Training Log Archive: syd

Event: MI Titanium Tri
 

Swim (2 loops)

Started off at 7 a.m. in one wave with all the full athletes. Water temp was 77.7, so I was able to wear my wetsuit! The swim went pretty well. I started a little too far forward in the pack, so I got passed by quite a few swimmers on the first stretch, but after about a half of the first lap everyone had settled in and it calmed down. Finished my first loop in 42 min, which was right where I wanted to be. Never felt too tired, but I did slow down a little on the second loop. Exited the water at the same time as the first half athlete (they started an hour later).

Bike (2 loops)

The bike was a big out and back with a small loop on the end. It was pretty windy, so there was a nice tailwind on the way out…but that meant a not very fun headwind on the way back. A lot of half athletes passed me on the first loop. I just tried to do my own thing, I didn’t want to get sucked into a fast pace since I still had another lap to go. I did pass a few back on the hills headed back to the turnaround, so that gave me a bit of a boost. It started raining around mile 52, and was pouring by the time I got to the turn around. Those last few miles felt like they took forever. Finished the first loop in 3:20, really close to my goal time. I psyched myself up for the second loop by getting really excited about going from a headwind into the driving rain to a tailwind with the rain.

Started looking for BF after the turnaround and saw him about 5 mi (?) back. It rained for a few more miles and then petered out. Whew. The second loop was definitely more difficult. I was able to see someone for most of the lap, but there were far less people around. Stopped once at mile 70 to stretch, probably only 2-3 min. I was skeptical of the bottle exchanges, but now I’m a fan, it was so convenient. Headed back into the wind was when I really started feeling my legs. I didn’t want to push, since I knew I still had a lot left, so I just chugged along. I got rained on once more. Turned a corner up a hill into the wind and into a downpour. Ugh. It was raining so hard it stung. Luckily that only lasted for a few minutes and that was the last time it rained. Leapfrogged a couple guys on the last stretch. I’d pass them on the ups and they’d pass me back on the downs.

Run (4 loops)

This run was so much harder than I ever could have imagined. My strategy going in was to run a comfortable/fast pace from the start since I knew I was going to run out of steam. Then hopefully the initial faster miles could balance out the slower miles later on. First loop I felt good, 9:15 pace, maybe a little too speedy? Continued to feel good through half of the second loop. On the way back I started walking at the aid stations, but I still kept up a decent pace (9:56). And then my legs ran out of steam. It suddenly made sense why I saw so many people walking. At this point it took everything I had in me to keep up a jog, if I was moving faster than a 12 min/mi pace I was happy. I walked by each aid station, finished eating and then started running again whenever I could muster the mental strength to force my legs into motion. The positive side of moving so slowly was my stomach was fine with eating anything. I had oranges and bananas, which were awesome, lots of Gatorade. Accidentally grabbed pickle juice once thinking it was Gatorade, that was pretty gross. Lap 3 was mentally the toughest, mainly because I knew I still had to go back out one more time. Lap 4 was physically the most difficult, but it was a lot easier mentally knowing I was so close to the end.

Overall, I’m super excited that I finished and really happy with my time. Splits and results:

Swim 1:27:23
T1 4:42
Bike 6:59:14
T2 5:12
Run 4:51:05
TOTAL 13:27:39

32/83 overall
9/19 women
2/2 age group

They had recently stoned/oiled the first part of Pontiac Trail, so that wasn't very fun. Rest of the ride was nice.

C • FYI, they just did it to 3

100 ez
1500 (30:08)
50 ez