From Dancer to Triathlete Newbie: Beaver Lake Triathlon Relay 2013

4 CommentsMonday • August 19, 2013 • by Imei

These days, my body hardly comprehends that which it is being subjected.

Friday afternoon, it was plucked, fluffed, painted, and then rather ungraciously stuffed into a professional bellydance costume that had to be made three sizes smaller in order to catch an extraordinary opportunity to be photographed by the world reknown bellydance photographer, Denise Marino, who was in the Seattle area for a limited time. I spent at least two hours pouring over all my bruises, contusions, funny tan lines, and other rewards of the last few weeks of triathlon training with a cosmetic brush, layering body makeup and concealer, powder and sealant to make sure it would stand up under the sun while I try to look glamorous, fresh, and “dramatic.”  Dancing for stage and being out on the race course are so entirely different to my brain. I almost forgot how to pose!

I know where my tenacity comes from — three weeks off the dance circuit, and already channeling my energy into three sprint triathlon races for my first season. Denise had no idea that behind my wistful smiles and far away looks of longing and desire were neurons firing through future scenarios of jumping into a wave of swimmers, trying not to panic, tagging my White Tiger (Man-Geek, my partner in crime for the relay and in life), and then imagining myself running up and down rolling hills.

Why doesn’t anyone ever remind you that what you envision is never really quite how it happens? [*grin*]

Here’s the race report, with White Tiger’s bike portion added in his own words:

 

Pre-race

I made sure I slept great two nights before the race, and started hydrating up the previous 24 hours before because I have medullary sponge kidney. I took an active rest day before the race, with only Yoga, PT exercises for my knees and IT bands, and a one mile run to stretch my legs and make sure everything felt great. I had my gluten-free pasta with salmon and veggies, and I went to sleep fairly early.

That’s when the repeating nightmares started. On the hour, every hour, my brain got stuck on this repeating nightmare where at the last minute, someone announces that because I am such a slow swimmer, my swim portion of the relay was given to someone else! I was so agitated about this because I had been practicing, I was beside myself with frustration. I kept crying out, “No, I want to swim! I really do!” I swear, this is a clever trick my brain played on me. Essentially, my mind got me to access how badly I wanted to get in the water and prove to myself that I could do this, regardless of speed or endurance. The only complaint I had is that the nightmare kept repeating over and over throughout the wee hours of the morning. I was already awake when the alarm went off

At Beaver Lake, White Tiger and the Snappy Dragon were geared up and walked the transition points from the swim to the relay tag area, where the bike would be exiting and entering, and a small portion of the run entrance. Just before we walked this, we confirmed that the relay team member in the swim portion would start in the second wave, immediately after the Elites. In the relay area, I looked around and realized there was but one other female swimming in my wave. Combined with the realization that my wave start would include 25-29 year old males, I also realized it was entirely conceivable that if I didn’t swim fast enough, I would be lapped by the next group of females 25-29. Great, I thought. Go ahead and imagine  a bunch of bodies swimming over you. Or just make sure in the last leg of the swim, you give it a good go and try not to get run over.

I spent about seven minutes in the water doing my deep breathing exercises whilst floating on my back, and putting my face in the water. This has helped me in the past to keep my water anxiety under control, and it’s a part of Exposure Therapy, one of very few methods used to treat phobias. Beaver Lake has been wonderfully warm, and this morning was no exception.

One couldn’t help but notice some of the fancy bikes of the relay teams. One 2-person relay had a full set up, including a mobile bike trainer for warm ups, aero helmet, and some sophisticated gear. They were clearly the ones that came to win. I came to finish, and to beat my last recorded PR’s.

 

Swim – Snappy Dragon 

9 mins 12 seconds

My swim strategy was simple: deep back, outside right corner, find a swimmer slightly faster than myself if possible, draft at will, and RELAX. The horn went off for my wave, and then I was in the water with 50-75 men and one other woman, spreading out and flipping water everywhere. I used the breaststroke to find my position, and the forward crawl with my head above water at times until I felt comfortable. Oh look, there’s some feet! Let’s catch them!  And before I knew it, I was around the first buoy and beginning to site for myself as the pack sped ahead and I lost my set of feet to follow.

 

I had told myself before I left the shore that even if I lost my rhythm, I would relax, take a few easy strokes, and then just glide right back into freestyle. That got me to buoy #2. On the last leg, the water that had gotten splashed into my mouth at the beginning of the swim started to bug me and I coughed a bit, but I started thinking about the polar bears and penguins in water (two images that help me get back into the relaxing part of swimming), and headed for shore.

