Reebok sprint triathlon 09/11/2005
Steel lake, federal way, WA
½ mile swim, 12 mile bike, 4.2mile run
The night before the race I packed my bag twice. Making sure i have everything I need. Ate a carbo load dinner (spaghetti). Actually all week I was carbo-loading pasta, pizza (yum!) as well as doing my taper…. Not really working out but walking about a mile a day at lunch at work.
Woke Up at 0430. its a gloomy day. I’m afraid its going to rain buckets again like it did yesterday. Unpack and repack my transition bag. Pack car and rack my bike.
Drink coffee and ate a banana. Drink 16-oz h2o and some Gatorade. Made a ppj sandwich. Take a few bites but can’t eat it.
0515 we drive to federal way. At 0610 somehow I figure out I left the timing chip at home on the kitchen table. Freak out on Steve about it. He says it’s too late to turn around and that I will have to race with out a chip. I say no they will give me a new one, they’ve got to. (Don’t they?) While we’re driving I unpack my bag twice to look for the missing timing chip. Still not there. (I knew that).
Arrive in federal way. Look for parking. The parking lot is a mile away. (I think its more than 2 miles away.)Bitch about that for a while and then Steve drops me and all my gear off about ½ mile away. Walk all my stuff to transition while Steve goes to park the car.
I look for wave #3 and a spot to put my stuff in. all the wave #3 stalls were taken so I go to wave #2 and dump my things. Then I ask the nearest volunteer where I can get a replacement-timing chip. She tells me to go to the volunteer tent. I go to the volunteer tent and they tell me to go to another tent. These people tell me to go to that tent that’s way far away at the end of the park. So I’m running all over the place and finally find the right volunteer tent. They give me a new chip with out any problem at all. Run back to transition and see Shayna. She dumps her stuff next to mine. We chat as we get ready for the swim. Spray my body with PAM. Got my wet suit on with out any problems this time. We head down to the lake and swim start area and look for Steve, Jim, Anastasia (Shaynas daughter in law) Michele and Anne and Anne’s friend Ann. We see everyone. The announcer tells us that were going in waves with elite’s first then yellow wave #2 and pink wave #3 that’s us
They hold the start of the race because a few athletes got stuck in traffic due to an accident.
Its time: Shayna and I walk out onto the dock. Our feet are freezing. My feet are going numb( I’m mumbling ouch ouch ouch the whole way down the dock). It’s a water start so they make us jump in and tread water until the horn goes off. We say good luck to each other and the horn blows…were off.
The lake was warm and pretty clean. I’m feeling good about my swimming. No panic attacks no hyperventilating. Not experiencing shortness of breath. I’m doing the crawl and letting my legs relax. Looking and sighting every once in a while, saying to myself: I am a magnificent swimmer (my friend Maureen told me about this technique). I look around every once in a while for Shayna. I see her a couple of times behind me. Pink caps, red caps and blue caps pass me. And now the purple caps are too. A couple racers swim right into me and over me and don’t say there sorry at all. It pisses me off. I keep on swimming. I have to pee really bad so I roll onto my back and do some back swimming and pee. Eeewwwww. I know its gross but I have to do it. (Doesn’t everyone do it?) Then I flip over and do more crawl stroke. (oops I mean "the freestyle" stroke) The course feels like it is longer than ½ mile. I follow the orange buoys and keep swimming. Finally I’m almost there. I can see land (ahoy matey) and people hanging out at the swim finish. I touch ground and stand up to walk it in. as soon as my body hits the air I’m am freezing. I peel off my goggles and cap and start to unzip my suit. I see Steve and my flip-flops. I’m freezing cold but I have to keep moving. My legs are shaking. Is it from being cold or just those sea legs? So I trot up the hill slipping out of my flip-flops towards transition. I’m so cold but I make it to transition and look at my stuff.
What do I do now? Oh I’ve got to dry off. Take my wet suit off. I'm going to do the bike next so I need my helmet. Put the helmet on. Drink something. Think Robin think. Sit and dry your feet off and put on socks and shoes. Ok there you go. Now take 2 bites of your ppj sandwich and drink. Find your long sleeve top and put that on as well as race belt with number. Look at gloves, pick them up and throw them onto the ground. Sunglasses I need those but its not sunny. Ok, change the lens out and put those on. Grab some GU pack and drink more. See Shayna coming in and talk with her for a bit and then take off. I spent way too much time in transition. It felt like 30 minutes but it was 9 min 40 seconds. Way too long!
