Mass State Oly
Massachusetts State Triathlon, Intermediate Distance - 26 July 09
0.9mi swim, 19.5mi bike, 6.2mi run
Have been battling hamstring issues since last fall and was doing well until I did a 5K in June, when I re-aggravated it. It's been iffy running since then, so was concerned with how it was going to feel come race day. And to top it off, the ball of my right foot has been sore coming off the bike for any run longer than 3 miles. yeesh.
Anyway, as the ultimate goal is Timberman, this was not an "A" race, but I still wanted to do well. I was nervous about the swim as my back can get tight and I am always afraid that I will be zig-zagging...
After driving through some nasty rain showers, on the way to the race - what was up with that?? I got to the park right as transition opened and looked around for Suzy and Cake...not there yet, so got my packet and started setting up transition. Skies were a bit funky and it wasn't sure if it wanted to clear up or rain again. There was a quick shower while we waited to get in the water, but other than that we stayed dry.
Met up with Suzy and Cake and milled around waiting to start. Couldn't hear the announcer and they ended up starting late. For some reason, they had the sprint go off first and with 7 waves overall, my wave didn't get into the water until almost 9 am - ick. I was not happy with the way the buoys were laid out, they were few and far between until you started heading back to the beach - I knew it was going to make it difficult for me to stay straight and it was starting to bother me. But did my best and tried to look for other people so I didn't go too far off course.
Lined up on the right out at the start buoys and had just enough time to hit my watch and go! Got into a decent rhythm and promptly got dropped by my wave. great. Kept going and somehow managed to NOT go too far off course and caught up with some of the other waves. Once I was back w/people I felt better and relaxed some more. I knew I was getting closer to the beach when I could smell the burgers...
Swim - 28:41
Up the small incline, into transition and changed up. For some reason, the wetsuit didn't want to come off easy despite the body glide and almost fell over. yeesh...plus my hands don't seem to want to work well when I come out of the water. frustration set in, but took a deep breath and got out of there.
T1 - 1:40
The way out of the park was flat, but the road was more like cobblestones...bumpy as all heck! And we had to worry about runners for the Sprint. But once out, the roads were pretty good. 1 hill to speak of, which we had to do twice, but all in all a fun ride. Passed a few, was passed by some, but overall felt pretty good. Back and right leg started to tighten up towards the end, but just kept pushing since I knew it would loosen up once I started running. For some reason, they had the T2 timing mats far far away from the dismount area, so you lost pace because you had to run about 100 yds to the timing mats. weird.
Bike: 1:06:00 (17.9 mph)
T2 was uneventful if you discount the fact that I almost couldn't get my bike racked again and was ready to throw the dang thing on the ground. @#$@%@# but finally got it in there, changed my shoes and was out.
T2 - 1:47
Knew this part was going to be ugly and the first 10 minutes or so proved my point. My left leg didn't want to work right, even though it wasn't really painful. Was doing run/walk intervals (8/1) and I was behind pace from the get-go. phooey. Caught up with Cake just after the 2 mile mark and she was looking GREAT! The more I ran, the more my leg loosened up and I was able to get to a more normal stride by the 1/2 way point. It was a fairly flat course through neighborhoods, and thankfully the sun never really came out as there wasn't any real shade during the middle portion of the run. After the 1/2 way point, I upped the run segments to 9 min and was able to recover some time. I wanted to break 1 hour, but it wasn't going to happen, so decided to be happy w/sub-10 min miles. Saw Suzy on the way back and she was looking good. Back in the park and under the shade, I felt much better, but soooo wanted to get it done. Tried to pick it up some more, but not sure it worked...smelled the burgers again and heard the announcer, so knew I was almost home. Sure enuf, saw the finish chute and picked it up to get it done.
Run: 1:01:32
Total time: 2:39:39 6th in AG
I liked the course, and would do it again. For some reason they seemed a bit dis-organized. Late start, no water bottles at the end of the race, massage people left early, etc....BUT it was a great day and fun to race with friends.
