was fine.  Later today I should be able to find the group bike shot - this time I'm right in front in my RWT jersey!  

It is sunny than rainy than sunny again which makes dressing correctly a bit of a challenge.  Wind speeds are at 35 mph which is seriously scary as a little person on a bike.  I'm relieved to have ridden the course but it is hard to imagine doing it in the wind. Some of the hills going downhill will be "exciting"....as in ya don't want to be crashing.  Keep your fingers crossed because at the moment, race day weather forecast is a bit warmer and less windy.  

THE SWIM

I did it!  I survived the swim!!!!  My very first open water in salty water with huge waves.  Things I learned today include you can survive a huge chop (see my post above about barely surviving Lake Michigan swimming).  My new buddies report that when you get to the big choppy part, swim really fast - save your energy to get out of there as quickly as you can.  Everyone is buying neoprene caps to go under their cap.  The water was back to 57 and it was doable.  It takes about 3-5 minutes to fully get the coldness on your skin.  They said you MUST get your forehead used to the cold or you'll have your entire system shut down when you couple it with adrenaline.  It was seriously the longest swim in my life.  We swam at 1 so I'm hoping there will be little to no chop at 7:30 am on race day.  For me that is on Monday but back in the states you'll see the results on Sunday.

Looks like you'll be able to see race results here: http://www.triathlon.org/results/

I'm not sure how quickly they update them.

SATURDAY

Got a nice little ride in with a local (that was by accident).  Turns out he's quite good - winning a lot of time trials.   Just back from watching some of the elite women do their laps.  NZ woman is out in front, and then a pack with Sarah Groff at the back and then another pack with american Jogenson in it.

The race briefing was an eye opening experience.

Race weather forecast is 57 water and 59 air temp with 25-30 mph winds, and rain.  Won't that be exciting.

1.  Compression calf sleeves are ok, but the socks are not (no clue why).

2.  You can put gloves on in the ride but you have to ride the entire ride with them (you can't tuck them into your uniform part way through the ride).

3.  If you put your jacket on, you can't tie it around your waist.

4.  You have less than 30 seconds to jump in the water before they start you swimming (no warm up at all).

5.  Previously they said only clear jackets and now they're saying a team jacket (it must say USA).  I just bought the most expensive jacket of my life - the last clear jacket in Auckland.  I had my name on the list and only because I was there did I get the jacket.

There are athletes everywhere and everyone is super friendly and cheering each other on.  Tons of paratriathlon athletes.  US and England always have the largest contingency of delegates.  One of the women from the US (in my age group) is the world champion from last year which is exciting.

7 of are athletes still don't have their luggage. Yep, no wetsuit or bikes.  They're freaked out.    They think stuff will arrive today.

Coach Kris for team USA really focuses on

1.  relax-  you can do this. 

2.  leave it all out there at the finish line - no happy faces at the end....run until you puke

3.  do not crash.  3 months to recover from a broken collarbone........in NZ........is not desirable.  Do NOT take those curves fast.  Scoot back on the bike seat on the huge hills and feather those brakes or they'll overheat and you'll get a flat (and crash).

They gave a pep talk where I actually felt like we were someone special.  Most everyone here is pretty nonchalant about being here but the USAT guy said remember there are people who train just as hard as you and would do anything to be where you are.  That's a sobering comment.  

Other tips they had:

1.  if it is cold - body, plastic bag, and then race suit

2.  put clear tape over your vents on your bike helmet until you warm up (then you can peel the tape back).

Things that are hard to get used to

1.  Walking on the left instead of the right when walking down the sidewalk

2.  Looking the correct direction to see incoming cars

3.  This one I didn't have to do - swimming counterclockwise and flip turning the "other" way

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SUNDAY

24 hours until race day!  WHoohoo.  Weather forecast is steady rain and 35-40 mph.......but thankfully I don't think I'll have.  The folks doing the Olympic distance will get that horrible weather.  I think I'll only have 15-20 mph winds and maybe light rain.  

