Week of racing

This was another busy week. I had zone track meets that I needed to qualify for provincials in. But since I didn't really know the schedule ahead of time I was signed up for all the duathlons. Gary told me I could still race this Tuesday, but not kill myself. Basically it was up to me how much effort I wanted to put in, knowing I had to save a bit for my 3000m the next day. It was kind of hard for me to back off the pace when people I normally race are taking off. I really wanted to chase some people down! But I've gotten pretty good at knowing what my body needs, so I controlled the run pace and focused on having a strong transition. On the bike I let myself do a bit more chasing and it was kind of fun. There were still more people beating me than I was used to. I also didn't use my drops at all because it didn't seem worth tightening up my shoulders so much for the sake of being a bit more aerodynamic this time. So I fought through the wind and came down the final stretch of the bike mentally prepared to practice another good transition. I'm happy with where my transitions are at, I should be fine in the junior series. So I came out of T2 fast, as if I was still racing hard. Once I got to the aid station I cooled the jets and settled into a more comfortable run pace. Again it was tempting to chase people down and not let anyone else pass me, but that would not be the best plan. Once finished, I made sure I did a really good cool down, because that's probably the most important thing in recovering to be prepared to race again. Here's the results again, if you feel like checking out splits or seeing how the others did:

http://www.triathlon.mb.ca/admin/images/Seasons/RaceResults/rr_2012_BirdsHillDu4.pdf

So Wednesday afternoon was my 3000m qualifyer. I didn't know who would be there, but since it's expected of me to go to provincials, I knew I would just have to put out whatever effort was needed to get me there. Last year I showed up and only two of us were there; I went pretty easy because top three qualify. I'll admit I was kind of hoping that would happen again. Nope, there was probably about 8 of us, plus the junior varsity joined us as well because there were even less of them. When the gun went off I took my spot at the front and picked a pace I hoped most of the girls couldn't keep. Sure enough, I think within about half a lap only Mariette from my school was still on me. I'm not exactly sure because I was trying not to look back. She has improved a lot lately and had a great race, staying on me for quite a while before going her own pace. Suddenly I felt someone catching up to me and I thought maybe she was back. I was surprised to see it was someone else, who I had never raced against before. She stayed on me, and actually tried to pass a few times. She would get beside me but wasn't able to get in front. I could tell she was working very hard, and I was not there yet. Since it was really windy I decided to let her get ahead so I could draft for a little while. Nope, she didn't have it and wouldn't get in front. So after a few attempts I think she was done, and I got out in front for good. My finish time was 11:41. Mariette had a strong finish and finished third in 12:12. We're both off to provincials!

Friday was the main day of the zone track meet. The weather sucked, it was freezing. My events were 1500m (honestly wasn't sure I would win or even qualify), highjump (long story, I was going after a non-existant record so I only had to make starting height, which I did), 4x100 (seriously? I didn't even know I was signed up, so not my event!) and 4x400 (wow that's hard to do actually). So with all that going on I guess my focus for the day would be the 1500m, even though none of those events were really my strength.
So I warmed up for it and people were asking me if I was ready to win it and stuff. I was loose and ready on the start line but wasn't sure about my competition. But once the gun went off I got my way to the front and started out hard. Maybe almost too fast. Soon I was all on my own and I think I had a pretty decent lead. Mariette ended up beating the girl that had come second in the last race, but both of them had good races. I'll be glad to see them both at provincials. Ok so apparently everyone except me knew I would win. Alright then, good thing I lived up to people's expectations I guess. At least I had some fun doing it. I was also proud of the effort the rest of the team put in for the relays. It was hard to judge how we did but us girls will go to provincials for one of them.

Well that's almost it for high school track meets. Just my three events in provincials left. I like these meets though because so many people I know come out to them. Way to go to all the Westgate athletes. And all the random friends I've met along the way, which I tend to do a lot. There were also some Uof M athletes I'm friends with that were working the meet, so it was great to have some extra support and people to chat with between events. So anyways provincials will be in Selkirk in two weeks. Let's just hope for some sunshine. Please!

Duathlon #2 and #3

I know it's been a while since last posting, I did want to write after the second duathlon but I was just too busy. I know I say that all the time, but I think we are reaching new levels of insanity. I can't wait for school to be over. Just a few more weeks, some more essays and tests, fun stuff in between, and I'll finally be done! Last weekend I actually took a bit of a break from life, heading out to a couple cottages to spend time with friends. It was awesome.