I’m so cold and wet. I trot with my bike to the bike ride starting area. My legs still fell wobbly. Then I jump on my bike. I shift it into gear. I’m feeling good even though I’m wet and cold. I can do this though. I bike at a 13 pace for a while. There is a big down hill. I’m flying at 25 pace ( I cant believe I’m going so fast, me who is afraid of speed!) and then a sharp turn. I can do this. I should eat some GU so I do that and drink a bit too. I hate this road (military road) its too bumpy. I’m doing a 10 to 13 pace. I’m riding well. I’ve made it through military road and on my way to Weyerhaeuser. I’m going pretty fast for me. Lots of people are passing me. Am I really that slow? They have higher wave numbers than I do. How can they be so fast? I’m so slow today but I think I’m doing really well for me. Maybe this race is harder than I think. Hummm…. Why is everyone passing me?
I’m climbing the big hill at Weyerhaeuser. Pace 6. I am so happy Steve raised the seat of my bike. I feel like I have more power. I still don’t see Shayna or Michele on the bike. I see 2 women fall over on their bikes. I stop for one (someone else stopped for the other gal) and ask if she needs help if. Is she is ok? She says she is. She says she’s happy she had her helmet on. I ride on. I make the 1st loop and am working on the 2nd (last loop). It’s the big hill again. I’m giving it all I got because I know I don’t have to do it again. I’m smiling. I’m doing well. I’m still so cold and wet. My legs are red. I go down a big hill really fast. I’m flying, yippee! I finish the Weyerhaeuser route and head back to military road. It is so bumpy. I hate it but I am almost finished with the bike portion so I am happy. Make a left turn and there it is a killer hill. It is huge. Can I do it with out getting off my bike? I don’t want to have to walk it. I can do this. I see runners. How can they be so fast and are running already? A runner yells out go balance bar (that’s the team I’m on). Someone else yells out you can do it. Put your gear into a smaller ring. I do that and the hill becomes much easier. I’m thinking how can all these people be running already? Is my time really off? Am I that slow? I make it up the hill and through the end of the bike portion of the race. Back to transition trotting along (my legs feel like Jell-O. I have no control over them). Throw off my helmet and rack my bike. I don’t see Shayna or Michele or Anne. I put my hat on and sip more Gatorade and water. 2 more bite of pbj sandwich. Re-tie my shoes. Walk out of transition over to the run. I am 2/3 of the way done. I am doing it
I’m feeling good. Walk up the steep dirt trail called zz hill. Then start running. I haven’t seen Steve in such a long time. Hope he’s having fun. I saw Shaynas husband once and haven’t seen my friend Suzanne at all. She’s volunteering today.
I do my walk run walk routine. Walk up the hills run down and run the flats. I’m feeling pretty good. No knee pain. These orthotics are helping me. I am so glad I got them. There are rolling hills on the first part on the run. They are pretty hard. I see a water station so I keep my eye on that. I pass through it drinking water and cytomax. Then turn left and run the flats, turn left again through subdivision. Before I know it I’m doing the second lap on zz hill. I walk up it and do this loop all over again. I’m smiling because I know I don’t have to do it again. Run walk run-through the rolling hills. My right foot starts to hurt. Right under my arch. I’m getting a blister. Ouch it hurts to run and walk. But I keep going. Pass through water station again, drinking more fluids. I think I’m doing well but have no clue as to my time. There have been a few spectators on the course cheering us on. It was nice. I thank the volunteers along the way. I think to my self as I run walk run that I don’t have to do this portion again. I’m almost to the end of the street in the subdivision. Then onto a dirt trail that leads into the park and to the finish line. I decide to run the rest of the way in. Ignoring the blister that is getting worse. I hear cheers and clapping. I smile and keep running. I’m doing it. I see the finish line and pump it up a bit. I hear my name as I cross the finish line. I see Suzanne at the finish line. She cuts off my timing chip off of my ankle. We hug and chat for a minute. And I go and get some water. Someone puts a medal around my neck. I did it! I am a triathlete. I get some food: banana, bagel and power bar. Down more water. Find Steve and have him hold all my food. He introduces me to an older