Race Report - Age Group Nationals

[keweenawlove]

I had intentions of writing this out last week but things
got crazy. Here’s my age-group nationals race report from Milwaukee. Overall, it was an okay
race for me. The triathlon I had been targeting as my "A race" for the summer was
the weekend before and I wasn’t sure how recovered I would be. I was in this
one more for the experience.

The transition zone was crazy. This was by far the biggest tri I had ever been to. I felt really intimidated putting my non-tri bike onto the rack. Bike check-in was Friday night. I dropped mine off around 3 to try to get out of downtown before rush hour. My mom and I were staying in the western suburbs with some family friends. The guy was racing both the olympic and sprint races and a very experience triathlete (multiple IMs, nationals) so he was able to help us with a lot of the logistics.


We left the house around 6 am to get our transition zones set up before it closed. I was one of the last age-groups out so I had almost 3 hours to kill. My mom's friend took us to a coffee shop on the water where I could just sit and relax. About 45 minutes before my start, I headed to the start area to warm up and watch some of the other waves go off.



The swim start wasn't as bad as I had expected. My age group was around 150 girls. I was a little nervous to swim in Lake Michigan with the potential for some pretty choppy water but the swim was completely contained in a break-walled area and the water was nice and calm. I got pretty boxed in at the start but by the 2nd buoy, I felt pretty smooth. I was feeling good until about 100 yards from the exit. My calf completely seized up. I'd never had it happen that bad before. I could swim fine but I was really worried about running on it when I got out of the water. Luckily I was able to loosen it up before getting out of the water.

After a smooth (but long) transition, I was off on the bike. I loved the course. We stayed along the water for most of the course with some nice gentle hills. The biggest climb was over a freeway bridge which was really cool to go over. My goal had been to try to stay close to 20 mph. I finished a little slower but was happy with my bike.



I'm always really excited to get to the run to do "my" sport. I ended up heading out with the girl in the slot next to me. We ran together for the first mile before she dropped back. I felt really good for the first 2 miles and might have got a little carried away (shooting for 8:00 miles, ended up with 2 7:45s) by the 5K mark, I was really to be done. I was exhausted. It probably didn't help that we ran right by a beach with tiki bars that looked a lot more appealing. I slowed down a little but started to get a second wind when I could hear the announcers at the finish line to kick it up for the last mile. I ended up finishing in 2:45:46. A few minutes slower than I would have liked but for back-to-back tri weekends. I was pretty happy.

Times
1500 m swim: 31:58 (damn calf cramp)
T1: 3:08
40K Bike: 1:17:31, 19.2 mph
T2: 1:55
10K Run: 51:18 (8:15 miles)
Total: 2:45:46

Wow, that got long. One more pic to AW my mom. She did the sprint the next day and finished 22nd in her age group and is on the back-up list for worlds!

[texassmith]

That's awesome! And WOW about your mom! Y'all rock!

[shorewife]

I've been waiting for your report! Also jealous that you know how to put pics in
So maybe you and I were the only 2 without tri bikes there then!? I was glad I was in the 2nd wave - I can't imagine having to wait so long to start. You really killed this race - congrats!!!

[Brit]

Great job! That's so cool that your mom was racing too!

[kams]

I've been waiting for this!!! Awesome job!! You AND your mom!!

[sadlebred]

Congratulations!!!

[libbygrl109]

Great job to both you and your mom!

[katinthehat]

that's absolutely incredible - you both are smoking!

[dmxm]

Fantastic! Congrats to you and your mom! Great genes!

[clseale]

How cute are you guys?! This is so awesome! Congrats to you both!!

[joenali]

Fantastic race!! Live the pics !

[cinco]

Awesome job!

[keweenawlove]

Thanks everyone

Aug 21, 2013 12:26:56 GMT -5 shorewife said:

I've been waiting for your report! Also jealous that you know how to put pics in
So maybe you and I were the only 2 without tri bikes there then!? I was glad I was in the 2nd wave - I can't imagine having to wait so long to start. You really killed this race - congrats!!!

Just upload them to photobucket, then copy and paste the link into the insert image spot.

The girl next to me didn't have a tri bike either so there was at least one other. She still had the baskets on her pedals so I was a step above her.

[joenali]

Also, I don't have a tri bike either!!

[shauni27]

Great recap--you and your mom should both be proud!

[sassystace]

Great job! Your mom is pretty awesome too!