Hum-bled

Wow.  That's all I have to say about today.  For the abridged version, my performance was subpar, by my own standards and definitely compared to the competition.  I wish I could blame it on the weather, but alas we all faced the same brutality from Mother Nature.

Day began with a 6am wakeup.  This is possibly the latest I've woken up for a triathlon (that usually start at 7am or even earlier) so I was definitely feeling refreshed.  Packed the trucks, drove to race site, got there around 7.  The sky was just lightening up and there was no rain, but boy the wind was bad.  It was probably in the 40s with winds around 20mph, gusting to 30.  It felt COLD.  We had a long, meandering walk over to transition because the original parking area was flooded (and we had to cross gushing water between two lakes to boot).  When we arrive at transition they are making announcements that the water is 54 degrees (warmer than outside!) and the swim has been cut in half from 1500m to 750m.  Darn, I was really hoping for a duathlon!  And it hurt our team because we have a super-swimmer (who was first female out of the water anyways!).  But whatever.  Get the chip, bathroom, usual transition stuff.  This time we couldn't take the bikes out and no one was going to warm up in the water so there was a lot of standing around, freezing.  15 minutes before race start, I took the first of 3 Gu Roctanes.

Race started at 9, with 10 waves every 5 minutes.  Each collegiate team had up to 7 men and 7 women and the top seeded male from each team goes first, then top seeded female, second seeded male, etc.  I was going as the second-seeded female, in deference to our super-swimmer.  9:15 and I was off.  The wetsuit and neoprene cap really helped, but my feet were freezing!  Plus the water was really choppy and I've never had a worse swim start.  Everyone was on top of each other, I swallowed water, had to come up twice, got scared around the buoy, etc.  It was nothing short of a disaster.  It was only 9.5 minutes (the swim was shortened further to 500m) so I didn't lose too much time, but was way in the pack of the pack.

T1 could have been my worst split.  4 miles to find the bike, struggle with socks, put on a jacket, attempt to get on bike, etc.  My feet were ice and just not working.  I had already resigned this to being a training race so I was ready to sacrifice my transitions for comfort on the bike and run, but it was just too much (and didn't help anyways).

Onto the bike.  Once clipped in we had a pretty steep uphill.  Even though only the "fast" people were supposed to be ahead of me, I saw a number walking up (it wasn't that bad!).  The bike felt okay and the jacket really helped me stay warm, but my toes were completely numb and functionless.  The bike course was essentially a square such that we were headed into all cardinal directions at some point.  That meant that we faced the wind from both sides, the back, and the front.  So speeds were all over the place!  One section it was blowing from left to right and I literally had to get out of aero, grip the bars, and lean left just to stay upright.  It was like anything I had ever experienced- true Texas plains wind!  There was absolutely nothing to block it from whipping across us.  I was honestly more than a little scared of toppling over.  I couldn't even reach for the water bottle (Accelerade) and once I was able to get it I had to hold it in my hands for a few minutes until I could find a place to put it back without falling over.  But, once we turned and the wind was at our back, I was flying!  I passed a lot of people on the bike (including our super-swimmer, who had never done more than 18 miles at a time) and was only passed by 1 female so I thought it went well (relatively, of course).  Came in at 1:25, but it was only the 60th best female time of the day, way below my expectations.  Took another Roctane mid-way through.

After a quick T2 I was off on the run.  I could not feel my feet- they were just nubs.  I had to stop twice in the first half mile and actually took off my shoe and rubbed my toes to get some feeling.  Someone ran by and yelled ""just run, they'll get better!"  Tried that, but still was scarily numb.  I even asked a ref who repeated what the runner said.  So I just kept going.  I didn't have the run setting on my watch, there were no mile markets, and I was so concentrating on my feet that I had no idea what my pace was.  Just going by feel (or lack thereof).  Gupled down my final Gu Roctane but it was not settling and my stomach was sloshing and I got a bad stomach cramp.  I think it's because I had to take my entire water bottle on the second half of the bike, rather than space it out to aid digestion.  I was paying for it now- but I knew how to change my breathing and was better by mile 2.  But it was too late, my run was shot.  The 1.5 mile loops felt like forever and I just never got a rhythm.  Was passed by an MSU guy but was able to keep him within 20 feet for the rest of the race so at least I was consistent.  49:02- yikes!  Worst 10K in a very long time.

Race ended around noon but we had to wait around to 2pm to get our bikes from transition, after the sprint race ended.  By the time we got back, packed the bikes, showered, etc it was time for the awards ceremony.  Useless for our team, but good sportsmanship and a great way to see 1,000 collegiate athletes all together.  It's amazing how strong and united a lot of these teams are!

On that note: collegiate triathlon.  Very few of the races I do have any >24 participants I just don't see the younger racers.  Maybe it's geography (almost all of the teams were from big schools in the South, Midwest, and West)- there were only 2 New England schools represented (MIT and Keene State in NH).  If I raced in CA or CO maybe I would see them.  On the other hand, maybe there are only 1,000 or so racers but they all come to this race- it's like their Kona.  For the biggest and best teams, they train together all year (and they can in Palo Alto, San Diego, and Boulder) and this is the end of their season.  They are trained and tapered, whereas we are just starting outdoor training.  But these are excuses- the truth is they are FAST.  And not just the single-sport stars I thought they were.  I am very impressed, and can't wait for the next few years when they enter the AG ranks.   If they are the future of triathlon in the US, it looks very bright.