Coach Chris (and Coach Kattie) said go do a shake-out run around race time.....so I'm headed out momentarily to do just that.  Not much else on the agenda for today other than bike check in later today.  With 3000 age groupers they end up checking you in BY COUNTRY which is sort of freaky but will at least reduce some of the congestion.  We have to rack our bikes today by the handlebars so they don't blow over during the night (did I mention it was windy here).  Race day we get to put them on the seatpost.  I'm anxious to see the transition - it seems like it has to be huge to accommodate that many people.  In fact, we have different run in to transition carpet colors.  There are twice as many Olympic distance athletes as Sprint Distance.  Should be fun.  

The demographics on Team USA seem heavily skewed to the over 40 crowd, in part because they can take vacation and have the money to travel. 

Run done.  I'm officially giving up jaywalking at least in NZ.  I had a narrow miss this morning.  Drivers are VERY nice here.  Kiwi - the official charity of the event - is not a fruit.  It is an endangered bird.  The most common food seems to be indian, chinese, or japanese.  Some of the racers groaned to find out the standard beverage (gatorade or heed) won't be at the aid situations.  Instead it'll be a brand I'm not familiar with at all. 

There are racers everywhere.  People are always out running or biking in whatever the weather is.  A lot of Team Canada is staying in my hotel.  We all chat each other up about the weather, if we've been to World's before, if we're going to London (next year's event - and yes, I'm going).  Rumor has it they may go to San Diego the following year.

Saw a little of the Elite men's race.  Crazy that it is the same people that raced in the Olympics. They just got sprinkles of rain.  The junior men - just coming in from the swim - were getting dumped on.

I got my bike all checked in and my uniform checked over as well.  There will huge lines of people up unitl 9 pm.  They check you in by country but I think they were behind as of the first hour of check in.  Body marking is the old fashioned way - with markers; it is so much fun to get temporary tattoos at nationals !  I managed to get all the stickers - 3 helmet, 1 bike, and 1 bag on the right places without them sticking too much to each other.  There are 3000 bikes in the transition area.  It'll be "exciting" to find it in the morning.  Forecast is looking a bit better for the race.  Water is stuck at 57 degrees.  Mostly we're all worried about the wind and the potential for rain.

And my last post.........this just in from my Training log (my Monday is your Sunday)...here is tomorrows workout.........

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Hello Carol Griffin, Your Workouts for Monday, October 22 #1:  World Sprint Championship 6:55 am Type: Race

That totally made it real!!!!!!!!!!!!

RACE DAY MONDAY OCT. 22

Whoo hoo - race day finally arrived  Up at 3:30 to cook scrambled eggs, sushi rice, and soy sauce (much less intestinal distress with this kind of breakfast).  Last night I went to the Chinese restaurant next door and ordered up some rice to go.  He looked at me blankly.  Apparently it was a Japanese Noodle house.  Luckily the Chinese restaurant.  Walked down to transition at 4:45 am which was way to early.  Walked back home, sat in my hotel room another 30 minutes and did it all over again.

It had rained last night so my side of the bike racks had giant puddles of water.  Met lots of interesting Americans (my age group was all racked together).  The world champ from the USA had gotten food poisoning here and looked pretty bad.  Plenty of time to get everything set up and then headed out to wait indoors in the big building that had our bag drop.  Hung out with the yellow-cap gang (my age group).  They had 5 waves always on deck and they want off over 3 minutes.  I worried about getting thrashed by the next wave of guys following us.  Lots of swell in the water.  Jumped in and we were off!  It didn't feel as cold as it did the other day.  It is a lot of work swimming in the ocean.  I'd definitely add some Lake Michigan swimming to my workouts just to get better at it (I imagine being a stronger swimmer wouldn't hurt either).  My goals was just stay on course and finish the swim (that's a pretty low bar).  I was 55/63 in my age group - pretty much what I expected (ok, I secretly thought I'd wake up and magically be able to do the "catch" correctly, but no go.

The transition is easily 1/4 mile run.  It is incredible to try and run past 3000 bikes; both ways.

The bike course had a lot of hills and they didn't get any easier.  The wind was probably only 15-20 so that was a lot better.  Only a few sprinkles of rain so we didn't have to be so panicked about crashing on the course.  The bike I ended up 39/63 - I was hoping for better here but  I have to do more hills in my life, both up and down.  I know I'm too tentative on the downs.   I ate 1.5 gels (that'll become important in a bit).

