USA Triathlon Aquabike Long Course National Championships (at Toughman) - Katie's Race Report
In June, Zach and I both registered for the Toughman 70.3 triathlon (for those not familiar, a 70.3 is the same as a half-ironman). Coach advised us not to, as it would be too close after Ironman Mont-Tremblant to be adequately recovered to do another long course race.
Zach's and my thought was that we would have put SO much time into training for Ironman, we could "coast" off of that training and (easily) complete a half-ironman 4 weeks after the full Ironman (We think we are superhumans sometimes). We were also naive about the havoc Ironman wreaks on the body - down to the cellular level.
Fast-forward to 2 weeks after Ironman:
I'm feeling pretty good. I'll be able to race the 70.3 no problem. However, I've also just registered to race the USA Triathlon Long Course National Championships in Oklahoma, hoping to nab a spot on Team USA and race at the Long Course World Championships in 2016. Nationals are 2 weeks after Toughman. A few days later, I feel like I've strained my hamstrings after doing two back-to-back runs one weekend when we are out-of-town without bikes, and without access to a pool.
I go back-and-forth with Coach, who wants me to defer Toughman to 2016. I don't want a race on my calendar that late in the year. A lot can happen between now and then. The compromise? I'll race the Aquabike (swim and bike without the half-marathon run), which also happens to be the USA Triathlon's Aquabike Long Course National Championship (the Toughman race is hosting it for 2015). Now I have conveniently (?) inadvertently scheduled myself for two national championships within two weeks of each other. Lovely.
Coach warned me that if I want a shot at not being a total failure at Long Course Nationals (my words, not his), that I should not "race" the Aquabike - just treat it as a long workout.
This was my longest workout since Ironman.
Since this was not a race for me, I did not think about it until.....oh....the night before. I slept like a baby, and wasn't really nervous.
SWIM [38:21] (1:59/100m)
Beach start. Very shallow for the first 50 yards - I did 7 dolphin dives before I actually started swimming.
Since I didn't get a practice swim beforehand, I was slightly alarmed to discover the water was 1.) salty (yuck), and 2.) very muddy/sandy/dirty.
My heart rate was off-the-charts, which I can only attribute to still not being recovered from Ironman(?). I felt like I was out-of-shape.....almost like I couldn't get enough oxygen.
About this time my thoughts shifted to: I do not want to be doing this. Why am I doing this? When is this freaking swim going to be over?! I can't wait to bike!
I felt slow. I didn't want to be there. I wanted to just call it a day.
When I got out of the water and ran over the timing mat, I was pleasantly surprised that I was going "so slow" that I actually PR'ed my 1.2 mile swim by 1 minute, 35 seconds!
T1 [1:38]
Utilized the wetsuit strippers.
Nice and efficient. In & out without any issues.
BIKE [3:05:39] (18.1mph)
I rode this course blindly. I try not to do that, since I like to know what I can expect when I am riding and running. However, since this was a workout, I didn't preview the course.
I passed Coach about 3/4 mile into the ride, which was very odd since he is a much faster swimmer than me. After sharing that he puked in the water during the swim (gross....), it sounded like this had become a "throw away" race for him. I kept pedaling the uphill, and told my hamstrings to shut up and behave.
I kept tabs on another girl in my age group - just out of curiosity - and to measure any progress I was making, or that she was making on me. No, I wasn't racing. I was just curious. I swear. She was 4 minutes/1.2 miles ahead for the first 30 miles. By mile 48, she had a 6 minute/2 mile lead on me. There was no way I was going to chase her, but I did remind myself "Race your own race." And by that, I really meant: Do your own freaking workout, Katie. Do you WANT to have a good race in Oklahoma?
Thus I digress....
20 miles into the 56 mile ride, I decided that I, in fact, did not want to be biking 56 miles today either. Nope. Today was not a good day for a long workout.
26 miles in, my body decided to have lady cramps all the way until mile 51. I cursed myself for forgetting ibuprofen at home. What a dodo bird I am.
Less than 30 seconds after making the U-turn at mile 34, I saw Coach! The "Comeback Kid" was coming for me! Ahhhhhh!
I ignored my desire to pedal-to-the-metal, and risk further screwing up my hammies, so I kept pedaling and did not look back....knowing good & well that he would give me a verbal warning before he passed.
Mile 42 Coach passed me, and reminded me, "Stay steady." There was no way in hell I was going to try to catch him. I just let him bike away while I huffed, puffed, and tried to imagine that I did not have another hour of biking left.
I saw Zach and the aid station and give a wave and yelled something. Zach was a golden boy and heeded Coach's advice. He deferred his race to next year, in exchange for 6 hours of volunteering this year.
Lots of headwinds on the last 8 miles back to Croton Point Park. In fact, it greatly reminded me of Puerto Rico. Wind is always a killer....
I had closely followed a female Aquabiker through the 1/2 mile no-pass zone before getting into the park. I planned my attack, and sprinted at 22mph to pass her, and kept at it until the bike dismount line. I figured it was the least I could do....purposely pick off one woman less than a mile from the finish.
