Hickory Grove Triathlon

When I first started doing triathlons, I thought they were a pretty big deal. I knew how hard running was, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how people could run after they'd gone for a swim and a bike ride. Having done a marathon in 2002, I figured I could handle a sprint-distance triathlon the following year. I was hooked after that first race and did four more sprint distance triathlons the following year. I always seemed to be cooked after the 5K run at the end of the event. The jump to Olympic-distance seemed like too big of a leap for me; I mean, I would have to run a 10K at the end - no way! The 2005 season was packed with more sprint triathlons.

It wasn't until the fall of 2005 when I apparently lost my mind and signed myself up for an Ironman that I realized I'd better get ready to tackle the mighty Oly, and his friends Half IM and IM. I did one more sprint early in the 2006 season before I became hooked on long-course triathlon. I've totally loved the training and racing (or more appropriately in my world, participating in) long-course. I thought it really suited my strengths - I may not be fast, but I can go forever.

After all the long stuff I decided that I wanted to try out another sprint, just to see what I could do. Nearly all of my racing this season has produced PRs, so I was cautiously optimistic about going fast again.

The Hickory Grove Triathlon (formerly the Cy-Man) is held in Colo, Iowa, about 15-20 minutes from Ames, so it seemed like a perfect time and place for me to go. Plus, some of the Team Vardo triathlon faction would be competing.

The plan was to hammer the swim (at least to my weak abilities - I haven't been swimming very much this summer), really push the bike (I've been doing LOTS of cycling this summer), and then just suck it up and embrace the pain of the run. I also had this very lofty little goal of a podium finish (top three in my age group), but I knew that was a stretch, at best.

The weather was awesome. It was a bit chilly when we pulled into the lot at about 6:30am. I got my transition area all set up then went for a quick recon of the first part of the run course - pretty flat and on grass and trail. I jumped on my bike for a taste of the three-loop bike course (totaling 15.5 miles) - it was sweet and fast. I made it back into transition in time to make the final wetsuit decision - I opted for the extra warmth (while standing on the beach for 30+ minutes before my wave went off) and buoyancy, put on the wetsuit, and headed to the beach for a little swim warm-up.

My wave went off at 8:18am, and it was a great start - not a lot of contact and I found open water very quickly. Since it was only 500 yards, I cooked along pretty well and made it out of the water in the right place despite having the morning sun directly in my eyes. Swim time was 8:27 - a PR by 3 minutes and fourth fastest in my AG. After a run up the hill to T1, I floundered around trying to get out of my wetsuit and onto the bike. T1 was 1:52 - not bad for me all things considered.

I got onto the bike without any problems. I'm so used to really having to pace myself for 50+ mile rides, so it was good to just get out there and blast it. I passed a bunch of people, but didn't see too many in my age group right off the bat. That meant I either had a really good or a really bad swim. Things started to get pretty crowded by the end of the second lap with nearly 300 people spread out over the same 5-mile loop. I did a little inadvertent drafting, but only because I couldn't get to any daylight. I pushed the pace the whole way and landed back at T2 in 45:50 for a 20.3 mph pace - another PR and third fastest in my AG! Following a 1:23 T2, I headed out on the run.

It was painful as usual, but I concentrated on staying relaxed and a quick cadence. I wasn't passed by anyone in my age group. I spotted one female who left T2 right ahead of me, but I couldn't make out her age on the back of her leg. I slowly reeled her in by the end of mile 1 and realized she was in my age group. She was running with someone else, and I opted not to pass her (thus giving away that I was in her age group and putting a huge target on my back) and just hung right with them for another mile. At mile 2 she started to pull away, and I couldn't hang with her. My goal was to get to the finish line as soon as possible and not get passed by any other 30-34 year old female! I kept up the pace to finish the run in 26:17 - another PR and sixth in my AG.

Immediately following the finish I searched out that girl that finished ahead of me to congratulate her on a great race. It turns out that she knew I was just behind her on the course, and she turned it on to drop me! We had a good laugh and introduced ourselves.

