Arcadia Lake Triathlon

Edmond Park beach at Arcadia Lake





August 14, 2011-  Around 100 triathletes were participating in the Arcadia Lake sprint distance triathlon.  It was a 500 meter swim, and 12 mile hilly bike, and a hilly 5k.  I wasn't sure how difficult it would be to race on legs that just pedaled 54 hard miles the day before.  

The swim:  The gun went off and I eased into my swim, careful not to push to hard in the beginning.  It wasn't but a couple of minutes and I got kicked in the gog (my word meaning one side of my goggles :).  My goggles were still on, I wasn't hurt, and I remained calmed while bumping and being bumped for about another minute or so until all of the people could get spread out a little better.  I kept the swim nice and easy, not wanting to get all worked up and out of breath....yet.  After finishing the swim, I had a long uphill beach run.  Again, I ran up slowly not wanting to elevate my heart rate too much.  I was in and out of transition in 44 seconds and off on my bike.




Sweet Cheers from Asher before my run!



The bike:  I had 12 hilly miles to cover on tired legs.  Most of my pushing came from just guts I think, because my legs felt like they weren't participating.  Hahaha.  Compared the the Route 66 Triathlon at the very beginning of my training, things were looking different.  I was passing many people instead of them passing me.  I managed to average a solid pace of 17.5mph and finished that portion of the race in 41 minutes and 11 seconds.  Now don't get your hopes up.  I'm not fast compared to the fast people.  Some people are out there going 30 plus mph.  The female overall winner clocked 31 mph.  But hey, for me, I'm fast!  That is all that matters.  Off of the bike and into transition and was off to run in 40 seconds. 

 

2nd place swim buoy prize!

 
The run:  Right off of the bat I am running fast and breathing hard.  I figured since I only had 3.1 miles to go that I would be alright.  I see my fellow Team in Training friend, Emily at the beginning of the run.  I wondered if I would ever catch her, but she was holding a fast pace too.  The run course looped around in the park and I was a little thrown off on how much farther I had to go...........I knew I couldn't take much more of this pace.  I passed quite a few men which was a bit out of the ordinary for me.  One of them looked at me for what seemed like a long time while I was passing, and I recognized that he was probably thinking "What is coming up behind me breathing so hard?"  I finished 19 seconds behind my friend Emily who took first in her 26-29 age group.  Yea Emily!  My run time was 24:32 a 7:54/mile pace.  I couldn't believe it!  I had never ran that fast in my life.  

  

 The results:  I won 2nd in my age group and was the 7th female out of 37.  My finishing time was 1:18:34.  Split times: Swim 11:29 T1 :44  Bike  41:11  T2  :40  Run  24:32















 Emily and I leaping for joy!  I know, I look scary.  Check out Emily's cool shadow.  My Camera Man:  Justin!









 

Spin Your Wheels

The Cause: All funds from Spin Your Wheels directly benefit the pediatric patients at The Children’s Center. The Children’s Center is a hospital that provides medical and nursing care, rehabilitative and respiratory therapies, and education to children with complex medical and physical disabilities.  Another great cause!

August 13, 2011- I was ready to spin my wheels for 54 miles with over 1300 other cyclists.  My training plan was to have fun and keep a steady pace throughout while practicing my race hydration and nutrition.  With temperatures in the 70s and little wind off we go at 7am.  Wow, today is beautiful!  Thank you God for this awesome weather and hundreds of other cyclists to enjoy it with.  In the first two or three miles I caught up to Jill, our TNT and LLS campaign director.  We talked the whole way and before I knew it, we were at mile 27 (the turnaround point).  I loaded up on cold water and snacks and was ready to head back.  I averaged 17.1 mph and finished in 3 hours and 6 minutes!  Yeah, I told you my bike was fast!  It was an exciting day for me and I was thankful to see the improvement in my cycling and strength. 

Afterwards we were welcomed, with hot off of the grill steak tips, Subway sandwiches, and Jamba Juice smoothies.  Yumm!

It is surprising to me how much I am getting into this whole cycling gig.  The bike tours are quite enjoyable and I can see Justin and I getting to ride in many of these in the future.  The atmosphere, the people, the exercise, oh and don't forget the food!

Later that day the muscles in my legs could tell that I went every bit of 17mph for every bit of 54 miles.  Any other day, it wouldn't matter.  What was I thinking when I signed up for the Arcadia Lake sprint distance triathlon the day after?  Tis' the season I guess.

Biking to Okarche!

Saturday August 6th, 2011 six people from our Team in Training group met at Lake Hefner at 8am.  It was already hot, but I was up for whatever the day would bring.  I had asked earlier in the week how many miles we would be riding and 40 was the response.


We started off at an easy pace and stayed together.  Once we got onto the highway, it was whatever speed we could muster.  Megan and Taylor were up ahead of me (figures) and I lost sight of them (also figures) at about mile 16.  At mile 20 I couldn't see them in front of me and I couldn't see anyone behind me.  Did I miss Okarche? Then my Garmin (fancy running and biking GPS watch) read 21 miles.  I have for sure missed Okarche, I thought.  I crossed the big grassy median and headed back.  Then I saw Robin.  Yea! She assured me that we were headed the right direction.  When we got to Okarche we had ridden 29.4 miles.  Unless my math is wrong...29.4 miles times 2 equals more than 40.  This ride was turning out to be a little longer than I expected.  We refueled at a local convenience store and regrouped.


