Unsponsored, Unofficial Triathlon 2009: Race Report

Diane’s 2009 Informal, Unofficial Triathlon
Friday August 14, 2009
Tour De Lakes

Race Report

Pre-Race:
It was a hot and windy day on Friday. I was frustrated the evening prior, tired and trying to get things done. Romie stayed with Lori, and Kira (my 13 y/o niece) had been dropped off at our house to be able to just be there in the morning and be off with us. Kira’s a great kid, and a gentle soul. She was a calming presence for me.

Friday morning I was the first one up. Packing up the rest of my things, packing the car, getting sun block on, etc. all went quite well. We left the house several minutes later than I had hoped, but there was no issue as I had given our schedule lots of extra breathing space. In the car I kept thinking of things I had possibly missed, and asking Jo to make sure everyone had sun block on, etc. She told me probably 6 times to only worry about myself, she would take care of things, and adults could take care of themselves. I agreed I would worry about myself and a little bit about Kira. I had to keep reminding myself of that though, there is a lot to think about when doing an unofficial triathlon.

When we arrived at the Lake Harriet beach, Abby was already there. She had been there over a half an hour, waiting. Apparently she thought I was going to start earlier. Had we been 10 minutes later, she would have left. Good thing we weren’t. Kira decided the water was too cold for her. (It was very nice, esp. compared to earlier in the week). I frantically set up my transition area. Abby and I stepped in the water, turned to Jo, and smiled for the camera. When we were really in the water we geared up. We swam out the starting point, and looked at Jo, on the beach. I yelled at her to get her or Kira up by the bikes at the Transition area. Again with her response, “don’t worry about it!” There was some confusion as to the start. I told her I would give her a thumbs up when we were ready and then she would throw her arm down to mark the start. Thumbs up, no arm down. We tried again…and again. Then we yelled at her to try to find out the delay. I think I heard back “I’ll start at your first stroke” so I decided NOT TO WORRY and I swam.

SWIM:
The swim did not go as well as I expected. I had been swimming in the lake a few times, to try to get used to lake swimming as opposed to pool swimming, and I had done pretty well. This time though there was wind. I must have stopped three times choking and sputtering that first leg out. The water would crash against me and no matter how hard I tried, I got smacked in the mouth with it as I was taking my breath. Abby kept saying “Are you OK are you OK?” I’d cough, continue, gets smacked in the mouth with water, cough and sputter. Abby told me to breathe every third stroke. I tried, but couldn’t get the rhythm of it. I finally figured out, belly full of lake water, that I could breathe on the side facing the opposite side of the waves. Thus, the SMACK was on the back of my head, not into my mouth. I still had to pull my head out of the water more than usual, and my stroke felt awkward but I was moving. Abby was right behind me, yelling “you’re doing great!” I was trying to figure out how she was keeping up with me so well as she hasn’t swam in a year, but I just accepted it. Maybe I thought it could have been because she didn’t have a belly full of Lake holding her down. As in practice, heading east it was really hard to see the buoys. I was finally starting to get a rhythm after two full circuits, and finished wondering if swimming was going from my strongest area to my weakest.

BTW: It was amazingly wonderfully awesome to have Abby with me. And who knew she could do it like it was nothing and just be there as moral support the whole way. During T1 Jo said, “don’t feel bad, but Abby’s form is great and should get some pointers from her, maybe practice with her some.”

Transition One:Getting out of the lake wasn’t as difficult as I expected. Granted, I didn’t try to sprint out. I swam until my arms were well touching, squatted, and righted myself, and then walked up the beach. I didn’t feel dizzy or disoriented – much anyway. The transition was slower than I expected. Yacking, trying to get my feet rinsed and dried. But everything I needed was there and really, my plan for the T1 went pretty well. Then Kira and I were off on our bikes.

Bike:The bike didn’t go as well as I expected either. My bike computer was not working. I stopped twice in those first two blocks to adjust it, but nothing. Nothing telling me how fast (or how slow) I was going or how far I had gone. Oh, shoot and no cell phone. I yelled back at Kira, she had hers, so we were covered in case of an emergency (or so I thought). It was a nice ride around Lake Harriet. I felt like I was going faster than usual. Then around to William Berry and down the hill to connect to Lake Calhoun. Speeding down the hill I heard a clunk behind me. Kira’s water bottle fell off. I yelled at her to get it. She said “I know,” and stopped her bike. I sped on. I waited for the stop light at the bottom of the hill, thinking she was right behind me. Nope. I went on, yelled at Joanne in the car by T2 that I had lost Kira. I was a little slow around that part of Lake Calhoun, thinking she was going to catch up with me. I crossed at Dean Parkway, hoping she knew the way, and kept on my route. Around Lake of the Isles I thought maybe she’d find her way there, or to the Greenway, and just wait for me. Nope. Oh, yeah, no cell phone at all now and no bike computer. Not to mention, again, – no Kira. I tried not to worry about her. I lost her a block from Joanne, and Joanne knew I lost her and would surely try to find her if she didn’t show up. And, oh yeah, I thought, the kid has her cell phone.

