July 4th Weekend

I'd like to know where else in this country you can go from snow, to sun, to rain all in the span of two days at the beginning of July?  That is what my weekend of the 4th entailed.


Saturday we spent the afternoon snowshoeing and sledding with the Deschenes family at Mt. Baker.  

Sunday was spent training in the morning and then searching for the shadiest reservation firework stand and reliving our childhood with explosives.  We even had to go BACK to get more fireworks - bigger, louder, and more colorful.  I witnessed my brother and his wife become giddy over blowing up a cupcake, neighbors try and light each other on fire by shooting roman candles at one another, and the anti-climactic bay firework show in the rain.  I'd say it was a weekend to remember.

Lake Padden Duathlon Race Report

The Bet….

Deciding to do this race, like the Clear Lake Triathlon, was a last minute decision and for the purpose of using it as a training day.  I’ve never done a duathlon and so didn’t know just how challenging it could be.  I figured the distances were short – 2.6 mile run, 15 mile ride, and 2.6 mile run – so I could push it pretty hard.

About a week before the race I heard through the grapevine (my husband) that there was a challenge/bet being made.  Our good friend Dan was planning on racing the du as well and was trying to figure out who would come out ahead – me, or him.  I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a better runner than he is but to the same extent he is a better cyclist.  One caveat though – I’ve been training all winter, spring and summer on the bike and so it was looking like a wash for that leg as well (I’m pretty sure he only rode one training ride before this race). 

Like I said, this was meant as a training day and so I didn’t know how hard I was really going to push it, but now that the challenge was looming like a carrot for me to chase, my ‘game face’ was on.  Gabe and I sat down a few nights before the race to think (realistically) what my times were going to be and compare those to Dan’s times from last year.  We both knew that Dan had a secret kick too (he had squeaked out a win over Gabe in the last 50 meters of the race) so whatever pace I could maintain and still have a little extra left…just in case…was the plan.  So the goal: 7:30 pace on the first lap, hammer the bike and hope to finish in under 50 minutes (about 18 mph), and then hopefully negative split the last lap or at least maintain the 7:30 pace.

The morning brought serious heat.  By 8 it was already uncomfortably warm (uncomfortable is all relative but if you live in Washington anything over 75 at 8 AM could be considered uncomfortable).  Dan and I met up on the walk down to the bike racks and exchanged a friendly banter.  Both of us were pretty up in the air about who was going to win and we agreed it was definitely going to be a good race.  Other friends were toeing the starting line with us – Kyle, Roxie, Rusty, Marti, Dan F. – and I have to say that they were all on my side. 

I positioned myself at the front.  I didn’t want to get stuck behind slower runners and I needed to make my lead time substantial before I hit the bike.  This, of course, had me starting out pretty darn fast and I clipped off the first mile in 7:08 (woops!).  At that point Rusty passed me – that man is a machine and it doesn’t even look like he’s working!  I hung in there though and kept him in sight as we made our way into the hills.  I was definitely breathing hard and starting to question whether or not this was the ‘best’ idea but I kept at it, relishing the downhill after a few of the steeper climbs.  And, before I knew it the first lap was over.  Time: 19:48 (7:32 pace).

I tore out of the parking lot on my bike, passing several folks before we even hit the climb up to Galbraith.  Even on that slow steady climb I was flying by people.  I still hadn’t caught my breath yet but I’m a strong climber so I figured I would take advantage of it and then catch my breath on the downhill into Lake Samish.  Of course once I hit the downhill I was still working hard to pass people and so I’m not sure I was actually able to catch my breath.  Oh well, the course was short so who needs to breath anyway right?

Once I hit the lake I settled in to power through the flats and the little rollers.  I had left the few folks that I was leap-frogging with and found a comfortable rhythm and made use of the aero bars.  Not far into the backside of the lake Dan passed me.  My first thought was ‘crap, that’s early’ but then I realized this would only push me harder and benefit me in the end.  If I could just keep him in sight for the remainder of the ride I knew I could catch him on the run.  I inched forward on my seat a bit and used my bigger muscles to power me on.

At one point I came within striking distance of Dan (right as you climb a steep short hill to head back on the freeway side of the lake) but I think I spent too much energy sprinting up that hill because once we hit the flats he was gone.  This is where the course got a bit interesting, or irritating as the case may be.  Apparently I don’t have a whole lot of tolerance for newbie cyclists…or cyclists in general because if you read previous posts I always have some gripe about a cyclist on the course. 