After some nutrition, I checked out the results. It looked like I was 5th out of 29 in my AG. The first one in my AG finished second overall, so that took her out of the top three in my AG. Rats! It looked like I was one spot out off the podium. So close... If only I'd beaten that one girl!

We hung around for the awards, and I was surprised to hear them call my name for third in my AG! I picked up the hardware - a pint glass - and I went home a little puzzled by how I could finish 5th in the AG, but end up with an award.

It wasn't until I really examined the results that I realized what had happened. The second place girl in my AG had posted a bike time of 37:something, which translates to an average speed of 27.5 mph. Um, I don't think so. It looks like she only did 2 laps of the bike course instead of 3.

It was a great day for a triathlon! Lots of PRs all around and my first hardware at a tri!

Mmmm... food!

This is what I picked up at my CSA this week:

That's a lot of food for one person! The closer we get to the fall, the more food that is ready to eat. Earlier this summer (especially during the floods in May/June), our shares were pretty small, but the last couple of weeks have been quite bountiful!

I started with some sweet corn on Tuesday night. Some of the sweet corn has been better than others this year.

Next up was the eggplant on Thursday. I tried a cheesy eggplant casserole and some baked eggplant. Um, I'm not a big fan of eggplant.

Cam was here for dinner on Friday night. We made fish tacos (my favorite!) and apple crisp. That used the cabbage, onion, and half the apples. Cam came back on Sunday night for dinner again. We used some of the summer squash and zucchini in the pasta sauce, steamed some green beans, and had the rest of the sweet corn.

Today, I made pickles out of the cucumber and washed the lettuce for salads for the rest of the week.

I still have to figure out what to do with the other half a head of cabbage, all the tomatoes, the pepper, and the rest of the apples. More food comes tomorrow!

Mob the 'Quab

Another weekend, another new adventure.

Not only did Cam talk me into doing my first mountain bike race this weekend, he also gave me a guided tour of the course on Saturday afternoon, set me up on one of his old rides (and didn't get upset when I busted the saddle during the practice ride...), and patiently answered my questions and talked me through all my newbie nerves.

I think this was only the 6th or 7th time I've been on a mountain bike (at least riding trails - I don't think that my commuting to the ISU football tailgate on a mountain bike really counts as riding). Thankfully, this wasn't a terribly technical course . There wasn't really any singletrack to speak of - mostly some nice, wide snowmobile trails. But that meant that it would be a little faster course, and at some point, I guess you could say that fast becomes technical again.

I like to think I have a healthy respect for the damage that I could inflict on myself if I got out of control. I lean a little towards caution, but I still like the speed and being just on the edge of out of control. The hard part is finding the fine line between the two.

The venue was Lake Ahquabi State Park, just south of Indianola. The race started at noon on Sunday with Cam and the rest of the Experts, then the Sport Class at 12:05pm, and all five (three dudes and two gals) of us Beginners at 12:07pm. My goal was to survive our single round of the course and to not get lapped by Cam! My warm-up consisted of a few rounds of the last section of the course. It had me a bit nervous as it is a long-ish decent on a torn-up old asphalt road. I went to the line very excited, but not in the same pit-of-my-stomach nervous that I get before a triathlon, just thrilled to be trying something new!

My adrenaline was pumping hard as soon as we got started. I had no idea what to expect out of the "racing" part of the race. I'd seen the course, but not ever really raced a bike before! My heart was red-lined for the first 5-10 minutes with all the adrenaline, but things settled in nicely after that.

The guys in our class were basically out of sight (off the front end, obviously) right from the start, and I quickly dropped the other woman on the first hill. I raced alone for the first 8-10 minutes until I caught someone on one of the hills. And by "caught" I mean that we had both bailed out somewhere on the incline and I was hiking faster than he was. I passed him before we headed out on to the first bridge. At the time I thought he was in my class, but I think he was in the Sport Class, so I'm not sure what his story was... But, the bottom line is he got chicked by some newbie rider!

My HR was more under control and I was enjoying the whole experience by this time. I remembered that the second half was a little tougher than the first, so I just started diggin'. Eventually, I motored up behind another guy and made a clean pass - although I think this guy was hurtin' from an altercation with a tree. As I made my final turn back into the woods before the final decent, I was bummed that the race was nearly over. I was finally getting into the groove and that was it.

