Back of the Pack Race Report

I was dreading it, my training had slacked off, but as always, race day arrives. This was my second time doing Green Lakes - a 'sprint' triathlon, 800 yard swim, 12.6 mile bike ride, 3.1 mile run. Only crazy triathletes would consider an event over 15 miles a 'sprint'!! :-) I was a little worried going in, not only for my late training breakdown but that we spent Friday night in Rochester at a concert. I slept most of the way home and was in bed by 12:30 with the alarm set for 6 am. Not recommended for the night before a race but unavoidable.

Saturday dawned rainy. I don't mind running in rain, unless it is a torrential downpour, but I don't like to bike in the rain. Slick pavement worries me greatly and the Green Lakes bike course has one killer downhill at the back end that I have no desire to coast down in the rain. However, the rain passed and it turned out to be a beautiful day, perfect race conditions. It got hotter later in the day but in the morning.....perfect!

A and I pulled into the park at about 7:30 am, right ahead of Budge. Wen was already there, set up in the transition area and checked in. We unloaded our cars, got our tires pumped up and head towards the transition area and claimed spots right next to Wen. It was then to the check in. I saw quite a few old faces, Steve, John (who took my first 12 week cycle class so long ago!), Ann.... There was that feeling of excitement, anticipation, dread and nerves that is so common at the beginning of any race.

After heading back to the transition area to suit up, it was time to mill around the beach and wait.

They funnel us one by one into the water, counting. At the end of the swim, we come out of the water in the same manner - one by one, counted. They have to make sure no one is left in the water!

The swim this year was no where as bad as the two previous races I have done. There wasn't the turmoil, the physical contact that I have experienced before. I was also more comfortable in the water this time. All that being said, the swim was still extremely scary and I have no desire to do it again anytime real soon! :-)

I turned over on my back twice to catch my breath, and side stroked twice to site the buoys, but otherwise it was straight crawl for me. There were three buoys placed. An orange one for the seniors to use as a turn point for their 500 yard swim and two for the regular races. As I passed the orange buoy I thought, 'oh man, I am only 250 yards into an 800 yard swim and I am tired and don't want to do this!' However, by the time I reached the first white buoy, I got into my rhythm (as much as I could), tapped each buoy as I went around (I always figure if I am swimming all the way out there to them, I want to touch them!) and I front crawled the rest of the way fairly comfortably.

Out of the water into the transition area, I met up with Budge. I was about 15 seconds behind her. She didn't look all that great. I kept asking her if she had her inhaler and she just wheezed in response. We were roughly together for the first 3 miles of the bike and she recovered very quickly and of course, pulled away from me like I was standing still. I did pass two people on the bike :-) A record for me!

The bike was going along okay for me. I made it up the first big hill and about mile 8 my left cleat came out. I couldn't get it clipped back in. I stopped and looked and the screws had come loose. I checked my kit and didn't find the allen wrench I could have sworn was in there. So I tightened them up with the fingers as much as possible and continued on. I couldn't clip back in but was doing ok as this section of the course was fairly flat. And then came the big hill on the back of the course....It is not uncommon for racers to walk that hill. It does happen. I have never walked the hill. I have gone up it pretty slow but never had to walk. Well, I walked it Saturday :-( I just couldn't get the power I needed with pulling up on my pedal and I couldn't pull up without being clipped in. At one point, I hear this woman coming up behind me asking if I needed a pump or an allen wrench. It was Ann, grinding her way up the hill. I told her my cleat was loose but to keep going. There was no way either of us would have been able to ride up that hill, starting in the middle. So I trudged up it, mounted at the top and enjoyed the ride down, passing a couple of folks. My top speed on the downhill was 37 mph on the dot.

Back to the transition area. It was so great because each time there were a group of people, A and some other friends of ours, shouting and cheering. It really makes a huge difference!

The run was my usual run - grueling. Man, it just hurt. I was almost wishing to be back in the water. Thursday when Wen, Budge and I ran it, we decided that if we met up with each other at the turnoff to the small lake, we would stick together the rest of the way in. Well, Budge was probably finished by the time I started the run, but Wen caught me about a half mile in, so she stuck with me, chatting the whole time, keeping me going.

My time was 3 minutes slower than my first Green Lakes. I think the walk up the hill contributed a little to that. Overall though, we came, we swam/biked/ran, and we finished. Most days that is enough :-)