Same bloody 1/4 mile run in transition and 1/4 mile run back out of transition.

Off to the run.  Once I started I remembered that I had 1 empty and 0.5 full gel wrapper in my pant leg.  I got rid of one in a trash can by the water; of course it was the empty one.  By now I can feel the other half of the gel oozing down my leg.,  No gentle reader, it was not a chocolate gu - thank goodness.  I was towards the end and the coach was handing out flags, but some American said "Go catch that Australian" so I sprinted and by golly I passed her.  That was very exciting.  I ended up 37/63 which is better than I expected.  My injured calf was just fine; ended up with a hamstring strain at some point on the run but it wasn't too bad.  The course had a billion corners and some brick and railroad tracks which made it lesss than ideal for a run.

The fun part about this graph is the sprint at the end!!  I seem to instinctively be able to keep the same Heart Race but the pace changes throughout the race.  The 158 heart rate at the end is the throwing up heart rate.  My friend Will actually did puke at the grandstands.

Overall I was 49/63 (I predicted I'd be in the bottom 20%).  I'd have to lop 5 minutes off the 1:37 total time to have ended up at the 50% mark (if I learned how to swim better I'd instantly have moved up a bunch of places).

The freakiest part is having people call you by name.  "Go Griffin.,"   Lots of "Go USA" chants as well.  Everyone I've met walks up and hugs you and asks about your race which is fun.  In another hour, team USA meets in a pub for some festivities and then off to the age group awards and finally dinner at 9:30 (which seems crazy to me).

Ironman Wisconsin 2012

Ironman Wisconsin 2012

In 2009, I did my first sprint tri (Tri del Sol).  This was no easy task.  I had quite a bit of work to do in order to successfully swim ½ a mile.  I did it, and I was hooked.  The following year I did a couple more sprint triathlons and ended the summer with an Olympic Distance Tri in Chicago.  The next year I was looking for my next challenge and my friend and teammate, Jane G, talked me into doing the Half Ironman at the GR Tri.  I had a great time and signed up for another Half Ironman in Racine 6 weeks later.  Last fall, September of 2011, I did Reed’s Lake Tri and again began to ask myself, what’s next?  I got up early on that Monday morning and had made up my mind, that if I could swim 2.4 miles, then I could do the Ironman at Wisconsin.  That morning I swam at the Y Center before work, and did 4,400 yards.  That day at lunch, I signed up for IMWI 2012.

Once I committed to the feat, I knew that this would be a huge time commitment.  Between September and January I just worked out doing whatever, whenever.  Beginning in January I started following an online free training program.  Everything was going according to plan, but when I started trying to plan summer races, I realized that I needed some help.  I hired Kattie to write my training plan, incorporating the Fisk Knob Time Trial, the GR Tri HIM, Racine 70.3, Tri Allegan, among other events.

I spent many long hours training this summer, but I really did enjoy it.  I was able to do a lot of training with Carol, who was a great training partner and friend.  Marianne kept me company, and gave me great coaching on my swimming.  Jane V escorted me to Grand Haven for a beautiful 100 mile ride.  My teammates were all encouraging along the way.

The IMWI was on a Sunday, but athlete check-in was on Thursday and Friday only.  So I left GR around 7 am on Friday, picked up my parents in Holland, and off we went.  We got to Athlete check-in around noon and I got right through.  The highlight was getting the coolest backpack ever.  Also, while shopping in the IM Store, I ran into 3 people from the GR area.  I overheard one guy say that he was from GR.  Another guy I talked to because he had a Reeds Lake Tri t-shirt on and the other guy was wearing a GR Marathon jacket.  Wow- GR was well represented.  They were very thorough and even weighed you in case you ended up in the Med Tent.  After getting all checked in, we headed back to the hotel and got checked in there.  That night, we went to the Welcome Dinner hosted by the Mike Reilly.  The food was average…spaghetti, salad, breadsticks, potatoes.  But, seated at our table, we met 3 more guys all from Holland, MI.  The dinner was very inspirational, and the reality of what I was about to undertake sunk in.  They announced that this IM event had the most women, but I was surprised that it was only 27% of the field.  They said that there were athletes there from all 50 states and the youngest athlete to compete was 18 and the oldest was 73.

