The Pirate Tri RR & Triathlon Rocks Winner!

Whew-what a race. And a last minute addition* to my race schedule at that...
The battle to get a bib was a race in of itself!! (and could be a separate blog post just to chronicle that adventure)
*One of my "A" races for this season (Black Fly International distance on July 9th) was sadly deleted from my schedule this year since some "real life" financial obligations came into play. Needless to say, the 3 day triathlon vacation planned the family had planned for that weekend has been put on hold until the 2012 season. So getting into another local triathlon asap became my obsession for a few days...thus the addition of The Pirate Triathlon at Point Sebago!

If you recall, I was battling a pretty hefty case of bronchitis for several weeks leading up to The Pirate so I certainly was not at any sort of peak condition going in...that being said, it was a super fun race and overall, I am happy with how things went (considering).

This is my first year racing with the Kennebunk Beach Triathlon Club and it certainly is a whole different experience going to the races with team mates vs. my mate (aka hubby). While hubby is very supportive of my training schedule and all things tri related, when it comes to race day let's just say it's not his first choice of places to be (he fondly refers to it as being my "tri-bitch"). So racing with the club is a win/win for both of us. I get to hang out with like minded individuals without being hounded with questions like "when are we leaving" or "do we really have to stay for awards" and he gets to not hang out at the race.

The KBTC Crew post Pirate!

In the several days leading up to the race, I knew that the weather was forecasting rain for the weekend (for once, they were right). I rode up to the race with my friend, training buddy and fellow club member, Marc and it was a totally stress free morning. We left early to ensure we got there in plenty of time--and of course, whenever you travel with me to a race there needs to be the obligatory stop at Dunkin Donuts.

I run (and tri) on Dunkin'

waiting in the car line to get into Point Sebago Resort

Transition was muddy but to be expected. Luckily, I packed a ton of plastic bags and towels so it was all good. We met up with several tri club peeps for some social time pre-race and then it was GO time!

It's GO TIME for my swim wave

The Swim-1/3 mile
The lake water was warmer than the air and was not as dreadful as I expected. A quick dip in the water, a few minutes of swimming and then the typical pre-race announcements.
I was not expecting too much of my performance on this swim. I have not been in the pool in 3 weeks (sick) and anytime I attempted an OWS so far this season, it did not work out. My plan was to just take it easy and conserve my energy for the upcoming hilly bike course and fly on the run.
All was going smooth and easy until about 20 feet from the first buoy when *POW* I got kicked in the face by a swimmer in front of me moving to the left to get closer to the buoy. This kick resulted in a face full of ouch and a ton of water shooting up my nose and down my throat. Choke, choke, choke, breathe, breathe, breathe, relax, relax, relax. I needed a minute to gather myself and took a break by swimming on my side for a bit. By the time I reached the buoy I could tell my HR shot up and I was struggling to breath calmly. I then rounded the second buoy and just went. I reached the shore in one piece and ran for the transition area, peeling off my wetsuit with ease.
Swim -10:34
Am I happy with that? No, not really. I know I have a ton of opportunity here and plan to take advantage of every group OWS I can as I do prefer the open water to the pool.

From the water to T1 (that is not me)

T1-1:40
good improvement previous T1 time with a wetsuit. Always room for improvement with free time right?




Bike Out-see the mud??


The Bike-14 miles
Hello Hills! Hello wet pavement. I had no idea what was in store for this bike course as I did not preview it or ride it pre-race. Nothing like going in blind to keep things interesting huh?
Many friends who have done this race before talk about the many climbs and the one downhill that has a sharp 90-degree right hand turn. Apparently, many a rider has gone down on this turn and with wet roads it was "Caution". Yes, there were lots of short climbs. There was also zero regard for USAT rules when it came to passing and drafting. There were cyclists passing on the right, crossing the yellow center line, stacked out 3-4 deep right to left on some of the climbs. The last 2 miles were easy and mostly down hill so I just enjoyed the break from climbing and got ready to run. Almost hit 40mph on the way down one hill and had to keep in mind the roads were slick. Weeeeeeee
Bike - 47:20 17.75 mph pace

T2- 0:52 in and out except for some side stepping around a big old mud puddle the size of a truck. Don't wanna get my pretty Pearl iZUMi's all dirty...oh, and I could not feel my feet. 12 seconds slower than my last tri T2

Heading OUT on the run and giving Jeanne the "I LOVE YOU" sign ??? Huh, what, ok Jen...



 The Run-3 Miles
Numb feet. It took a good mile to get the feeling back into my feet. This is only my second race sans socks and I love it. I love having one less thing to worry about and I love running in my Pearl iZUMi ISO Transitions. They are so light and comfy. I felt like I was crawling. I did not wear my Garmin for this race (only my Polar HRM) so I had no clue about my pace. I would have guessed a 10-12 minute mile, I usually feel great right off the bike but this was not the case. I still felt like I had water in my lungs and I could not catch a good breath. This was a lollipop course so I could see the athletes ahead of me on the course making their way back to the finish line. I was able to cheer on some friends and team mates and deliver a couple high fives in passing. I passed a couple team mates and got to run with my friend, Marc for a few minutes as well! Nothing really epic about the run except I was happy to have a short downhill on the way to the finish.
Run - 24:12 8:04 pace

Total Time 1:24:35.4
Overall Place 115 / 431
Gender Place 27 / 237
AG Place 9 / 36

I knew going into this race I was not going to be 100% but I gotta say, it was super fun! I had a blast and I cannot wait to conquer this course next year. While it was my slowest sprint time yet, it was one of the more fun races I have been at and I think I owe a big thank you to KBTC for that!

My team mates did awesome! Diane took FIRST in her age group and Tom placed 3rd in his! Also, my friend Marc got a PR for this race so all the hard work we have been doing paid off. Congrats!!

Marc in the pain locker shooting for that PR!!

The best thing about this race? My first triathlon battle wound! Remember I mentioned I got kicked in the face? Yeah, well some long gross toenail must have scratched me because when I finished, my team mate Kim told me there was blood on my face! Yeah, I was kind a psyched!!

That is one badass battle scar huh?? (do you need a magnifying glass to see it?? right there, under my nose!!)

Now for the Triathlon Rocks winner....

there were 97 eliglible entries for this contest.

To celebrate Marc's PR at this weekend's Pirate Tri, he was the lucky soul who got to help me pick the winner for this contest

(he did not enter this one either).

I asked him to pick a number from 1 to 97.

he picked #64

(the year he was born--I had to ask why #64)

One the list of names for each eligible entry

#64 corresponds with

BIG DADDY DIESEL

BDD, Congrats on winning.

Please shoot me an email and I will get you hooked up with Triathlon Rocks and the tee shirt of your choice.

The best pee story?
Tune in tomorrow folks, this post is long enough!

Did you enter my Tough Chik contest?? If not, what ya waiting for??