Rockcliff Olympic 2010

ETA: The pics from NobleSports were posted - yay! The run pic is sick! Enjoy :)

Pre: We camped there at the venue. While yes you have to walk your stuff in 1/4 mile to your campsite with little carts, and the mosquitos are bad, it's way worth it to camp. It's quiet and close, not requiring any spectator trouble getting in or out of the park. Dropped my bike off at 6am and sent the hubby off on a 90 minute run. Then I went and actually set up my transition. I tried to stay calm, not get stressed about not being in transition the whole time like I'm used to. I needed to share my time, there was trail, he needed a run, and it was going to be way hot after, so I needed to share. It worked out fine, just a little pushed at the end (the 1/2 mile walk/ride/run down to transition doesn't help when you're in a hurry)

Swim: 25:27, 3rd woman. Floating debris everywhere. Boats did their best to remove the big stuff, but I still ran headfirst into half a dozen large sticks. Interesting experience. Decent swim. Good water temp, little viability
T1: :41 Nice. Fastest T1 out of both men and women

Bike: 1:15.57, 4th woman. Not thrilled with this. I felt good until the turn around, well ok, I felt decent the whole time, I just wasn't thrilled with the time in the end. My front wheel started feeling weird at about mile 16 and that made me kind of nervous for the next 10 or so which may have made me hold back a bit. Oh well. It's gotten better than where it was even last year.

T2: :33. Another good one, 2nd woman. The first did it in 18 seconds! Props to her! (Unless she was in running shoes on the bike or part of a relay team, that was crazy fast and I want to see an instant replay - not because I doubt her, I just want to see that sweet action)

Run: 37:10, 3rd woman. What a tough course! First of all, it was SO HOT outside! As soon as I left T2 I had my jersey pulled up over my sports bra, and should have just taken it off. Oh man it was hot. The course is a mix of long flat straightaway on new dark black hot pavement, then a mile or so uphill climb, then some rolling trail with short but steep ups and downs. Cool course, but unfortunately it was probably a mile short.

2:19.46, 3rd woman overall. Good race, not great. The two ladies in front of me, especially Erin Collins just had better days than I did and hats off to them. Hate that I can come away from a 3rd place overall finish a little disappointed, but I am very happy with how I'm racing, and all that I'm getting to do this year. Love it!

Interesting observations

Read the after comment at the bottom of this post

Before I post about Rockcliff (waiting on pictures), I thought I'd just write for a bit.

I don't really have an organized way to write about this, so I'll just throw out what's been on my mind. I don't know what I want in this whole triathlon world. I don't expect to go pro, sure it would be cool to travel the world racing, get to race the worlds best, get paid to do it, but I don't know that it's realistic as a mom who wants to be there with her kids. They come first. Now I'm not saying there aren't some fantastic pro triathlete moms out there, but they have sponsorship that pays a lot of the bills so someone can help with their kids while they train, and I do not. I depend on my husband for that, and he likes to see me once in a while, not just the kids while I go off and train. I don't expect to win Ironman one day, I can be happy without that. I don't know what I want.
Oh wait, yes I do. As I sit here watching Ironman Coeur d'Alene live online right now I want my time in the finish chute again and I want to hear "You are an IRONMAN" and actually see myself in the footage. Sure, the ASI guys did an awesome job somehow editing the two guys in front of me out, but I never got to hear my name and those famous 4 words and didn't get any kind of clear footage going through the chute, even though I waited back for them to go through first. They decided to slow down. So that's what I want. I want to do Ironman again and I want some decent finish line time :)

Yesterday at Rockcliff as I was getting my bike out of transition after the race, the awesome security guy I've made friends with asked how I did, and I said 3rd Overall. A lady nearby said "really? 3rd?! I wish it was that easy for me". Meaning that it wasn't hard to go that fast. Are. You. Kidding. Me? I'm not at all trying to be mean to her, but I've heard this misconception before. No one should think racing faster doesn't hurt. It sure does! I think what makes someone fast is being able to run at that threshold pace for a longer time and endure through it. That involves proper technique, and years of building up speed, muscle, and endurance. Genetics have have a part too, but much more of it comes from years of experience both in learning with our minds and our bodies. I just recently read that it takes close to 5 years or something (it was years) to build real elite level endurance. I feel bad when I hear newbies upset because they aren't at that level and they've been doing it for a whole year or two now. IT TAKES TIME! Be patient with your body, give it time, and respect your elders :)

