Rocketman Triathlon Race Report

Rocketman Triathlon
1500m swim, 24.8mile bike, 6.2mile run
August 25, 2013
Huntsville, Alabama

The sport of triathlon is continually evolving, and to me that is REALLY exciting. One thing that impresses me about the Louisiana races is that MOST of them are wave starts, some of them even have elite/open waves, and most of the time there is prize money up for grabs.

The first year my dad took over Rocketman & lengthened it to an Olympic Distance Race, the local pro triathlete told him he should consider making it a wave start, or perhaps do an open wave for the more competitive racers. At the time, I was not a fan of this idea. Like most age-groupers, wave starts are intimidating, chaotic, blah blah blah. Most triathletes like to race THEMSELVES, and want to do it in the time trial formal to avoid any unnecessary contact with other athletes. But I now see the benefit of waves:

• Head-to-head racing with your competition. No guessing on where you are in the race, and no surprises of getting beat by .5 second or tying by a tenth of a second with your competitors. In other words, it's an actual race!
• Benefit of drafting. Kyle has us practice this useful skill in masters. If your able to draft, you may be able to get on the toes of someone slightly faster & put in a great time. You could come out of the water slightly less fatigued and be able to throw down a great race.

This spring I asked Rocketman to revisit the idea of an elite wave. In its 4th year as an Olympic Distance,  the Rocketman Tri is one of the more competitive events in the south. A large handful of strong athletes race every year, most of whom would probably PREFER to race in a wave format. After sending out some inquiries, Rocketman approved the Elite Wave!

Local stud Brinn & I left Saturday morning so that we would arrive in plenty of time to get to the expo, attend the race briefing, and get in a short brick. It was a long day, but we got to refresh a bit in my mom's pool (I haven't just PLAYED in a pool for YEARS!) & enjoyed a delicious grilled meal.

The next day we arrived at the race site as soon as transition opened. Good thing, I was getting really stressed with my bike. The night before I put my race wheels on & tried to transfer my bike computer to the new front wheel. As I was tightening it, the stupid thing snapped in half. I went through 4 cycles of super-gluing it & having it snap on me again! That morning I FINALLY got it on, but then when I tried to pump up my tire it would not inflate. Fortunately, Steve with Madison Cycles (who sold me my bike) was set up at the race site for bike support. He was able to inflate my tire to at least 100psi. He guaranteed that with my small(-ish) frame 100 would be just fine. I took it out for a warm-up spin and everything felt ok.

Swim 28:18
We gathered at the race start where the open wave would be taking off first. They called our names one at a time & we jumped in and waited for everyone to be called. Since there were about 20 racers total racing in the open wave, they decided to combine the men & women. As we were treading water, I noticed that I kept getting pushed back- there was a decent current! Some others remarked about it as well. The swim course is 550m against the current, then 100m across the Tennessee river and finishing the last 850 with the current.
As the gun went off we took off, and of course it was chaotic. Fortunately I've been swimming enough that I now feel extremely comfortable in the water and getting kicked & splashed is no longer a problem. I jumped on someone's feet & tried to maintain the draft at a higher intensity than I really felt comfortable with, but at the same time I knew that the longer I could stay on board and let them break the current the better off I would be. I stuck behind them for about 200m, then fell behind. As I worked against the current alone, I could tell that I wasn't getting nearly as much distance per stroke as usual- I was using the bank and my feel for the water as a gauge. I starting swimming a bit choppier, shortening my stroke and turning over a bit faster. It wore me out, but I think it helped be in the long run.
I'm not sure what the distance of the swim was, but I was told by several people wearing GPS watches that it was long. That, combined with the current, made the swim very difficult for most people. I forgot to start my watch so I had no idea what my time was coming out of the water during the race, which was probably a GOOD thing. I do know that there was one woman right in front of me and another right behind me from the wave.

T1 :40 (fastest!)
Quick QUICK QUICK! (seriously, this is how Kyle and I strategize)

Bike 1:10:21 (21.2 mph)
I knew I needed to have a strong bike. Relative to the female open field, I was one of the stronger cyclists, so if I wanted to hang I would need to get in front on the bike & just hang on for the run. All did NOT go according to plan. I felt like I was dealing with a lot of resistance. What was it? Wind? Well then EVERYONE is dealing with it! Rubbing? I heard a lot of screeching, but since I was using a disc that is still fairly new to me I assumed it was normal. I just felt like I was working a lot harder than normal and just not getting my speed up, or wasn't able to maintain it. I contemplating getting off and checking my wheel, but decided against it because I thought it would cost too much time.

