Ironhorse Meet-Up (and Race Report)

Another race in the books, folks.

I learned several important things this weekend.

• It is not always so much about the race as it is about the experience and the people. (Yes, I had a crappy race but a really good weekend, read on.)

• If possible, a road trip with dad now and then is a great idea.

• I need the open water swim to be competitive.

• Nebraska needs more triathlons.

So... this race was as different from last weekend as it could possibly be. Let's talk about the positives first. I drove to North Platte with my dad. That was pretty fun in itself (good thing because it is a haul). We stayed with a friend of his from college. They showed me the course and then I went over and had some dinner with Tri-Dummy and his wife Amiee, Duane, and met their kids and dogs. (Thanks again for dinner, guys!) It was nice to talk with Jay, Amiee, and Duane and get to know them better.

I didn't sleep well in the unfamiliar surroundings but I headed out to the race site ready to race. I signed in, got body marked, and started to set up my transition area. I was just getting ready to put my PB and Honey sandwich together when I realized I didn't have a knife. I ended up using my fingers to spread the PB on my the bread. (Yes, that jar had to be pitched, gross, I know.) I finished my transition area as I was having breakfast. I looked over and you will imagine my surprise when I saw this...



I had set the second half of my sandwich down next to me and a guy came over to talk to someone and stepped right on it. It was super annoying and hilarious all at the same time. It was stuck to his shoe and he had no idea. I debated as to whether or not to say anything but I ended up tapping him on the shoulder and saying, "I am not trying to slow down your run on purpose or anything but I think you have my PB sandwich stuck to the bottom of your shoe." I thought it was a little funny that it had happened but was a bit annoyed that my nutrition plan was getting thrown off before the race was even started. No time for more calories... off to pre-race meeting and wave starts.

I was in the third wave. It was a 500 m pool swim in a 50 m pool. 5 laps. Would have been great except I felt crappy from the get-go. The flip turns weren't helping things. I am glad that it was short. I usually love to swim but I was pretty glad to be getting out. (This is a trend you will notice if you continue to read.) I really have come to like open water swimming, I don't mind getting pummeled, I don't mind having my goggles knocked off (I can usually prevent this), and getting a mouth full of water, while kind of gross, is not frightening for me. I usually have an advantage here, but not at this race and I paid for it. Swim time: Approximately 9:05.

Ran the distance to the transition area. Felt really wobbly, not a good sign after such a short swim. Grabbed bike gear, pulled shoes on (wasn't brave enough to start clipped in after last weekend's fiasco), grabbed a swig of Gatorade Rain and was on my way. T1 = 1:08

The first half of the bike was alright. I was booking with a 20 mph average. I got passed just after the first turn around by two females. As soon as I turned around I ran out of gas. I had been drinking water but no calories. It was too late to take my gel as I was only 15-20 minutes away from T2. Kept pushing, felt alright but just couldn't go any faster. I would be curious to know where my heart rate was at but I don't have a monitor. Headed towards the 2nd turn around up a good-sized hill. Felt great going up but got passed by two guys and a chick. I was doing 36 mph on the way down which was super fun. At this point I was really tired of my bike and it was only a 15 mile ride. Yipes. The road was really rough and every bump was rattling my body for some reason. I pedaled on back to T2 and jumped off. Bike time: approximately 47 min. Avg 19.2 mph.


T2: I put socks on today because the run was 5 miles and I hadn't been training without socks lately. Took another swig of Gatorade and grabbed my race belt. Approximately 1:20 in T2.


I headed out on the run. Felt alright. I was glad to be off my bike. I was still smiling and felt alright I just couldn't turn the burners on. I plugged away the 2.5 miles to the turn around on the super-duper flat course. It kind of sucked to have to run right by the turn around for the 2 mile run because it was only a mile out. Knowing that you still had to do three miles before you would be back there. I counted steps, I calculated paces, I got annoyed at the people who were running with their headphones on turned up really loud, you know the usual. My stomach was really sloshing, I could seriously hear it, but I felt fine so I just kept going. Walk the aid stations for water but was just shuffling along. I am not a fast runner by any means but this was ridiculous. Somewhere I had blown up. I didn't ever hit a wall. In fact, I felt like I had never picked up enough speed to notice if I tapped the wall. Run time: 46:36. Avg: 9:19. Ouch!

My overall time was 1:43:14.
2nd of two in age group, 5 of 6 in women's overall. I deserved nothing better than that.

But... Amiee, Jay, Jake, Duane, and I all finished and this is my favorite picture of the day.



I know this is getting long but now for a little entertainment...


KT and KT's Dad


KT and Duane

It made me laugh how much alike they looked. See Duane's blog for a pic of them side by side.

Alright. Enough is enough. It was so great to meet everyone. Thanks again to Tri-Dummy and Amiee for feeding me. Congrats to Jakie for his first grown-up triathlon. Thanks to McKenna (I hope I spelled that right) and Josh for all their cheering. And nice job to Duane on his first bling!!! Woot Woot!

Next weekend. The Big Creek Olympic outside of Des Moines, IA.