lookingforsunshine
it never hurts to keep looking for sunshine
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- Dec 6, 2021
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TriFit Challenge Race Report
Sunday, July 31 2022
Today I completed my second tri of the summer. It was a B race in prep for my Olympic-distance triathlon in Chicago at the end of August.
I have done this race 3 times (2017, 2018, and 2019). It is affiliated with Ohio State which is where I go to graduate school, and it ends on campus. I have done the sprint distance twice and the super sprint distance once.
This race is a little weird because it has two separate transitions. I had to drive to the park on Saturday to check my bike into T1. I have not been feeling great, and I can’t really tell if it is physical or mental or both. After coming home on Saturday I felt like I had a fever even though I did not. I basically slept the rest of the day but my body battery hardly improved. I took a COVID test, and it was negative. I managed to eat some dinner and drank 24 oz of water with 1500 mg of sodium (Precision Hydration). I prepped all of my stuff in two bags (depending on which transition it was for). I was contemplating not racing, and I spent the night waking up every hour wondering if I should not go. I was sweating a lot and my heart rate was a little elevated.
But, since my bike was at T1 and it would have been a fiasco to go get it, I got my butt out of bed at 5:15 am. I took a quick shower rinse because I felt gross, got ready, and was in my car by 5:45 am. The drive was short and the Disney tunes of “Stand Out,” “Bet On It,” and “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” helped motivate me. I also listened to “Case of the Ex” because that’s a good song… (spoiler alert: apparently I should make it a pre-race ritual bc every time I listen to that song before a race I end up PRing/doing well).
I had to drive to OSU where T2 was, drop off my car and set up my run stuff in T2, and then take a shuttle back to the park where the race would start. It felt like a Disney race— by the time I got in the shuttle, I had already walked a mile.
I met up with my coach and some other athletes he works with at the park. Because of the shuttle system, I had to get there way early— I was there around 6:40 am and didn’t start until after 8 am. I still felt pretty bad and decided to ask the race director if I could switch from the sprint (750 yard swim, 20k bike, 5k run) to the mini (250 yard swim, 20k bike, 2 mile run). He was really nice and said that was fine. This relieved a lot of my anxiety. I ate a bite of banana, drank about 12 oz of water with more Precision Hydration in it, used the bathroom, and then made my way to the lake start. Now that I was doing the mini I had an even longer wait, but it went by quickly. I pet two dogs and chatted with the people around me. I was happy it was cloudy because I always have trouble spotting on the swim when the sun is in my eyes.
The Swim
Official Time: 8:45 (250 yards); 80/113
Watch Time: 7:45 (245 yards); 3:03 pace
I ended my watch as soon as I got out of the water, whereas the timing mat was after a bit of a run, so my watch time is more accurate.
This was a counterclockwise triangular swim that was pretty straightforward. The water was warmer than expected but still wetsuit legal. Nothing noteworthy to report here.
Transition 1
Official Time: 5:56
Watch Time: 6:56
This transition involved a long uphill. I don’t know how far exactly. I usually walk the transitions but my coach told us to run them because we never know if those seconds could change our finish placement. So, I “ran” it… I hate running barefoot on concrete. Sensitive feet. But I am very glad I did it, as you’ll see. Because of the two transition situation, we had to pack up everything into a gear back and drop it off at gear check on our way out which took extra time.
The Bike
Official Time: 47:39 (12.4 miles); 64/113
Watch Time: 46:30 (12.42 miles); 16 mph
Wooooo I love getting on my bike. This course felt fast. Apparently it had 503 feet of climbing and 445 feet of descent. Maybe there was a tailwind. My coach had also done a course preview and noted when the hills were which helped me a lot psychologically. I passed a lot of people on the bike. Zoom zoom. The roads weren’t completely closed but there was a lot of traffic at the intersections, and I felt sort of bad for the cars. Thank you, patient drivers!
During the bike I drank a little under 16 oz of water with Liquid IV and ate one clif blok. At the end, I made a wrong turn and did an extra loop behind a building because of it. In my defense, the arrow was pointing into that driveway… lol. It wasn’t a big deal, just annoying.
Transition 2
Official Time: 3:13
Watch Time: 4:21
I thought I switched my watch with the timing mats but I guess I did not. This transition was straightforward. The person who was next to me just left their bike slumped over. The space was already really tight, and the person on my other side got there at the same time I did. So it took up some time waiting for her to rack her bike and then maneuvering mine. I switched my shoes and put my hat on.
