NicoleRACE DAY.
This is my last tri of the 2018 season, and I’m not sure when my next triathlon will be. I’ve been doing this for 13 years, even through hip surgeries and a broken elbow, so it’s time for more non-structured training. So I headed into the day as kind of a last-tri hurrah. And why not have it be the Age Group National Championships?
The alarm sang its tune at 4am and the day began. With my bike already in transition and the shuttle stop from downtown being a block and a half away, it was an easy prep. I had everything in a backpack for “Super Sherpa” Rudy. A 10-ish minute school bus ride later we were just outside the race venue. My timing plan was right on track to give me plenty of time to get set up, do a jog warm-up, and visit the bathroom a couple times. I was in the 2nd wave, which meant less waiting around and most likely calmer conditions.
SWIM. A little long – I had 1900+ yards on my watch and I swam pretty straight. There was some chop and swells, but nothing too intense. The water was warm, almost 76 but I opted not to wear a wetsuit as I knew I’d get too warm in it. The swim was very typical of my tri career! I felt comfortable and reasonably strong, but just move slow. I was constantly with the “breast stroker” – the one who isn’t comfortable with freestyle for very long so switches over to breast stroke. They are dangerous to be near, but somehow I’m like a magnet for these swimmers in the water. I haven’t had the time to swim a ton of volume this season, so I just had to accept the swim for what it was.
T1: Run in the nice sand out of the water through the parking lot and then to the grass field of transition. I figured it would take around 5 minutes and it did. Nothing really remarkable here. Other than my posture and facial expression! I’ll chalk it up to me mentally trying to shake off that swim!
BIKE. I really enjoyed the course. There were some great views of Lake Erie, a bit of a tour of the city, and plenty of shade. But it wasn’t too hot yet (nor was it going to get very hot) so the riding temperature was quite pleasant. And for a Coloradoan, it was mostly flat and fast. My goal was to ride it in 1:15 and I made it in 1:17, so we will call that a win and made up for the swim. The race did a good job of keeping the waves separated by specific times that kept the cyclists relatively spread out. The time on the bike went by quickly. I made sure I stuck to my fueling plan and was happy to get back into transition feeling pretty good.
My one issue was that I would think of the Age Group Nationals to have more courteous athletes. Almost no-one said “on your left” or even just “left” when passing, and some of these guys passed pretty close. To me seems like the right thing to do, even if you have to say it a lot, or are competitive.
T2: Just long getting from one end to the other!
RUN. The great unknown these days. My runs in Boulder this year were disappointing regarding pace. (I ran 1:04 and 1:09 at those races and my all-time best in an Oly triathlon was a 50:35 at the Boulder Peak in 2011) But today my body performed nicely. Being a little conservative to start, I settled into a comfortable but strong-feeling pace. This season I have been relying a lot on RPE. I was happy to see I was going sub-10:00 min/mile. It was a 2 lap course so my first time around was to get a feel for it, and then next was to use what I had left. I was feeling good after lap 1 so after the longer hill at the start of the loop, I slowly started to increase the pace. .
I will admit getting a little emotional with just a couple miles to go. At this point you know you are almost done and the work is mental. I passed a gal in a Team In Training kit, which is how I started in triathlon in the first place. Fortunately when you are breathing hard you can hide the emotional tears! But it gave me a charge to push a little harder. I was super happy to with my run splits…9:55, 9:20, 9:28, 9:58, 9:20, 8:14 and then even faster in the finish chute. Rudy was there for me at the finish as I made my way down the red carpet. #bestsherpaever
That last mile is what I remember racing feels like. I was back.
There have been so many people involved in this 13 year journey! While I’m not done racing, I’m going to take a break from triathlon for a bit. It’s been an quite the endurance sport journey! From my beginnings learning the sport with Mary, Charley, and Brett with Team In Training, to coaching my own athletes. I have to give a big shout out to Grant Holicky who’s worked with me the last 5+ years through a ton of issues. And thanks to all the medical professionals guiding me in the multiple sclerosis journey encouraging me to keep going.
And I can’t forget Jo and Scott Rampy of the Rampy MS Research Foundation. They are amazing people and it was at the 2017 TriFest for MS where I qualified for this race. To all the Team NEO athletes I’ve coached who inspire me right back, all the Pikes Peak Triathlon Club members, Team In Training athletes, RMTC peeps, and anyone I’ve ever talked triathlon or endurance training with – thank you! See you out on the trails and roads!
Nicole
