Rose City Triathlon Race Report

Rose City Triathlon
September 13, 2014
Tyler, Texas

Man O Man where did this season go?! Everyone is winding down and getting their final triathlons in. I knew I wouldn't be racing as much as last summer, but I'm not ready for the season to end yet. I have Girl Power in New Orleans, then Santa Rosa Island, which, sadly, I probably won't be going to. After moving the Shreveport, driving to Pensacola just doesn't make a ton of sense. I really needed to find a different race and compete near my new home.

A few weeks ago both Kyle and Ginger both suggested I do the Rose City Triathlon in Tyler, Texas. So I thought about it, procrastinated, and registered on Monday (the last minute!). They have a pro/elite wave, and after looking at previous results, I thought it would be a good move to race head-to-head with some of the faster competitors in the area.

Ginger and I left early Saturday morning. Have I mentioned how grateful I am that she's in
Shreveport?!? When she left Hattiesburg I was TORN UP! She was my long ride/swim lane/bitch buddy! I had no idea that we would be reunited.  After she left I did most of my training with Brinn, Nadine, and the Reeves. Your training buddies become a part of your routine and a part of who you are. I was devastated to leave them. Leaving Hattiesburg was heartbreaking, but having Ginger right here has been such a blessing. She's introduced me to the local endurance community and has helped me keep up with my training through the chaos. I would be lost without her!

This picture was taken at the H.A.M.R. TIME! kids triathlon clinic in June. L->R Brinn, Nadine, Ruthie, Rebecca, & me.  

We got to the race site with plenty of time, but I was feeling anxious AGAIN! What's the deal? Last year I never got nervous, I was just FOCUSED. Maybe it's because I haven't been racing as much? Or maybe I'm traumatized from Miami... I think it's because I now have higher expectations for myself and I stress about meeting them. I did my bike warm up solo (couldn't find Ginger), rode away from the race site, and called my dad. He had sent a good luck text so I knew he was already awake. I felt much more relaxed after our conversation.

We were told the transition area closed promptly at 7:30 and that our swim warm-ups had to be done at that time, too. My wave went first at 8:00. It was in the 60's, and I couldn't decide if I needed to go ahead and swim then freeze for 30 minutes, or if I should just stay warm. I went ahead and swam, then put my warm-ups back on. About 15 minutes before our wave, they told us that the pro/elite wave could get in an warm up. AWESOME!!! The water was so warm. I swam to the turn around spot & back, got in a few pickups, and was feeling ok. Still anxious... it was windy, the water was choppy, we'd be swimming right into the chop, oh and- I must be the worst swimmer out here! I told myself to relax, that even if that was true, this is where I need to be. Deep breaths and wait to go.

Swim 10:22 for 650m

A few years of hard work and
I'm coming out in front of the boys :)

There were 4 women and 5 (i think) men in the pro/elite wave. As soon as we heard "go" we all took off. Kyle has us practice pacing a lot, so I feel pretty comfortable with going out at a fast pace to stay with the group before settling in. I jumped on someone's feet and worked hard to keep up. I could see that we were starting to fall into some sort of order, and I wasn't left behind!

The week after Rocketman Kyle and I went to the pool for a short loosen-up swim. He told me that
this winter we would work hard to change my stroke, but that I needed to be able to adapt to the water conditions and not just glide through the water with long strokes. We did a couple 25's working on faster arm turnover and swimming with my core, and 25's were about all I could manage without being completely gassed. Over the past few weeks I have been working really hard to change my stroke, and it's gotten easier. Even better, my shoulder doesn't hurt as much, and any discomfort feels more like soreness from muscle weakness and less like I'm damaging my body. The timing could not have been more perfect, the water conditions for this race definitely called for some aggressive turnover.

We turned the first corner and were in a straight line. I kept sighting and saw that part of the line was swimming to the right/outside of the course. I thought about sticking with the group- maybe they were trying to compensate for the wind- but decided to stay straight. I focused on the turn ahead and kept turning my arms over. After the last turn I realized that there were men around me, but no one was in front of me. I'd worked my way up to the front of the 2nd group of swimmers. Ok, maybe I CAN hang... I exited the water and Ginger yelled at me to GO!

T1 :31.5
The transition area was really close to the boat ramp. I fumbled around to get my speed suit off, but still really quick transitions. I've got some ground to make up.

Bike 33:28, 21.5mph

The guys passed me pretty early on, but I kept them in sight for most of the bike. This was a VERY technical course. Lots of turns, windy roads, rolling hills. I have a tendency of taking turns a little aggressively, and I told myself to be cautious for this race. Even so, riding with a disc in the back was not a great idea; I will NOT be using it next year if they keep the same course! I didn't feel like I was in control while braking to turn. The roads were pretty torn up; it was hard to see the potholes until you were right on top of them, and there were a few times I braced myself halfway expecting to lose control. One of these holes caused the lead woman, a professional triathlete, to wreck. SCARY! Other than that the course was challenging but fun, and the volunteers were great at EVERY turn.