I cleanly made it down the asphalt road and to the finish line. I even had time to get off the bike, grab a drink and enjoy a banana before Cam came sliding through at the end of his second lap (he lapped the other gal during that last decent). My goals were met, and I ended it with a huge grin on my face!

Final time was 36 and change, good enough to win the Women's Beginner class and take home a box of Clif Bars for the effort!

Mountain Bike Racing in Boone

No, not me racing on a mountain bike. I just went to watch and cheer. My friend, Cam, is a semi-pro, but doesn't do a lot of racing in central Iowa. So, when I found out he was going to be racing in Boone, I took advantage and headed over to watch. Of course, it turned out to be one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer, but that just added to the adventure.

Armed with a camera and an extra water bottle (for Cam, not me), I hiked into the woods at Seven Oaks and tried to get some good shots without getting eaten alive by the mosquitos or run over by a wayward bicycle.

What I learned:

1. You can't miss a giant herd of mountain bikes headed in your direction - even if they are obscured by the trees. They are loud - at least a lot louder than I was expecting and loud enough that you feel the need to get the heck outta their way!

2. Bug spray is no match for the man-eating insects of this central Iowa summer.

3. It's hard to take good pictures of Cam. He led from start to finish, so I never had any warning of when he'd be coming over the hill I was standing at the bottom of. If he'd been in second or third, I would have had some idea of when he was coming. I don't think he thought much of my request to have him race in second place til the end...

4. Mountain bike racers are a funny bunch. Many of them would have a little chat with me as they rode by - telling me about the heat, the bath they took in the stream, how glad they were that I was there to cheer for them.

5. Cam makes some funny faces when he rides.

6. Sometimes you just have to get off and run!

I think I may have been bitten by more than just mosquitos; I think he's got me talked into trying out my own mountain bike race next weekend! Stay tuned...

Big Creek Tri 28

A quick race report from last weekend...

This being only the second triathlon for me this year (and being only 5 weeks post-Ironman), I had pretty low expectations for this race. My training has been mostly whatever I have felt like doing (or not) on any given day. Plus, I had just come off 4 days of RAGBRAI, which isn't exactly a triathlon-specific training regime.

I wasn't too sure whether the swim would be wet-suit legal or not, so I almost left home without my wetsuit. Thankfully, it dawned on me that I could at least throw it in the truck and use it if, by some miracle, the water temp allowed.

I went off in the fourth wave. It wasn't a particularly physical start, just the usual jostling for position. Still, though, I continued to struggle with getting into a decent rhythm until the halfway point. After that, it was smooth sailing (glad I had a wetsuit, too!) into T1.

Having done a lot of riding over the past few weeks, I wanted to push it a little on the bike to see where I was at. Actually, I decided to treat the ride as a stand-alone bike race, and then hope the run would take care of itself. The new course was great, but early into the race, I realized I had an issue with my left aerobar. At each joint in the road, the impact would cause the bar to loosen and drop to the front. As the race went on, it continued to get worse. After the turnaround, I realized I couldn't get out of aero or the bar would drop dangerously close to my front wheel. The last thing I needed was to endo after having the shifter lever lodge in my spokes! Although coming back into T2 was a little scary given that I could only break with my right and had to stop and dismount with lefty still on the aerobar, I didn't break any bones or sail past the dismount line.

Although there had been a slight chance of rain earlier in the day, by now all the clouds had burned off and we were left with sun, heat, and humidity - kinda like you'd guess Iowa in July might be... I felt strong for about 2 miles, then the wheels came off. It was a suffer-fest to the finish for me, but once I saw the results, I was pleasantly surprised at how the day had turned out.

I finished 5th in my age group and PR'd the swim, the bike, and the overall race! Not great, but overall, I can't complain.

I'm hoping to find at least one more triathlon for the season. Since I haven't done a sprint since the early part of 2006, I'm thinking about the Hickory Grove Triathlon. I'll keep you informed...