Yay, its race time! They reckon there are only 2 states, waiting to race and racing! Well I'm pleased that I can stop waiting to race and actually get out and race!!
Not the best day weather wise alas, when I got up I could see that it had rained but it was warm so I was about to head out in normal cycle kit, then it started to rain so I added a layer and quickly grabbed an extra pair of leggings for after. Nearly managed to sleep in, I set my alarm for 5am to give myself plenty of time to get up and have brekky etc, somehow managed to not set my alarm to go off every 5mins like normal so woke up again at 5.40! Eek, luckily I had set Geoff's alarm as a back-up to go off at 6am.
Put my brekky in a plastic container to eat while waiting in transition, fed the dog and jumped on my bike to cycle down to the start in the pissing rain. No point setting out transition until the weather cleared which it did for long enough to give some hope before starting again! Oh well, stuff gets wet anyway right? And at least I would be able to see in the rain this year!
I managed to remember to hit my lap timer on my HRM at each transition entry and exit so have split times for myself! Yay!
Swim (includes run to transition entry) - 2.23mins
Swim went pretty well, 100m should do tho given how much swimming I have been doing, I managed to get myself on the inside by the lane rope which was good and had a nice clean turn around at the pool which put me in the lead for my wave, yay! Passed another couple of ladies as well, then ran off to T1.
T1 - 1.06mins
No dramas, wondered why I bothered to put talc in my shoes as the rain had washed it all away by now, lovely wet helmet to put on as well!
Cycle - (includes run from transition exit to the cycle mount) 20.31mins
Cycle went well, I could feel the burn in my legs from yesterday's run! Phwoarr, they knew they had done some kms yesterday. Took it easy on the corners due to the rain, I didn't want to risk sliding off on a corner just to gain half a second or so. Didn't use my aerobars on the way out as it seemed a bit slippy but decided to use them on the way back in and had no issues so that was good. And I managed a nice clean turn around on the bike as well, we all know how much I don't love doing U-turns on my bike! Must have bumped my wheel sensor when cleaning my bike yesterday as I only had cadence and no speed showing on my bike computer so rode by feel which was quite nice, I must have been going at a reasonable clip as no-one passed me which was cool.
T2 - 1.03mins
Slipped my feet out of my shoes while on my bike so just had to remove my helmet and put my runners on, again wondering why I had bothered to talc my shoes. Left shoe was fine, then my right calf decided to cramp while I was trying to get the second shoe on! Not fun, I tried a couple of times before doing a wee dance and swearing, then I just told myself to breathe and it went on fine! Grr! Put my race belt on as I headed off for the run, had a quick look at my watch and figured I would be about the same time as last year and was ok with that.
Run - 15.04mins
Felt pretty good on the run, was worried my legs wouldn't want to play after yesterday's run and feeling the burn on my bike. Passed Kathryn as I headed out on the run, give her a big well done and said I would see her at the end. Run was great today, I encouraged a couple of other girls along who had stopped for a walk, people always used to do that to me which was cool so it's nice to be able to pay back the encouragement. Normally on the run there is just a parade of people passing me which can be kinda demoralising to be honest, well today I was only passed by 2 people!! One of which was Lynette and given that I had passed her just after the bike turn around and given her a hurry along I figured this was ok, especially as I bet she had been chasing me down since then! So pretty stoked with the run, except for the fact that a certain coach who shall remain nameless was out on the course taking piccies! Really tho, it was kinda nice to have Richard out there cheering us all on!
Total time - by my reckoning is about 40.10mins.
Last year was 42.55mins, kind of exciting to have an improvement that big given the training I have done this week. For a bit of a giggle I went back and looked at my previous years results and in 2005 that same race took me 48.59mins and I realistically didn't see how I could go any faster at the time! Progress is good!
Pics are up: http://www.nzinsure.com/gallery/2008/
Chris has done well, of the 3 photos of me, 2 are ok and 1 is not, thats not a bad ratio!
Well done to all the other girls who did the tri today, it wasn't the best weather for it but it was a great day out nonetheless!