0.9mi swim, 19.5mi bike, 6.2mi run
Have been battling hamstring issues since last fall and was doing well until I did a 5K in June, when I re-aggravated it. It's been iffy running since then, so was concerned with how it was going to feel come race day. And to top it off, the ball of my right foot has been sore coming off the bike for any run longer than 3 miles. yeesh.
Anyway, as the ultimate goal is Timberman, this was not an "A" race, but I still wanted to do well. I was nervous about the swim as my back can get tight and I am always afraid that I will be zig-zagging...
After driving through some nasty rain showers, on the way to the race - what was up with that?? I got to the park right as transition opened and looked around for Suzy and Cake...not there yet, so got my packet and started setting up transition. Skies were a bit funky and it wasn't sure if it wanted to clear up or rain again. There was a quick shower while we waited to get in the water, but other than that we stayed dry.
Met up with Suzy and Cake and milled around waiting to start. Couldn't hear the announcer and they ended up starting late. For some reason, they had the sprint go off first and with 7 waves overall, my wave didn't get into the water until almost 9 am - ick. I was not happy with the way the buoys were laid out, they were few and far between until you started heading back to the beach - I knew it was going to make it difficult for me to stay straight and it was starting to bother me. But did my best and tried to look for other people so I didn't go too far off course.
Lined up on the right out at the start buoys and had just enough time to hit my watch and go! Got into a decent rhythm and promptly got dropped by my wave. great. Kept going and somehow managed to NOT go too far off course and caught up with some of the other waves. Once I was back w/people I felt better and relaxed some more. I knew I was getting closer to the beach when I could smell the burgers...
Swim - 28:41
Up the small incline, into transition and changed up. For some reason, the wetsuit didn't want to come off easy despite the body glide and almost fell over. yeesh...plus my hands don't seem to want to work well when I come out of the water. frustration set in, but took a deep breath and got out of there.
T1 - 1:40
The way out of the park was flat, but the road was more like cobblestones...bumpy as all heck! And we had to worry about runners for the Sprint. But once out, the roads were pretty good. 1 hill to speak of, which we had to do twice, but all in all a fun ride. Passed a few, was passed by some, but overall felt pretty good. Back and right leg started to tighten up towards the end, but just kept pushing since I knew it would loosen up once I started running. For some reason, they had the T2 timing mats far far away from the dismount area, so you lost pace because you had to run about 100 yds to the timing mats. weird.
Bike: 1:06:00 (17.9 mph)
T2 was uneventful if you discount the fact that I almost couldn't get my bike racked again and was ready to throw the dang thing on the ground. @#$@%@# but finally got it in there, changed my shoes and was out.
T2 - 1:47
Knew this part was going to be ugly and the first 10 minutes or so proved my point. My left leg didn't want to work right, even though it wasn't really painful. Was doing run/walk intervals (8/1) and I was behind pace from the get-go. phooey. Caught up with Cake just after the 2 mile mark and she was looking GREAT! The more I ran, the more my leg loosened up and I was able to get to a more normal stride by the 1/2 way point. It was a fairly flat course through neighborhoods, and thankfully the sun never really came out as there wasn't any real shade during the middle portion of the run. After the 1/2 way point, I upped the run segments to 9 min and was able to recover some time. I wanted to break 1 hour, but it wasn't going to happen, so decided to be happy w/sub-10 min miles. Saw Suzy on the way back and she was looking good. Back in the park and under the shade, I felt much better, but soooo wanted to get it done. Tried to pick it up some more, but not sure it worked...smelled the burgers again and heard the announcer, so knew I was almost home. Sure enuf, saw the finish chute and picked it up to get it done.
Run: 1:01:32
Total time: 2:39:39 6th in AG
I liked the course, and would do it again. For some reason they seemed a bit dis-organized. Late start, no water bottles at the end of the race, massage people left early, etc....BUT it was a great day and fun to race with friends.
posted by zojmn151 | 10:57 AM
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