Greater Cleveland Triathlon Race Report

This is taking me a while to get done. Part of the excuse is that Robbie has started football and he has practice Mon-Thurs from 6PM-8PM! Let me tell you the new challenge that this has introduced into our life right now! And what has taken a backseat to this change in schedule??? Yup - exercise. Oh well.

Couldn't talk about Robbie's football without showing an absolutely adorable picture of him! Tell me this isn't the cutest darn thing you've ever seen?!?!

But, without further ado I will start my race report. I will warn you that this will likely be VERY long winded. This was a very emotional race for me and became 100x more emotional after I finished and was informed that someone was pulled from the water. We'll get there.....

Pre-Race
Granted I've only done one other triathlon before, but it seems to be becoming a tradition to have an awesome pasta dinner with my entire family at my parents house the night before! This time it happened because my awesome parents were taking the kiddos for the night so that Drew could leave early in the morning with me the next day. So, my mom invited my sisters and their families as well and fed us some yummy pasta, bread and ice cream! Mmmm...carbo load! I suppose I may not really need to carbo load as much as a smaller person, but I still have fun doing it!

Drew and I left my parents house to get home at a reasonable hour. We got home and I started putting everything together. I didn't necessarily feel nervous...just the normal anxiety of whether or not I'm going to forget something in the AM.

Race Day
I got up around 4:45 and started to get ready to go. I got dressed and ate some cereal for breakfast. I started to load my bike in the car. When I came back upstairs I had a message from SIL because she was worried we lost power and I wasn't awake! :) So, she got here and we loaded up into our 2 cars and headed out to Mentor Headlands.

We arrived a little before 6:30, I believe and the skies actually looked beautiful. It seemed like the rain that they were forecasting was going to hold off. But...the lake was a different story. You could tell by looking at the lake that a storm was brewing and even though they sky was blue it obviously wasn't going to stay that way for long.

After setting up my bike and gear in transition I was just hanging out with SIL and Drew. I then saw Heather from the blog that got this all started for me! It was really cool meeting her in person. I could see the fear in her face about the swim, but she assured me that her friend said we would be swimming with the current pushing us in the right direction. Yea, he was wrong!

Then, it was time for the athletes meeting. At this point we were told that the swim would be shortened due to hazardous conditions. The international (i.e. olympic) distance would swim 600 yards and the sprint would go 400 meters. At first I was slightly disappointed...thoughts of does this mean I can't really count this as my first oly tri entered my mind. It didn't even take me getting in the water to decide HELL no! This was my first oly tri regardless and there was a reason the swim was shortened! Those 600 yards were probably the most difficult 600 yards ever! (and probably the equivalent to 1200 yards in calm waters)!

Swim - changed to 600 yards. Official time: 29:59

I'm the one in the pink (which is funny because I don't really like pink, but I LOVE that it's so easy to spot me)! Those waves were seriously no joke. I really wish one of these pictures would do them justice, but they don't!

So, I walked down to the swim start for the international distance (fyi - international and olympic are both used to describe this distance race). I got there just in time to see the wave right before me start. I immediately became a little nervous when I saw a) that most athletes were wearing wet suits and b) the "elite" group that started before me seemed to be taking quite a while to get out to the firt buoy. But, the horn blew and I was in the water. Immediately the current and waves were pushing me in the WRONG direction. I wasn't nervous though. I love swimming. I have always loved swimming. I know I can swim and I'm very confident in my swim. I know I'm not fast, but after this swim I have decided that speed doesn't matter. The ability to make it through a swim like that does matter.

Here is one reason I'm having a very hard time with this race report.....

I was in the water and working hard to get through the course. I was doing a lot of breast stroke because it helped to keep me focused and to give me plenty of time to breathe and relax. All of the sudden I hear someone behind me yell HELP! I briefly tried to look behind me, but didn't think a lot of it. First of all, I'm a strong swimmer and not a small girl - but there is no way I could have actually helped someone in those waters that day! In addition, I thought when I turned around there was a kayak/lifeguard in the same vicinity. Honestly, in the moment, I didn't think much of it and just kept going. If we fast forward to after the race, my husband and SIL informed me that someone was pulled from the water. At that moment they thought he died. I have since found out that he has survived thus far, but is in the hospital in a medically induced coma with swelling on the brain and internal bleeding.

Needless to say, all I have been able to think about since Sunday is this man. He is 34 years old, which means he started in the same wave as me. Which also means that was probably him yelling for help. I know that I couldn't have done anything. I know that me drowning to try to help him would be stupid. But, it's disturbing nonetheless. My thoughts and prayers remain with his family.

T1 Official Time: 4:54

I finished the swim and ran the distance to the transition area. I'm sorry...I walked the distance!  I never realize quite how out of breath I am swimming until I get out of the water! There was no way running on sand was happening! I know that I'm not going to be fast anyway so to me there's no rush! I rinsed and attempted to dry my feet, ate some GU and got my socks and shoes on for the bike. I put my helmet on and I was ready to start the 23 mile bike.