Another experience from yesterday involves one of the owners of PowerTri.com, David Warden. What an upstanding guy! He is an elite level racer and elite coach and such a great guy. He just finished an 6 race streak (in 6 weeks). Last week he was penalized for the first time ever because he crossed the double yellow line. The guy totally took it like a man and wrote about his experience. This week? He DQ'd himself! That's right. He got lost of the course, took a wrong turn, and when he realized it had the gumption to turn himself in to the officials so that the 4th place man could have his rightful time in the top 3. Did anyone know he made the wrong turn? No. Did he still race crazy fast regardless and earn a place in the top 3? Yes. Top racers even disagreed with him turning himself in, but David's just not that kind of guy. He is an amazing example of sportsmanship and integrity. I'm so honored to be associated with him. He's a great example of humor too, I love to read his articles. Read his latest post about the self DQ here.

So now it's time to go spend time with the family. I can't wait to watch my sweet Cindi friend cross the finish line at Ironman Coeur d'Alene soon. Someone please, please take my credit card away!

*I just wanted to clarify something real quick. Based on the comments I think I gave the impression that I was out for attention and 'look at me I'm fast' or something. Totally not what I was after. I was hoping to help others feel good about what they're doing because we're all hurting. Some people feel bad when they see others who may make it look easier and are faster, I just wanted to convey that everyone is working hard out there, fast or faster :) Keep doing what you're doing. Everyone should be proud of themselves if they're taking care of their bodies and having fun. *

Inspiring

This guy is awesome!

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Salem

What a fantastic race. This was my 4th time I believe doing Salem and it's definitely one of my favorites. I love that everyone is doing the same distance, I love the venue for my family, and I love that the best competition comes to Salem. And this year was no different

My family and I camped up Payson canyon about 20 minutes away the night before in an awesome jimmy-rigged tent my husband and I figured out after forgetting the tent poles. We slept well and all headed down to the race about 6:30. Got there a little later than I usually like, but I had plenty of time. It's always fun chatting with people, and they even had a helicopter fly over this year throwing out race shirts. It was pretty sweet!

Now on to the race

Swim: 11:18 Swam along side Sarah for about half the race, but then unfortunately fell back a little. My arms and legs felt a little heavy and fatigued. Frustrating. Note to self: Masters the morning before with fins and paddles isn't the brightest idea. Duh. Got out about 45 seconds after Sarah and arrived at my bike just as she was leaving.Bike: 33:40 So happy with this. I knew I'd need to push hard and that I did. I rode with a great lady Jeanette the whole time. We played cat and mouse, taking turns leading (don't get the idea I drafted, I didn't, we were just so evenly paced we were always within 3 bike lengths of each other). She turned the heat on but I didn't want to let her go (I yelled at a couple age group men who cornered very slowly to "MOVE! I can't lose her!") I knew I was about 2 minutes down on Sarah from what my husband was calling out, and at this point I thought we were in 3rd and 4th, so I was really cranking it out! I've never ridden that hard ever I think. Someone that wasn't even at the race made the choice comment that the course was short, no way did we all ride that much faster than that year. I heard that yes, the course was a tiny bit short from last year, but no way were we not riding fast. All 3 of us were riding hard, really really hard. My legs cried out in fatigue getting to the tops of hills once in a while, but I had to get through it. I'm very happy to have ridden that strong. And no, it isn't the "fancy new bike" that did it. That helped, but I've worked hard over the last years (6 months in particular) on my bike, the engine absolutely played a part.

Run: 20:10 Yeah baby! This is no flat course and after worrying about Daybreak's time last week I was really happy to see that split. It was the fastest women's run split of the day second only to one speedy age grouper who ran 2 seconds faster. I was pushing hard. Form felt ok, but not amazing. I think it just took every ounce of what I had left to hang on and push that hard. I passed Jeanette early on and never looked back out of fear it'd get her thinking I was fading, but I always knew she was there. I never heard her, just knew. Salem's race was an hour long threshold busting riding and running for my life type of race. Boy did it hurt, but boy did it feel good. I think back to where I was at this race after my oldest was born, barely podiuming in my age group, and to think of where I am now makes me very happy. I have worked hard, learned a lot from those around me, learned how to push and train my own body harder, and just grown stronger. What fun it is.So I finished 2nd in 1:07.18, only 1:25 back from Sarah. She is so strong and fast, and yes I went out wanting to give her a run for her money, and I think I did. I was never close enough for her to see me, but I was close enough to satisfy me.......for now..... :)

Thank you to my amazing hubby and kids for coming and watching mommy Saturday!! It was so great to see you. I'm so impressed with my hubby for hauling all 3 kids around like this all over the course to see me. Love you guys!!