It was very hot by this point and we had a long way to travel to get home.  I stuck with Taylor and it really pushed me to keep up with him, especially in the 105 degree temperatures.  All in all we had 4 or 5 flats, but managed to have enough tire repair "stuff" between the six of us to manage.  With a few variables, it took 3 hours and 55 minutes to finish 58.8 miles.  I caught my 56 mile point (my race distance) at 3 hours and 45 minutes.  I think I can shave some time off of this during the race, but at least it is something to go by.


Well, I am writing this on August 11, 2011 with only a month and half left before the RedMan.  It is hard to imagine a 6 to 7 hour race when my longest training is 4 hours.  I guess just knowing I am doing the training and working hard I should be alright.


Stay tuned for posts about this coming weekend.......... a 54 mile bike on Saturday and a sprint triathlon on Sunday.


Fundraising goal:  I am just under a hundred dollars away from my goal and I am excited about the progress.  Check out my progress or donate online at:  http://pages.teamintraining.org/ntxok/retriokc11/jprattlp2h

Tri OKC Splash and Dash

A local triathlon club, Tri OKC, puts on informal events known as splash and dashes at Lake Arcadia. It is a great way to get some open water swim time with a group.  Another great thing is Tri OKC have people out in kayaks called spotters and they keep an eye on everyone just in case you get tired and need a rest or need some help.  I went on July 28th, 2011 to try it out.  The course is set up to where you can swim 500 meters and run 2 miles, but you can swim, bike, or run all that you want.  I swam 1260 meters (about 29 minutes) and ran 15 minutes.  It is easy to swim crooked in open water, so I had to spot the buoys often.  For some reason I wasn't kicking much and I had to remind myself constantly of the correct technique.  It is easy for the old habits to creep in when you get out of the pool and into open water. 

I met some nice people during and afterwards.   They provided tons of snacks, hydration, and hot dogs afterwards.  I look forward to the next one!

FLAT out tough!

Bike Clinic

Last Saturday, July 31st, our TNT group met for a quick, one hour training ride and a bike maintenance clinic.  Steve Schlegel, owner of Schlegel Bicycles (also the place where I purchased my hot ride), hosted the ride and bike clinic.  He walked us through how to change a flat, how to lube your bike chain, and some quick tips on hydration and nutrition for the half ironman. 

Come Monday, I felt that since I knew how to change a flat, I should go ahead and purchase what I needed just in case I had a flat. 

Online, I had found out about a group ride starting in Edmond and it said it was for all experience levels and two regroup points.  When I had only had my bike for about a month, I call the "leader of the pack", only to be nicely told don't come and that I would be left in the dust, but it would make me better.  With this information I held off..... until now.  I knew I would need another rider to go with me that would be willing to stay back with me when I was left behind.  I don't bike alone on the open road.  One of my TNT training partners, Alisia was ready and willing to go. 

At 6pm it had to be every bit of 110 degrees.  I watched in the parking lot as a bunch of fit, hard bodied cyclists got out of there vehicles.  Uh oh, this is going to be a fast ride I thought.  Next I see Steve then Megan.  Megan is one of my triathlon coaches.  She was a navy seals rescue swimmer and is an excellent triathlete.  I asked Megan how long we could keep up.  She said "I have a hard time keeping up with this group." Enough said.

Alisia and I had planned on doing a shorter version of their route and just follow as long as we could.  Nice guy Larry introduced himself in the first couple of miles of the ride and told us the route so we wouldn't get lost and reminded us that this was a "drop ride".  Meaning that they don't wait on you.  He said there used to be a couple of regroup points but they won't be regrouping today (pull over and wait until everyone is caught up). 

Early on we went over some railroad tracks.  I had stuffed a little water bottle in my top bar pouch just in case I needed a little extra.  The water crowded my cell phone and GU, so when I hit the tracks, my cell phone shot out.  I thought, we'll never catch up.  I pulled over and put my bike in the grass and ran to get my phone (running in bike shoes is not the easiest thing).  By the time I get back on my bike, I see Alisia up ahead waiting on me, but no one else.  Boo hoo, huh?  I guess if you are going to do a half ironman you just got to be flat out tough.  Then what am I doing, I am more flat out crazy! 

So we raced hard to catch up, elevating my heart rate quite a bit.  Guess what, Larry had told them I had lost something and all twenty of them pulled over and waited.  Yea, we get a second chance at this.  Already winded from catching up, here we go again.  Averaging 18.6 miles per hour with hills and all, we managed to stay with them for 10.5 miles and then got caught behind a stop light.  My heart rate was in the 160s during that time and I was happy to have stayed with them that long. 

Alisia and I reached the halfway point and headed back to the starting point together.  Not only was it flat out tough, it was FLAT out tough.  Yep you guessed it...I had a flat.  While narrating aloud (this helps me) I used my spare tube, tire levers, a CO2 cartridge and changed the flat. Yea! It even worked afterwards!

Well, it was about a 20 mile ride averaging over 15 miles per hour.   It was great training and I am better because of it.  The next morning I woke up to go train, but the heat had given me a headache, so I listened to my body (a valuable skill that I learned how to do in massage school) and I stayed in bed for a couple more hours.  I would be ready to go the following day.