BSLT Race Report

OMG!!! What a day! First of all – I DID IT!!!! I placed 1st in my age group, 1st overall female age-grouper, 6th overall female, PR’d and qualified for a Kona slot (which I plan to take)!! Here’s how it went down…

The morning started with a 4am wake-up call. All of us at the house got ready and headed out at 4:30am to the race site. You have to park up in this lot and then walk down the 1st bike hill with all of your gear, in the dark. I said good-bye and good luck to the pros (they were starting at 6:30am), set up in transition and made friends with all of the ladies around me. We chatted, shared stories and generally decided we had the friendliest age group. I checked out bike in and out, run in and out and tried to memorize which row my bike was in. The big news was that the water was cool enough to wear wetsuits. I was a bit disappointed because I felt I had a little better chance without the wetsuit, given my poor transitioning ability!

Once transition closed, we headed down to the lake and splashed around a bit. Lots of people were in the water when the male pros started. It kind of happened with very little fanfare. I was surprised to realize the race had started. Things happened quickly after that. My wave was like the 8th wave or something and we went off at 7am. We lined up on the edge of the water…Marti (the race director) yelled go and I sprinted in a few yards and then dove and started swimming. Something did not seem right, however and I realized my goggles were full of water. I took a few more strokes and then was like “there is no way I can swim 1.2 miles without seeing” so I stopped to fix them, got pushed and swam over and then took off again. I got settled into my stroke and figured I was in about 4th place. There were 2 yello cappers right ahead of me and I ended up following them for most of the swim. The swim flew by and before I knew it I was running up the ramp to transition and volunteers were helping strip off my wetsuit.

SWIM: 25:42

With the wetsuit at my waist, I ran along the carpeting to my bike row and found my bike without a problem. I managed to do everything the way Karen and I practiced and headed out to bike out in a relatively short time. At the end of my row I turned right and ran into 2-3 guys coming with their bikes. They all yelled at me that I was going the wrong way. I yelled back sorry and turned around and ran to bike out. Sometimes I wonder if I need to be checked for early onset alzheimers! Made it to the mount area and was on my way.

T1: 1:42

The bike starts with a steep uphill so i had the bike in a low gear and just spun up the hill. It was not bad at all. There was one 35-39 yo woman ahead of me that I could see so I kept my sights on her but tried not to push too hard too early. I was happy the computer on my bike was working correctly since it was not when we did our short ride yesterday. On the first downhill you hit some pretty good bumps and my handlebars dropped down. I guess I didn’t tighten them enough when I put the bike together. I panicked a little because I was already worried about some of the downhills and could just picture myself flying over the handlebars! Fortunatley they were tight enough that I could yank them back into position and they stayed there unless I hit a big bump. I did have to adjust them throughout the ride but it didn’t affect me very much. I LOVED the bike course. Tons of flats that you could really fly on. I passed that girls and 3 others in my age group and was in the lead for about 5 miles before I was passed. I knew who she was and knew she was a good cyclist so I just tried to keep pushing at my pace. Then, another girl came up on me and we battled back and forth for quite a few miles. She would pass me then slow down. So to not be called for drafting, I either had to slow down or pick it up and pass her back. She was absolutely amazing on the downhills, though. I don’t think she touched her brakes once. I, on the other hand, literally braked the whole way down on both switchbacks. I was able to get her back on the uphills and then we hit the last 15 miles, or so, and they were straight into a pretty strong headwind and I finally broke free. This was also the point when it started getting pretty hot out. I noticed I was sweating A LOT and so drank a ton in addition to pouring water over my head and back. Finally I was on the last uphill and then a nice descent back into transition. From what I could figure, I was in 2nd place at this point but I had no idea how far ahead 1st was.

BIKE: 2:36:14

Amazingly enough, I went the right way into transition and had no trouble finding my spot. I threw the bike on the rack, switched shoes and exchanged helmet for hat and I was on my way. As I was running out of transition, I heard Chuck announce Maggie’s name (the girl in 1st) and figured she couldn’t be that far ahead. I waved to the timing guy as I passed the finish line, smiled and headed out onto the course. One event to go!!

T2: 1:09

The run did not start out well and it did not end well but I had some good points in the middle! As soon as I started on the course, both quads cramped up. They were really tight and painful. But, seriously, what are you going to do? I just kept running and hoped they wouldn’t get worse. I am not sure why, though because I felt I kept hydrated with enough electrolytes on the bike. I did do my gels every half hour and tons of water and accelerade throughout the ride…much more often then when I ride back home. I also took 3 salt tablets on the ride. After about a mile, they loosened up and didn’t bother me at all. At this point, I could also see Maggie up ahead. I went through the first 2 miles in about 6:40 pace and tried to force myself to slow down. I knew that was going to be too fast but I felt like I was just jogging. I paid for this later!!! Just before 3 miles, I passed Maggie and was in the lead. I headed up the 2 steep hills, passing lots of guys on the way. That’s always a good mental boost! I saw Michelle and Lisa as they headed back in and we cheered for each other. They were so lucky they were finishing! I felt good out to the turn around. As I headed back I saw Maggie was not too far behind so I decided I better start picking it up. I felt really good through 8 miles. I was glad to have a water stop every mile, though. I grabbed as much ice as I could and shoved it down my top…it felt awesome ! The gatorade and water were iced down and tasted amazing! At 9 miles the last hill began and I was hurting. I refused to walk so shuffled up the hill along with an older guy who was encouraging me. We hit the downhill and I felt a little bit better but then at 10 miles, you turn back along the lake and there is a REALLY small uphill that felt like a mountain! I looked back as I rounded that corner and did not see another female anywhere (relief!!). After that, it was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. If anyone had passed me I would have smiled and said it’s yours because I had nothing left. I got to 11 miles and convinced myself that anyone can run for 15 minutes and that I would make it. When I hit 13 miles, I finally saw the finish line and did my little finishing kick so that I didn’t look like death as I crossed the line. The clock read 5:14 which I figured meant I had done a 4:44. Not bad…same as Musselman last year though. I was disappointed that I didn’t PR. Later, I found out that the official time was 4:41:37 and you couldn’t get the smile off of my face!

RUN: 1:36:49

I still wasn’t sure if I had officially won my age group until we made it back to the car and to my phone. I had TONS of texts and voicemails congratulating me on my win and my Kona slot. It was an absolutely amazing experience and an amazing trip. Next stop…KONA!