lady whom he chatted with about me loosing my timing chip. We talk a bit. I see Patty from balance bar. We chat a bit too. I then see Shayna cross the finish line. She looks good and strong. I am so proud of her. Yaahooo she did it too! I’m feeling really good but I am freezing, so I tell Steve I want to go to transition to get my jacket and sweat pants. We go to transition and I wrap myself up into a large beach towel. I undress and redress under the towel. Sweat pants and fleece jacket. Ah much better. I pack up all my stuff and carry it out of transition. The transition volunteers check the number on my arm against the number on my bike. I’m let free. Steve helps me carry all my stuff. We go back to the finish line and I see Yvonne and Emily and Deborah. We chat a bit and then I see Michele and Anne. They are still waiting for Ann to finish their relay. We park my stuff along the fence and cheer the racers that cross the finish line. The RD announces the 1,2,3rd place winners and does the raffles. Finally at 3-hrs 20 min they announce the last person is coming to the finish line with a police escort. Its team annemicheleann. Everyone claps and cheers her in. then the race is over. I didn’t see Shayna or her daughter in law post race. I say good bye to Anne and Michele. Steve and I head to our car. Walking about a mile to the parkinglot (it still feels like several miles away). We run into Patty again. We chat some more and then she hands me a box of balance bars (chocolate ones, yummy!). Steve and I go home. I get a bubble bath, and move slow. I'm headachy so I drink more Gatorade and have warm veggie soup. All day i replenish by drinking water and coke. Eventually I get around to cleaning my stuff up from the race but most importantly I relax,sleep,watch tv. It was a good day. :)
Time 2:25:53 354 out of 378
div place 29 out of 34 (div 45 -49 y/o)
swim 26:26
t1 9:40
bike 52:50
t2 2:33
run 54:27
Would I do this race again? You betcha! It was fun even though it was gloomy and cold. It was challenging enough for me with out being too challenging. Next time I’m going to dress warmer by taking my time changing clothes in the porta potty. i want to be dry.
Reebok sprint triathlon 09/11/2005
Steel lake, federal way, WA
½ mile swim, 12 mile bike, 4.2mile run
The night before the race I packed my bag twice. Making sure i have everything I need. Ate a carbo load dinner (spaghetti). Actually all week I was carbo-loading pasta, pizza (yum!) as well as doing my taper…. Not really working out but walking about a mile a day at lunch at work.
Woke Up at 0430. its a gloomy day. I’m afraid its going to rain buckets again like it did yesterday. Unpack and repack my transition bag. Pack car and rack my bike.
Drink coffee and ate a banana. Drink 16-oz h2o and some Gatorade. Made a ppj sandwich. Take a few bites but can’t eat it.
0515 we drive to federal way. At 0610 somehow I figure out I left the timing chip at home on the kitchen table. Freak out on Steve about it. He says it’s too late to turn around and that I will have to race with out a chip. I say no they will give me a new one, they’ve got to. (Don’t they?) While we’re driving I unpack my bag twice to look for the missing timing chip. Still not there. (I knew that).
Arrive in federal way. Look for parking. The parking lot is a mile away. (I think its more than 2 miles away.)Bitch about that for a while and then Steve drops me and all my gear off about ½ mile away. Walk all my stuff to transition while Steve goes to park the car.
I look for wave #3 and a spot to put my stuff in. all the wave #3 stalls were taken so I go to wave #2 and dump my things. Then I ask the nearest volunteer where I can get a replacement-timing chip. She tells me to go to the volunteer tent. I go to the volunteer tent and they tell me to go to another tent. These people tell me to go to that tent that’s way far away at the end of the park. So I’m running all over the place and finally find the right volunteer tent. They give me a new chip with out any problem at all. Run back to transition and see Shayna. She dumps her stuff next to mine. We chat as we get ready for the swim. Spray my body with PAM. Got my wet suit on with out any problems this time. We head down to the lake and swim start area and look for Steve, Jim, Anastasia (Shaynas daughter in law) Michele and Anne and Anne’s friend Ann. We see everyone. The announcer tells us that were going in waves with elite’s first then yellow wave #2 and pink wave #3 that’s us
They hold the start of the race because a few athletes got stuck in traffic due to an accident.
