Monday, August 15, 2011

Luray International Race Report:

Luray International Triathlon: 1500M Swim, 41K Bike, 10K Run

Goal #1: Have Fun- EXCEEDED!  Saturday was great.  It was so nice to race with all of my awesome teammates.  Not to mention, my parents had their first Team Z experience.  They loved it! Even though I am grown and out of the house, they are still very dedicated and  rarely miss a race.  They would have showed up on Saturday regardless; however, having coffee, lunch and beer waiting for them at the race site makes the day a little more enjoyable for them. :)  A big thanks for making my parents' first Team Z experience a good one!

Goal #2: PR the swim- CHECK! I initially wanted to go balls to the wall on the swim.  But thank goodness for Coach Alexis!  About 30 minutes before the race, we were chit chatting and he advised me to stay aerobic during the swim, because the bike and the run were going to be tough.  I am so glad I listened.  I still wanted to PR the swim, but I was not willing to sacrifice the rest of my race to do it. Even with the crazy Pac-Man shaped course, a big dude swimming over top of me and forcing myself to stay aerobic, I somehow managed to PR the swim.  Not really sure how, but I guess I got lucky.

Goal #3: Attack the hills- CHECK! If you passed a girl on a silver bike with red tires talking to herself, that was probably me.  No really, I was really talking to myself.  I am not a fan of hills, so it took a little extra motivation to get me through the bike course. Talking to myself worked; but I don't recommend doing it if someone is directly behind you.  I guarantee they will give you a funny look if and when they pass you. :)

Goal #4: Run a smart 10k- CHECK! The run course was not super fun, but I managed to run a pretty even 10K. The first 5K was a little faster than the second, but I can't complain.  The hill after the turnaround was brutal.

Lessons learned from this weekend:
  1. I need to work on my transitions.  My transition from the swim to bike seems to take forever.  Any thoughts or pointers?
  2. I need to review the race course before race morning.  The swim course was pretty tricky, so I think I would have saved myself a lot of stress if I would have gone to the practice swim.  Lesson learned, and I will pay more attention to those things in the future.
  3. I need to work on hydration.  I was able to eat on the ride, but I didn't drink enough. Part of the problem could have been because I did not being my aero-cell to this race- regardless, I need to drink more.  I
Thanks for an awesome race day Team Z, and CONGRATS to everyone who raced!

3 comments:

  1. Great job on hitting all your goals!

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  2. I've really been working on my T1 this year. I've found that LESS IS MORE! I have never worn socks on the bike, but now I've mastered leaving my shoes clipped in. I can't really do the flying mount because my bottles are in the way, but it cuts down on my T1 time. Also, I don't worry about wiping my feet down etc. Enter T1, sunglasses, nutrition into jersey, helmet, grab bike and I'm out. I always wear gloves on training rides in case I fall, but I find it's impossible to put them on with wet hands, so it's a risk I accept.

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