On Sunday August 10, I did the Naperville Sprint Triathlon, which came
with a good dose of nostalgia as it was my first triathlon ever six years
ago. It seems only fitting to do the race report with some "now and
then" type comparison. Spoiler alert: I've come a long ways!
When this race happened six years ago, I'd been dreaming of a triathlon
for over a year. I'd even done a training plan a year before just for
kicks, with no race at the end of it. I actually credit that for
beginning to get me into shape. When I found out about the Naperville
Triathlon when I moved to Chicago, it seemed perfect. My training leading
up to it consisted of bootcamp fitness classes three times a week that were
really kicking me into gear, bike rides on weekends, and occasional
swims. The week before the race put me in a panic, as I realized I
actually was clueless. What do I wear? How does transition work? What do
I attach my number with? I read "Your First Triathlon" cover to
cover, at least once. I vividly remember driving out to Naperville (on
back roads because Chicago expressways terrified me) to pick up my packet,
listen to the course talk, and buy my first tri suit. At least I solved
that "what do I wear" dilemma. I was even assured by the race
director that there would be a table to leave my glasses on during the
race. Talking to my mom the night before, it was obvious that at the time
for me, this was a big deal race.
When I signed up for
the race this time around, I was planning it as a fun departure from Ironman
training to compare my abilities now to when I was a newbie. Then I
crashed on my bike four weeks before, withdrew from Ironman Chattanooga, and
hadn't swam or biked since. My shoulder drastically improved in the week leading
up to the race, which led to me thinking that maybe I could have some fun at
this race after all. I tested out biking around the block on Saturday,
and while it was a tad sore, I could definitely tolerate the weightbearing
through my arms. I didn't have a chance to try swimming, but I had my
full pain-free range back, and let's be honest- my pull is nonexistent,
shoulder injury or not. Worst-case scenario- it is a 400 m
"pool" swim, so I could get by with one-armed swimming. At 3pm
on Saturday, I rented a car and was off to Naperville for packet pickup. Unlike
six years ago, I knew exactly how packet pickup would go, and was able to pack
my race day bag in just a few minutes without doubting if I had what I
needed.
Race morning also
brought another dose of nostalgia, and realizing that just in terms of
logistics, I’ve improved a lot! Back in 2008 it took me a good 20 minutes just
to figure out how to take a front wheel off my Cannondale hybrid to fit the
bike into the trunk of my car. Race morning I had to have someone inflate
my tires, as I had no idea how to do so. This time around, my fancy Penelope,
my (new) Cervelo P2 was prepped and ready to go. I adjusted the breaks,
switched out the front wheel for one that wasn't slightly warped from the
crash, and inflated my tires to proper pressure. I even prepared a diluted Perform concentrate, knowing that
full strength might be too much for high intensity. Six years ago I had no clue about such nutrition.
The Swim:
The swim is
a time trial start, with 6 athletes entering the water every 15 seconds.
There are signs up to help seed people, and I lined up with the 6-8 minute
folks, targeting an 8 minute swim and figuring I'd rather be swum over than do
the swimming over. It felt like an eternity until I got in the water, though
in reality it was probably about 15 minutes. During this time I realized
the Garmin on my bike was turned off- rookie mistake.
The swim is
400 m and great for first timers, as it is in an old quarry, making it not
quite an open water swim but not just a pool swim either. It is an M
shaped course with large buoys marking the turns. I ran into the water
and then started swimming. Did I mention these were the first strokes I'd
taken in over a month? I was so relieved when I didn't feel pain.
That being said, I don't think I had much (or any) power behind my pull.
In general, the swim felt better than it actually was. I was definitely
breathing hard and probably had way too high a stroke count, but for not
swimming in weeks, I couldn't complain. I was passing a good deal of
folks, which made me feel like I was putting in a good split. Turns out
people just seeded themselves with false expectations. I was able to quickly navigate around
the buoys at the turn, which is a skill I’ve picked up over the years but never
really been able to execute well before.
Improvement!
My swim time
was obviously disappointing but I can’t complain given the shoulder. I would have been 100% ok with it if I
hadn’t seen that it was over a minute slower than six years ago. I’m seeing some low hanging fruit in
the swim department!
Swim Time Now: 8:36 Swim Time
Then: 7:14
T1:
The run to transition
was on the longer side, as I was at the far end of transition. It is
always disheartening to get to your rack and have your bike be the only one
there. Yes, I know they may have started before me, but still it
hurts. Turned on my bike computer, put on my bike shoes (no socks),
helmet, race belt, and I was off. I'm not sure if my Garmin had totally
found the satellites or not yet, but oh well. Overall, not the smoothest,
but not awful. Thankfully I was close to bike out so it was just a short
jaunt running with the bike.
T1 Time Now:
3:08 T1 Time Then: 3:33
Bike:
Despite now six years of experience, I was really clueless
as to how to go about the bike.
The general plan was: hard. But what is my hard these days? It was only the day before that I’d
found I can ride my bike again
without the shoulder revolting. I
started the bike with my heart rate through the roof (note to self: need to buy
HR monitor to start looking at that data). I backed down a bit but kept steady pressure on. I made sure to toggle to the screen
with just lap time, 3s power, and lap power so I wouldn’t focus on speed. For nutrition, I made a bottle of
diluted Perform- just 2 scoops instead of 3- thinking that at high intensity I
wouldn’t want full strength.
