I just love hearing the alarm go off at 4:15 on a Saturday morning. Well, not really, but I don’t mind it too much when it’s for a race. I was really excited for the KC Women’s tri, I had heard good things about it and was looking forward to racing. We headed up to Smithville around 5:15, and as soon as we got on the interstate, I realized I had forgotten my camera. Dammit! I forgot it for Shawnee Mission too, and Dan had to miss QuarterMax, so this would be the THIRD race that I didn’t have my own pictures from. Ugh. We made it up to the race site a little after 6, and had to park at the very back of this huge field. It wasn’t TOO far of a walk, but still kind of annoying to have to tromp across a hay field with my bike and T-bag. I went to get body marked, and had more ink put on me than I have at any other race. They put your number on both arms, both hands, and both legs. Usually you don’t get your hands marked, especially if it’s not a wetsuit legal race, so it was a bit odd. Oh well.
After I got my TA set up, I milled around for a bit and ate a Pop Tart (speaking of Pop Tarts, I have a story about that….). Once Court had her stuff set up, we went on a little warm up ride about half way out on the bike course. After that I jumped in the lake and swam for a few minutes, and by that time it was time to get lined up to start. Actually, before we could line up they had a “mandatory” pre-race meeting. About 60% of the participants were doing their first tri, so I guess I can understand. Courtney had warned me that they make you hug people during this meeting (she did the race last year) so I made sure to stand at the back of the crowd away from people so I could avoid that scene. I’m not fond of being forced to hug strangers.
The swim start was a little different, they did it in a time trial fashion. We lined up according to our number, which was based on our estimated swim time, and then every 3 seconds they had someone start. You had to run into the lake for quite a ways because it was so shallow near the shore, but once it was knee deep, I dove in and started swimming. I was a ways back in the order since I’m a slow swimmer, and I STILL got passed by a bunch of people. You would think that with the time trial start, people wouldn’t get bunched up, but it still happened. And this was the first time that I’ve actually gotten jacked in the face by someone’s elbow, and it happened twice. I think it was the same girl both times, the same girl that tried to push off me while she was side stroking at the end. Yes, I am that slow, I get stuck with the people that decide to side stroke. It’s not funny.
My swim was close to 13 minutes, which is not good, even for me. But I knew I’d make up some time on the bike. I still take time to put on socks even when it’s a short bike course like this, which I know slows m
e down in the TA, but it helps to somewhat preserve my feet. I figure one less pain for me to worry about while I’m riding is worth the few extra seconds. Once I got on my bike, I just laid the hammer down and started passing people left and right. And for the first time EVER, not a single person passed me!! I probably passed a good 50-60 people, it felt pretty cool. It was a 10 mile out and back course, with a tight turn around in the middle of the road. My bike handling skills are not stellar, so I had to slow way down for the turn around. I forgot to check the time on my bike computer when I got off, but I’m guessing I was somewhere around 30 minutes. The run, well that’s a different story. Once I got on the run course, all those people I had passed on the bike passed me right back. I felt slow and heavy and hot. It took me about a mile and a half to really get into my groove and feel good running. When the course is only 3 miles, and it takes you half that to get settled in, it’s not good. I know I’m capable of cranking out a faster 3 miles, I just don’t know how to really push myself on the run. That’s something I’d like to work on next year, improving my run speed. I’d love to work on it now, but there’s only so many things a girl can focus on! The official results aren’t up yet, but my time was around 1:24. Not what I had hoped for, but being that it was about 100 degrees, I’ll cut myself some slack.
I wasn’t feeling all that great when we got home, so I ate my lunch and then fell asleep on the couch. I spent most of the afternoon napping, waking up occasionally to watch a few minutes of TV before falling back asleep. I was supposed to go out with Courtney and a few of her friends that night, but I was definitely in no mood to get off the couch, so I ended up skipping that. Around 8 or 9, I crawled into bed and slept through till Sunday morning. I guess it was just a combination of the heat and the cumulative exhaustion of the last few weeks. But that 15 or so hours of sleep sure felt good!
