ChelanMan Multisport Weekend: Lake Chelan Washington!

The weekend and my Olypmic Triathlon Race was awesome!  I highly recommend this race to everyone.  The ChelanMan is a weekend full of races, so there are many options of races: half-ironman, half marathon, 10k, Olympic Triathlon, Sprint triathlon.  It was so cool to have all these events taking place all weekend.

I love being in this kind of environment.  Over 1,000 people competing and participating in events that do a body good!  Love it.

Plus, I finally got to met Clint Janson (my facebook friend and blog follower who I finally got to meet in person).

**be sure to read this blog post to the very end as I have a question for you**

I have to say I was nervous going into my race.  Actually, I get nervous before every race.  I was glad to have my two friends with me, Julie and Sydnie.  We all were nervous but excited as we knew we were ready to attack this race.

I’ll break down each race discipline and give a brief description of the course and my experience.

The morning and weather was spectacular.  Beautiful blue skies and SUN!  This was helpful as it made for a more inviting entry into the water for the swim. However, the water was a  bit choppy because of the wind.

ONE MILE SWIM:

For the first time ever, I did not have to experience swimming in COLD water.  What a difference and a huge benefit.  Being able to jump in the lake to begin the swim without the cold water rush and anxiety that it usually causes me was a nice and welcomed suprise. Furthermore, the water is clear so I  could actually see what was around me and see other swimmers.

The water was choppy and the first 800yds was swimming against the current.  Every time I came up for breath I got a nice mouthful of lake water (good way to stay hydrated, i guess).  It was a bit of a challenge, but I new as soon as I hit the turnaround I would have the current and waves with me.

Over the years of triathlon racing, I’ve learned to move myself towards the outside so I can avoid the mayhem that usually happens in the swim. I’ve had my share of kicks in the head, face, stomach, etc…  Therfore, I’ve made the decision I don’t care if I have to swim farther, I”m moving to the outside.  IT works for me.

So, I”m swimming and feeling strong.  I hit the turnaround buoy and get pumped about cruisin back with the help of the current.  I turn and quickly pick my head up to spot the buoy line that leads back to the shore.  Whoa….what the heck!  We are now swimming in a direct line with the SUN!  Oh, thats hard on the eyes and makes for difficulty spotting.  Plus, I don’t swim in a straight line so I really do a lot of spotting.  That was kinda freaking me out until I put my head back in the water and noticed a line of rope.  Hmmm.. wonder why that is there.  I pick my head up out of the water again and notice the rope falls in line with the buoys.  In fact, the buoys are held together underwater by this line.  How cool. All I have to do is follow the line of rope.  Love it!

So, I follow the line all the way back in and finish the swim fairly well.  Time: 29:33

26 Mile BIKE:

Now off on the bike.  I get on turn the corner and its a bit windy so I”m not looking forward to that.  I start cranking my legs hard when POOF!! and off goes my bike number that was attached to my center bar.  Crap.  I stop, clip out, and run back for my number.  I didn’t want to just leave it as the race officials are very serious about numbers showing on the bikes so I didn’t want to risk getting kicked out of the race.  I pick up my number and jump back on the bike……gosh, i felt like an idiot!!!!  I start riding with the number in my hand and one zip tye.  I ride and at the same time manage to use the one zip tye to get the number attached back onto the bike.  Not how I visualized the start of my bike leg, but you just gotta be prepared for anything.  Plus, I’ve learned why I saw so many bikes with their numbers taped on with duct tape.  Next time I’ll be sure to do that.

The bike was a beautiful ride. It followed the road that runs along the lake so the view was absolutely incredible.  Plus, lots of trees so some good shade as it was getting very HOT outside.  I was doing my best to keep a consistent, fast pace (well, fast for me)  I’m not an experienced biker and feel somewhat uncomfortable riding so I do the best I can given what I know.  I received some great advice from a fellow blogger, Kristine Mondello-Concepcion at http://my140point6milejourney.blogspot.com

The bike is an out-and-back ride, so I hit the turn around and told myself go hard all the way back.  In my mind I was going hard, but i did notice I was being passed by quite a few riders and I was not passing anyone.  Something you need to understand about me is I”M SUPER COMPETITIVE.  I’m sure it has something to do with having 3 older brothers and always trying to keep up with them.  I was getting so frustrated that so many riders were passing me.  I kinda settled down when I realized most of them were men and they have an unfair advantage I can’t do anything about: testosterone!  Still, I had some ladies pass me to.  4 to be exact!  But, because I know I’m a strong runner I was thinking I could catch some of them in the run.

I put my head down and literally rode my A** off all the way back (still getting passed, btw).  I was so happy to get back to the transition and get started on my strongest leg: the run

Bike Time: 1:16 (19.5mph)

RUN 6.2 miles

It was very HOT by now.  The run was also an out and back on the hot paved road.  Also, the 1/2 marathon had started and those runners were also on the road.  And, no shade.  HOt, HOT, Hot!  Thank you to all the residents who were in their driveways with hoses and spraying down any of us who requested it.  That was refreshing.

I began the run trying to run as fast as my deadlocked legs could go.  Such a strange feeling going from the bike to run.  However, in my previous triathlon race experiences, I knew after about 1-mile my legs would loosen up and I would get in stride.

So, i went out hard and quickly spotted a few of those bikers who passed me that I now wanted to pass back.  He, he…this was going to be fun   I was feeling good and noticed others were not looking s o hot.. aghh sweet revenge.  I tried to maintain a steady pace for the first half of the run.  I don’t wear a watch when I race.  I just go by how my body feels and I was feeling like I was running a strong, steady pace probably somewhere around 7:20 min/mile or so.

I get to the turnaround and am so happy only 3 more miles to go.  It was really, really hot by now.  I felt like my body could go a little faster but I also knew 3 miles was still a ways to go.  I played a little game with myself where I ran 30 strides hard (counting in my head), followed by 10 slow strides.  I did this for 2 miles and then did my best to finish the last mile as best I could.  I spotted the finish line about a 1/2 mile ahead.  This was all the motivation I needed to crank it up and finish.  I was happy that my body was still able to push a little more.  Yes, I was tired but I could still push my body and that was a great feeling.  The run was a success and I caught 3 of the ladies who passed me on the bike

Run Time: 45:42 (7:22 pace)

Final Stats

Finishing time: 2:34:06,   5th female overall, 3rd place age group

Me, Julie, & Sydnie

My reward for 3rd place age group

Ok, Julie and Sydnie are doing the Lake Stevens half ironman in August and really want me to do it.  I’m thinking of every excuse not to.  Why? I”m not sure but if I get enough people telling me to do it or calling me a wuss for not doing it, then I probably will.

Do you think I should sign-up for the 1/2 ironman that is only one month away?  Leave your comment below.

thanks

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Run Training, Success Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted by admin | in Run Training, Success Story | 14 Comments