I was only keeping one eye on power, as I didn’t even have a
goal since who knew what my FTP was at the time of the race. It seemed I could keep it in the 150s,
so I sort of aimed for that. With
my last FTP test being 162, I was happy with this considering I hadn’t ridden
in 4 weeks. There were a few 180-degree
turns that required significant decelerations, and a few times the course got
congested, so my overall average power is probably artificially a bit low.
I finished the first loop in 16:58 with an average power of
156. Having the first loop down
made it easier mentally going forward, as now I had expectations and knew it
was just going to be 16-17 minutes until it was done. I also realized that I could bike in 34 minutes or less,
which gave me motivation and a goal.
I probably overdid it a bit in the first lap, as my power dropped a little
and hovered more right at or below 150.
I just focused on the fact that it would be done soon, and tried to see
it in four-minute blocks. I also
thought about Timothy Jenks, the son of one of my EN teammates who was killed
cycling, and thought that I needed to ride hard as he would.
As the second lap came to an end, I tried to push hard,
chasing a few people down. My legs
were definitely tired but not destroyed, so I am pretty sure I could have
pushed harder. It seemed to be
more cardiovascular limitations, with a very high RPE at the start. I also had suffered from some nausea
early in the bike that never quite went away, resulting in me only drinking
half the bottle. However, as I
reached the dismount line, I was pretty satisfied with the bike leg.
What I love about this race is that there is the whole
gamet- the folks wearing swimsuits with running shorts on mountain bikes, to
aerohelmets on fancy schmancy tri bikes.
Six years ago I was the girl on the hybrid who had just bought her first
tri suit the day before. I don’t
think I even had toe cages on the pedals.
This year I rocked the tri bike.
I honestly don’t remember too much from the bike six years ago, except
that my training journal says “bike was the hardest part.” I remember being exhausted on the bike
ride, thinking it was long, and I remember a hill. I’m not sure if there really was a hill and the course has
changed, or if it was just a slight incline that didn’t even phase me this time
around. Looking at my times, this was the biggest improvement for
me. I’m sure a lot is due to
better equipment, but I think the engine is stronger as well!
Bike Time Now: 34:54
Bike Time
Then: 54:40
T2:
T2 was
pretty uneventful. My legs felt
good just running the bike in.
Socks and shoes on, grab the hat and go! Unfortunately it was a long way to run out! I’m guessing the slightly longer T2
time this year is just a function of where I was in transition (and I didn’t
have to change shoes back in the day!).
T2 Time Now: 2:07 T2
Time Then: 1:26
The Run:
I always feel a sense of relief when I get to the run of a
triathlon. It is the sport I am
most comfortable with and at that point, no mechanical can hold you back. I had my running legs right away, none
of the brick feeling I was expecting, and I’m not sure why. Perhaps a higher cadence? However, I still did feel that I was
going steady, nothing too fast. I
just had a regular sports watch, so I didn’t know my pace and didn’t even note
the time I left to do the math at the mile markers. I’d assumed I was in no chance of placing, so I wasn’t
necessarily pushing the pace.
The run seemed familiar from six years ago. It starts off on a path before winding
through some neighborhoods. It has
been a long time since I did a sprint tri, and knowing the run was only 3.1
miles was huge. It seemed to go by
so fast. Mile 1 was there before I
knew it, and from there, a measly two miles left! This was far from the attitude I remember back in 2008,
where the run seemed to go on forever.
At the two aid stations I grabbed some Gatorade and
water. Probably around the half
way mark I tried to push it a tad more, still nothing crazy. My legs were feeling good, but I think
I just lacked the motivation. When
I got back to the path heading in, I figured it was about a half mile left and
tried to push a little more. I
passed a few more people, including one in my age group. Knowing I was going to break 1:15 gave
me motivation for a bit of a final kick across the line.
Run Time Now: 25:08
Run Time Then: 27:14
Final
result- an improvement of over 20 minutes from six years ago!
Total Time Now:
1:13:49 Total Time Then: 1:34:06
After
grabbing some food, I saw that folks had printouts of their times. I went to get mine and as the girl
printed it out she said “nice job- congrats!”. I looked at it and saw 2nd place! What? I was shocked.
I’d been very happy with my time, but didn’t think I’d placed! I know it’s a local sprint and that
many of the more competitive folks were racing USAT Age Group Nats or Racine
70.3 that weekend, but I still felt so validated by that result. Six years ago I was a total newbie,
trying out this sport for the first time.
Now I was seasoned, comfortable and confident in a sport I’d grown to
love, and I was a legitimate athlete.
I called my mom and told her “Well, the bad news is that I have to wait
around for awards.”
Turns out
that was bad news (though I can’t complain.) It was about two hours from when I finished until awards,
and I didn’t have much to pass the time with. Still, I wasn’t going to miss my first triathlon
podium! Turns out I was third,
seems like there was a chip mishap with the girl that ended up being first. But still, third place! Without swimming or biking for a month!
I’ll take it!
Division (F25-29) Place Now: 3rd of 71 Division
(F20-24) Place Then: 35th of 61
Takeaways:
1) Much to
improve on the swim. For starters,
swim.
2) Time to
invest in a HR monitor to start using that as a measure as well as power.
3) Work on
smooth transitions- every second counts if I want to be competitive.
4) Need to
learn how to mentally race, embrace the suck!
5) I’ve learned
so much in the past six years and these results show it. Motivated to see what more hard work
can bring!
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