Anyways, for the second duathlon I had some different competition. The two women that had beat me last time were not there, but Ashlyn was. We are often pretty close in practice, and a race can go either way between the two of us. However, she took off right from the start and I hate going out that fast. It doesn't work for me and I usually feel stronger running off the bike. So I tried to keep her within my sights but not get carried away with the pace. My transition was solid and I think I closed the gap a bit. It wasn't huge to beign with, and I slowly caught up to Ashlyn on the bike. About halfway through the loop of the park I finally was close enough to her and I decided to try to pass. Unfortunately we both kept getting stuck behind other people and could do nothing but leapfrog each other back and forth. This was because there was a group of about 6 or 7 riders in front that were so close to each other it was for sure counted as drafting. Come on, this is age group, get off people's wheels! This was frustrating to both of us because as we would pass the other person we didn't have enough to actually get around all those other people who were drafting and would be forced to drop back a bit. Then the other of us would try passing. Repeat. Frustrating, but at least it kept us pushing each other a bit I guess. Once off the bike, Ashlyn got away and I could not pull off a fast enough run to stay with her. I finished about 20 seconds behind her, although still faster that the first week's race. Here's the link to the second week's results:

http://triathlon.mb.ca/admin/images/Seasons/RaceResults/rr_2012_BirdsHillDu2.pdf

For the third duathlon, I learned a bit more about myself and the importance of shifting my attitude. On the way out to the park I was in a bad mood, stressed out and tired. Even though I knew I had to, I really didn't feel like racing. I wandered around before the race, chatting with people, but my head was not in the right place to be racing. I was so negative about everything. I was kind of hoping Ashlyn wouldn't be there and I wouldn't have to try as hard. It turns out she was hoping for a similar thing. She was ready to give a good effort, but would be very happy if I wasn't feeling great that day, therefore not forcing her to work as hard to try to win the race either. I'm not sure what caused the change, whether it was hearing her say those things or seeing her in her yellow Manitoba race suit from the Games, all ready to go. I wasn't planning on wearing the suit but I had it in the car. All of a sudden I said screw it, I'm putting on my suit too and fully going for it today. And I did. I think I may have made her a bit mad at the time, which is understandable, but I'm glad we're such good friends we can still have friendly competition. She wasn't super excited about my change in attitude or my change in race clothing, but we were both able to give solid efforts in the end. Once again she started out hard and I didn't know if I could hold that pace, but I did. We came into transition together and I made it out first, trying to get away on the bike. I knew she was keeping me in her sights, but I tried not to look back and focused on my own pace. The woman from the first race is quite strong and once again caught me on the bike. I knew it would help if I could hold on to her pace for as long as possible, so for the remainder of the lap I used the "invisible bungee cord technique" again, staying just a draft zone or two behind. It worked and I came into transition not far behind her. As I was leaving transition, Ashlyn was entering and I was hoping if I could just hold a solid pace I could continue to hold her off with the lead I had built. I succeeded in this, as well as passing the other woman. I'm not sure if she wasn't feeling good or something, but on the hills still pretty early on I caught her and she didn't respond again. It was kind of fun knowing I was leading the race, for the women at least. It brought back memories of the first cross country race I won, the zone championships on the same course. But I was still scared of either of them catching me so I forced myself to go hard right until the end. I also always try to beat as many men as possible, to continue pushing myself. Wow, on the way to the race I never would have expected I could do that. It was just a change in suit, a change in attitude. The most important thing I got out of this race is knowing I have the ability to do that. I know I won't always feel awesome going into my races, but I need to still pull it off when it really counts. This was good pratice for that. Despite stronger winds I also got a PB for the course because my runs were both better than usual. Results for the third race can be found here:

http://triathlon.mb.ca/admin/images/Seasons/RaceResults/rr_2012_BirdsHillDu3.pdf

This is kind of unrelated, but also a confidence booster: The energy 106 radio station truck has been at the races and this week Frankie Hollywood came out and did the race. If you don't listen to that station, that's probably a good thing. I'm not sure why I do, but he's the morning talk show guy and I find him quite annoying. Apparently my dad saw him but I didn't. The next morning I woke up to my radio alarm to hear him talking: "Have you ever tried something that you thought would be easy but ended up being frickin hard? Yesterday I did my first duathlon. It was a 2km run, a 13km bike, and a 2km run. It took me like and hour and one minute to complete it!" That's right, crushed him by 20 minutes. Haha. I know I shouldn't care but I do. Just thought that was kind of a funny story. Hope no one is too offended. I just realized this comes up pretty easily in a google search. Sorry Frankie. Oh well, that's all for this week.

Duathlon #1

I had wanted to get out another blog post about the latest race a few days ago. But life happens, and other things got in the way. Maybe I'll get to that later. Anyways, this past Tuesday was the first of the five-week duathlon series at Bird's Hill Park. Although our team doesn't place a lot of importance on this series, we train right through it putting emphasis on a solid workout and good transitions/brick work. I usually find it to be quite fun. Without much pressure, I'm able to have some friendly competition with other triathletes in the province I wouldn't normally race. Of course, there are also some of those miserable days where the weather sucks and I continually question why I am out at the park racing on such a crappy day or when I have no energy. Those days, it's not so fun.

