Big Creek Triathlon

So, I thought that I wasn't going to do any more races until the Ironman, but at the last minute I got talked into doing the Big Creek Triathlon. It is the oldest race in Iowa. It's an Olympic distance race, and it celebrated its 26th year this year. The race director is one of the women that I ride with in Des Moines. The race is held at Big Creek State Park - the venue is great and it was a blast to get to race with tons of people from Des Moines.

On Saturday night, I headed (back) down to Des Moines and met up with about 20 triathletes; I'd met probably half of them before. We had a great time, shared tons of laughs, ate some awesome Italian, and just hung out. We even had a couple of pro triathletes at the table with us.

Sunday was a great day for a race. The skies were overcast and temps were in the low 60's in the morning - cold enough for Sparkle to bring a blanket along... Of course, even with the air temps in the 60's, the water temp was 80 which meant no wetsuits. That was a big bummer in my book, but whatever. The water temp felt fine, but I nearly froze to death during the National Anthem. I was cold to the point of severe shivering and teeth chattering.

The swim start was on the beach, so we had to race into the water and then start swimming when the water was deep enough. However, the public beach at Big Creek is shallow for a LONG time. I'm guessing it was at least 100 yards of water running/walking before anybody really got into the water to swim. So when you finally get into the water to swim, it's really murky because so many people have been running through the mud before you... yuck!

For me that was just the start of a bad swim. For some reason, I was having a lot of trouble getting into a rhythm. My breathing was just off somehow, maybe because I was cold for so long before the start. It took me quite a while to get comfortable enough to breathe bilaterally. The last 200 yards in were shallow as well. The main problem with that was the seaweed that we were all getting tangled up in. I was just happy to be getting close to getting out of the water.
The bike was actually pretty uneventful. I think I was only passed by two women in my age group, but I passed two others for a net gain/loss of zero. The bike course was pretty flat and fast, and there wasn't much wind to deal with, so it was just a matter of keeping the legs turning over and staying aero.

Coming into T2, everything felt great, I had a decent transition and I felt pretty strong as I headed out for the run. The run course is pretty flat, with some small rollers and one small hill near the turnaround. I walked for just a few seconds at each aid station for water and felt stronger as each mile passed.

There weren't many people watching the race anywhere other than very close to the transition, so I got to run without very many distractions for nearly the whole 10K. I love runs like that - I felt good and I was in the "zone!" I crossed the finish line with a PR of 6 minutes less than my last attempt at the distance. The biggest boost for me was how good the run felt. That is a great way to end the "regular season" of racing. I'm ready for the Super Bowl of triathlons now! Bring on Ironman Wisconsin!!