Nicole
This is my second year doing the TriFest for MS as a virtual race. Last year I was still rehabbing my hips and a recovering from a bike crash (minor, but it set back my return to running). This year I am in pretty reasonable shape so I was going to treat it more like a race, but hold back a little on the bike as I have a challenging bike ride tomorrow.
Race day wake-up was at 5:30am so I could start ~7am. I was a bit groggy but had a bit of oatmeal and peanut butter, drank some water, and got my gear around. My bike was already in the car, so that saved me a little time. My plan – swim at the Y, then drive to the park-n-ride near the Santa Fe Trail. That way I could get in the 40k bike and be right by the trail for the 10k run.
As I was getting ready to go, I realized I had left my Garmin on overnight, so my start was delayed a bit while I got it on the charger. My planned 7am start turned into a 7:20 start, but fortunately when you do your own race, it’s OK to be late to the starting line!
Swim: (1650yds, 31:58) Nothing really spectacular here. The pool was relatively quiet so I didn’t have trouble getting an open lane. 1500m is about 1650 yards, so that meant 33 laps. I break long sets up into shorter sets, so I had to do 4×8 laps plus one. I’m not the fastest swimmer out there, so if it at least feels like my form is on, I’m happy. Today was a good swim at 31:58. I can be faster if I spend more time on the foam roller…
T1: I didn’t time this, but it included a quick shower to wash out the chlorine, changing into my tri shorts and jersey, and then driving a few miles to the trailhead. Then I had to get my bike out of the car, check the tires, put my bottles on my bike and load my pockets with nutrition and things I might need.
Bike: (24.1mi, 1:38:59) I opted for a different route than last year due to the long climb tomorrow. Last year’s route was great and super hilly, and I’ll actually get to ride a lot of that next weekend at the Patriots’ Festival Ride for Heroes. This time I headed east. It’s not void of hills, just no major climbs.
It was an overcast morning so I was a little cool at the start and on some of the descent sections, but overall a good day to be out. I had a nice tailwind pushing me east, and since this was the climbs, I didn’t complain.
The route was a mix of urban and suburban and plenty of red lights. I kept the watch rolling so my total time includes that. I did, however, stop the watch when I made a couple pit stops. I kept the pace kind of hard, but held back a bit.
Halfway through I was slowed by a somewhat serious car accident in the middle of an intersection. It probably happened a few minutes prior to my arrival – emergency vehicles weren’t yet on the scene. When I rolled through the intersection, I asked one of the guys if they had enough help, and he indicated they had enough people helping and the paramedics were on their way, so I slowly rolled through. I hope the people are ok. Be safe!
The rest of the ride was rolling and then back downhill. The wind had calmed a bit and shifted slightly so what could have been a headwind wasn’t there.
T2: Once back at my car I just loaded up my bike, changed into a running shirt, put on my shoes, grabbed a handheld filled with Skratch, and then started my run.
Run: (6.2mi, 56:18) I didn’t know what my legs would do – I wanted to run strong. I eased into the first mile, and it was net downhill so I was able to hit a faster pace. I suppose I didn’t know what to expect, but was thinking about 9:00/mi would be good. That’s what the first mile was. The next two were around 8:45, then I was heading more “up” on the Santa Fe north of Woodmen. I walked some of these hills and was really looking forward to the turnaround point.
I like heading south on the trail towards Woodmen with the net downhill, but there are a handful of hills to keep things interesting. As I was coming down the finishing stretch I had a target to reel in (just someone out for their run) but it always feels good to pass someone near the finish line! (And my finish was just when my GPS watch showed 6.2mi). I’m happy with this time – it’s a little faster than my 10k at the Legend Tri.
General comments: I challenged myself today and feel good about being able to support the Rampy MS Research Foundation. Next year I’m going to see if it is feasible for me to get to the actual event in Bentonville, Arkansas. Who knows, maybe I’ll do the TriFesta, the super sprint, sprint, and Olympic all in two days.
Now to recover for tomorrow’s ride to Divide…
Nicole