 

It was only then that I realized I had actually passed two swimmers and my stroke became easier. Too bad, because the swim leg was about to end, and soon enough, I was running out of the water and onto the mat leading right up to the relay tag area, where White Tiger was the last relay bike waiting to be tagged [whomp whomp whomp, sorry White Tiger!]

 

 

Bike – White Tiger [from the White Tiger Himself]

46 min 25 seconds

It has been a while since I last raced short course. Beaver Lake was in 2008, and I remember it seemed hilly and the day became warm.  The team relay isn’t something I’ve done very often, but it has all the excitement of the full race situation. Waiting for the tag off after the swim, I noticed I was the last person left in T1. I was a little worried knowing that Imei hadn’t done a swim race under these circumstances, and I had seen her starting off with larger, faster male age-groupers. Finally I saw her running towards transition and it was time to go.  I ran through towards the bike exit.  I had a bottle of NUUN in my speed fill and another in my holder at the back of my bike. Two gels in my bento box.  The plan was to ride for 10-15 minutes then take my first gel while drinking as needed. I hadn’t warmed up, unlike one of the other teams in the relay area and as I started out I noticed both my power numbers and heart rate were higher than expected.  I was also relatively alone at first. After a few minutes I noticed some riders up ahead, targets set!  I tucked into aero and started to feel like I was getting into the ride.

I realized the course turned on to one of the hills I regularly included on my longer rides. This was a two-mile hill that is part of the Cascade Bike Club Flying Wheels series.  I knew what to expect:  a stepped hill followed by a refreshingly long descent.

Aware that the course was 14 miles and that I didn’t need to run afterwards, I decided it didn’t matter too much if I exceeded some of the power zone guidelines I’ve used in the past.  I started passing small groups of riders both on the flats and more as I climbed the hills.  As I was finishing one of the descents, in the distance I could hear sirens from an ambulance or police car. Later I would hear that a rider had an accident and went over a guard rail. [Edit: we have since been informed that the downed rider is recovering after going over a guardrail and falling down a ravine. His family is raising money for his medical bills.

Returning to the transition area, I saw the buzz of activity while running back to the team tag area. Done! Normalized power 235W, elevation change 1017ft, avg heart rate 142, avg cadence 85. Darn, I should have gone harder and faster but that was fun!

 

Run – Snappy Dragon

42 min 5 seconds

Since White Tiger was so skilled and safely speedy), I was tagged after a 45 minute wait in the relay area. While waiting, I checked my nutrition, stretched, and got myself properly warmed up for the unusual 4.3 mile distance (an extra mile on top of the usual 5K race). To me, an additional mile doesn’t mean that much to me because I’m used of longer distances, and when I get to the run, I’m usually pretty happy.

Yet because I was put in an early wave and the bike portion was completed fairly quickly, it put my start among runners much faster and younger than I. After counting the tenth 18-25 year old passing me without as much as a heavy breath, I just told my brain to “shut it” and dug in for the rest of the run using my watch and listening to my body, pacing myself to a nice and comfortable cadence for the first two miles, and making sure there would plenty of giddy-up for the last two.

Somewhere after the second mile and a few hills, I was thinking, “You know, Imei, you did sign up for this thing. So if you say that you hate how you feel right now — warm, sweaty, uncomfortable, taped up and stuffed into a close fitting clothing tighter than a belldance bra — you know you’ll be happy that you did it.” And so, I romped on, mostly by myself, and occasionally being passed by male runners 18-25 (but I wasn’t counting anymore, right?). Oh, and that 46 year old female who was smiling so brightly she could have melted butter.

OK, so here’s that one weird moment in the race that you can never plan for. After the second mile, I heard a bicyclist yell on my right side, “Holy Sh-t!” Turning to my right, I was able to avoid a deer that was coming out of the woods and heading straight for my intersection with its body. I stopped quickly as I watched it jump higher than my head as it bounded across the road. Woman triathlete trampled by deer, the headlines said. And I was just thinking how amazingly organized this race was. Couldn’t they have done something about that crazy deer?!? (j/k)

Heading up the last hill and seeing the familiar wooden fence that leads up to the mouth of Beaver Lake park, I took a look at my watch, sped up the song in my head that helps me keep a comfortable pace (it’s usually Japanese superhero music), and sprinted towards the finish line.

White Tiger eagerly awaited the race results while I foraged for food. It was pleasing to find out we took second place, especially since this was my first triathlon. They always say you remember your first, and I know I will.

Total time:  1 hour 39 minutes 15 seconds

 

Next week: Lake Sammamish Sprint Distance Triathlon August 24, 2013.