All in all, this is a forgettable race, except that I never will.  However, it kick-started my season.  Since I came in 381st and only 20th female grad student- far below my goals- I realize how much work I have to do to get back into racing form.  I am now pumped to get my bike back where it belongs and to get the run down.  May will be that time when I'm between school and work.

A Wash Out in Lubbock

by Lindsay

Day 2 of USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships in Lubbock, TX.  Also day 2 of non-stop rain. While none of the epic hail of last year, this rain is causing some concern.  The ground here is all clay, meaning that it does not absorb water quickly enough.  The roads are all flooded with inches of water and even cars are having trouble getting through.  How will we?

The day started at 7am when the team awoke to get used to an early morning start and do get a good run in.  Plan was foiled immediately as it was absolutely teeming and still pretty dark outside so we decide to take turns on the hotel gym's treadmill instead.  Breakfast of cereal and bagels and peanut butter followed and I distributed all of the sports nutrition donated by Sports Bistro to the team.  Final checks of the bike and a quick tutorial on how to change a flat (we couldn't get the CO2 to work though) and then we were off to tour the race site.  We drove 18 miles through absolutely nothing to get there.  I'm from the midwest and have seen my fair share of flat, uninterrupted land before, but this feels different.  There was no vegetation, no plants, no buildings, just miles and miles of wet clay with a few power lines and overpasses dotting the landscape.  Lubbock is a small city of 200,000, but it sure doesn't feel like it!

The race is held at Buffalo Springs, which also hosts an Ironman 70.3 triathlon.  We swim in a dammed lake then run 4 miles out of the park, with some decent hills, then it's all flat for 10 miles as we skirt around the Lubbock backroads.  The roads were entirely flooded mind you, so I don't know how things will look tomorrow.  Even without the rain, you are out in the open and it's easy to see how the winds can strongly affect the bike ride.  No shade either, although that won't be a problem tomorrow!  Amazingly, we saw a number of teams getting a warm-up swim in.  With temps in the mid-50s both in the water and out, and choppy waves, it didn't look to appealing but kudos to them for getting in there! 

After a course viewing- which was the first time I had done that before a race and feel much better about the race after seeing it- we returned to the hotel and grabbed some burritoes for lunch (small, healthy ones!).  The rain wasn't letting up but we had to get on the bikes just to test everything out.  Sure enough, every one of us found something that was the wrong height, not tightened enough, or just plain backwords.  Even though it was just a cruise around the parking lot it was the most productive thing I did today!  Now it's time for some relaxing and showering before our team meeting and then a pasta dinner hosted by Texas Tech.  We've seen a number of teams around the hotel but this will be our first good taste of the competition.  The southern and western schools tend to have the advantage at these races as they are able to train all through the winter and spring as a team, but maybe the cold and rain will give us northerners the upper hand.  UC San Diego won't know what hit them!

Fingers crossed for a dry evening and morning, but either way, we race at 9am!  Good luck everyone!

Triathlon Collegiate National Championships- Day 1

by Lindsay

For those of you who don't know, over the past few months I had been agonizing over whether to run the Boston Marathon (on Monday, Patriot's Day) or compete at the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships in Lubbock, TX.  I had qualified for Boston at the 2009 NYC Marathon and signed up immediately- this was the race I had been training for.  When Nationals came on the horizon about 2 weeks later, I told my team I would be unable to go because I was committed to Boston (props to the guy on our team doing both!).  I had taken Monday off, my parents had taken the day off, and I was going to run that historic race that I was so privileged and lucky to qualify for.

Fast forward a few months to late February.  My marathon training was, well, sub-par.  My longest run to date had been an 8 miler and the marathon was only 2 months away.  I was facing down a punishing school schedule, a full 8 days off from training while on Spring Break in Japan (no complaints there!), and I still had to work up to and add 20 mi/week to my training schedule.  Frankly, it wasn't going to happen.  Also, I've struggled with injuries when I build up too quickly and knew this would put my and my knees at high risk.  The straw that broke the camel's back was that the tri team put out a last minute request for female competitors as they did not have enough to field a full team.  So with about 6 weeks to go before the races, I made the switch.

I had worked up to a full half marathon so I felt confident in my running for the Olympic distance triathlon (which ends in a 10K/6.2mi run).  However, I hadn't swum since late August and had put less than 100 outdoor miles on the bike.  That had to change, FAST!  And it did, and I enjoyed the shift in training away from just running.  While I'm nowhere near peak, I think my bike and swim are now up to acceptable levels, for an early-season race anyway.

So here I am in Lubbock, Texas.  Never been to Texas before and I don't imagine this is the best city to start, but oh well.  It's done nothing but rain and that's not expected to let up all weekend.  The city/town is nothing to speak of but the hotel is nice enough.  I've enjoyed getting to know my new teammates and am sharing a room with 3 of the girls.  We have enough to field a full team on both the men's and women's side and I'm looking forward to seeing how competitive we will be.  There are a lot of tough teams here from triathlon hotbeds like CA and CO, but there are other northeastern schools who also deal with the reality of a harsh winter.  Today was just a travel day and putting our bikes back together, but tomorrow we get more info on the race and do some running and cycling tuneups.  Then we wait...  until the big race on Saturday!  I'll be blogging each day to let you know how it goes, and more on the collegiate triathlon scene, which really is the future of this sport.