Wednesday, May 30, 2007

GJCC Triathlon: Race Report

Ok, here's the story for the GJCC Tri. I had originally signed myself and Briar up for this thing because he said he wanted to do it, and I was going to do it with him. Well, between end-of-school activities, baseball, my trip to MIM, baseball season, and a stomach virus that lasted 3 days, I really didn't feel he had gotten enough training in to feel comfortable. So when I got an email from Team-Magic stating that the race was sold out, and that if you needed to cancel they would credit your registration fee if you volunteered for the event, I knew right away that was the thing for Briar to do. That way, he doesn't have to do an event he's not ready for, and I can get my money back for his registration fee by signing him up to volunteer. So that I did.

Race morning...I pulled Briar out of bed at 4:40 then opened the garage door to find Michele sitting in my driveway ready to go (she was going as a cheerleader). We took off to Nashville, and I actually made a wrong turn getting off of I-440 and we lost a few minutes but we were still plenty early. Due to the wrong, Michele got an awesome pic of the Nashville sunrise - check it out.

We finally made it to the race site shortly after 6 a.m. and saw David right off the bat. This was David's first tri!! We got Briar checked in with the volunteers, then I went over to get body-marked by TriSonq. He made fun of me for my serious look...haha...and called it my game face. I always laugh about people saying this, because I do have a naturally "serious look" on my face most of the time. If you didn't know me, you might think I was ticked off a lot, but I'm not...I'm just usually thinking about what I should be doing, or what needs to be done next, or what I could get done later....anyways, enough of that. Trisonq wrote "88" all over me and I enjoyed having a double digit race number...I don't think that's ever happened before.

We also met up with Laurie, Amy, and Don. I was glad to finally meet Laurie...if you can call it "meet"....because I felt like I had known her for a long time. This was her first tri, and she totally rocked it, taking 1st place in her age group!! This was also Amy's and Don's first tri. Amy has been training for almost a year now, and it showed - she flew through that course with a smile on her face and didn't even act like it hurt her!!! She also placed really well in her age group. And Don, well, Don was amazing. First of all, he beat me in the swim, and even said he got held up by slower swimmers a few times. Being as though my swim is the most improved part of my training...I am very impressed. By the time he does another one, he is going to smoke me with no problem. His bike was incredibly strong, and his run was great as well. He missed 3rd place in his age group by only a few seconds.

So here's how the race went for me...I got passed right off the bat in the swim and was pissed. I didn't get passed again, but I didn't pass anyone else either...not sure what happened there, but my time was 4:11....I was looking for under 4:00. Transition went well, except for trying to mount my bike when I couldn't get clipped in for some reason...it took me forever to get going. But once I got going, I felt great. I passed tons of people and one of them (a 41 yr old male) passed me back, then I passed him back, and he passed me for the last time as we rolled into transition. My bike time was 28:03, second best overall female bike time.

That guy who had passed me beat me out of transition by a few seconds, and took off for the run at a pretty good pace. I stayed within about 15 yards of him, then picked it up a little. I believe he was slowing down at the same time, because I was reeling him in quickly. I passed him after about a half mile, and there was no re passing by him this time(YE-AH!). But it wouldn't be fair if I didn't mention that I got passed like I was sitting still by the girl who went on to win 1st Overall. Dude, she was flying...

I pushed the run pretty hard. It was just 2 miles and I wanted to see what I could do. At the turn around I saw that I was barely over a 7 min mile. I even got to that point with about a quarter of a mile to go where I started to panic, thinking-

"Oh dear, I can't make it...this pace is too much and I can't hold it to the end, but slowing down's not gonna help...I need to walk...I can't walk during a 2 mile run!!!!...

Then I heard the crowd, then saw the crowd, and decided I could make it....whew...then I heard Michele yelling for me as I made the turn to the finish. As I crossed the finish line, Briar handed me a bottle of water - he was the water boy in the finish chute! Run time was 15:28. The bike and run times include transition.

Afterwards I went out to yell for all the others...I saw my friend Ross (who took 2nd place in his age group) and chatted with his wife and met their new baby boy. Then Michele and I cheered for Don, Amy, David, Laurie, and everybody else as they all came in looking great!

My final time was 48:08, and good enough for 3rd Overall Female. I'll take it...

16 comments:

Michele said...

You looked awesome out there.

Congrats on your overall finish, I knew you would do it.

Great report.

E-Speed said...

girl you are just crushing these races. Great job! Those water bottles look huge!

DV said...

dude, you should have hit the blackjack tables after your luck after last race!

great job lana! your training is paying off in a major way...

Joe said...

Third overall? Third overall? OMG, that's freaking awesome!

Anonymous said...

What a great race and a great report. It was really cool having Briar handing out the water at the finish line!

Brooke said...

Awesome race. How great that Briar was there to volunteer.

Laurie said...

Hey Lana!! That's was a really fun race, wasn't it?? I can't wait for the Mach Tenn this weekend. See you there!!!

Kate said...

It seems as if your more balanced approach to training is working out great.

You seem happy, look strong, and you're moving F-A-S-T!!

Awesome work Lana!

Rae said...

Way to go!!! 3rd female is AWESOME!!! How exciting!!!

Janet Edwards said...

Aghh, what a cute pic of Briar. It sounds like everything worked out well in the end. Congrats on the overall finish!!!

Lance Notstrong said...

3rd overall female? That's pretty awesome for someone who "hasn't been training"!!! Maybe you needed the rest :-)

Phil said...

Congratulations on 3rd place finish. That must have felt great. I loved your comment about getting pissed when someone passed you in the water. Of course, in a tri, you've always got the opportunity to catch them on the bike or the run. I know what it's like to get passed by a determined 30 something female. You just shake it off an wish them luck 'cause there is no catching them.

Great race Lana.

Bridgette said...

You are absolutely rockin! If you ever move to Columbus, I'm definitely hitting u up to be a training buddy. :)

Congrats on the TERRIFIC race!

Unknown said...

Way to go, Lana! I'm just getting caught up on all my blogging after my tooth mess. But I want you to know I haven't forgotten you and I'm so impressed with your efforts!

Papa Louie said...

Congratulations on placing 3rd overall! Good job!

Runner Susan said...

Congrats on 3rd! That is awesome!