Its time: Shayna and I walk out onto the dock. Our feet are freezing. My feet are going numb( I’m mumbling ouch ouch ouch the whole way down the dock). It’s a water start so they make us jump in and tread water until the horn goes off. We say good luck to each other and the horn blows…were off.
The lake was warm and pretty clean. I’m feeling good about my swimming. No panic attacks no hyperventilating. Not experiencing shortness of breath. I’m doing the crawl and letting my legs relax. Looking and sighting every once in a while, saying to myself: I am a magnificent swimmer (my friend Maureen told me about this technique). I look around every once in a while for Shayna. I see her a couple of times behind me. Pink caps, red caps and blue caps pass me. And now the purple caps are too. A couple racers swim right into me and over me and don’t say there sorry at all. It pisses me off. I keep on swimming. I have to pee really bad so I roll onto my back and do some back swimming and pee. Eeewwwww. I know its gross but I have to do it. (Doesn’t everyone do it?) Then I flip over and do more crawl stroke. (oops I mean "the freestyle" stroke) The course feels like it is longer than ½ mile. I follow the orange buoys and keep swimming. Finally I’m almost there. I can see land (ahoy matey) and people hanging out at the swim finish. I touch ground and stand up to walk it in. as soon as my body hits the air I’m am freezing. I peel off my goggles and cap and start to unzip my suit. I see Steve and my flip-flops. I’m freezing cold but I have to keep moving. My legs are shaking. Is it from being cold or just those sea legs? So I trot up the hill slipping out of my flip-flops towards transition. I’m so cold but I make it to transition and look at my stuff.
What do I do now? Oh I’ve got to dry off. Take my wet suit off. I'm going to do the bike next so I need my helmet. Put the helmet on. Drink something. Think Robin think. Sit and dry your feet off and put on socks and shoes. Ok there you go. Now take 2 bites of your ppj sandwich and drink. Find your long sleeve top and put that on as well as race belt with number. Look at gloves, pick them up and throw them onto the ground. Sunglasses I need those but its not sunny. Ok, change the lens out and put those on. Grab some GU pack and drink more. See Shayna coming in and talk with her for a bit and then take off. I spent way too much time in transition. It felt like 30 minutes but it was 9 min 40 seconds. Way too long!
I’m so cold and wet. I trot with my bike to the bike ride starting area. My legs still fell wobbly. Then I jump on my bike. I shift it into gear. I’m feeling good even though I’m wet and cold. I can do this though. I bike at a 13 pace for a while. There is a big down hill. I’m flying at 25 pace ( I cant believe I’m going so fast, me who is afraid of speed!) and then a sharp turn. I can do this. I should eat some GU so I do that and drink a bit too. I hate this road (military road) its too bumpy. I’m doing a 10 to 13 pace. I’m riding well. I’ve made it through military road and on my way to Weyerhaeuser. I’m going pretty fast for me. Lots of people are passing me. Am I really that slow? They have higher wave numbers than I do. How can they be so fast? I’m so slow today but I think I’m doing really well for me. Maybe this race is harder than I think. Hummm…. Why is everyone passing me?
I’m climbing the big hill at Weyerhaeuser. Pace 6. I am so happy Steve raised the seat of my bike. I feel like I have more power. I still don’t see Shayna or Michele on the bike. I see 2 women fall over on their bikes. I stop for one (someone else stopped for the other gal) and ask if she needs help if. Is she is ok? She says she is. She says she’s happy she had her helmet on. I ride on. I make the 1st loop and am working on the 2nd (last loop). It’s the big hill again. I’m giving it all I got because I know I don’t have to do it again. I’m smiling. I’m doing well. I’m still so cold and wet. My legs are red. I go down a big hill really fast. I’m flying, yippee! I finish the Weyerhaeuser route and head back to military road. It is so bumpy. I hate it but I am almost finished with the bike portion so I am happy. Make a left turn and there it is a killer hill. It is huge. Can I do it with out getting off my bike? I don’t want to have to walk it. I can do this. I see runners. How can they be so fast and are running already? A runner yells out go balance bar (that’s the team I’m on). Someone else yells out you can do it. Put your gear into a smaller ring. I do that and the hill becomes much easier. I’m thinking how can all these people be running already? Is my time really off? Am I that slow? I make it up the hill and through the end of the bike portion of the race. Back to transition trotting along (my legs feel like Jell-O. I have no control over them). Throw off my helmet and rack my bike. I don’t see Shayna or Michele or Anne. I put my hat on and sip more Gatorade and water. 2 more bite of pbj sandwich. Re-tie my shoes. Walk out of transition over to the run. I am 2/3 of the way done. I am doing it
I’m feeling good. Walk up the steep dirt trail called zz hill. Then start running. I haven’t seen Steve in such a long time. Hope he’s having fun. I saw Shaynas husband once and haven’t seen my friend Suzanne at all. She’s volunteering today.
