Race Result

Racer:	Heather Rosso
Race:	Iron Girl Columbia
Date:	Sunday, August 19, 2007
Location:	Ellicott City, MD
Race Type:	Triathlon - Sprint
Age Group:	Female 35 - 39
Time:	2:23:35
Overall Place:	1116 / 2194
Age Group Place:	276 / 361
Comment:	Progress in Leaps and Bounds--Despite Centennial's Sludge

Race Report:

Last year I did Iron Girl as my first race, as have many other women. But last year I had so many things working against me. First, I think there is something in Centennial Lake that doesn’t like me. I did the practice swim last year, and a couple of days later got sick. Three days before the race, I had a full-fledged sinus infection, fever of 102, aches, chills, and throbbing head congestion. I was so determined to complete my first triathlon (I’d paid my entry fee and trained so hard!) that I had a doctor drug me up so I could get through the weekend and the race. (This year I didn’t do the practice swim, but as I write this now, just a couple of days after the race, I have the same symptoms—without the infection, thankfully—as last year. Coincidence? Or does Centennial have something in it that my system doesn’t like?) To top off the illness last year, I also had never done an open water swim prior to the practice swim (which really freaked me out!) and was competing with a hybrid bike (which is really tough on those Columbia hills). All things combined, I was just happy to finish, even though my time was 3:33:00 last year.

This year, I entered the race healthy, rested, on a tri-equipped road bike, and with three more open water swims at Olympic distance tris under my belt. My goal was to obliterate last year’s time and come in under 2:30:00, although I was also hoping to come in under 2:15:00, since a co-worker said he’d buy me lunch if I did. Well, no free lunch, but I did make my initial goal, coming in at 2:23:35. It was not only well under my goal, but it was my best race ever, finally letting me feel like I was racing rather than just surviving and finishing.

I come from an ultrarunning background, which tends to mean I move at a slightly slower pace, but I *really* tend to move at a slower pace coming in at the back of the pack of ultras, too. My goal this year has been to maintain my endurance, which has never been a problem, while increasing the speed. My past races I was still coming in at the back of the pack, even taking a nap during the bike portion of Lake Montclair (long story—was racing on 3 hours of sleep). It kinda sucks coming into the transition point after the swim to see only 3 bikes left—one of which is mine, the other two possibly from pros who are already nearly finished with their runs.

At Iron Girl this year, I was finally getting the speed I had been training for. Last year my swim time was around 50 minutes. This year I finished in 32:07—still slow, but I’m making big progress. I was only passed by a handful of one cap color, and actually managed to pass a few of those in my swim wave. There were still many bikes on racks when I got to the transition—what a nice sight! I’ve started going sockless, and it certainly does save time in T1 (although I paid for it on the run with a nasty, popped blister on my arch).

The hill repeats I’d been doing on the bike were paying off, and I didn’t walk any portion of the bike. I was able to pick up lots of speed on the downhills and maintain momentum on the following flats. A couple of times I was even passing people on the uphills, so those nights of burning muscles doing hill after hill were paying off. I finished the bike in 1:08:18 and ran right into T2 after dismounting.

Running after dismount allowed me to maintain my momentum, and I entered the run feeling strong. I was expecting to tire quickly, but the shorter distance, after having done three Olympic distance races, was working in my favor and I had energy to spare. There was one hill where I slowed to a fast hike, but other than that maintained a slow run pace. When I passed the 2 mile marker, I looked at my watch and realized I needed to do 2 minute miles to get my free lunch, so that goal went out the window and I focused on finishing under 2:30:00. I tried to push for closer to 2:20:00, but the stomach started to complain, so I settled into a steady, slower pace and settled for 2:23:35 (run time of 36:51)—which, considering last year, was a big success in my book!

As I sit here sneezy, congested, achy, weak, and rather unhappy to still not be able to get back to training, I’m not sure I’m too crazy about swimming in Centennial Lake again, but I’m going to do Iron Girl one more time and then leave it behind. My goal is to get on the podium in my age group next year—may be a lofty goal, but why not aim high? For now, I’m just focusing on keeping the Kleenex and hot tea nearby—dang Centennial Lake!