catrenajs@yahoo.com
04-13-2008, 10:26 AM
Well, it is a little late, but here is my race report from Lavaman in Hawaii this past weekend. This is my first race report, so bear with me if I give too much detail!
Left the house at 5:30 am for the race and was feeling pretty good in spite of the lack of sleep. Getting up was no problem as the Rooster that lives on the property was up as well. He made sure I did not oversleep!
Transition set up was only allowed race morning as was body marking and timimg chip collection. With all of that and a long line for the Honey Bucket I did not get to warm up at all. A little scary since I have not been on my Tri bike outdoors since September. I also had brand new Zipp 404 wheels that I had NEVER ridden on.
The swim was done in 3 waves....Pro's and relays, Men, and Women. I have never done an Ocean swim or started with that many people (335!). While wading out to start, I cut my big toe on a rock. I did not pay much attention to it as I was nervous about the start. The course ended up being a backward "M" shape which was pretty strange. It was a very aggressive swim. I was a little suprised, but got over my shock quickly and settled in. There was a lot of combat, but I held my ground and was 10th out of the water. Did not know that until after the race-my husband was counting! Somehow I messed up my watch so had no idea what my time was.
T1 was uneventful including time to put sunscreen on my white NW skin. The first mile of the bike course was a no passing zone which was actually nice as it forced me to take it easy and warm up a little before we got out on the highway. The bike felt very skittish and I was really nervous about the wind so stayed pretty tense. Somehow my bike computer got switched to KPH instead of MPH so I had no idea how fast I was going. I guess if I had ridden outdoors I might have noticed before race day! The course was nice with a big wide shoulder and smooth road out and back. It had gently rolling hills and flats. I was passing people like mad but could not find anyone in my age group. I figured I was so far behind a big group and could not catch them so I just rode hard but comfortably. Many thanks to EMC for all of those indoor rides!
No mistakes in T2-racked my bike and got going. THe first 1/4 mile was gravel and lava then grass then onto the road for a few miles. At mile 1 my toe was really hurting (I forgot I had cut it) and I thought it was some sand. I finally stopped to see what was up and was alarmed to see that one cut was an inch long from the big toe joint up almost to the top of the toe and the other was a little puncture. So now I felt sorry for myself. I don't like blood! I changed my gait and rolled to the outside of my foot and kept running. Not ideal, but it worked. All went well until the last mile which was entirely narrow dirt track with a cliff on one side, followed by coral and lava followed by sandy beach. It was tough! But the finish line was in sight and I made it.
I ended up 2nd in my age group out of 43. This is the first time I have ever placed so I had to look at it a few times to make sure it was real!
Final results 28:16 2:01 1:11:09 0:47 56:35 2:38:47
Any feedback welcome about this report......too long, too much detail, just right?
Catrena
Left the house at 5:30 am for the race and was feeling pretty good in spite of the lack of sleep. Getting up was no problem as the Rooster that lives on the property was up as well. He made sure I did not oversleep!
Transition set up was only allowed race morning as was body marking and timimg chip collection. With all of that and a long line for the Honey Bucket I did not get to warm up at all. A little scary since I have not been on my Tri bike outdoors since September. I also had brand new Zipp 404 wheels that I had NEVER ridden on.
The swim was done in 3 waves....Pro's and relays, Men, and Women. I have never done an Ocean swim or started with that many people (335!). While wading out to start, I cut my big toe on a rock. I did not pay much attention to it as I was nervous about the start. The course ended up being a backward "M" shape which was pretty strange. It was a very aggressive swim. I was a little suprised, but got over my shock quickly and settled in. There was a lot of combat, but I held my ground and was 10th out of the water. Did not know that until after the race-my husband was counting! Somehow I messed up my watch so had no idea what my time was.
T1 was uneventful including time to put sunscreen on my white NW skin. The first mile of the bike course was a no passing zone which was actually nice as it forced me to take it easy and warm up a little before we got out on the highway. The bike felt very skittish and I was really nervous about the wind so stayed pretty tense. Somehow my bike computer got switched to KPH instead of MPH so I had no idea how fast I was going. I guess if I had ridden outdoors I might have noticed before race day! The course was nice with a big wide shoulder and smooth road out and back. It had gently rolling hills and flats. I was passing people like mad but could not find anyone in my age group. I figured I was so far behind a big group and could not catch them so I just rode hard but comfortably. Many thanks to EMC for all of those indoor rides!
No mistakes in T2-racked my bike and got going. THe first 1/4 mile was gravel and lava then grass then onto the road for a few miles. At mile 1 my toe was really hurting (I forgot I had cut it) and I thought it was some sand. I finally stopped to see what was up and was alarmed to see that one cut was an inch long from the big toe joint up almost to the top of the toe and the other was a little puncture. So now I felt sorry for myself. I don't like blood! I changed my gait and rolled to the outside of my foot and kept running. Not ideal, but it worked. All went well until the last mile which was entirely narrow dirt track with a cliff on one side, followed by coral and lava followed by sandy beach. It was tough! But the finish line was in sight and I made it.
I ended up 2nd in my age group out of 43. This is the first time I have ever placed so I had to look at it a few times to make sure it was real!
Final results 28:16 2:01 1:11:09 0:47 56:35 2:38:47
Any feedback welcome about this report......too long, too much detail, just right?
Catrena