I do my walk run walk routine. Walk up the hills run down and run the flats. I’m feeling pretty good. No knee pain. These orthotics are helping me. I am so glad I got them. There are rolling hills on the first part on the run. They are pretty hard. I see a water station so I keep my eye on that. I pass through it drinking water and cytomax. Then turn left and run the flats, turn left again through subdivision. Before I know it I’m doing the second lap on zz hill. I walk up it and do this loop all over again. I’m smiling because I know I don’t have to do it again. Run walk run-through the rolling hills. My right foot starts to hurt. Right under my arch. I’m getting a blister. Ouch it hurts to run and walk. But I keep going. Pass through water station again, drinking more fluids. I think I’m doing well but have no clue as to my time. There have been a few spectators on the course cheering us on. It was nice. I thank the volunteers along the way. I think to my self as I run walk run that I don’t have to do this portion again. I’m almost to the end of the street in the subdivision. Then onto a dirt trail that leads into the park and to the finish line. I decide to run the rest of the way in. Ignoring the blister that is getting worse. I hear cheers and clapping. I smile and keep running. I’m doing it. I see the finish line and pump it up a bit. I hear my name as I cross the finish line. I see Suzanne at the finish line. She cuts off my timing chip off of my ankle. We hug and chat for a minute. And I go and get some water. Someone puts a medal around my neck. I did it! I am a triathlete. I get some food: banana, bagel and power bar. Down more water. Find Steve and have him hold all my food. He introduces me to an older lady whom he chatted with about me loosing my timing chip. We talk a bit. I see Patty from balance bar. We chat a bit too. I then see Shayna cross the finish line. She looks good and strong. I am so proud of her. Yaahooo she did it too! I’m feeling really good but I am freezing, so I tell Steve I want to go to transition to get my jacket and sweat pants. We go to transition and I wrap myself up into a large beach towel. I undress and redress under the towel. Sweat pants and fleece jacket. Ah much better. I pack up all my stuff and carry it out of transition. The transition volunteers check the number on my arm against the number on my bike. I’m let free. Steve helps me carry all my stuff. We go back to the finish line and I see Yvonne and Emily and Deborah. We chat a bit and then I see Michele and Anne. They are still waiting for Ann to finish their relay. We park my stuff along the fence and cheer the racers that cross the finish line. The RD announces the 1,2,3rd place winners and does the raffles. Finally at 3-hrs 20 min they announce the last person is coming to the finish line with a police escort. Its team annemicheleann. Everyone claps and cheers her in. then the race is over. I didn’t see Shayna or her daughter in law post race. I say good bye to Anne and Michele. Steve and I head to our car. Walking about a mile to the parkinglot (it still feels like several miles away). We run into Patty again. We chat some more and then she hands me a box of balance bars (chocolate ones, yummy!). Steve and I go home. I get a bubble bath, and move slow. I'm headachy so I drink more Gatorade and have warm veggie soup. All day i replenish by drinking water and coke. Eventually I get around to cleaning my stuff up from the race but most importantly I relax,sleep,watch tv. It was a good day. :)
Time 2:25:53 354 out of 378
div place 29 out of 34 (div 45 -49 y/o)
swim 26:26
t1 9:40
bike 52:50
t2 2:33
run 54:27
Would I do this race again? You betcha! It was fun even though it was gloomy and cold. It was challenging enough for me with out being too challenging. Next time I’m going to dress warmer by taking my time changing clothes in the porta potty. i want to be dry.