The Run
Official Time: 24:21 (2 miles); 91/113
Watch Time: 24:32 (1.96 miles); 12:31 min/mile avg
I did 60:30 run/walk intervals. Apparently my first mile was 11:14. That seems fake but I looked at the data, and I guess it is correct. I think I feel like I’m going a lot slower than I am because my legs are jello after the bike but cutting down my walk intervals seems to have made a difference. The second mile was a lot slower (13:50) because I walked some small hills (110 feet ascent/26 feet descent) and through the water stop. The water was so cold and tasted sooo good. The run was through OSU’s campus, which I am very familiar with but haven’t been too much since the pandemic. Before I knew it, I was at the finish line!
Total Official Time: 1:29:52
*drum roll*
I got first in the Athena category!!! (out of 4). Athena is a category you can opt into in lieu of an age group— it is for women who weigh over 165 lbs. I beat second place by a mere 3 seconds… I guess it is good I ran T1!
My overall place was 75/113, and my gender place was 31/58. Considering I felt pretty awful and almost didn’t even come to the race, I am very proud of myself.
After the race I got a special plaque during the award ceremony. They went through all of the overall and age group awards and did not call Athena or Clydesdale (the male equivalent). So I had to ask if they were doing it, and then they gave me my award. That was a little annoying. I grabbed an uncrustable and bag of lays— perfect post-race snack IMO— got some pics with my coach and his athletes, picked up my gear bag, and drove home.
I don’t feel as feverish as I did in the morning but my stomach does hurt and feel crampy. My body battery is 8/100. I think the adrenaline of winning Athena is masking my pain lol.
(Image description: Selfie of me with my award!)
(Image description: Screenshot of official race results.)
Overall, I am proud of myself for showing up even if I did change my distance at the last minute. I am also very proud of the run. I have been doing a fair amount of brick workouts (running immediately after the bike), and they seem to be paying off.
My last bit of gratitude is for the weather. It was about 65 degrees with a dew point of 60 plus full cloud cover. Sooo much nicer than it has been. It made a huge difference for me.
Sunday, July 31 2022
Today I completed my second tri of the summer. It was a B race in prep for my Olympic-distance triathlon in Chicago at the end of August.
I have done this race 3 times (2017, 2018, and 2019). It is affiliated with Ohio State which is where I go to graduate school, and it ends on campus. I have done the sprint distance twice and the super sprint distance once.
This race is a little weird because it has two separate transitions. I had to drive to the park on Saturday to check my bike into T1. I have not been feeling great, and I can’t really tell if it is physical or mental or both. After coming home on Saturday I felt like I had a fever even though I did not. I basically slept the rest of the day but my body battery hardly improved. I took a COVID test, and it was negative. I managed to eat some dinner and drank 24 oz of water with 1500 mg of sodium (Precision Hydration). I prepped all of my stuff in two bags (depending on which transition it was for). I was contemplating not racing, and I spent the night waking up every hour wondering if I should not go. I was sweating a lot and my heart rate was a little elevated.
But, since my bike was at T1 and it would have been a fiasco to go get it, I got my butt out of bed at 5:15 am. I took a quick shower rinse because I felt gross, got ready, and was in my car by 5:45 am. The drive was short and the Disney tunes of “Stand Out,” “Bet On It,” and “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” helped motivate me. I also listened to “Case of the Ex” because that’s a good song… (spoiler alert: apparently I should make it a pre-race ritual bc every time I listen to that song before a race I end up PRing/doing well).
I had to drive to OSU where T2 was, drop off my car and set up my run stuff in T2, and then take a shuttle back to the park where the race would start. It felt like a Disney race— by the time I got in the shuttle, I had already walked a mile.
I met up with my coach and some other athletes he works with at the park. Because of the shuttle system, I had to get there way early— I was there around 6:40 am and didn’t start until after 8 am. I still felt pretty bad and decided to ask the race director if I could switch from the sprint (750 yard swim, 20k bike, 5k run) to the mini (250 yard swim, 20k bike, 2 mile run). He was really nice and said that was fine. This relieved a lot of my anxiety. I ate a bite of banana, drank about 12 oz of water with more Precision Hydration in it, used the bathroom, and then made my way to the lake start. Now that I was doing the mini I had an even longer wait, but it went by quickly. I pet two dogs and chatted with the people around me. I was happy it was cloudy because I always have trouble spotting on the swim when the sun is in my eyes.
