Show Me State Game triathlon update

The Show Me State Games triathlon was this morning and it went pretty well. There was only a few hundred people if that and it was super low key. I don't think it's technically a "USA triathlon" sanctioned event, but nonetheless it's still a triathlon.

I really thought the heat would be a bigger factor considering the high today is over 100 degrees. But I guess that since it's been over 100 for the past month everybody is pretty much use to it by now. I don't have an official time yet, but I finished in about 1:48 which isn't a spectacular time, but it's not horrible either. I was able to get a pretty decent bike time with riding 15 miles in about 55 minutes.

My first open water/mass start went fairly well also. Nobody was too happy with the mass start, but what can you do. I was lucky to be in a fairly non cluttered area between the fast people and the slow people. There were maybe only a dozen of us in my general area with minimal bumping. The pond we swam in was filled with alge/seaweed (whatever you wanna call it) and you absolutely couldn't see a thing, but again what can you do. It could be worse.

The swim was a clockwise loop around the big orange buoys 

There was nothing too eventful about the bike, it was mostly uphill the first half and then we did a 180 degree turn and went right back. I've gotta say that I'm glad it was that way instead of being downhill the first half and then uphill on the second half.

The run was two laps around the lake that we swam in for a 3 mile run. Well, technically it was a run around the lake and then, like the bike, spin 180 degrees and go back.

It all went well with minimal complaints. But I have to say that my only complaint was that at the run around the .75 mile mark/ 2.25 mark (for the way back) there was a water station which is always appreciated. My only complaint was that on my way back there was nobody there and no cups left. A guy in front of me had to tip the bucket a fair amount to get the water out. I can deal with getting our own water especially at such a low key event, but the fact that there weren't any cups left was kinda bothersome. But it's not the end of the world.

Here's what you've probably been waiting for: pictures and videos (disclaimer: I know that my transitions aren't very good)

My helmet set up, it worked pretty well

My ground set up minus my shoes. Normally I wouldn't have energy chews but it was really hot and I figured anything could help. I also chose to have water and Gatorade to keep my electrolytes in check

The swim start video is easily the coolest one of the bunch

I don't know if I'm gritting my teeth or smiling. Going from the swim to bike

Going off to the bike course

This one is pretty bad quality, but it's the bike to run transition

The finish-and yes it was gravel 95% of the way which probably added an extra level of difficulty 

Start of the road: Disney Half Marathon

The hotel room has been booked, tickets bought (mostly), and the plans are being made for the Disney World Half Marathon. It's 5 months and 6 days away. At the moment I'm training for my sprint triathlon, but once that's done in a week, my training for the half marathon will officially begin. I'm adding 4 weeks onto the usual 20 week training program because I'm not a very good runner and I figure making it more gradual will be better better not only because of that, but because I have an extremely busy schedule.

So the ball has officially started rolling.

Jerry Seinfeld: The Olympics

in honor of the upcoming London Olympics, here's Jerry Seinfeld's hilarious commentary on getting second place in the Olympics.

Show me state games triathlon

I signed up for another sprint triathlon today. This one is a part of the "Show Me State Games" which take place in Columbia, Missouri. I just found out about it and the entry was only $25; who can beat that (here's the link if you feel like joining). Given my performance in the last sprint tri, I know how much is too hard when it comes to pushing myself on the bike. But this time around I have a distinct advantage because I'm back in St. Louis for the summer and the neighborhood I live in is all hills. It makes a 16 mile ride if you go on all the streets there and back. Unlike when I train in Columbia where it's hard to find good biking that's not on a scarily major road.

This one is slightly longer than my old pal the TriZou which is 400 meter swim-14 mile bike-3 mile run. This sprint is a 1/2 mile swim-15 mile bike-3 mile run. So not a significant difference but enough of one where I'm really exited about it. I'm actually most looking forward to the traditionally most uneventful part of the race; the swim. Because the TriZou takes place in a pool and everybody starts a few seconds apart. This one is a mass start in a lake which is more traditional of a triathlon. I'm really excited about that since it'll be my first mass start and there's something really fun about swimming in open water as opposed to the pool. (Watch me end up hating it). The only part of the swim I'm not looking forward to is people bumping and getting in the way of each other. Well, that's about it in terms of current racing, nothing too exciting. I'll remember to take pictures and maybe a video or two.

