I have always enjoyed challenging myself physically and seeing all that I am capable of. This is why I love Triathlon’s! For me the physical and mental aspects flow over into all other areas of my life. I can ALWAYS exceed my expectations and limitations and maybe even find, there really aren’t any.
Below is my IronGirl race experience. This was also a special time for me being Mother’s Day weekend having lost my mom at the end of last year. It was a celebration of her spirit of adventure and in honor of her, my hero.
Race PrepArrived Thursday and mentally prepared for what we had trained for with excitement, expectation and a little nervousness. My first tri was an entirely flat course so I had little to compare to race wise. Training with Martha and Tri La Vie was a great decision and prepared me accordingly for this very hilly, hot, windy and challenging course.
One of the many things I appreciate about Martha as a coach is how she involves our mind-set, I spent most of Friday listening, observing and connecting with other team mates and fellow triatletes and had some quite time at the end of my day visualizing my swim, bike and run with efficiency, strategy, determination and some shazaaaam!
Race MorningPlayed DJ with a few jams in my car on the way to course and felt incredibly present. Felt excited and ready to go as I set up my transition area. Made my way over to the lake with plenty of time to spare, acclimate and do some drills in the water remembering loooooooong reach, relaxed strokes. I made the mind-mapping connection during my pre-race dip in the lake that my coach often speaks of. I watched each wave of age categories start their race prior to mine and mapped my swim with a straight line.
The Swim Let’s just say that before I started training with Martha and the team I was swim-challenged. I did my first tri doing the back-stroke the entire way and I’m sure I gave the biomechanics of it a bad name! But this time it was going to be different. I had my mantra, I visualized my swim with all the skills and mechanics I learned and practiced, relaxed and leisurely walked into the water during my heat while most of in my category slap happily ran in with little strategy. As I settled into my swim groove… it happened. I actually began to pass people on the swim. I experienced no one thrushing, kicking, elbowing or slapping me. A straight line, I had my course, I was finding my inner swimmer and that first big orange buoy and me were one. I made it nice and easy to the buoy and to my surprise, passed some navy blue caps, even a yellow (the age groups who started prior). Then the wind picked up and the lake became choppy and I took in a little water. Relax. I targeted the second buoy and turn, which was a small orange dot, came larger into site. Rounding the second buoy and passing more people I needed to relax with much more distance to go so I relaxed on my back and do the backstroke WITH strategy… to the bridge. To the bridge, I kept saying to myself. Relax on your back, catch your breath to the bridge. Then I would push through to the end. The bridge came, I flipped over and rocked the rest of the way smooth and fluid until my chest almost hit the bottom of the lake muddy floor for an easy stand up and run out of the water and saw Martha and Robin more excited for me than I had ever seen. The swim was done, I felt like a rock star, incredibly confident and glad that part was over.
T1I felt each dizzying step of that quarter mile uphill trek thru transition 1. But I was pumped, confident and purposeful. Then there were the two guys who were offering to strip your wet suit for you. I was surprised and had to think. should I? I already had my plan and didn’t know how proficient and fast they were. I was racing for time this Tri and had made a last minute decision to wear a skirt/short combo thing that I had not tested in wet-suit disembarking and feared the very albeit cute skirt/short combo might come off too… I ran past them in a split second decision, got to my transition location and did my 1-2-3 fast wet suit removal and my skirt stayed on! But somehow my feet were determined not to come out of my wet suit despite my ample body glide and PAM. Finally, we worked it out and my left foot submitted, then my right. Did my bip-bop-boom quick remainder of my transition, sucked down my GU nutrition and ran out with one hand on my bike seat lookin’ like a true Triathlete the way Martha coached us to be.
The Bike I love hills, I love hills, I love hills and I sang it mostly out loud to a few fellow Iron Girl’s amusement along the way. Hills out of every transition are a beautiful thing is what I told myself smiling. I had rocked it in my training with hill repeats and was prepared. Many weren’t and some even got off their bikes and walked their bikes up the hills. I experienced gear issues for what seemed like more than a ¼ of my ride, worked through the issue, plowed through, embraced the burn, sipped often, sucked more nutrition, pushed hard knowing recovery was coming soon and hooting and hollering at every volunteer and every Twenty-Something year old on their bike as I cycled passed (in Triathlon's, your age is marked on your calf). I learned that I could really push and go beyond the edge and still be okay even it felt like I might throw up. I won’t blow up, die or fall apart. Push. Recover. Drink. Push. Recover. Drink. Woo Hoo to the nice people on the side of the road Volunteering and encouraged riders with “good job, rock it out girl” as I passed on their left. All they could eek out was a breathy “you too.” Push. Recover. Drink. I gained even more time flying down the hills and again was greeted by Martha and Robin jumping and hollering for me to “go, go, go, Rachael!” I will say it again, I felt like a rock star. My strategy was going hard on the bike, which is my strength, while relaxing on the swim and utilizing whatever was left on the run. I was about to learn about how to do that maybe a weeeee bit more efficiently.
T2 I dismount my bike like someone who knew what she was doing with a one-legged over the bike while riding thing (surprising myself) that I see when watching the IronMan World Championships in Kona on TV. I transition in and realize I need to catch my breath and recover a little more than I anticipated. I got to my transition station knowing I needed to bring my heart rate down. Helmet off, hat on, shoes, turned my race belt so my number now faced front and took my next bit of nutrition. Still needed to bring my heart rate down for a little more recovery to rock the run. The porta-potty bathroom was the answer. Perfect! Just what my heart rate and my bladder needed after 20oz of fluid electrolytes on the bike. Start out of my transition isle and forget my mini hand fluid carrier. I go back (normally I wouldn’t for timing but needed the 33 extra seconds to recover more). Ran into the porta-potty, and after threw out a Molly Shannon Mary Katherine Gallagher SuperStar after I jump out of the blue porta-potty box they placed in front of the spectators. What else is a Tri La Vie Triathlete suppose to do coming out of a porta-potty with an audience?
The Run Not my shinning-est moment. Another big uphill start of a transition and there were Martha and Robin again yelling (these ladies get around) “Rachael, go, go, go” as I danced the
running man while running past them. Not easy to do, running man while running. It wasn’t pretty and they may have thought I lost all remembrance of running form. Part of THIS race strategy was “fun” and though taxed at this point, I was having it! Then I saw it. Afghanistan. You hit the dirt trail from the pavement soon after that lovely uphill from transition, down a dirt hill and civilization disappears. I then saw all the “ants” of people way out in Afghanistan that my coach mentioned in our team prep meeting. I actually started laughing. Okay, here we go. Their is a run/walk strategy many champions and long distance runners use to increase their time and efficency on LONG or HILLY runs, usually thru the water/hydration stations or every mile or so. Doing strategic walks or shuffles for a short time during a run releases lactic acid from your legs and gives you an extra push both physically and mentally. My coach taught us this strategy and at this point, I was embracing it trhough the three water sations that were strategically placed right after the steep hills. Most have hard time embracing the walk/run strategy and I can uderstand why/ By the third big hill, I had no issue with it. Kiddingly I say Afghanistan but that is what I imagine it to be like. Not even a single tumble weed. But then, there they were again as I returned from Afghanistan, Martha and Robin. I expected to hear something profound. It was. Martha yelled “Rachael, breakfast is just around the corner!” I saw the finish line happily stopping to do the
running man in place followed by a photo opportunity of the occasion with medal in hand by the Iron Girl photographer.
My race was done! Another triathlon completed in hot, challenging conditions and I rocked it!
I am Iron Girl…. Hear me roar! Watch me rock it!
