Two weeks after my ironman, I decided to do this fun olympic triathlon with my friend Deb Battaglia. Deb is the person responsible for getting me into ironmans. She is an amazing 45 year old endurance athlete, who has competed in an ironman every month this year. We drove up Friday night, camped in her car near the start. Every race I have done with her we have car camped. This race provides free camping to athletes! So we didn't haven't search for a hiding place to car camp. Unfortunately we missed the free pasta dinner. We woke up race day and registered without any problems.The race started at 6:30, which was nice to avoid the heat.
Swim:
The Swim route was a two loop open water swim in the beautiful Huntington Lake. There were only about 18 females so the swim was not very chaotic. They started the males 5 minutes before us. One part of the triangle loop we were swimming directly into the sun, which made spotting difficult. I had a great swim for me 28:25 (anytime I am under 30 and I am within a minute from Deb I am OK with my swim time, she swam the course in 27:24)
T1-1:39-My transition are always a little slow in these races, I struggle with my wetsuit. Maybe one day I will master mounting my bike while having my shoes attached..
Bike:
The Bike Route was paved, smooth and will swept prior to the race. There are a couple of cattle guards which were covered and clearly marked. The Bike Route is on a rural county road. For the Olympic course we did two out and back loops. The bike ended up being about 30 miles. Leaving the lake there is some slight climbing, which makes for a sweet ride back to the lake. Bike time 1:28, it was a little windy and the hills made it a little slower course.
Run:
The Run Route went around Huntington Lake twice for the olympic course. It was a combination of pavement, and gravel. The run felt fairly good. I though I paced well, but my stomach was bothering me the whole run. Thankfully I made it to the finish without having to stop. It was a little short of 6 miles so it looks like I was running faster than I really was. Run time 40:55.
This race was small, well organized, and has a beautiful setting. It is the first race I have ever beat all the guys, which I actually didn't know when I finished, because they started 5 minutes earlier. For my award, I received a cool slab of rock engraved with a swimmer, biker and runner. The Picture is a little hazy, due to fires in the area...
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Echo--7/14/2012
(Thanks to Mike Mamales for all the pictures and zazoosh..)
I woke up early Saturday morning to eat breackfast and drive to Echo Reservoir. Parked at a highscool, and biked with all my gear to the start of the race to check in. I met my friend Andi, Jannalyn, Deb and Jeannie at the start of the race. Then down at the swim start met my friend Alli, BJ, Chrystel, and Tracy. My friend Deb Battaglia, beat me by about a minute on the swim again. I always try to draft off her but always seem to loose her in the sun or muddy lakes...
Swim: Olympic athletes swam twice counter-clockwise around the buoys in Echos reservoir. There was an awesome cloud cover, and so the sun was not a problem. The wave start made the swim mellow. Due to the low snow levels in Salt Lake, echo lake was very muddy and the visibility... um wait what there was no visibility. There was a shoe zone after the swim, and I struggled putting on my shoes, maybe I should have just used sandals...I was feeling a little disoriented after the swim like usual...
Because of the low level of the lake, I think we ran about a quater mile uphill on a narrow path to get to our bikes. So this time my long transition, was not do to wetsuit issues...
Bike:
The bike was an out and back course. We started by leaving the Echo Resort and crossed onto Hwy 32 going North (left). Then we continued north on Hwy 32, going under the Interstate 80 overpass and turn right, continuing up Hwy 189 (Echo Canyon Road) to the turn-around. We biked past some beautiful Red Cliffs, that are fun to climb on. I felt pretty strong on the bike and found a good cycler to pace myself off. The route back to Echo reservoir, was definitely faster.
Run:
The run was also an out-and-back course. From the transition we ran on the Park City Rail Trail (hard packed dirt trail). The trail parallels Hwy 32, and is completely separated from vehicle traffic. Olympic athletes will continue to the end of the Rail Trail. Aid stations were provided every mile, which was very nice. I had problems on the run with my stomach, despite taking 3 immodiums.