T2 :23.2 
2nd female in.  Fastest female transition (I'll take what I can get!)

Run 22.59, 7:11min/mile
Tired. I was pretty conservative for the first half mile to let my legs loosen up. It was really cool out so it didn't take long before I felt like I could bump the intensity up. I saw Rachel Olsen, one of my new training buddies, and she was moving... her strides looked long and powerful, she was killing it! She cheered for me and I gave her a thumbs up. I kept looking back to see where the next woman was, but didn't see her until close to a mile in. She might have been closing in on me, but I didn't think she would make up enough ground to catch me. I thought about Kyle and his expectations, so I kept pushing and ran as hard as I could. There were a few out and backs on the course on paved trails, so we hit a few small inclines. The last mile was flat and overlapped with the bike course. I picked up the pace and just held on. Ginger rode by and yelled "GO!". She told me she had placed a stick on the ground exactly 1/2 mile from the finish, and when I saw it I thought, "just an 800 left" and picked it up.

Overall Women

Finish 1:07:44
2nd overall woman & $300. I don't think I could have expected much more for this race, so I'm happy. Definitely looking forward to finishing the season strong at Girl Power, cooler temperatures, and a winter of improvement!

Shreveport REPRESENTED! We were 1st, 2nd, and 4th Overall Women/1st Masters Woamn and 1st Male Grandmasters. Coincidentally, we all swim with Kyle at noon!

Rachel won 1st overall... She rocked it!
Our group bike rides must be working :)

Shreveport group! Ginger, Me, Rachel, & Brian

Rocketman Triathlon Race Report

Rocketman Triathlon

August 23,2014

This month has been a whirlwind!

Kyle was offered a position at Centenary College coaching the cross country and swim teams. Within about two months we packed up all our stuff, closed the shop, said our farewells, moved from Hattiesburg to the dorms in Shreveport, LA, then from the dorms to our apartment. Whew, EXHAUSTING! The emotional and physical stress of moving definitely put a hamper on my training, and my running hasn't been very consistent this summer because I've been paranoid about getting injured. I definitely wasn't feeling my best going into the Rocketman Triathlon, but even so, I should be able to put together a decent race. The swim is at an all-time best, biking has improved from last year, and I just need to NOT blow up on the run and it will still be a PR for Rocketman!

Me, Nadine, and Brinn. Miss theses girls!

Looking past the thought of suffering for over 2 hours, I was really looking forward to this weekend. Back in January we'd reserved  2 cabins to just MINUTES from the race site for Team HAMR. It was PERFECT- we were on base and didn't have to deal with the race morning rush, and we event got to check out the race course the night before. VIP. I felt so rushed leaving Hattiesburg that the move almost didn't feel real. This weekend we would be sharing cabins with some of our closest buddies from Mississippi.Yes, I said WE! Kyle was able to make the trip, too. It actually worked out perfectly- he was able to make some appointments with teams in Huntsville, Madison, and Jackson and make a recruiting trip out of it!

We arrived Friday evening and helped Rocketman get awards ready. The next morning I went out for a short brick while Kyle met with some of his appointments. 9 a.m. and it was already HOT. I made sure to have a lot of fluids with me all day to stay hydrated, tomorrow was going to be ROUGH!

We went to the packet pick-up expo and ran into a lot of people we knew from Kyle's days with Fleet Feet. I looked like a big dork walking around with my bike. I felt like one of those jokers you see trying to show up their 'fast' gear. Really I was searching for Steve of Madison Cycles. During my ride I'd noticed that things weren't shifting like they should be, and I needed help! Steve came to the rescue! He didn't have to help me, but he took the bike out for a spin and fixed everything up. Steve has been really good to me over the years and I am SO grateful.

Me and Ashton. We were cheerleaders!

We met Ashton, my roommate from my HPU days, and her husband, Carlos for lunch. Our server was really slow and perhaps intoxicated, but I didn't mind the wait since it meant more quality time.

When the Hattiesburg crew arrived we were escorted on base, checked out the race course, picked up some groceries and made dinner- hommade pizzas- in the cottages. I should mention the "cottages" were more like small, completely furnished homes. PERFECT!

I didn't sleep well Saturday night. It rained and rained. Part of me was grateful that the rain *might* bring cooler temperatures. Part of me stressing about how sloppy the trail section of the run was going to get, and how I didn't want to ruin my pretty pink racing flats since I no longer have accessibility to just replace them as I am no longer a retailer. Come on girl, get your priorities straight and go to sleep!

Sunday morning I was stressed. I'd been studying the participant list for days and was feeling the pressure from myself and others. My dad called me a few days before and told me that I might have a chance to win this. Winning Rocketman has definitely been a goal, it's a fast race, it usually draws some faster competitors, and the overall male and female are presented with caricatures from a local artist who captures their finish. Obviously winning is always a goal, but I really want that carricature. If all the fast girls are sitting this year out, then this might be my only chance!

