Race Report: Lake George Triathlon 2009

The Lake George Triathlon was a great event! I am so glad that my arm healed quickly and I was able to race!

While we were driving up to Lake George on Friday afternoon we heard the weather report for the following day. I had checked the weather and knew it was forecast to be sunny with highs in the mid-60’s. What the weather report told me was that it would actually be very chilly in the morning - mid 40’s with some wind gusts… Hmm… I was starting to rethink my gear but it was too late to do anything about it now.

After a terrible night of sleep (I rarely sleep well before a race – especially in a hotel) we awoke at 5:45am to a very chilly morning. We quickly packed up our gear and walked down to the race site. The morning was beautiful but it was really cold and windy too!

Sunrise over Lake George

Transition at 6:30am

While I was setting up my gear Sam came over and asked if I had noticed the lake:

Me: “Umm yea… I noticed the lake.”

Him: “Did you really look at it.”

Me: “Yes. It looks beautiful.”

Him: “Look harder.”

Me (looking at the lake): “Oh crap.”

Him: “Yea.”

Once I really looked closer at the lake I realized the strong wind was making the lake very choppy with a strong "current" pushing against the shore. All of our swims have been in very calm lakes so this was going to be a new experience for us.

The sun is almost up!

 I wasn't kidding when I said it was cold!

We went to pick up our timing chips. The timing chip straps were like plastic zip ties. We have velcro ankle chip straps that we bought earlier in the season but I had never needed mine so I didn't bother to bring it along (big mistake - more on this later). Sam found his in gear bag. Here he is triumphantly showing it off!

 Transition was filling up...

 Pre-race picture - I was so cold I didn't want to take my shirt off until it was absolutely necessary!

Finally it was time to race. I was getting cold and crabby and ready to get the show on the road! We headed down to the water about a half hour before the start so we could test out the water. It was warmer then the air although I still didn't go for a swim because I knew I would need to get out and stand around for 20+ minutes before I could start.

Swim – 1500 meters

26:22 / 1:32 pace (100 meter average)
2 of 25 Age Group (25-29) / 12 of 119 Females / 67 of 394 Overall

The original swim format included two guiding buoys (red) and then two parallel buoys (purple) at the end to get around and then angle back to the swim. But, the first two guiding buoys got blown off the course by the wind so we just had to focus on the last two buoys. The water was a comfortable temperature but the chop and current made this swim the most challenging I have done yet. I kept telling myself it would be easier after I rounded the buoys and headed back to shore. Unfortunately, the way the wind was blowing I was really having a hard time staying on course and sighting. The swim exit was marked with large white flags but they seemed to blend in with the shore so I didn’t know where to go. I just kept swimming until I could see the exit. I was in the pink hat wave and I hardly saw any pink hats around me so I had a feeling I had done well. It turns out I had the 2nd fastest swim time in my age group!

Transition 1

4:00
15 of 25 Age Group (25-29) / 75 of 119 Females / 276 of 394 Overall

T1 was long because you had to run out of the swim, down the shore, and across the road. When I got to transition I remember thinking to myself “I don’t care how slow this is.” I was pretty beat after the swim and I was still cold. I threw on my bike shoes (luckily they fit me) and I thought about throwing on the long sleeve technical t-shirt but I didn’t want to overheat on the bike so I went without.

Bike – 24 Miles

1:33:27 / 16.0 pace (mph average)
14 of 25 Age Group (25-29) / 76 of 119 Females / 328 of 394 Overall

We had rode the bike course a few weeks ago so I had an idea of what to expect. I knew the first half was mostly flats and smaller hills and the second half was much more hilly. About 3 miles into the bike I heard Sam yell “Hey! Rock Solid!” and he flew right past me. The bike was mentally challenging for me. The hills seemed bigger then I remembered and I was freezing for the whole ride. About half way through my right knee started to bug me and my feet were numb from the cold. At about mile 19 we were climbing yet another hill and a guy passing me said “This is unbelievable!” and I responded “I know! I just want to run!” Me? Wanting to run?! I was so happy to make the final turn into transition.

Transition 2

1:23

12 of 25 Age Group (25-29) / 48 of 119 Females / 173 of 394 Overall

T2 was uneventful. Switched into my running shoes, grabbed my Watermelon Sport Beans and Pomegranate Luna Moons, a hair tie and my race belt and ran out of transition. I forgot to take my sunglasses off and ended up doing the whole run with them.

Run – 6.2 miles

1:01:47 / 9:58 minute/mile

16 of 25 Age Group (25-29) / 85 of 119 Females / 327 of 394 Overall

The first two miles of the run were terrible. My feet were so numb it was like I was running on stumps. I was afraid of tripping again so I tried to pick up my feat and just hoped my feet would thaw out quickly. The run was two 3-mile loops. The first mile or so was all up hill and it was painful. I quickly ate my Luna Moons and tried to focus on picking up my feet. After about two miles the feeling was returning to my feet and I was feeling pretty good except the plastic timing chip strap was digging into my ankle. I ignored the pain and just kept running. After I completed the first loop I was feeling good! I ate a handful of Sports Beans and tried to really push my self to pick up my legs. I saw a woman up head wearing a pink shirt. She looked like she was running a bit slower so I focused on trying to pass her. After I passed her, I set my sights on someone else and kept pushing myself. With about a half mile left I saw Sam walking towards me.

The last water station on the loop was staffed by a group of about twelve girls. They were yelling, "We are superheroes! Here to save you with water and Gatorade." If you look closely they are all wearing underwear out the outside of their pants. They were hilarious and made me laugh both times I passed them.

Almost there! Just .1 left!

Finished!

A medal! For me!? Sweet!

Final Result

3:06:59
12 of 25 Age Group (25-29)
60 of 119 Females
283 of 394 Overall

 

After the race we helped ourselves to the awesome food tent. There was cheese pizza, subway sandwiches, fresh fruit, cookies, water and chocolate milk! Yummo! Then we waited around while they announced all the winners and handed out the raffle prizes. I was really hoping to win a pair of compression tights because even though I really want a pair I do not feel like my workouts are hard enough to actual warrant buying a pair. But, if I won them it would be an entirely different story... Unfortunately, I didn't win any tights. But I did get that awesome medal, a nice water bottle, and a great long-sleeve technical race shirt!

After the race we headed back to our hotel, showered and changed and then we headed up to A&W for a post race feast! I had a root-beer float, a veggie burger and an order of cheese curds! It was delicious and hit the spot! After our lunch we went back to the hotel and took a 3 hour nap!

We enjoyed the rest of the weekend with a walk along the lake, a delicious dinner at a local brewery and a much better night of sleep. In the morning we packed up and headed down to “Around the World, Around the USA” mini-golf. Sam had challenged me to a rematch after his embarrassing loss last time. Unfortunately they were closed and the hours weren’t posted so we decided just to hit the road. I guess he will just have to wait until next year to challenge me.

Oh, and remember the plastic timing chip strap I mentioned earlier? It dug into my ankle so badly that I have a cut all the way around and now my ankle looks like this:

Ouch! I'm thinking of writing an email to the timing chip company and attaching this picture. The most amazing part was that I secured it at the last hole which means it couldn't have been any more lose. I don't have big ankles so I wonder what some of the bigger guys ended up with!