Ridgefield Sprint Triathlon - June 4, 2017 - Katie's Race Report
PRE-RACE
At packet pick-up the day before, I asked if I could race in the Open division. After being informed it was "invite only" (you had to race in a previous year), I pulled something that I never do: kindly asked if it was possible for an exception. Nobody really wanted to give me an answer - there was a lot of hemming and hawing - so I pulled out the only thing I had left in my arsenal (but was trying to really avoid saying): "I placed at the World Championships last year." One of the volunteers was the daughter of the Race Director. She asked for my name and said she'd text her Dad, and text me with his response.
Within an hour she had texted me that I could race Open.
Thus, my plan was to win the race and prove that I belonged there.
So....that one time I raced Open at a small, local race, it went something like this:
SWIM
I started in the Open wave - there were about 8 Open men, and 4 Open women. The men shook hands and introduced themselves to each other. I chatted briefly with the one woman I didn't know. The other two women also swim at the Y, so I had met them in the locker room.
It was an uneventful 1/2 mile swim. My sighting was good, and I was able to hold my t-pace for the full distance.
BIKE
I wasn't sure where I was in the female standings, but I knew 15 miles was not much real estate to position myself into first place. My goal was to redline the entire race. It took me a good 4 miles before I really caught my breath on the bike.
At mile 5, I passed a woman, and became the lead female. I flew as fast as I could through the winding backroads of Ridgefield, pushing through the pain, and trying to give myself the largest lead possible.
*** I had the best female bike split of the day by over 2 minutes!
RUN
After cruising at ~ 25 mph for the final stretch of the bike, switching to the run felt like I was going as slow as molasses. I was working hard, but my pace felt as though I was inching along. My first mile was 7:13 - not great - but all I could pull out in that moment.
Since the run course was on the same road as the bike, I kept an eye to see how far behind the other women were. I had time. I just had to get as much distance in as possible.
On the base of the steepest uphill of the course, 1.25 miles in, a woman goes FLYING by me. I'm not kidding. This was not a slow pass - this was me getting DUSTED.
I kept her in my sight, but in the last 1/2 mile she pulled away. I finished 43 seconds behind her to claim the 2nd overall female.
Not 1st place, but close enough to it that I feel I legitimized to the RDs that I deserved to race Open. :-)
POST RACE
While waiting for Zach to finish, I had several people approach me to talk....something I've never experienced before. It was definitely because I was wearing my Team USA kit, because I was getting asked, "How do I get one of those? (the kit)" and "What are you racing this year?" as well as more general questions such as: "How did you get into triathlon?"
Also worth mentioning: nothing beats a triathlon that starts just 1 mile down the road from your house! What a treat to sleep in, ride our bike to transition, and support a local triathlon! Win-win!
P.S. Added bonus of this race? All the race photos were 100% free. Score!
At packet pick-up the day before, I asked if I could race in the Open division. After being informed it was "invite only" (you had to race in a previous year), I pulled something that I never do: kindly asked if it was possible for an exception. Nobody really wanted to give me an answer - there was a lot of hemming and hawing - so I pulled out the only thing I had left in my arsenal (but was trying to really avoid saying): "I placed at the World Championships last year." One of the volunteers was the daughter of the Race Director. She asked for my name and said she'd text her Dad, and text me with his response.
Within an hour she had texted me that I could race Open.
Thus, my plan was to win the race and prove that I belonged there.
So....that one time I raced Open at a small, local race, it went something like this:
SWIM
I started in the Open wave - there were about 8 Open men, and 4 Open women. The men shook hands and introduced themselves to each other. I chatted briefly with the one woman I didn't know. The other two women also swim at the Y, so I had met them in the locker room.
It was an uneventful 1/2 mile swim. My sighting was good, and I was able to hold my t-pace for the full distance.
BIKE
I wasn't sure where I was in the female standings, but I knew 15 miles was not much real estate to position myself into first place. My goal was to redline the entire race. It took me a good 4 miles before I really caught my breath on the bike.
At mile 5, I passed a woman, and became the lead female. I flew as fast as I could through the winding backroads of Ridgefield, pushing through the pain, and trying to give myself the largest lead possible.
*** I had the best female bike split of the day by over 2 minutes!
RUN
Since the run course was on the same road as the bike, I kept an eye to see how far behind the other women were. I had time. I just had to get as much distance in as possible.
On the base of the steepest uphill of the course, 1.25 miles in, a woman goes FLYING by me. I'm not kidding. This was not a slow pass - this was me getting DUSTED.
I kept her in my sight, but in the last 1/2 mile she pulled away. I finished 43 seconds behind her to claim the 2nd overall female.
Not 1st place, but close enough to it that I feel I legitimized to the RDs that I deserved to race Open. :-)
POST RACE
While waiting for Zach to finish, I had several people approach me to talk....something I've never experienced before. It was definitely because I was wearing my Team USA kit, because I was getting asked, "How do I get one of those? (the kit)" and "What are you racing this year?" as well as more general questions such as: "How did you get into triathlon?"
Also worth mentioning: nothing beats a triathlon that starts just 1 mile down the road from your house! What a treat to sleep in, ride our bike to transition, and support a local triathlon! Win-win!
P.S. Added bonus of this race? All the race photos were 100% free. Score!
You're such a badass... squeezing into Open Cat... baller!! Hahaha!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, y'know....every once in a blue moon I do something worthy of "baller" status. ;-P
DeleteHow can someone look so pretty while racing????
ReplyDeletep.s. What happened to Zach?
Zach and I were going to do a joint race report, but then mine was written and his wasn't started, so I went ahead and published mine.
DeleteI know how to fix that first mile off the bike.. ;o)
ReplyDeleteHow is that? More bricks? Or, more track workouts?
Delete