Saturday I had a 10 minute run, 20 minute bike and 10 minute swim on the schedule and I had to check in my bike and transition bags.  I started with a 10 minute jog and then ate a big breakfast.  Joe and I then headed to Manona Terrace for a quick bike ride and then to get the bike and bags checked in.  Next was a quick dip in the lake.  I was feeling very comfortable and just ready to go and get this done.  I was not hungry, but decided that I should eat.  We stopped at Q’dobas for lunch.  We headed back to the hotel for an hour or so, where I got a nice massage from the hubby and then we were off for our pasta dinner.  Took some Ambien and it was off to bed.

Sunday morning at 4 am, the alarm went off…show time!  My first task of the day, attempting to get in 1,000 calories at 4 am- yuck!  I didn’t quite get all my calories in.  I think I managed to get down a banana, orange juice, bagel with peanut better, and a protein drink.  When we got to the race, I had to stock up my bike with all my water and drinks and check the tire pressure.  I’m glad that I brought my own pump, because there was a long line for Trek to do it.  It was a little chilly out (maybe 50 degrees) so we hung out for a while inside the convention center.  I was able to visit the bathroom, inside, without a wait…in the world of triathlons; it doesn’t get any better than this.  It wasn’t until about 45 minutes before the start of the race, when I started freaking out.  I was so nervous about the swim.  The convention center was crowded with a ton of people, most of whom were significantly bigger than I am.  The thought of 2,800 people all swimming 2.4 miles in a mass start was daunting.  I was not nervous about the distance, I was nervous about the chaos that would ensue.  When I had done the Madison Open Water Swim just 3 weeks earlier, I had to start with about 200 swimmers, and I thought that was bad.  My husband, who is not a swimmer, actually gave me good advice that helped me in the swim.  He told me that I did not need to worry about the thousands of people who were not in my immediate area, that I only needed to worry about the 10-20 people in my personal space.  I also contemplated how/ where to line up for the swim.  Before the race, I heard conflicting advice.  Some said to just wait until most were taking off and then leave from shore and work my way in.  The theory was that although you may have to swim further, you would not get caught in as much traffic.  Others said that I should go out early and start up front.  The idea here was that I am nowhere near the slowest swimmer out there.  I did not want to get stuck behind so many people that I would have to pass and work my way around thousands of them.  I decided on the second, more aggressive option.  I got out there about 15 minutes before the cannon went off and was able to float in my wetsuit and hang on to a kayak, so as to not waste too much energy before the race even started. 

The cannon went off and the pack of anxious swimmers did too.  I would be lying if I said that it was not a mad house.  People were jockeying for position and there was a lot of contact.  Instead of spotting every 4-6 strokes, I was spotting (polo swimming) almost constantly at the beginning.  It seemed as if every time you thought that you were about to get into a groove you were running into someone.  If people grab my feet, it doesn’t freak me out nearly as much as if they are on my head, arms or back.  For the most part, there was a lot of grabbing and hitting of my feet, which only encouraged me to kick harder.  When we got to the first corner buoy, which required a 90 degree left turn, there was a traffic jam.  The people in front of me were all slowed or stopped and the people behind me were all still trying to swim…over me.  I let out a scream of panic and then took a deep breath and rode it out.  You only need to stay on the outside of the corner buoys, not the markers between, so I did find myself on the inside of some these buoys so that I could find some calm waters.  After about ½ through the swim, I realized that I had this.  The congestion had cleared to a tolerable level and I was able to actually “swim”.  I came out of the water in 1:11 and saw Joe there cheering for me.