T2: 1:01


Run 53:39
The Rocketman run course is challenging. The first 2 mile you run off road and through some trails. You then run over these gravel mounds, get back on the main road, then enter another gravel looped road with some elevation change. After that you run on flat pavement for a bit, then finish going back over those mound things. There's not a ton of shade coverage, and even though it WAS windy there were trees blocking most of the breeze.
I got off my bike and knew I was in for a tough run. I tried to get past it mentally, but my legs were pretty burned out. I stuck to the plan- take half a mile to get my cadence up, work the stiffness out, then maintain a good pace. I felt ok for about a mile, but by mile 2 things got bad. My stomach started cramping up, my Achilles started throbbing,  and I had a hard time getting my legs to cooperate. My dad rode along beside my on a mountain bike for a while to cheer for me, which I appreciated. I tried to get past my frustration with the bike & just finish ... 53:39, pretty rotten!

Finish 2:33:57
A year ago I would have been ecstatic. My goal was to go under 2:20, which I still think was realistic. Music City was definitely a harder course, and my run (AND BIKE) have improved since then. I ended up finishing 5th in the Elite Open wave. After the race was over I spun my back wheel and it was DEFINITELY rubbing. UGH! Time to re-evaluate my plans... I am now going to finish the season strong with  Girl Power, Santa Rosa Island, and of course, Mighty Magnolia. This winter will be the time to work towards the Olympic Distance & improve my run. Then it's time for FAST RACING in the spring!
The moral: use your disappointments to keep moving forward!

Results here

UP NEXT: Girl Power!

Music City Race Report

Music City Triathlon
1.5km swim, 40 km bike, 10km run
July 28, 2013
Nashville, Tennessee

Last week I completed my first Olympic Distance of the season, the Music City Triathlon. I was really looking forward to this race for several reasons. For one, my mom would be joining me. Two, would be enjoying a few days off from the grind at Runner's High. Three, I expected to do well at this race, and felt confident that I was going to CRUSH the PR from my last Olympic Distance a year ago. As an added bonus, college rowing buddy Nathan Green contacted me Thursday asking if I were doing the race as well, which allowed a much needed reunion!

I left Mississippi early Friday morning and arrived in Huntsville mid-day. I needed to get a swim in, and got to use a 25 yard OUTDOOR pool, a great opportunity to work on my tan. Nothing crazy with the swim, just a bit of a warm-up, a short set to get my heart-rate up, and several 50's working on hitting 1-mile pace. I felt great in the water, was comfortable with my pacing, and left looking forward to the longer open water river swim (shocking!).

My mom and I left the next day for Nashville. Let me first say the her offering to join me is a HUGE honor. Races are boring; there's not a lot to see and most of them are not extremely spectator friendly. She is a busy woman, so to have a supporter willing to spend their weekend giving in to your diva-like demands & suffer through the boring event was a big deal to me. PLUS, it gave us some much needed quality time.
We arrived in Nashville without any issues & went straight to the race site. As soon as we got out of the car, I saw some familiar faces- THE REEVES SISTERS! Of all the participants, we happened to arrive at the same time and run into each other. Pretty cool. We picked up our packets and my mom helped me find my bike rack then we went to check out the swim course. She stuck her foot in the water & shook her head saying we were all crazy for wanting to swim in that. It's true, we are all crazy.
Afterward we found our hotel- practically in the LP Field parking lot! Seriously, not even a half mile from transition. It was perfect. I put my bike together then took a short ride around the parking lot a few times to loosen my legs up and make sure everything was working right and followed it with a short run. I met up with Nathan at packet pick-up, then the three of us went out for our last meal before the big event.