I prayed for no flat tires, tried to go as fast as I could comfortably go while pacing myself so I didn’t peeter out completely at the end. Around Lake of the Isles it dawned on me that no-one out there realized I was doing a triathlon, that I was now essentially doing the ride alone, and that I didn’t notice my clothing. Now that last bit is a good thing. It meant that I was drying off and biking sogging had been tolerable. And, it meant that all the work Joanne did to pin my shirt to my swim underwear was working. The thing wasn’t riding up on me at all. I could have sworn I was going faster than usual and the bike ride was going fast. I did have a clock on my bike computer, so I knew what time it was, but wasn’t sure what time I had left the transition area, so that wasn’t that much help in guessing my average speed.

By the last part of Lake of the Isles that nasty wind was bothering me. I went against the wind until I turned off the Greenway up toward Cedar Lake. I crossed the street there by Cedar Lake Beach and there was a truck about a block down the path, parked cross wise on the path, blocking it. The guys waved me down to stop me (as if I couldn’t see there was a truck blocking the path) and told me just a minute. The truck was dumping gravel on something off the side. It sure didn’t look like “just a minute” and there was some space around the front. I non-verbally asked the guy if I could go around the front. He walked through there to check if it was wide enough, and waved me through, but then stood there in my way and as my bike teetered thought he would help me but didn’t know what to do. Yeah, getting out of my way would have helped. Funny thing about that was my focused brain didn’t know if I should speak to these guys in English or Spanish, thus the non-verbals, mixed with the limited English words I could come up with. (yeah, that’s right, I forgot how to speak in English).

Through the barricade I was off again. That is a beautiful trail back there, much less crowded, well-paved, serene. A mile up the road was my turn. As soon as I turned I absolutely knew which was the wind was blowing…against me. And, I am sure it picked up and was windier than I go out in for bike rides. You would have thought I was going up DEATH HILL*. I was going so slow, even though the course was flat. Of course, I didn’t have my bike computer working to know how slow I was really going. As I came up to the first bridge to do the one section that was an out and back, I thought I could skip this, and no-one would know. But, I would know, and this was really about me, after all. I kept going to the next bridge. I found the dirt path at the turn around, finally, and headed back. I really wanted to stop under the main bridge and drink some water and rest, but I resisted. Coming out from under the bridge I saw a woman walking with two sticks (I can’t remember what that’s called, but it’s walking with sort of like ski poles). Hey, I know her. “Hi BJ” I yelled as I went past. So, in a way, I wasn’t totally alone on the bike ride. Someone could vouch for me I did it at least.

Those last two miles were pretty much a blur. I know I was tired, and had to really push myself to keep any type of momentum and speed going. I was thinking about being done, concentrating on relaxing my shoulders, and on breathing. I was sort of wondering how I was going to be able to do the walk. Then I would remember I have done the walk before with few concerns, I had trained for this, and it was simply going to happen. I made it to Dean Parkway. Realized (again) that Romie would like the bumpy bike path there if she had been on it with me. The light was green at Lake as I rounded the curve there. I sped up to make it and I did. I biked the last of the way around Lake Calhoun, tired, and happy to finishing the bike portion.

* Death Hill is the nickname I gave to a hill on Theodore Worth Parkway that threatens me with a heart attack every time I go up it.

T2: I couldn’t see anyone as I rounded that last corner, and then there they were, I think in my way. I tried to find a good place to stop, so I was right there, but out of the way of bike traffic. I jumped off (got off the bike a little quicker than usual at least), leaned the bike toward Jo and promptly started yelling at Kira. “Are you OK? You’re here, so you must be OK. What happened? Are you OK?” I also heard Abby say, “I can’t believe you are still moving. (She had gone home after the swim and came back). And Jennifer was there, too. It was so nice to see her. I tried to get out of Jo how long I had been gone. She fumbled with an answer, but as it wasn’t concise I dismissed it. My mind couldn’t analyze “I think” and guesses. Jo handed me a water and a half of a Cliff bar, and I started walking.

Walk: It is so nice to walk with friends. We were an interesting group of four walking around the lake. Diane, Abby, Jennifer, and Kira. Kira was pretty quiet. Jennifer was quieter than usual. And Abby kept asking me questions, “what’s different this year?” I complained that my legs felt like rubber. Jennifer remembered that from the year before. I told her I had felt literally sick the year before though, and this year I didn’t feel sick. Exhausted and rubber-legged, but not sick. Abby then said, “OK, so you don’t feel sick this year, what else is different?” Well, the bike route was a little different, the participants changed, and the swim was in the lake instead of the pool. As we walked and talked a little I asked if they wanted me to mark milestones. No, they didn’t, it didn’t matter, had to walk around the entire lake no matter what. Kira told me that we had missed the last buoy on the last two circuits of the swim. What? I didn’t do the entire swim? Ok, maybe she told me that during the bike start but I clarified it here. Abby asked if we had to do the swim over after the walk. “Yes”, I answered. But really, I had planned more than .5 miles, the distance between the last two buoys wasn’t very far, and the traditional swim distance is less than .5, so all and all, I’m guessing it was just fine. I counted it as done. Kira realized Joanne may not be too happy that she told me I didn’t swim the whole way, so asked me not to tell Jo that I now knew I was short on the planned swim distance.

