Race Result

Racer:	Karen Ashbrook-Barnes
Race:	Reston Triathlon
Date:	Sunday, September 7, 2008
Location:	Reston, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - International Distance
Age Group:	Female 35 - 39
Time:	2:28:20
Overall Place:	32 / 156
Age Group Place:	5 / 32
Comment:	Great fun!

Race Report:

5th place AG 35-39
32nd/156 women

Reston was my first international distance of the year after tearing all the ligaments in my ankle during the Culpeper sprint May 18. I am so happy with my result (2:28, 5th in my age group). If only it had been a real triathlon instead of the duathlon, my legs are still shouting about the abuse of 9 miles of running in a day. Haven’t done that for a while. But I want to do another half marathon by spring, so it was perfect training for that.

Despite the tropical storm, babysitter fiasco, kids with colds, my recurrent and persistent bronchitis and breathing difficulty, and the medication that left me nauseaous and foggy headed on Saturday – Charlie and I both actually made it to the race. Arriving was the first hurdle.

I really wanted a full triathlon, but when there is no swim involved, I don’t get as nervous. So that was positive. Stomach was fine before starting, which is very rare, and I was calm. It felt just like a big run with friends. Of course, no warmup, and minimal stretching. I still need to work on that. And there wasn’t much benefit to me warming up, since it was too dark to bike, and I definitely did not need to do any pre-race running. I have improved the pre-race nutrition: strawberry smoothie and a banana. It worked.

I drank cytomax (with salt added) before run, during bike, and during 10k. I also used my favorite gu-food before run, T1, during bike, and T2. I need to get more practiced doing this while moving. My transitions are way too slow.

Run 2.50 miles - 19:32
I don’t think it was quite 2.5 miles, so I averaged around 8:00/mile. New higher cadence is awesome. Felt pretty good, I just tried to maintain pace. I didn’t really like the constant up/down on a wet and muddy path, I am so worried about re-injuring my ankle. But I held up, and finished faster than I had planned.

T1 – 2:18 - I really need to work on transitions

Bike: 1:09:08 avg 20.6mph

Bike was excellent. I started hard (I wanted to pass someone who was ahead on the run, so I powered off, first goal accomplished). Since I was in the 3rd wave, I had lots of people ahead to pass. The roads were marked way too narrow in places, where we got the half of the lane with debris, and the cars didn’t. And the number of people who simply won’t stay to the right is frustrating. I didn’t see anyone with penalties for blocking, but I encountered it a lot. Since my injury in May was from tripping over a traffic cone, I was really unhappy with the hundreds of traffic cones along the bike route.

I found myself passing many cyclists in the first lap. By the second lap I ended up with a couple guys who would not stay dropped. I probably leap-frogged with one yellow bike 30 times. We finally chatted briefly. It was always crowded on the bike, we didn’t have the swim to stretch us out. It was really hard to avoid drafting by accident, it was often too narrow to pass in the woods. This was my fastest bike time ever: 1:09/avg 20.6 mph. I’m really happy with that. I love my new Kuota, I stayed aero 99% of the time. The bike portion was awesome, despite my complaints, I had an awesome time. I even heard my name a few times, but I had no air to spare for yelling back. I just gave big grins. Between grinning and gasping for air, I stayed pretty busy. My right leg cramped in the last lap, and my abdominal muscles started cramping a little. I think because I was pushing hard, and my body is adjusting to the aero position. This is the first time I have had leg cramps.

T2 – 1:30

Run 10k - 55:47 – 9:00/mile approx

Since I always cramp on the run, I gave it everything on the bike. No sense holding back just to end up crying during the run because of the cramp pain. So I was prepared to be passed by everyone on the run. I used my metronome to keep me at a cadence of 91 or higher. Reston always has a crowded run, so I only turned on the metronome occasionally to keep me on a steady pace. It would really annoy me to hear someone else’s metronome, so I turned it on when I was alone briefly, to be polite. My time reflects jumping and dodging mud/gravel/debris and slowing on the many tiny slippery hills, otherwise I thought I should have been just a little faster. But because I kept a very constant pace, and didn’t let myself go too hard, I gradually passed many people who trotted past me at the start of the run. That was very rewarding. I paced one woman for a couple miles, her speed was perfect. That is until she slowed very slightly, and started doing heavy breathing, very measured as if she was in labor. I really did not want to speed up, but hell if I was going to run behind someone who sounds like she is in labor. I wanted to focus on me! So I gradually pulled away from her, until finally her Lamaze breathing was gone.

I told myself that I just needed to run my own race, not race anyone else. So I got in the zone, where nothing else mattered but my pace/cadence and not falling. Time actually passed quickly by concentrating only on those two things. I stayed very focused. I suppose I did break the 9:00/mile, barely. I could feel that my legs were close to cramping in the run, on the last couple hills even my quads started cramping. I’ll have to investigate what is going on there. Starting with a massage tonight!

Considering that this is my “comeback” race, my “A” race, it was my second run of a “duathlon” that I had not planned on, AND I haven’t trained over 5 miles, I am very happy with my time.