Again, first Olympic Distance of the season. Moment of truth. I've been doing pretty well at the sprints this summer, but that hasn't really been my focus. The goal is to put up a respectable time for an Intermediate Distance race, and this would be the first test to show how far off track or how on target I am. Since I've been training specifically for this, I was looking forward to having a good race. I knew the run would be a struggle, but even so I was expecting to crush my last PR's in each discipline. Gaging by last years' competitors, I expected to finish near the top, however I was also very aware that the competition would likely be steeper than what I normally face in the Mississippi/Louisiana region, so I was not expecting a podium finish. I had to remind myself of that on Saturday. I saw a tent setup for wetsuit rentals and was told the water temperature was 72. I had every intention of brining my wet-suit (in the off chance it was wetsuit legal), but upon arriving in Huntsville realized I'd forgotten to bring it. I started freaking out about it, thinking I'd come all this way and had inadvertently sabotaged my race (go figure!)... how I'd be at such a disadvantage not being in a suit(yeah, it could make THAT big of a difference over a 1500!)... That night I asked Kyle if I should suck it up and rent one, but he said NO. He said even if it caused me to miss being in the top few, the goal of this race was to go for time.

I woke up Sunday morning feeling pretty good. Since we were practically on top of the race site, I did my bike warm-up from the hotel & rode around the parking lot for about 15 minutes with some pick-ups. I then arrived at the transition area with plenty of time to set-up, relax, and begin my run warm-up (about 20 minutes). The awful part: I got cold! There were two races going on, with the Sprint preceding mine. that meant after the transition area closed, I ended up having an hour and a half to do nothing! So I sipped on my water bottle, snacked on chomps, and caught up with Nathan. I saw my mom right as the Olympic Distance was starting, so I had a few moments to visit with her before my race started.

The Race:

Swim: 21.25
The swim course was a rectangular shape which started and ended with you swimming against the Cumberland River current. The strategy was to swim aggressively during that time. I felt strong on the way out- NO WAY that water was 72 degrees! I was en route across the river after the first turn when I swam head first STRAIGHT INTO A LOG! A BIG LOG! The combination of it hurting my head and knocking off my goggles startled me, but I got them back on quickly and kept swimming with some anger. I was doing great until that last turn to go back upstream. I hadn't noticed the current as much on the way out, but coming back I started to get frustrated on how little distance per stroke I felt I was getting. I didn't notice anyone passing me throughout the entire swim, and even went by a few people on this last stretch, but I felt like I'd slowed down a bit. When I got out of the water and saw 21:30 on my watch, I was pumped. Great swim, 2 minutes faster than my predicted 23:30!

T1: 2:04
Slow because there was a long run up a hill from the swim-out dock to the transition area.

Bike: 1:13:24
Since we drove the bike course the night before, I knew exactly what to expect: 2 out-and-back loops of a long gradual ascent out, then down it back. Courses like this make it difficult to just "hammer". I tried to ignore my speed going out (it was low!), and just kicked it into gear on the down stretches. I knew I was struggling, but I also knew others would be too. "I'm a strong biker, hills are my advantage", I kept repeating this to myself, and in race situations I usually even believe these lies.

T2: :57
Pretty typical.

Run: 47:26

As I left the transistion area, I heard people screaming at me "2nd female!". Of course in a time trial start it's impossible to predict where everyone is in the race, but I since I must have passed a lot of people I used it as encouragement anyway. I knew, however, that I would struggle on the run & that 2nd place wouldn't stick. The run was tough, and that's not just because I'm not in running shape. It was a 2 loop course taking us over the Nashville pedestrian bridge & up two larger hills in downtown Nashville. I felt good for the first 2 miles, but I lost it going up the second monster hill. My legs were just tired from the bike, not in ANY kind of running shape, and I was hot. I got passed by a lot of people on the run, and there was NOTHING I could do about it. No adrenaline rush as the girl who would take my 2nd overall finish ran by me with the exact same Mizuno Wave Mushas that I was wearing. After I got past the very last hill, I kicked it in gear, mainly because Kyle said if I went slower than 50:00 I didn't need to come back, and I felt that was a legitimate threat!

Finish: 2:25:15
I crossed the finish line in 2:25:15, a challenging but significant PR. Overall I was pleased with my performance. Great swim, solid bike, & a not-so-bad but sure-to-get-better run. I finsished 5th overall, missing 4th by 1 second and 3rd by 2 minutes. Won my age group by 9 minutes. Now that I'm injury-free, it's time to get to work on running!

Music City Triathlon Results HERE

Up Next: ROCKETMAN!