I'm feeling quite pooped eh, more from the early start than anything else I think. So I have been to the library and have a couple of good books so am settling in for a nice afternoon on the couch. I also figured my improvement needed a reward so I got my nails done while I was at the mall. Lucky I did all the housework yesterday cos I'm not doing anything now in case I ruin my nails! haha
19 comments:
How exciting to see those types of improvements, especially knowing you competed after such a full-on training day yesterday.
It's amazing how the body adapts and what is quite normal for your body now to endure you'd not have considered when you began a few years back.
Good on you for spoiling yourself with a treat.
Brilliant! I was so looking forward to hearing how it went, so thanks for not keeping us in suspense! So where were your gains - on the run or across all legs? Will now have some fun perusing all the pics. :)
Hiya, I guess most of the gains were in the run, when I headed out on the run I was thinking 17-18mins so was pretty stoked with 15mins. Makes a difference when ya don't walk eh! Everything went really smoothly as well which helps, except for that wee cramping moment in T2.
Aah the pics! hmmmm
Results are up....
I was 7th in my age group, overall 14th with a time of 40.08 so that is pretty cool.
I race in the toughest category eh, that 30-39 age group is competitive!
Had I been a young'un I would have podiumed! If I was in the 40-49 I would have been 4th!
Wicked! Thats huge improvements so I'm pretty happy right now!
Crikey girl, that means you did 5 minute kms straight off the bike in that final run. Groan... I have lots of work to do!! :)
Yeah but who knows how accurate that course really is? Normally I run between 5.30 and 6min kms. I was pushing it tho, ave HR for the 40mins was 161, no slacking today! No fair comparing, I reckon you would whip my ass in a straight running race anyday!
ohhhhhhhh a close one, well done! i'm pretty stoked with my placing as well, considering my lack of running over the winter. I was surprised i was able to run at that speed. zarnia
PS hill ride was fun! a magpie tried to knock me of me bike.
I know, I know, it's naughty to compare! But heck, you've got admit that 15 minutes for 3km off the bike reads well so don't go saying it might have been short measured!! Great result (just reading through them now). Zarnia was hot on your heels too - I didn't see her amongst the pics.
Snap!
Hehehe, yep Zarnia, I bet you are working out where you could have made up the 17seconds.....
I have been wondering how I gain the 6secs back on Lynette :)
Pleased your ride went ok, I hope you waited till it finally became nice out!
Is that Lynette Johnstone you're talking about? She's such a little squeak of a woman, I didn't realise she was that quick!
Yep thats her, she's pretty quick! Crumbs, that must mean I am almost quick then! I have been having a real giggle looking at my old results eh! Aahhh, life is just better now!
hahahaha, most likely my swimming! :)
nope went home had something to eat and then went straight back out again, it cleared up when i got to sumner. Good job i rechecked the programme when i got home, i was all set to do long bays thinking i had to do longer (must remember to delete the old programmes when changes are made!)
no one else up the summit road just me and the magpie!
my finishing photo is shocking! :) must remember to practice that.
zarnia
Ahh the magpies! Little buggers aren't they!
Good on you for getting your ride in, I kept trying to have a nap on the couch, I was very unsuccessful!
Hmm yeah the finishing pics are interesting, let's hope Richard got better ones of us all :)
Oh I love those pics....love it how all sorts of women do those events....it's great! What number were you chick??
Hi, number 84 :)
Oh sweet.. I'm jealous haven't done a tri in ages. Kinda miss the small fun events that were. Is bigger really better?? Oh getting philosical (sorry can't spell that one)...
I did think yesterday that it was probably a it cold for a tri, and slightly glad that I wasn't out there doing it.
I'm such a dork!! I've just been flicking back through the photos. I thought I had you picked out when I went through them on Sunday, whereas I've just realised I had you completely wrong!!
I didn't even recognise you from that close-up shot but thought "That trisuit looks like Nades's!". You looked the part so much that I decided to try and find out who the person was. I even figured that 'she' appeared to be in the 20-29 age group (flattered?!), but I couldn't see the 84 race number in the results for that group. Doh - it suddenly dawned on me that it was YOU I was looking at! Ha ha. Gee, you're looking so good!!
Excellent job! Thanks for posting your race report! Have a wonderful tri season.
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