SWIM 23:45, FASTEST FEMALE SWIM
This year, rather than having an elite wave, Rocketman pulled the faster female finishing times and put them up front after the collegiates. I felt pretty strong as I started, remembering to have higher arm turnover for the first 500m against the current. I passed quite a few people early on, which was definitely a confidence booster. I kept hearing Ginger's voice in my head, "GO HARD!". This is it- I might be a little off on my training right now, but today is the day to put it all there & the training can build from here. I felt strong over the entire swim. Kyle's master's swim practices have been good to me. Hard to believe that this is actually a strength now! Miracle worker? I think so...

T1. :40
As I struggled up the boat ramp (very slick, fortunately lots of volunteers out there to pull us out) I could hear my dad yelling for me. I fumbled to get out of my speed suit, tried to stuff a probar into uniform, then heard Kyle yell "you don't need that!", so ripped out out and threw it onto the ground. Then I hear my dad yell "Think, girl. Let's go!". Think, go fast, don't blow up, just go...

Bike, 1:07:00, 22.2 mph, fastest bike by 2:00
The first mile of the bike I always feel rough. Time to ignore the discomfort, it's HAMMER-TIME! Spin those legs, get into a rhythm, then increase the power. I passed several people early on, counting the women until I knew I was in front. This is it- if I'm going to win this, it has to be here. The course is mostly flat. I felt like there may have been a little breeze, but wasn't sure if I was just getting tired on some stretches. I felt pretty strong until the last 4 miles or so when you turn off of the main road for on extra stretch. That's where the road gets a little rough and you have to work a bit harder to maintain. This is where I get frustrated with myself, and this is where I cried last year. Dig deep and keep working, we're almost there and then the real fun starts...

T2. :52
I hear "First female by a lot!" (dad) "drink a lot, early!" (Kyle) & cheering. I've got this, just don't screw it up.

Run, 48:52, 7:52min/mile
My legs felt heavy and sluggish. I was already struggling. I tried not to focus on the discomfort. Quick feet, shake it out, find the rhythm, keep moving forward. To my surprise, the 1-mile through trails was not sloshy at all. The miles are a painful blur but I kept pushing. Around mile 3 one of my quads started to tighten and I pleaded with it to not cramp. It stopped, then the other one started acting up. Come on girls, halfway there. There's an out-an-back section near mile 4, so I could see exactly where the next women were. I saw Brinn on the heels of one of the local fast women. We all exchanged words of encouragement and I remember thinking that female triathletes are just a different breed. It was at mile 5 that things started to fall apart, which is a lot further than I expected. My legs
just didn't want to go up the last hills, and running on gravel was really doing a number on my ankles. It was at this point I realized, even if I WERE in good running shape, this run would still suck! The Rocketman run is just plain hard. Strong arm pump, lean forward, just keep moving. Going
down the last hill I just let go and gave it everything I had for the last quarter mile or so.

Finish 2:21:06
I could hear Rick Greif on the PA system announcing the first female, ME! I crossed the finish line and Rocketman was waiting with a big hug. It was AWESOME to win this race in my home town with lots of new and old friends. Rocketman was very proud.

Overall I'm pretty happy with my performance. The run was crappy, but I knew it would be coming into this. Even so, I put together a PR for Rocketman by over 12 minutes! Huge thanks to the fast girls for sitting this one out. I'll be back for more, but I've got my caricature so I'll be checking this win off on the bucket list.

My training buddies did great, too:

• 2nd OA Brinn Ashley Strange, 2nd fastest    female swim
• 1st aqua bike Nadine Lippa, 7th fastest Female swim of the day
• 1st grand masters (old guys) Chris Boyd
• 3rd male 25-29 Merle Greenhoe
• Fastest swim & surviving the run without knees breaking apart Dave Krzeminski,
• Most improved (again), fastest in age group swim & 22.8 on his road bike Greg Strange.

Other notable Hattiesburg performances:

• Deana Lynn- 1st F 45-49
• Robin Ryder- 1st M 40-44
• Lesley Slaughter- 3rd F 40-44

• Jay Antinnes & Kim Ryder did great, too

Everyone was complimenting Hattiesburg for being so dang fast...

I have some fast friends! Thanks Kyle Joplin for coaching us, and thanks Mike Gerrity for producing another kick butt race!

Results here
Here's some press!

In other news...

My brother, Bob the Body Builder, aka Bobby Biceps, also had a competition this weekend. On Saturday Bob placed highly in his category for men's physique. Bob also won the Physique Category at this year's Rocket City Classic Body Building Competition. I am one proud sis!







Brinn Strange has opened her own business, THRIVE at the Lotus! Brinn is working to create a happier, healthier, fitter Hattiesburg by partnering up with other great instructors and intoducing new fitness classes to Hattiesburg! TO INCLUDE BARRE! So proud and excited!