------
Due to one AGer being pulled out into the top 3 overall female Aquabike finishers, I was bumped onto the podium and got a nifty medal and awesome bike jersey that says "National Champion" - even though I'm really not....I'm just a National 3rd place winner.
Zach's and my thought was that we would have put SO much time into training for Ironman, we could "coast" off of that training and (easily) complete a half-ironman 4 weeks after the full Ironman (We think we are superhumans sometimes). We were also naive about the havoc Ironman wreaks on the body - down to the cellular level.
Fast-forward to 2 weeks after Ironman:
I'm feeling pretty good. I'll be able to race the 70.3 no problem. However, I've also just registered to race the USA Triathlon Long Course National Championships in Oklahoma, hoping to nab a spot on Team USA and race at the Long Course World Championships in 2016. Nationals are 2 weeks after Toughman. A few days later, I feel like I've strained my hamstrings after doing two back-to-back runs one weekend when we are out-of-town without bikes, and without access to a pool.
I go back-and-forth with Coach, who wants me to defer Toughman to 2016. I don't want a race on my calendar that late in the year. A lot can happen between now and then. The compromise? I'll race the Aquabike (swim and bike without the half-marathon run), which also happens to be the USA Triathlon's Aquabike Long Course National Championship (the Toughman race is hosting it for 2015). Now I have conveniently (?) inadvertently scheduled myself for two national championships within two weeks of each other. Lovely.
Coach warned me that if I want a shot at not being a total failure at Long Course Nationals (my words, not his), that I should not "race" the Aquabike - just treat it as a long workout.
This was my longest workout since Ironman.
Since this was not a race for me, I did not think about it until.....oh....the night before. I slept like a baby, and wasn't really nervous.
SWIM [38:21] (1:59/100m)
Beach start. Very shallow for the first 50 yards - I did 7 dolphin dives before I actually started swimming.
Since I didn't get a practice swim beforehand, I was slightly alarmed to discover the water was 1.) salty (yuck), and 2.) very muddy/sandy/dirty.
My heart rate was off-the-charts, which I can only attribute to still not being recovered from Ironman(?). I felt like I was out-of-shape.....almost like I couldn't get enough oxygen.
About this time my thoughts shifted to: I do not want to be doing this. Why am I doing this? When is this freaking swim going to be over?! I can't wait to bike!
I felt slow. I didn't want to be there. I wanted to just call it a day.
When I got out of the water and ran over the timing mat, I was pleasantly surprised that I was going "so slow" that I actually PR'ed my 1.2 mile swim by 1 minute, 35 seconds!
T1 [1:38]
Utilized the wetsuit strippers.
Nice and efficient. In & out without any issues.
BIKE [3:05:39] (18.1mph)
I rode this course blindly. I try not to do that, since I like to know what I can expect when I am riding and running. However, since this was a workout, I didn't preview the course.
I passed Coach about 3/4 mile into the ride, which was very odd since he is a much faster swimmer than me. After sharing that he puked in the water during the swim (gross....), it sounded like this had become a "throw away" race for him. I kept pedaling the uphill, and told my hamstrings to shut up and behave.
I kept tabs on another girl in my age group - just out of curiosity - and to measure any progress I was making, or that she was making on me. No, I wasn't racing. I was just curious. I swear. She was 4 minutes/1.2 miles ahead for the first 30 miles. By mile 48, she had a 6 minute/2 mile lead on me. There was no way I was going to chase her, but I did remind myself "Race your own race." And by that, I really meant: Do your own freaking workout, Katie. Do you WANT to have a good race in Oklahoma?
Thus I digress....
20 miles into the 56 mile ride, I decided that I, in fact, did not want to be biking 56 miles today either. Nope. Today was not a good day for a long workout.
26 miles in, my body decided to have lady cramps all the way until mile 51. I cursed myself for forgetting ibuprofen at home. What a dodo bird I am.
Less than 30 seconds after making the U-turn at mile 34, I saw Coach! The "Comeback Kid" was coming for me! Ahhhhhh!
I ignored my desire to pedal-to-the-metal, and risk further screwing up my hammies, so I kept pedaling and did not look back....knowing good & well that he would give me a verbal warning before he passed.
Mile 42 Coach passed me, and reminded me, "Stay steady." There was no way in hell I was going to try to catch him. I just let him bike away while I huffed, puffed, and tried to imagine that I did not have another hour of biking left.
I saw Zach and the aid station and give a wave and yelled something. Zach was a golden boy and heeded Coach's advice. He deferred his race to next year, in exchange for 6 hours of volunteering this year.
Lots of headwinds on the last 8 miles back to Croton Point Park. In fact, it greatly reminded me of Puerto Rico. Wind is always a killer....
I had closely followed a female Aquabiker through the 1/2 mile no-pass zone before getting into the park. I planned my attack, and sprinted at 22mph to pass her, and kept at it until the bike dismount line. I figured it was the least I could do....purposely pick off one woman less than a mile from the finish.
------
Due to one AGer being pulled out into the top 3 overall female Aquabike finishers, I was bumped onto the podium and got a nifty medal and awesome bike jersey that says "National Champion" - even though I'm really not....I'm just a National 3rd place winner.
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