Iowa Games Triathlon was a late addition to my race list for 2014 and I knew I was doing Midnight Madness the night before but decided to go for it. I generally don’t prefer to do sprint triathlons because I like the training challenges related to doing Olympic distance races. The difference between the two look something like this with a little variation depending on races (Sprint/Olympic): Swim (500 yds/1580 yds), Bike (15 miles/25 miles), Run (3.1 miles/6.2 miles)
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| Pre-race fog taken by teammate Christian at chip pickup |
This year my perspective has been a little different since I was not able to race much the last two seasons due to injury. After racing Copper Creek, even though I did not have a goal and had all my “firsts” noted in my last blog, I was not feeling very good about where things were at for me this season. In the midst of some emotions last week my husband reminded me that I do not have to prove anything to anyone but I felt like I needed to prove something to myself. Copper Creek was my “yeah I remember how to do this” but I still needed to find my way to stronger workouts and a better head space.
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| Shooting the breeze with Christian before the race |
Fortunately the weather had been a little cooler leading up to the race and I had some quality rides and runs which helped with the head space issue. It was super foggy when I got up on race day which gave me some flashbacks to racing the Chisago Lakes half ironman in 2011. I hoped to myself things would clear up so we could see the buoys. I needed not worry as the sun was shining by the time I made the 40 minute drive south to Easter Lake.
My first indicator this was going to be a great day, my race number is my birthday 525. After picking up my swag, cap and number I stopped down for my race chip and said hello to teammate Christian who was volunteering at the race. I got my gear and set up my space next to my other teammate Laura and then the Kyle’s Bike crew who was racing, Laura, Andy, Scott and myself had a quick photo shoot thanks to Laura’s husband Devin.
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| Coming out of the lake to T1 |
The swim
I was feeling excited while we waited on the beach for the start and chatted some more with my teammates and other racers. I was picked earlier in the week to be a beta tester for the Bia women’s GPS triathlon watch and was glad not to have to fiddle with buttons like I did at Copper Creek. I was again in the 5th swim wave and had decided to not hold back. I was second out of the water in my heat with a time of 6:38.
The Bike
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| Moving through transition |
My transition was much better this time with my shoes open and ready so I was in and out in just over a minute. Then off to the bike course on the Specialized Alias that Kyle’s Bikes provided for me to race on. This bike is set up very similar to the one I normally ride but is most comfortable in aero position. It does a good job of absorbing the bumps in the road which came in handy leaving the park. Similar to Copper Creek my quads were barking at me the first couple of miles but the course is a pretty technical so I had to focus. It is a twisty hilly three loop ride with the first couple of miles winding to a big downhill near the Primate Sanctuary, a short curving flat leading to a significant long uphill before winding back around to the beginning. Teammate Christian parked himself near the top of the long uphill and was giving encouragement to everyone as they rolled up. I found myself pushing harder to get to the top and didn't have any mechanicals this time. I got off the bike at 53 minutes which leaves a lot of room for improvement and was in and out of transition in under a minute as I did put my speed laces on my sneakers after Copper Creek.
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| Climbing the big hill with a smile |
The Run
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| First loop of run course |
Coming out of T2 this time I felt strangely free of my normal spaghetti leg feeling and was moving at a good clip for me. The run course is not one of my favorites as it is a two lap loop that has two offshoots through uneven grass on the way out and a long sunny flat on the way back. By the time I was on my second loop the temperatures were pushing 80 and I was wishing I had asked one of my teammates to hand me the baggy of ice I had brought with me at the turn around. Needless to say I felt like I was suffering by the end of the second mile. At the turn around to head back to the finish I checked my watch for my pace and time and realized I was going to be close to my goal for the day but that I would need to finish strong so I did the best I could to pick up the pace rather than continuing to wilt in the heat. My final run time was 29.10 with a total time of 1:31 which was just over my goal for the day.
At the finish I took one icy water bottle and poured it all over myself to cool down and then drank a second one and was good to go. I was surprised to have no notable MS flare up aside from the heat slowing me down on the run but will need some crew support to get through my next two Olympic Triathlon races in August.
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| My Bia buddy... as you can see she is faster. :) |
In wrap up, I felt this was a solid race for me but still leaves me with room to improve. I will be working with a personal trainer over the next six weeks to continue to strengthen my bike and run. The triathlon mode on the Bia is awesome and I will be doing a blog post it soon talking about the benefits. I even made a bia buddy at the race. I feel more prepared and found that I enjoyed my day so was glad I added this race to my list.
A huge shout out of thanks to teammates Laura, Andy, Scott who all had great a great race. Also to Laura’s husband Devin who took most of the race photos, teammate Christian who seemed to be everywhere cheering us on also taking photos, and the great crew of Triracers volunteering and on the course. Also a huge thank you goes out to Kyle's Bikes and the discount tri supply team for sponsoring me this year. It was an awesome day!
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| Most of the Kyle's Bikes team: Scott, Andy, Christian, Shawn and Laura |
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