The Swim
Official Time: 8:45 (250 yards); 80/113
Watch Time: 7:45 (245 yards); 3:03 pace
I ended my watch as soon as I got out of the water, whereas the timing mat was after a bit of a run, so my watch time is more accurate.
This was a counterclockwise triangular swim that was pretty straightforward. The water was warmer than expected but still wetsuit legal. Nothing noteworthy to report here.
Transition 1
Official Time: 5:56
Watch Time: 6:56
This transition involved a long uphill. I don’t know how far exactly. I usually walk the transitions but my coach told us to run them because we never know if those seconds could change our finish placement. So, I “ran” it… I hate running barefoot on concrete. Sensitive feet. But I am very glad I did it, as you’ll see. Because of the two transition situation, we had to pack up everything into a gear back and drop it off at gear check on our way out which took extra time.
The Bike
Official Time: 47:39 (12.4 miles); 64/113
Watch Time: 46:30 (12.42 miles); 16 mph
Wooooo I love getting on my bike. This course felt fast. Apparently it had 503 feet of climbing and 445 feet of descent. Maybe there was a tailwind. My coach had also done a course preview and noted when the hills were which helped me a lot psychologically. I passed a lot of people on the bike. Zoom zoom. The roads weren’t completely closed but there was a lot of traffic at the intersections, and I felt sort of bad for the cars. Thank you, patient drivers!
During the bike I drank a little under 16 oz of water with Liquid IV and ate one clif blok. At the end, I made a wrong turn and did an extra loop behind a building because of it. In my defense, the arrow was pointing into that driveway… lol. It wasn’t a big deal, just annoying.
Transition 2
Official Time: 3:13
Watch Time: 4:21
I thought I switched my watch with the timing mats but I guess I did not. This transition was straightforward. The person who was next to me just left their bike slumped over. The space was already really tight, and the person on my other side got there at the same time I did. So it took up some time waiting for her to rack her bike and then maneuvering mine. I switched my shoes and put my hat on.
The Run
Official Time: 24:21 (2 miles); 91/113
Watch Time: 24:32 (1.96 miles); 12:31 min/mile avg
I did 60:30 run/walk intervals. Apparently my first mile was 11:14. That seems fake but I looked at the data, and I guess it is correct. I think I feel like I’m going a lot slower than I am because my legs are jello after the bike but cutting down my walk intervals seems to have made a difference. The second mile was a lot slower (13:50) because I walked some small hills (110 feet ascent/26 feet descent) and through the water stop. The water was so cold and tasted sooo good. The run was through OSU’s campus, which I am very familiar with but haven’t been too much since the pandemic. Before I knew it, I was at the finish line!
Total Official Time: 1:29:52
*drum roll*
I got first in the Athena category!!! (out of 4). Athena is a category you can opt into in lieu of an age group— it is for women who weigh over 165 lbs. I beat second place by a mere 3 seconds… I guess it is good I ran T1!
My overall place was 75/113, and my gender place was 31/58. Considering I felt pretty awful and almost didn’t even come to the race, I am very proud of myself.
After the race I got a special plaque during the award ceremony. They went through all of the overall and age group awards and did not call Athena or Clydesdale (the male equivalent). So I had to ask if they were doing it, and then they gave me my award. That was a little annoying. I grabbed an uncrustable and bag of lays— perfect post-race snack IMO— got some pics with my coach and his athletes, picked up my gear bag, and drove home.
I don’t feel as feverish as I did in the morning but my stomach does hurt and feel crampy. My body battery is 8/100. I think the adrenaline of winning Athena is masking my pain lol.
(Image description: Selfie of me with my award!)
(Image description: Screenshot of official race results.)
Overall, I am proud of myself for showing up even if I did change my distance at the last minute. I am also very proud of the run. I have been doing a fair amount of brick workouts (running immediately after the bike), and they seem to be paying off.
My last bit of gratitude is for the weather. It was about 65 degrees with a dew point of 60 plus full cloud cover. Sooo much nicer than it has been. It made a huge difference for me.
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