Heading out to the park that day, I was starting to think it would turn into one of those races. I was questioning how tired I would be following those few crappy days of training and it was pouring rain. Great. Well as it turned out, I really did have a great time out there. It also wasn't just because of the race, but because of some of the people there actually. I'll get to that later. Anyways, I felt like I wasn't the most prepared for this race. I didn't have the best food choices during the day, and my warm-up wasn't quite what I usually feel I need. However, the rain cleared up before we started, I was able to shed some layers, and I got to the start line feeling ready to go. Usually even if I do a longer warm-up I'm not able to time it quite right and I end up standing around too long in between. But it worked out well and we got going right on time and I just went. Maybe I started a bit too fast but I was feeling alright. I knew I would be one of the top women up there so I really paid attention to where I was. Stevie got ahead of me as well as two other women. I managed to pass the other two again before the run was over. My transition was alright although once on the bike I took a bit too longer getting into my shoes. I felt great going up the hill. I didn't even really feel it actually and I used this strength to pass a few more people. Once at the top I was almost back up to Stevie's draft zone and I tried to keep a certain distance behind her for as long as I could in order to push myself. Once she got a bit too far away I knew that was done, but the woman from before passed me again. This time I knew I had a better chance at holding onto that "mental bungee cord" keeping me just a couple draft zones away but still with her in my sights. I also had some back and forth passing going on with some of the Youth Team boys, which kept things interesting. About three quarters of the way around the 13km loop some of the stronger men usually start to pass me, the ones that aren't as quick on the run. By now I know that I will be able to chase some down on the run again, which can be kind of fun.

Coming into transition I was pretty focused but it's hard to be really quick when my runners were just left from the first one and both my socks and shoes were soggy from the puddles. It's always great to have lots of people cheering for me by name. Gary yelled that I was only 5 seconds out of second for females. I had probably still had a better transition and once again I tried to keep the second place woman in my sights for as long as possible. I also made small mental goals of chasing down one person at a time. I saw Bryn ahead and knew I was gaining on him. Once we reached the parking lot I was right behind him. He noticed and it was a sprint for the finish. He just beat me but it made it more interesting and I actually finished the race thinking it was fun. Even though I felt like I was going to throw up of course. But a couple minutes later I was feeling fairly fresh again and ready for a longer cool down. I also got a chance to talk with that other woman and her husband as well as some other random people, which is always fun. After looking at the results I was finally able to compare it to last year, because even though it felt alright I really had no idea. It turned out I was over a minute faster than my best time, several minutes better than what I often did. Also my two 2km run splits were exactly the same, which was kind of cool. Here's a link to the results, but keep reading...

http://triathlon.mb.ca/admin/images/Seasons/RaceResults/rr_2012_BirdsHillDu1.pdf

And I'll post some pictures at the bottom if I find them.

Anyways, I was really happy at the race. This was mostly because of two people that showed up. I don't think they would mind if I mention their names and say a bit about them. Chrystalle is a girl I met at the U of W week. We got along great and felt like we were always the loudest people in the class, but had lots of fun. By the end of the first day, she learned I was a triathlete and was really interested in that. She had kind of heard of me and the sport before through school connections and wanted to give it a try. She is very athletic and is always looking for a challenge. She has now made the provincial basketball team, but is also looking for more of a life sport. Oh and she's already an awesome runner, I creeped her cross country results. So I'm thinking she will make a great triathlete. By the end of the week I had given her tons of info about the sport and she signed on to volunteer at the Duathlons. Wow. So I show up and she has already been there for an hour, helping set up. She had never met anyone else there and has never been to a triathlon/duathlon event. It was pouring rain and she was wearing a plastic bag to keep her volunteer t-shirt dry. She greeted me with a huge smile, telling me how much fun she was already having. As I showed her around the course and transition area, introducing her to as many people as possible, she kept telling me how amazing everything seemed. I love the enthusiasm. I introduced her to Dave, coach of the Youth Team. Within about 5 seconds of meeting her he said "you're on the team." Um, ok that was easy. She got all the info she needed and within a day was at practice. She loved it and will be going back next week. Of course, her mountain bike makes it difficult to keep up but I've already warned her about Dave's amazing yet slightly crazy bike flipping/sales/deals. She will continue to come back and volunteer, hopefully trying it herself by the last one.I hope she continues to enjoy this if it's something she really wants to do. I love the feeling of sharing my love of the sport with someone else.

The other person I was really excited to see out there was Julien, a 14 year old guy that I've coached at the Y. Even though we were glad to have him in the program there, it was clear this kid had some talent and interest in taking the sport farther. We strongly encouraged joining the Youth Team and now recently he has. He also just got a new bike, which is great. This was his first race and I went to check with him afterwards how it had gone. Also with a big smile on his face, he told me that he had gotten first in his category. He had lots of fun and couldn't wait to come back and race every week. Wow, even though I won't be able to claim much of the coaching since Dave will obviously be great with him down the road, it's amazing to see one of the first people I coached continuing in the sport and loving it. I came home from the race incredibly happy and couldn't stop talking. Obviously I still can't, I've just realized how long this post is going to be. But this really reminded me why I love the sport in the first place and how much I love sharing it with others.