On to the tasks at hand...
I arrived much earlier than I needed to- but if you recall my first triathlon experience, I got turned around and felt a little flustered before the race, starting with me accidentally putting cumin in my oatmeal instead of cinnamon. Enough said. I erred on the side of caution this time, packed my transition bag and loaded my bike the night before, and got a decent night's sleep before waking at just before 4:00 AM. Given how much time I have been putting into training in all three sports (I almost hit 10,000 yards in the water last week), I felt pretty relaxed going into this thing. Sporting my brand new PowerBar kit, Brooks PureFlows, and a borrowed Aero helmet (thanks Danny G!) I think I looked legit too:)
The Swim: Mental Toughness.
Open-water fears and dealing with currents, other competitors, relative blindness, questionable water
quality are all things that I discuss with triathletes I work with. Open-water swimming often demands a degree of mental toughness. Not too many knew that this was my first-ever open water swim (not counting playing around on beach vacations) and I knew that I had to prepare for whatever came my way. After an initial shot of anxiety when warming up in the very choppy water, I started to get my feel for the water and was ready to go. I was in the second wave and went after the start pretty aggressively. I'll admit I was a bit disoriented since I was out of my newfound comfort of the pool; hitting buoys, having to lift my head and sacrifice my well-earned swim stroke but I got it done. I was one of the top in my AG out of the water and the roughness of the water was evident: my split time was 5:06 for body surfing 200 yards. I'll take it, especially for it being my first time. And I'll do it again and even faster next time!
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| Nice to not be in the back of the pack again |
I headed into T1 and repeated my mantra helmet-buckle-shoes-go. I felt as if I executed well, getting in and out in just over a minute.
The Bike: A Relative Hammerfest!
This is one of the parts I'm fairly pleased with. Looking a tad like Speed Racer/Tron/Cyborg, etc. I immediately felt in rhythm on 'Tessa' (have I mentioned how much I love that bike?) and saw the computer register in the 20's almost immediately. Oh, yeah-let's go girls! :) I knew this was a short course-8 miles total-so I needed some quality on this leg to be competitive. The previous wave and faster swimmers I caught quickly and it wasn't long before I got a crazy thought: "I could win this whole thing"....
The course was well-marked, flat with the exception of a small incline and quite fast. I saw 30 mph for a brief time and had a blast. My quads began to burn but I kept thinking positively and telling myself how good of a job I was doing.
Into T2 I went capping off the 3rd best (I believe) bike split of the event: 21:23/ 22.45 mph average according to my calculations. Keeping myself as steady as possible, I removed the large cone from my head, put on the pink PureFlows and headed out to my most familiar at last: the 2 mile run.
The Run/Icing on the Cake
I'm a runner. I used this to my advantage, as tired as I was from the accumulated lactic acid of this fast event. I took off from transition, legs and lungs a little worse for wear than I'd like, but my plan was to catch as many competitors as possible and just hang on. I didn't wear a Garmin and my watch splits somehow got jacked during the swim so this purely was a "by feel" run (which I think is best anyhow) and I hit somewhat near my non-speed training red line and kept going, knowing this feeling wouldn't last long. about a third of the way through the run course, a woman pointed out that the first in my AG was just ahead and I could run her down. I slowly started closing the gap and overtook this strong runner just after the turnaround. The way back felt easier than the way out-likely a combo of the bike getting out of my legs and knowing I was going to throw down a good performance. At the time I didn't know how good...
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| Cycling does good things to your running mechanics |
My run split turned out to be a 12:57 off the bike; good enough for a 6:29 pace and fastest run split of the day. I crossed the finish line in 41:51 total and was confident that I had won the 30-34 AG (dang USAT grouping system already has me at 30! :)) and started my 3 mile cooldown. Afterward I checked the screen that showed real-time results and found that I actually was in the top spot overall. Wow-not expected!! I got a nice plaque as well as a gift certificate to Tri On The Run at the ceremony, but most importantly a renewed confidence in my body, my ability as an athlete, and had a great time out there-even at full lactate threshold. I
If I wanted an assessment of where I am at, I think it's fair to say that my time spent training is paying off. Swimming is still a work in progress, but I can tell I have made great strides in the right direction there. God has blessed me with a neat gift, and I hope I convey this at least to a small degree.
Thanks goes out to my coaches, my sponsors Brooks and PowerBar, and all my friends who came out and supported, whether in person, by text, or social media. Y'all rock! A special thanks goes out to Carrie and Jana for having me out to this event. Next up: Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Tri on 6/24.
Stay the course.
14 comments:
WOW! You had a fantastic day, A! Congrats to you and wishing you a sweet relaxing rest period!
you did great today Adrianne.....congratulatios**
you did great today Adrianne***congratulations***
Fantastic! Congratulations, girl. I knew you were going to clean up in Tris and this is the just the start. Sure didn't take you long to begin slaughtering the competition. Can't wait to see how you progress, what confidence this had to give you. Woohoo!!
Wow, that is absolutely amazing!! So happy for you. :)
Awesome job on the multi-sport direction you've taken. I am sure you're just beginning to see what you can do in this area.
Love the Power Bar tri suit!
Next up, Olympic Distance followed by Half IM...
I thought about you all morning. Sam and I talked about how awesome you were probably doing and how we would both likely drown. Haha.
I know how sad you were while injured, and you have really taught all something about overcoming obstacles. You are a true athlete- talent, work ethic, heart & soul.
YOU stay the course. I can't wait to see where you go from here, because I'm sure it's some place awesome. LOVE YA!
This is so awesome, inspiring and exciting!! Way to go Adrienne!! Just awesome. I am so excited for you and proud of you!! Killer job! Congrats on the win and big hugs! :)
Wow, 1st overall, well done! I came down and watched you all this morning (my mothers day gift to myself!). I was the Scottish voice shouting 'go Adreinne!' :D
That water was choppy, amazing effort!
Woohoo girl, you ROCKED IT!!! Of course I had no doubt you would but still, gotta feel great, huh? And now that you have that first ows under your belt, you'll feel a lot more confident for the next ones.
Congratulations, so happy for you!! :)
Wow! Nice work!! Those pics are awesome too. You are looking fierce in that bike pic ;)
I was out there directing traffic >>>that way>>> and I didn't realize I was watching a pro go by.
Thanks for the kind words and everyone's comments! I'm not a "real pro", but I am definitely an athlete blessed with some great resources and people along the way!
This was so FUN to read! I am thrilled for your performance in this race. Loved reading that you were able to bike 22 MPH. WHAT? I can't do that downhill! hahaha.
So super split running after all that hardcore exertion in the water and on the bike too.
The comment on how bike improves the run- so true.
Great things are coming! Like the shorts too :)
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