Even though I didn’t share it, it was helpful for me to have an idea of how far I had walked and how much I had left to go when I hit each mile marker and the half way point. Abby wanted to take a short cut at the Lake Street side of the lake. I said yeah, we can do that, but then it wouldn’t be 3.1. Oh, yeah, she commented, this isn’t just a normal walk around the lake. By half way I was thirsty, bottle of water gone. By the two mile mark my thoughts kept drifting back to thirst and water. I wanted to jump into the lake off of a dock. They said I could, but it would mess up my time. Yeah, keep walking. It was also right around the 1.5 to 2.0 mile mark that I realized I was going to have blisters on my feet. They hurt. I didn’t know why, I’d done the walk before, same shoes, good socks. All I could figure out was maybe it was the heat from the hot pavement. Usually, I walk in early morning when it’s cool, and when I have walked in full sunlight it’s been at Victory Memorial, which is quite shaded.

Do you know, Lake Calhoun is a long way around, and 3.1 is a long way. It was a tough walk. The last third Abby tried to get me to walk faster. It worked, but just a little. Then Jennifer fell behind, expressing her dissatisfaction at the walk. Abby dropped back a little to encourage her. I was also really hot by then. It was one of the hottest days of the summer, though in general, the weather has been good this year. The wind felt good. It cooled me down just a little and was a tiny reward for having to put up with it on the swim and the bike ride. The last little bit seemed like it would never end. I kept my eyes fixed on the porta potty marking our starting and ending point, and it did get bigger, slowly. Then we got to the portion at the end where it’s all trees between the lake and the path and I couldn’t see the finish. It was OK, I knew it meant we were almost there. With the park info structure in view I started to yell for Jo. I finally said, “I bet she’s in the car in air conditioning.” Abby laughed, Jennifer had just said the same thing, though I hadn’t heard her. I looked toward the car, yelled, and started waving. Finally, she saw me, and waved back. I waved some more. I wasn’t saying hello, I was saying in my wave “stop the timer, we’re just about there.” As at the start, I told myself not to worry about it, Jo was in charge of it, and would get the timing down.

Jo came toward us and by the time she got there I had collapsed on the bench in the seating area there. Jennifer did too. Quiet Kira followed suit. Abby didn’t. And after about a second Abby started to tell me to get up and stretch a little. Jo came by, kissed me, and handed me a water. She then handed cold waters to everyone else. I downed my water, asked for more. Honestly, by the time I got in the car I was on my fourth water. It was so delicious. I was tired. I was glad I was done. I was so grateful for my friends and for Joanne.

Post-race: I felt pretty good the rest of that day, and the next morning. I wasn’t as sore as I expected, and I was tired, but functioning. I did notice that complex cognitive abilities were shot right after the race. But, so what. I just told Joanne to quit mumbling about my times until I could get it all neat and accurate. I just couldn’t follow what she was saying. Exhaustion hit me the next day at about 4pm. Total, complete, utter, exhaustion. I could not function. I could not think. I could barely move. After a good night sleep I was a little better, but not completely. Good to know, right. Next year, I take the day after the triathlon off, and maybe the next one too. And, just when the exhaustion hit I started to have a nagging pain in my right hip. That was new to me, but I’m sure it was from the ride or the walk or something. I haven’t noticed that much today. But, I do notice the blisters on my feet, especially as I have regular shoes on today after spending most of the weekend in my Berks. Overall though, I feel like it was a great accomplishment. I’m slow, and have a lot of work to do, but I am an unofficial triathlete in training to be an official triathlete.

A note on times: I thought I made great time on the bike. In reality, not so much. I thought the walk was slow, but it ended up being a better time than I have gotten just walking the lake in the early morning cool hours without anything like a bike or a swim before hand. The swim, well honestly, I can’t compare that to anything. It is not the same as pool swimming and we are estimating the distance. But, it is around the ball park of what I expected, so that can’t be bad.

Times:
2009
Swim: 23 min
T1: 8 min
Bike: 87 min
T2: 30 sec
Walk: 64 min
Total: 3:02 hrs

2008 for comparison
Swim: 28 min
T1: 14 min
Bike: 90 min
T2: 3.5 min
Walk: 69.5 min
Total: 3:25 hrs

Distances:
Swim: a little less than 1/2 mile
Bike: 15 miles
Walk: 3.1 miles