Issaquah Triathlon

Much anticipation led up to my first triathlon of the 2008. I have never done the Issaquah Tri before which always leaves a bit of unknown for me regardless of how many times I've ridden or run the course. My goals for this triathlon were simple - freestyle the whole swim, ride fast, run hard, and have fun. I had lofty super secret goals of hitting 20mph on the bike, under 8's on the run, and finishing in the top 20 in my age group.

I woke up at 4:25 am after a restless night's sleep. I worked until 7pm the night before and my kids didn't settle down to sleep until well after 9pm. I couldn't calm myself down enough to sleep so I tortured myself by reading more about the triathlon online. Finally got to be and asleep after 11pm. I was able to down some coffee but saved the juice I had made for after the race. My tummy was sort of queasy but I knew coffee was the only way to get me rolling. I don't drink much coffee but I do like to have a cup before races. I ate a lara bar in the car on the way to the race. I picked up my race packet and waited around for the transition area to open up. While waiting around I found some fellow JFT2 teammates and chatted with them. Got into the transition area and set up. (BTW, check out my super cute eye catching transition mat! It's the hibiscus pattern in red and white! I love it!) I set myself up right on the end with my mat sticking out toward the running path between transition racks. It was the perfect setup.

Finally it was time to start getting ready. This was my first triathlon using a wetsuit and swimming freestyle. I got on my awesome Blue Seventy Reaction wetsuit from Triumph Multisport (that I won in the Body Fat Contest) and meandered towards the water. I had only been swimming twice in Lake Serene in Mukilteo. I hadn't swam at this beach yet and was worried about the cold water temperature. It was really actually quite warm which was a huge relief. I positioned myself near the front on the outside. The swim start was a little odd because there was no identified start. Each wave kept walking out further and further to the buoys as nobody was there to tell them when to stop. This is probably my only complaint about this well run race. A very quiet 'ready set go' and we were off.

THE SWIM: I started off too fast and had to slow myself down to catch my breath. As I made the turn around the first buoy I actually had my first experience panicking in the water. Now I understood what people mean when they tell me about this! I had to stop for a minute and breast stroke 8-10 breaths until I got back in gear. By the time I made it around the last buoy I finally felt like I had my rhythm. Only the swim was over. No rhythm for me! I swam as far as I could while others were wading in and finally got up and ran.

TIME: 8:42 (this was a surprise, I would have guessed at least 10 min)


T1: As I got out of the water I tried unzipping my wetsuit and couldn't get it down! I fumbled as I ran and managed to have it off to my waist by the time I hit my transition area. I easily pulled off the suit, threw on my glasses, helmet, and shoes and ran like crazy. I had a gu in my mouth until I was riding on the bike and could put it in my pocket. (Note to self, put gu in shirt before the swim).

TIME: 1:34


THE BIKE: The ride was amazing. I had SO much fun. My instructions were to keep my hr around 165. I was having a hard time doing that because I was feeling so good and felt like I could ride so much faster. I did try to keep it around 170 which still left me holding back for the turnaround. I passed so many people I lost count. I couldn't believe it was really me racing and passing people. I'm not the one that passes people like that. I'm the one that gets passed about as evenly as I pass others. This time only 2 young guys passed me and one gal (That one pissed me off! I had her in my sights and didn't try to pass her again as I was watching the hr. Seems that she was pacing herself as well and shot ahead of me after the turnaround. I couldn't catch her!) I had lots of difficulty getting held up by people who were in the middle of the lane and not moving after my "On your left". A couple of times I had to slow down because there were cars in the way and I wanted to pass but was worried the officials might think I was drafting. Anyway, I think I could have had a better time without so many people in front of me, but I still pr'd the bike!

TIME: 45:32 (a time of 45:00 would have put me at 20mph dangitall)


T2: I rolled all the way up to the dismount section where I noticed a lot of people stopping at least 10-20 feet before the dismount. I ran into transition and after a little trouble spotted my cute transition mat and dumped the bike. I pulled off my trusty old shoes without undoing them and threw on my running shoes. I had a bit of trouble pulling the garmin off my bike and throwing it on my wrist. I'll need to practice that a bit.

TIME: :55


THE RUN: I ran with another gu in my mouth until I got my garmin set for running and put the gu in my pocket. I never had time to take it. I just ran. As fast as I could on some kinda rough terrain. It was hard passing people because everyone was running single file on the hard packed dirt. To pass I had to run on the rougher uneven part of the trail. Again I found myself passing people like crazy. What the heck? Only two young guys passed me and they didn't have a triathlon number or timing chip so I don't know if they were bandits or running the 5K. Everyone else I passed. Including some hunky triathlete looking guys. One of whom was walking. Slowly. I have no idea what my swim time is, but as I'm running I'm calculating my bike and potential run time and I'm realizing I'm going to surpass my hugest expectations! I get to the section that Jill and I talked about. 400 meters from the finish. I tried to turn it on even more and crossed the finish line gasping for air. I thought I was going to puke. My garmin said 22:19. I knew that I hadn't started it at the beginning of the run but I had no idea how long I was fiddling with it before I started it. My garmin also read 2.78 miles....

TIME: 22:51 As much as I'd love to think that I ran the course in 7:37's, It felt more like 7:50's. I ran a full minute slower on the trail then on the cement!

TOTAL TIME: 1:19:36
12/69 age group
45/337 overall women
202/697 including the men

REVIEW OF GOALS:

Swim - I did freestyle the whole way except for a few strokes when I panicked and swallowed water. I'm calling it a go!
Bike - I was just short of 20mph which bums me out. But I've never come that close before in any previous race. I'll have to examine the data from the garmin to see if I negative split the out and back on the bike. I made a judgement call to keep my hr around 170 the first half instead of 165. Maybe that was a mistake?
Run - I'm going to assume that I ran under 8's. It's still unclear though how long the course actually was!
Fun? Heck ya.

Things to work on:
1) More open water swim time with people around me.
2) Gu taped to the bike or in my shirt pocket before the race.
3) Learn how to pass people more effectively on the bike and not worry as much about drafting.
4) Practice unzipping my wetsuit while running.
5) Practice the garmin transfer from bike to wrist.

Next race - 5 Mile Lake. I've never even driven this course so I have lots of work to do to familiarize myself with this race. Congrats to JFT2 whose amazing athletes kicked some butt in Issaquah this weekend! I view each and everyone of them as an inspiration and I'm so lucky to be a part of this incredible team.