Here is my flying to fast out of transition feeling great. I started out at a 7min mile pace for the first 3 miles, and slowed to a 7:30 pace the last 3. Here is my rabbit run when I started to fatigue...I'd like to blame my slow second half of the run on diarrhea, and maybe not having enough fuel...
But there are always so many variables, and triathletes are great at coming up with excuses..
Anyway, the weather was great! The second female overall! there is nobody I would rather loose to than Ali. My race was 10 minutes faster than two years ago, and I think the transition was long this year! My Coach ended up winning overall
swim t1 bike t2 run
| 1 | 642 | Ali BLACK | 02:15:25.4 | 00:23:23.628 | 00:03:04.572 | 01:04:58.261 | 00:01:10.475 | 00:42:48.496 | |||||||
| 2 | 633 | Kathryn THROOLIN | 02:20:56.4 | 00:24:13.561 | 00:03:42.460 | 01:06:20.356 | 00:01:07.244 | 00:45:32.847 | |||||||
| 3 | 662 | Lesley ROCKWOOD | 02:22:34.3 | 00:23:17.651 | 00:03:39.403 | 01:07:54.735 | 00:01:05.556 | 00:46:37.003 |
Stansbury-July 21
I had a rough day at work friday, and was texting my friend Leslie and decided to race with her at Stansbury. So I rushed to the bike store and bought some gu. So glad Leslie convinced me to race. I felt better at this race than the previous races. Signed up the day of the race, just like I did for the San Rafael Classic...It was great to see my friends Leslie, TeKoi, Amanda, Mike, Jen and Wes at the start of the race.
Swim:
The swim consisted of a two loop swim in the Stansbury park lake. I took the swim easy, especially on the long stretch were I was blinded by the sun, and just hoped I was swimming in the right direction. The water was warm, and I wish I had a sleeveless wetsuit. I actually had very fast transition times for me. Maybe, I am finally getting the hang of stripping a wetsuit...Somehow my friend Tekoi managed to take of his wetsuit, during the swim...
Bike:
The bike was flat and weaved around some country roads. It was a little windy. I felt great on the bike! I found a guy that we kept playing leap frog the majority of the race, which helped me with my pacing..
Run:
Yay!!! No stomach issues!!! The night before I ate salmon and a baked potato. Race day I had oatmeal and a banana. I was beginning to think that there was no solution to my stomach issues... The run was flat, and on pavement, which made for a quick time. I wish they would have had aide stations every mile, on such a hot day. The first loop of the run, I felt awesome! The first race of the year, that it felt good to run. I could tell I was gaining ground on a female in front of me. The second loop was harder, but I still felt strong, and finally in the last 100meters I caught the female in front of me and sprinted to the finish. My fastest 10k race ever!
First overall female!
swim t1 bike t2 run final time
| 1 Kathryn Throolin | 27:42 | 1:01 | 55:02 | 0:52 | 42:07 | 2:06:41.1 |
Morgan Half Marathon--July 28
I had a coworker, Kirsten convince me to do this half marathon. I didn't really feel like running 10 miles on my own, so I decided to use this race as a training run. The 2nd Annual Morgan Valley Half Marathon started at 6:30am. The course winds through the country roads of morgan valley with scenic mountain views and congestion free roads. There was a small amount of participants, but the course was well organized and the provided free photographs! I started out to fast, hoping I might finish with a PR. I only had diarrhea once during the race. I was the fourth female. I finished with a 1:32. This was 5 minutes slower than my best time. Not too bad considering I wasn't tapered and it was a hilly course. The shirt I am wearing I recieved from a patient at Hunstman who is an amazing ultrarunner fighting cancer.
This is how I really look when I am running hard, and started out too fast. I call it my rabbit run.. Debating about posting this, but it is kind of funny...
What a great month! I regained some confidence about my athletic abilities eventhough I haven't qualified for Kona. It was a lot of fun to race with some friends, relax, and enjoy some local races...I think I will be doing Jordanelle and the Utah Half Ironman next...
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