In other tri related news, I've decided to become slightly more serious about the sport. My first step is getting tri-specific gear. One of which is getting a tri jersey/shirt because although my "wicking fabric" shirts are great, I need a tri shirt. And I'm planning on getting aero bars and pulling my road bike seat forward to make it a tri-road bike hybrid. As great as a tri bike would be I don't have $2000 to drop on a new bike. I've decided that next year is really gonna be the year that I pick up triathlon training. I hope to do a few 1/4 distance tri's. And it's my goal to do the 1/2 ironman in Branson two years from now. And from there maybe another year and off to the Louisville full Ironman. So that's my "5 year plan" as they call it...slightly different from other people my age, but hey might as well do it while you can.

IronMan Louisville video

Just found this video on the ole' youtube and decided to share it. Is it crazy that I want to do this at some point before I graduate from grad school (That gives me 3-4 years from now depending on what program I get into). Knowing that I'll never get to Kona, at least Louisville is relatively close in terms of IronMan triathlons go.

And of course another good video of the volunteers. Races wouldn't be able to run smoothly without volunteers and I need to volunteer at more to give back to the racing community.

my TriZou results

Well it was an interesting TriZou that's for sure. The rain held off, but unfortunately the heat didn't, it was pretty rough. I think the MC said it was the hottest trizou they've had.
         Either way, in general it was a good race for myself. I say in general, because I completely was a complete "struggle bus" (for lack of a better phrase) through the run. Mainly because I pushed myself a bit too hard on the swim and bike, and with the combination of that and the heat, I had to walk a few steps a few times during the run. I pretty much consider this a failure on the run portion, because I've never had to walk before and usually running 3 miles is pretty easy. But, at least I wasn't the only one, since I was one of the last ones to start there were a whole bunch of us walking because of the heat (and we're not exactly the "elite" group). The good part was that there were a few of us who were having a hard time and finally the last mile one of other girls came up to me and was like "come on, we're gonna do this together," so we ran together for the last mile. I can't thank that person enough, because usually I hate working out with other people but in this case having somebody to run with was my saving grace.
      Now that I've given you the bad news, the good news is that I improved in every other category and improved my overall time by 3 minutes. I had timed myself in the pool at swimming a 10 minute, 400 meter, but adrenaline got me through it in 9:24. I also improved my bike time by several minutes. Mainly because I figured out my work out style- mainly, some people are better at lighter weight (resistance for a bike) and fast reps, but I'm better at less reps, but more power required. So on the flat parts I put the gears on a harder setting so I could get more distance and power with less reps. This is probably the wrong way to do it, and any legit biker is probably yelling at me, but in this case for just a 14 mile ride, along with a swim and run, that's what works best for myself. But, I did push myself to do better this year, which I did, but I payed for it in the run.
       All in all, it was a good race, with the exception of the run. I guess we all are apt to bad moments. Oh well, something to improve on for next year. Well here's my results and some pics if you feel like looking at them:

Division Place: 10th out of 24
Gender Place: 94th out of 182   (I was amazed there were only 182 women out of 550 total people)
Swim Time: 9:24
Transition 1:   3:48
Bike: 53:38    ( 14 miles)
Bike rate: 15.7 mph (almost a 2 mph increase from last year!)
Transition 2:  2:01
Run: 30:16
Run pace: 10:16   (literally have never run a slower 3 mile pace, ever)
Overall time: 1:39:04

Now for the fun part: pictures

The finish line the afternoon before the race

This really has nothing to do with the race but the Quad and the Columns were so pretty Saturday afternoon

The sunset on the quad was pretty too

The transition area at the TriZou with the bikes

TriZou bike transition. Running leg next (I'm the one in the black)

Finishing the trizou. Thanks to the lady in blue who's behind me who ran with me for the last mile

the TriZou finish

TriZou weekend

So the TriZou's this Sunday and I'm pretty excited. The only problems are that it's going to be close to 90 degrees, and if you're familiar with midwest weather the temperature isn't the bad part, it's the intense humidity. But, it's been humid this whole week so hopefully everybody will be at least a little bit use to it by the time race day comes. It also looks like it's going to rain, so cross your fingers that the rain won't start until after the race.

My training went fairly well this year. My only complaint is that I spent too much time on the indoor bike trainer as opposed to getting out there and biking on the roads. So I took some advice from people who are very knowledgeable in this field and did a bit more interval training. For instance if I was going on a 3 mile run, I would purposefully run faster than my normal pace for a bit about every 1/2 mile or so. It's one of the only ways to make you faster and hopefully it worked.

Tomorrow's packet pick up day and I think I'll swing by the track (aka Stankowski field) where all the transitions are/where the bikes are kept tomorrow afternoon and see if they've set up everything. If stuff is up, I'll take a few pictures for you guys.

If you're participating in the TriZou tomorrow, than good luck.