Ice Breaker Triathlon

Ice Breaker Sprint Tri

59:57.5              1/108 Female         8/282overall  

Going into this race I had 3 goals:

1- I have not done a triathlon with my new bike or actual clip-ins so practicing quick transitions
2- Every triathlon in the past I have subconsciously held back on the bike always wanting the run to be priority.  I did not want to do this… really wanted to push it the WHOLE race.
3 – Get in under 1 hour

Drove to American Fork, picked up race-packet… markings… pre race meeting… transition set up etc. etc.  Went for a quick warm-up (2.3 easy with some strides)

15 minutes before the race I still was unsure what I was going to wear.  Everyone was complaining how cold it was, but last minute I decided to take off my tri top and wear a swim top with tri shorts for the whole race.  

Swim (6:19/300 meters)

Indoor pool swim. Cluster mess.  I am not very confident in my swim, so when we were lining up I kept moving backward listening to the others talk about their swimming abilities.  Ended up stuck in the middle of the lanes and at the wall ends several times waiting for people. I need to make sure to start further up next time… especially in a lap pool! The time includes running from inside the pool to the transition area mat.

T1 (0:45)

Smooth and uneventful.

 

Bike (12 miles, 31:56, 22.5/mph)

I felt strong on the bike.  I caught a lot of people which was giving me more and more energy.  Fell short of my 25mph goal… probably should have looked at the course before setting it that high :) Double loop course with uphill going out and downhill coming back.  About 2 miles left on the bike, I took 1/2 a gel and drank poweraid zero with Powerbar Perform mixed in. (This is the first race I opened the gels and taped them to my bike. Worked out perfect)  My dad was at the dismount area and told me only 2 girls in front of me! So encouraging having him there. 

T2 (0:51)

Pretty smooth…Forgot to take my helmet off and had an official ask me if I was taking extra safety precautions running with a helmet on! Duh Christie! Right outside of T2 was Rachelle!!! Best way to start the last leg of this race.  (Note - I need to purchase the no tie laces for my shoes.) 

Run (3.1, 20:08, 6:30/mile)

The first half of the run shares the course with the biker's which is a bit scary.  I ended up running on the sidewalk most of the time to avoid a collision. Most of mile 1 my legs felt good but I felt like I couldn’t breath; very frustrating.  Mile 1 is going up the ‘big hill’ and my shoe lace came untied.  Stopped, fixed it and pushed up the hill.  Mile 2 is flat, and 3 is back downhill to the finish.  During the run I was catching men and on the look out for those two dang ladies.  Finally, I saw some braids ahead, found another gear, and just charged past her and didn’t stop pushing until the end.  I never knew what ‘running scared’ meant until today with that girl chasing me:) I was really hoping for a 19:2X… but happy with the effort I gave.       

Crossing the finish I had no idea my time because my Garmin was messed up and thought I was in 2^nd.  Rachelle and I went for a quick cool down waiting for the results to post.  When we got back my dad told me I did it… sub 1 hour and overall female!     

Cant say enough how much my dad freaking rocks.  I swear, he gets just as much of a workout as I do moving around to the different areas on the course!  So fun to have Rachelle there as well… I don’t think people know how much support really means/helps during a race.  This is the perfect pre season race: well organized & wonderful volunteers, challenging course to test your fitness, and ideal race before St George 70.3 :) 

and my post race FUEL THE MACHINE tradition...

SASHIMI