To get from the swim to T1 you have a long run, but it was awesome.  First of all, I felt so relieved that the swim was over and that I was still alive.  I thought to myself, the hard and scary part is over, now it’s just for the long part of the day.  I had no doubts that I couldn’t ride 112 miles and at least walk 26.2.  The transition area was inside the convention area, which was cool.  We had to run up the parking structure, several levels, which lead us round and round.  The structure was lined with cheering fans and for the first time I got teary-eyed as I thought, “Holy Crap, I’m really doing this”.  Everyone was running into one room where all the T1 bags are placed.  As you are running down the hall, volunteers are already shouting your number out.  When I got to the room, someone handed me my bag and then I ran to the changing room.  In the changing room, there were even more volunteers to help you.  I felt really well taken care of.  You run out of the building and have quite a long run from one end of the parking structure to the next in order to get to your bike.  Because it was a long run, I carried by bike shoes until I got closer to my bike.  Again, as you were running through, people were calling out your number and they were handing me my bike.

The bike started off down the opposite side of the ramp, going down and around the helix.  I tired to take it easy on the bike.  I knew it was a hard course and I needed to save some energy for the run.  I had to stop to pee a couple of times while on the bike and this was taking just too much time.  So I decided that it was time to be a real Ironman and just start peeing while riding.  This was a huge time saver as I ended up going about 3 more times during the course of the ride.  My parents drove out and met me at a couple of different spots on the course and Joe took the shuttle bus out to Verona.  It was a 2 loop course, so I got to see my family quite a bit.  I pre-rode the course a few weeks before the race, and I was a little worried about the big hill on Old Sauk Pass.  As it turned out, there were lots and lots of crazy fans in this area, which made it fun!  I was actually looking forward to tackling this for the second loop.  Some of the fans were running up with hill next to the cyclist.  Several had megaphone and awesome signs.  Some of the signs that I read in this area were. “Smile if you’ve peed on yourself today”, “Your bike is your toilet”, “Embrace the Suck”, and my favorite was a bunch of young rowdy teenage-20-something guys that had a sign saying, “Tri girls have the best butts…and this is why”..  The ride was fairly uneventful and I suddenly realized that this was the furthest distance I have ever ridden.  But, it went well.  I did feel like I had enough left for just a little marathon to round out the day. 

The bike ended by riding up the parking structure.  When you get to the top, there were volunteers that take your bike for you and re-rack it.  That was so cool.  I felt like a VIP.  Again, there were lots of crowds cheering when you dismount and run into the building to grab your T2 bag.  Again, off to the changing room.  I decided to just stay in my tri clothes.  I took off my helmet and bike shoes, put on my visor, sunglasses and running shoes and off I went…again!  My right hip was a little sore, but it didn’t last long.  My running plan (that I decided upon pre-race) was to take the first 5-6 miles extra slow, like a 10 minute pace.  My first mile was an 8:40, so I really had to reel it in, but I just could not believe how good I was feeling.  I did the next 3 miles around a 9:15 pace and it felt pretty comfortable.  This really was my dayJ.   Unfortunately, things went from good to bad in a hurry.  All of a sudden, around mile 4, I started having stomach cramps and diarrhea.  The cramps and diarrhea continued for the remaining 22 miles- actually getting to the point where I could not take anything in, not even water.  Between visiting the porta-pottys and the woods, I was able to maintain a decent pace.  The course was a double loop again, so I was able to see my mom, my dad, or my husband about every 2 miles.  The course was beautiful, including running through Randall Stadium (where I yelled “Go Blue” at the top of my lungs) and a nice trail along Lake Mendota.  I was surprised that I was still able to run, considering that nothing was staying in and I was surely dehydrated by this time.  About mile 20 I really just wanted to be done.  I had decided that I would not be stubborn and that I would visit to Med Tent as soon as I crossed the finish line.  It was only about 6 pm and I had until midnight to finish.  I was definitely going to make it.  I walked for just a short bit, but noticed that my stomach didn’t really feel any different whether I was walking or running.  And since I really wanted to be done, I ran it in.  I was able to talk to a few people out on the course, and again the fans were great.  Coming into the home stretch, running around the capital building and into the finisher chute was surreal.  I heard what I had been waiting to hear for a whole year, ”Angie O’Brien.  You.  Are.  An.  Ironman!”.  Hell ya!  Now which way to the Med tent?