I woke up around 8:30 or so on Sunday morning and decided to head to downtown OP to watch the Tour of KC crit. Megan was in town racing, and I hadn’t seen her since she moved to CO after this race last year, so I wanted to be sure to watch her race. Since we live so close, I just hopped on my bike and rode down there. Sure was nice not having to mess with parking. I found Monica, and we watched the women’s 1/2/3 race, which Megan won! Nice! After that I hung out with our friend Bryce who was there with a few of his buddies to watch another of their friends race in the men’s cat 3 race. They had a tent set up right at the corner of 79th & Santa Fe, so I stayed in the shade with them for a while and had a few beers. Dan showed up around 11 or so, and we watched a few of the races before I decided I had better go home and take a shower.
Later in the afternoon I met up with Megan, Dawn and Melissa at Cinzetti’s for a late lunch. Yummy! There are few times where you can feel justified in gorging yourself at an all you can eat Italian buffet, and the weekend of a race is one of those times. We had such a great time, it was really nice getting to hang out with the girls for a while. So all in all, a good weekend :)
OH, my Pop Tart story. I went to HyVee on Friday night to get a few things, including Pop Tarts, which I’ve discovered I like to eat while I’m riding. They’re a good way to get sugar in, and they sit well with my tummy. So I’m standing there reaching for box, and some little kid sees me do it and starts screaming about how he wants Pop Tarts. His mom looks at me, looks me up and down, and says (while still looking at me), “no, Pop Tarts are crap, I’m not feeding you those”. WTF, biotch! Without even thinking about it or considering what I was saying, I looked her up and down (she was, shall we say, pleasantly plump), smiled and said “that’s the nice thing about Ironman training, I can eat crap and not get fat”. Aaaahhh!! It was a total “You’ve Got Mail” moment, where Meg Ryan was complaining about how she never has any “zingers”, she always thinks of a response later on after someone says something to her. I NEVER say things like that, especially to strangers, but I was actually kind of proud of myself for doing it!
After I got my TA set up, I milled around for a bit and ate a Pop Tart (speaking of Pop Tarts, I have a story about that….). Once Court had her stuff set up, we went on a little warm up ride about half way out on the bike course. After that I jumped in the lake and swam for a few minutes, and by that time it was time to get lined up to start. Actually, before we could line up they had a “mandatory” pre-race meeting. About 60% of the participants were doing their first tri, so I guess I can understand. Courtney had warned me that they make you hug people during this meeting (she did the race last year) so I made sure to stand at the back of the crowd away from people so I could avoid that scene. I’m not fond of being forced to hug strangers.
The swim start was a little different, they did it in a time trial fashion. We lined up according to our number, which was based on our estimated swim time, and then every 3 seconds they had someone start. You had to run into the lake for quite a ways because it was so shallow near the shore, but once it was knee deep, I dove in and started swimming. I was a ways back in the order since I’m a slow swimmer, and I STILL got passed by a bunch of people. You would think that with the time trial start, people wouldn’t get bunched up, but it still happened. And this was the first time that I’ve actually gotten jacked in the face by someone’s elbow, and it happened twice. I think it was the same girl both times, the same girl that tried to push off me while she was side stroking at the end. Yes, I am that slow, I get stuck with the people that decide to side stroke. It’s not funny.
My swim was close to 13 minutes, which is not good, even for me. But I knew I’d make up some time on the bike. I still take time to put on socks even when it’s a short bike course like this, which I know slows m
e down in the TA, but it helps to somewhat preserve my feet. I figure one less pain for me to worry about while I’m riding is worth the few extra seconds. Once I got on my bike, I just laid the hammer down and started passing people left and right. And for the first time EVER, not a single person passed me!! I probably passed a good 50-60 people, it felt pretty cool. It was a 10 mile out and back course, with a tight turn around in the middle of the road. My bike handling skills are not stellar, so I had to slow way down for the turn around. I forgot to check the time on my bike computer when I got off, but I’m guessing I was somewhere around 30 minutes. The run, well that’s a different story. Once I got on the run course, all those people I had passed on the bike passed me right back. I felt slow and heavy and hot. It took me about a mile and a half to really get into my groove and feel good running. When the course is only 3 miles, and it takes you half that to get settled in, it’s not good. I know I’m capable of cranking out a faster 3 miles, I just don’t know how to really push myself on the run. That’s something I’d like to work on next year, improving my run speed. I’d love to work on it now, but there’s only so many things a girl can focus on! The official results aren’t up yet, but my time was around 1:24. Not what I had hoped for, but being that it was about 100 degrees, I’ll cut myself some slack.I wasn’t feeling all that great when we got home, so I ate my lunch and then fell asleep on the couch. I spent most of the afternoon napping, waking up occasionally to watch a few minutes of TV before falling back asleep. I was supposed to go out with Courtney and a few of her friends that night, but I was definitely in no mood to get off the couch, so I ended up skipping that. Around 8 or 9, I crawled into bed and slept through till Sunday morning. I guess it was just a combination of the heat and the cumulative exhaustion of the last few weeks. But that 15 or so hours of sleep sure felt good!