Bike - 23 miles Official Time:  1:38:54
I started on the bike and looked down at my Garmin noting that it was 8:20. I was a little put off because if my wave actually started at 7:33 like it was supposed to, I was estimating that I must have been in the water for 40+ minutes! Obviously this wasn't true and the waves didn't start on time. I remembered that my goal for the bike was less than 1 hour and 40 minutes....so, I was keeping that number in mind.

The bike started out OK. It was relatively flat and I was keeping a nice pace. Then, the constant inclines started. I wouldn't call these hills perse....more like constant small inclines so that you have to continuously work. Then, after working up hill for a while, I turned right and there was an actual hill! I hit it going probably less than 10 mph so I had nothing to work with. I was feeling totally defeated at this point and got off my bike and walked. It was tough. But, I will say that every person who passed me while I was doing that was so supportive and nice. I got back on my bike and started back up. I believe this was somewhere around mile 10ish. About 2 miles later I hit a period of downhill that was INSANE! I mean, white knuckle insane! I was proud of the way I handled these downhills. I wasn't totally thrilled with the support of this race. There was one intersection in particular that I was ticked that no one was at. Things aren't exactly clear after covering 30 miles, but I believe the road I was on had a stop sign and the road I was turning left onto did not. In a race, you usually don't stop at stop signs. I mean, some people are actually racing and trying to come in first and such. I slowed WAY down because I saw no volunteers there and NONE of this is worth getting hit by a car.

So, the first 12 miles were a challenge....the next 11 were pretty nice actually. It's amazing what goes through your head through the process of a triathlon. There were times on the bike when I was thinking...why do I do this? This isn't fun....this sucks....ugh...I didn't train enough....I suck. But, then there were times when I realized if I kept going I might beat my time....You got this...you're almost done...home stretch....there's the park! I wasn't sure how close I would be to my goal,  but I thought I had made it!

T2 Official Time: 4:13
My transition times were actually slower than last year. But, I didn't rush...at all. I really took my time and at some point decided that I didn't really care. I think I decided it was about crossing the finish line...period...the end!

Run 10K Official Time: 1:35:31
The run....ahem...the walk...the struggle...the constant mental fight. This is by far the hardest part of a triathlon for me. Running is also the most difficult mental game for me. I had my watch set to do 3/2 intervals. That is 3 min run/2 min walk. However, the minute I started running I hurt....I couldn't breathe...I didn't think I could even last 3 minutes. So I didn't. From the very beginning I didn't pay attention to my intervals. However, I kept going. I didn't stop. I didn't give up and I didn't stop trying to run. I would walk...more than I wanted to..more than I planned. I would try to convince myself that even if I walked the entire 10k, I would still finish and it would be OK. But, then, I would convince myself that it wouldn't really be OK and I would be mad because I can push myself! So, I would start to run again. Then, before I knew it I hit the turn around. I realized at this point that I might even finish not much longer than my goal of 1:30. That motivated me to keep trying. It wasn't easy. Lots of thoughts went through my head during this time. The main one was...what the HELL am I thinking with 70.3!!?!?! And of course, DAMN my mom is right! (I hate that! HA). Perhaps I need to get significantly better at sprint and olympic distance triathlons before I think about tackling70.3. Perhaps I should be able to get off the bike and actually run (or run/walk consistently) for 3.1 or 6.2 miles before I try to do 13.1 (after a swim and bike).

A hug from Mom after a long morning!

During the second part of the run I noticed that I was keeping more consistent intervals. I felt better during the run intervals. My legs loosened up. And then, I was back in the park. I was behind an Ironman who was walking with an umbrella (clearly a spectator). I commented that I didn't know how he does this for140.6 miles! He said...same way....just for a longer time! :) He was supportive and helpful. Then, I saw SIL first....she told me my family is just up the way. And then I saw them (it'd be awesome if I had a pic from my perspective). And then I had to focus because I hyperventilate when I get emotional while running. Robbie ran towards me and said he was going to run me in. I told him not this time (I know USAT frowns on things like that so I didn't want to risk it). I crossed the finish line and immediately started hyperventilating because I was starting to cry! They got me a seat and I calmed myself down. Whew....this was an emotional day.

FINAL Time: 3:53:28! UNDER 4 hours!

I met my goal of finishing in less than 4 hours. This was a very intense and emotional day for me. I pushed myself to limits that I've never quite done before. I doubted myself (ALOT), but yet, never doubted that I would cross that finish line. When it started to rain during the run I became concerned that they might make me stop. I asked at a water stop and he assured me that they would not make me stop. And I didn't want them to. I was determined to cross that finish line.

70.3...maybe in 2013....maybe not. But, what I learned was I need to work even harder. I need to get better and I need to lose some of this weight before that can become a reality.

Now to focus on training for the Columbus Full Marathon! Currently I'm trying to decide if I do a sprint triathlon "for fun" in September while gearing up for the marathon! But we can discuss that in another post!

For now, I'm exhausted and going to bed. Good night all.......