I visited the tent and I can’t say enough good things about the staff there as well.  They were all amazing!  After briefly passing out, coming to with the sounds of someone saying “80/40” I knew that we had some more work to do.  They checked my electrolytes and I received 5 bags of IV fluids.  They were not going let me leave until I was able to keep something down.  They had the nerve to ask me if I wanted Gatorade- oh hell no!  I managed to get down a small amount of chicken broth and a couple of pretzels, before having to visit the bathroom yet again.  I left there after about 3 hours.  I really felt okay, except my stomach was still very angry with me.  I guess that was from all the calories and sugary crap that I ingested while on the bike.  Learning Opportunity!

It took a couple of days for my stomach to act normal again and about 3 days for my quads to like me again.  Oh, and after about a year of losing toenails after all of my long runs, I will be getting those taken care of later this week.  All things considered, it really was an amazing experience.  I am trying to decide where/ when my next Ironman will be and I’m having my tattoo designed. 

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.

Tour de Frankenmuth - Cat 1/2/3

I rolled up to the line with a bit of anxiety as usual.  My legs were stiff from the car ride that began my day at 4:30am, and my lack of a decent warm up.  It had been sprinkling the whole way to Frankenmuth (well at least as much as I could see, as my eyes were closed for a least half of the ride), and didn’t look like that was going to change anytime soon.   It was (my teammate and little sister) Lori Hotchkin’s first race as a category 3 rider and our first race together in the same field.  So much fun to have a family member fully understand the sport of cycling and all the weird idiosyncrasies that go along with it.  And even more fun to have her race in the same field as me.  

Anyway, I had a whole 3 minute warmup prior to the race, so I wanted to start off by leading the group and controlling the pace to make sure I could get my legs warm before the attacking began.  Turns out that was a smart idea, because I was able to keep the pace where I wanted it, and managed to ward off any crazy early attacking.  It’s possible this was beneficial to everyone, since it’s always a bit hard to get in a good warmup before these events.  

Looking around, there was a decent sized field of 16 women ready to race.  The Fusion Cycling Team had 5 women racing, Priority Health had 3, and there were a few one’s and twosies from various other teams as well.  From past experience with this race and the lack of hills or anything conducive to group separation, I went into this race expecting it would end in a field sprint finish.  Since it was Lori’s first race in with the 1/2/3 group, I advised her to take more of an observational role.  Sit in, watch what the teams are doing, sit back, relax, and enjoy your first 1/2/3 race – no pressure. 

The Fusion Cycling Team launched attack after attack the first lap of the race.  All attacks were covered very quickly.  During one of the first few attacks and chases, there was a crash behind me.  It sounded like several riders were involved.  I hate that sound.  I was worried that Lori might have gotten caught up in it, but couldn’t look back.  I called her name and she quickly responded saying she was still there.  Whew!   So we rolled on hoping everyone was ok.

  A few times people just rolled off the front, and created a bit of a gap, but it seemed as soon as anyone noticed any sort of separation, the gap was closed.  Then there was another crash later on the first lap.  Sarah Demerly of Fusion Cycling had launched a strong attack, which was quickly covered by Chelsea Clark of Priority Health.  Unfortunately something happened, and Chelsea was down in a blink of an eye.  Everyone managed to get around her and her loose water bottles safely.  I was hoping Chelsea was ok.  She’s a strong rider/sprinter.  After breaking her wrist last year, and losing the last bit of the season, I know she is raring to go and ready to kill it this year.  Looking forward to racing with her.  

With at least 2 riders down at this point, the sprinkling of rain, and constant spray of road debris in your eyes, it was pretty hard to see and everyone seemed to be a bit more cautious.  

Finishing out lap number one through town, I made sure to scope out the finish.  I remember it being somewhat difficult to spot the finish line last year, and wanted to make sure I had a mental image to gauge my sprint in the end.  Finish line noted, and yes, it is a long, slightly downhill finishing stretch, just as I had remembered.  It’s one of the reasons I come back to this race every year.  That sprint is the best! 