I woke up around 8:30 or so on Sunday morning and decided to head to downtown OP to watch the Tour of KC crit. Megan was in town racing, and I hadn’t seen her since she moved to CO after this race last year, so I wanted to be sure to watch her race. Since we live so close, I just hopped on my bike and rode down there. Sure was nice not having to mess with parking. I found Monica, and we watched the women’s 1/2/3 race, which Megan won! Nice! After that I hung out with our friend Bryce who was there with a few of his buddies to watch another of their friends race in the men’s cat 3 race. They had a tent set up right at the corner of 79th & Santa Fe, so I stayed in the shade with them for a while and had a few beers. Dan showed up around 11 or so, and we watched a few of the races before I decided I had better go home and take a shower.
Later in the afternoon I met up with Megan, Dawn and Melissa at Cinzetti’s for a late lunch. Yummy! There are few times where you can feel justified in gorging yourself at an all you can eat Italian buffet, and the weekend of a race is one of those times. We had such a great time, it was really nice getting to hang out with the girls for a while. So all in all, a good weekend :)
OH, my Pop Tart story. I went to HyVee on Friday night to get a few things, including Pop Tarts, which I’ve discovered I like to eat while I’m riding. They’re a good way to get sugar in, and they sit well with my tummy. So I’m standing there reaching for box, and some little kid sees me do it and starts screaming about how he wants Pop Tarts. His mom looks at me, looks me up and down, and says (while still looking at me), “no, Pop Tarts are crap, I’m not feeding you those”. WTF, biotch! Without even thinking about it or considering what I was saying, I looked her up and down (she was, shall we say, pleasantly plump), smiled and said “that’s the nice thing about Ironman training, I can eat crap and not get fat”. Aaaahhh!! It was a total “You’ve Got Mail” moment, where Meg Ryan was complaining about how she never has any “zingers”, she always thinks of a response later on after someone says something to her. I NEVER say things like that, especially to strangers, but I was actually kind of proud of myself for doing it!
4 comments:
WOO HOO! No joke, I'm sitting here eatling a pop tart and drinking coffee as I read this. Pop tarts are sent from god. That lady deserved her zinger, Meg.
Great job on the race
I eat poptarts all the time on the bike. They rock.
Tim G
Hey Julie! Marja gave me your blog address and it's been really fun to read! I did my first Sprint last month...and had another planned in Sept but have injured my foot....bummer. At least I have the fall/winter/spring to train, drop weight and actually get faster for next year! Loved the pop tart story!!!!
I Love Hot Fudge Poptarts...great during pregnancy too and Post Preg.
That's hilarous what you said to the women...
The story reminds me of a time I opened my mouth and a real Zinger just came out---- Here it is...
First the setting: I was previously in the military...stationed in Alaska, we were doing regular training based out in the woods. A beautiful Blackish-Blue Fox trotted down a side road away from the camp area and some jerk-guy picked up a rock and started throwing it at the fox. The other guys standing around didn't say anything until after I blurted out, "Does that make your penis feel this big!" (and with my hands gestered about a foot long space). The other guys then started laughing and saying "That was a good one!"
DARING...It was FUN! The jerk guy actually got kicked out of the Army (for other reasons) like my Dad always says, "They'll get what they deserve in the end!"
KS TRYCHICK
Post a Comment