The town of Frankenmuth is so friendly to racers and spectators.  The eateries and touristy shops are all open and welcome the influx of people.  Unlike Criteriums, road races typically aren’t the most fun for race spectators, but having a cute little town like Frankenmuth keeps everyone entertained while they anticipate their racers coming down the finishing straight.   They also have the dog parade, and that’s always cute.  J

The 2^nd lap was more of the same.  Attack/Chase/Attack/Chase.  It seemed that none of the attacks would stick.  Our overall pace wasn’t very high, so everyone seemed to have the energy to chase.  What we needed was the right combination of riders, a willingness to work together, and a weaker peloton.    Perhaps the overall caliber of the group was just too strong to let it happen, or the attacks were placed too far apart and no one was really getting too tired out.  It seemed that everyone was ok with it ending in a field sprint.  Teams seemed to be switching gears and preparing their strategies for the sprint.  

The 3^rd lap was just more riding and conserving for the sprint.  Unfortunately, no one felt like putting themselves at the front, because everyone was in conservation mode.  A new rider to the cat 3 group, Kristen Jukowski of Cadieux Cycling had taken several long pulls at the front throughout the race.  No doubt she is a strong rider as I have seen her race in the cat 4 field and she is often found off the front soloing it to the finish line for the majority of the race.  I’m excited to see how her season turns out as well.  I think she’ll do well and will enjoy the challenge this group brings.  

As we took the last right hand turn towards town, I was expecting a big wind up to the finish, but we were all bunched up from yellow line to road edge, and it felt like we were barely moving.  As soon as the road opened up a bit, people started scrambling - trying to find the wheel they had intended to take to the line.   I felt a sense of urgency.  Lori was on the other side of the road, and I didn’t think I could get to her, nor her to me.  It was way too late to line up – note:  get that together much earlier next time.  I was close to the center line, and was worried about crossing it, so I followed a wheel (I think it was Dori Leib’s, but it might have been Danielle Mullis), as we approached the final left hand corner to the long finishing straight.  

As I crossed the red brick crosswalks into that final corner, I hit the corner fast and took off on the inside trying to get a jump on the field.  I think I was successful, as looking down, I did not see a wheel right on mine.  I looked up and saw the Start/Finish sign.  Whoa!  That’s a long way.  But it’s do or die at this point, so I put my head down, gritted my teeth, and felt the burn.  Crap!  There was a wheel where there wasn’t before.  I had no idea who it was, but I could sense they were happy to be there and having fun riding my wheel to the line.  Ugh!  Dig deeper.  It hurts, but this is it!  Go!  I could hear the crowd going crazy.  It must have looked pretty cool.  At least in my mind it did.  J  I looked up again, and there was the line.  I honestly can’t remember if I stood up to sprint or not.  If there are any pictures of that, I’d love to see them.  I’m going to get mocked forever if I’m not standing up.  Anyway, as the orange streak behind me came around, I was just hoping my bike would cross the line before hers.  I did my best attempt at throwing my bike, but to no avail.  Ugh.  Sarah Demerly of Fusion Cycling got me at the line.  I knew it instantly.  The clock says she won by 4 hundredths of a second, it might as well have been 4 whole seconds.  But I’ll take my second place and all of my lessons learned.  

Alicia Trevino must have been hot on Sarah’s wheel, as she rounded out the podium with a 3^rd place finish.  

Now that the race is over, I realize I gave Lori some bad advice.  The pace of the race was manageable, and Lori is a much more aggressive rider than one to sit back and watch the race happen.  I thought since it was her 1^st race that would be the conservative thing to do.  But conservative does not win races, and we want to win races, so again… lesson learned.   Glad it’s the beginning of the season, so we have a lot more chances to get to the top of the podium.  

As a whole RWT had a great day at Frankenmuth.  Here are the results for the whole group!  In the Juniors races, Sarah Hartwell took 2nd in her age group, Ellie & Kiersen Korienek took 1st & 2nd in their AG.  Lori Hotchkin took 5th among the Cat 3 riders.  In the Cat 4's, Jane VanHof took 1st, Laura Korienek finished in 7th, Sarah Hoogeboom-Williams in 10th, and Cheryl Havens in 13th!  Fantastic showing RWT!