Well, here it goes.  I caught this guy (I’ll call him my nemesis) on the flats next to the freeway.  As I approached I went left, called out ‘on your left’ and then proceeded to overtake him.  At the point where we were side-by-side said nemesis begins to sprint.  Now I’m used to USAT rules where if you go to pass you have to come out the front.  So I naturally work even harder to follow that rule.  He wins and I slide in behind him to think about trying to pass again.  Next attempt – I get by him but two seconds later he sprints by me on the left and then cuts me off and slows down.  Let me explain a bit further – nemesis is riding a bike that doesn’t fit him, in running shorts and shoes so OBVIOUSLY he’s not a cyclist.  Which means I should cut him some slack but no, I’m not that nice.  The next time this whole scenario plays out I snidely say ‘you need to learn bike etiquette sir’ and then blow by him again only to be passed by him shortly thereafter.  At this point there is another racer near us and she makes the comment ‘what is this guy doing’?  We both laugh and shake our heads.

One benefit to my nemesis is that he distracted me from the ride and before I knew it I was at the climb out of Samish.  I totally turn it on and blow up the first section.  By the time I hit the overpass, however, my legs are pretty spent and I don’t have much left although I still have about 2 miles of riding left with more than half of it climbing.  I settle into a rhythm and just grind it out.  The girl who witnessed my nemesis’s lack of etiquette flew by me at that point and threw out words of encouragement.  I smiled and watched her steadily pull away.  The remainder of the ride was ‘hanging on’.  Time: 50:40 (17.9 mph).

I hit transition and Lance yelled out ‘he’s 5 minutes out Meghan!’  I threw on my running shoes, dropped my helmet and bolted out of there.  The girl and I came out of transition together but she seemed to have fresher legs than I and sprinted up the hill.  Just a side note, the first run lap of this race goes counterclockwise (hitting the flats first) whereas the second lap goes clockwise and smack dab into hills. 

I started that first climb and my legs felt like jelly.  But I had a carrot ahead of me and I just kept surging on.  I saw absolutely no one through the hills.  It was a bit odd and I was pleasantly surprised that no one was catching me.  Right before the last hill I caught sight of Dan.  I eased up just a bit, confident that I was going to catch him shortly, to conserve a bit of energy in case he stuck with me once I ran by.  At about the swim beach area I made my move and ran up next to him.  He smiled and said that he didn’t have it in him to keep up so I kept moving along.  With a little over a mile to go I tried to put some distance between us but I heard someone right on my heels.  We hit the little foot bridge over the creek and I knew I had about a half mile left.  I started to turn it on, expecting to give it all I had in the last 200 yards or so.  The breathing was still behind me and I took the chance to glance back, realizing it wasn’t Dan but a chaser nonetheless.  When I hit the corner of the softball fields it was time to sprint.  I had no idea if this guy was trying to catch me or not but I wasn’t going to let it happen.  Time: 20:11 (7:36 pace).

I finished strong, completely exhausted, and a good minute or more over Dan.  Not to mention I came in 4th woman overall!  So what did I get from this bet?  Pride.  What did Dan get?  A 20 dollar gift certificate to Fairhaven Runners because he got chicked!  I think I would have opted for the gift certificate.

Nemesis

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Clear Lake Triathlon Race Report

I am WAY behind on all of my blogging.  Hopefully I'll remember all of the nitty gritty details to share with you.  I will do my best.

Racing the Clear Lake Triathlon this year was a total last minute decision.  After Oliver I had the urge to race more but at the same time I was feeling a little lost in my training.  My strict regimen had been faltering (mostly my motivation and drive to train) as I started to ramp back up for Lake Stevens and I figured that throwing in a short course race might just be the 'fun' that I needed to get back into it.  Worst case scenario I would use it as a training day but deep inside I knew I wanted to see how fast I could go.  So, that's how it came about - I faxed (who doesn't do online registration these days?) my form in on the last day of registration, nothing like procrastination.

Now, the last time I competed at Clear Lake was two years ago and it was my second triathlon EVER.  I arrived at the race with new clip-less peddles (I race my first tri n running shoes and cages) and old school 80s aero bars that I hadn't yet figured out how to get into without swerving all over.  I remember the swim the best as it was a total disaster.  I lined up next to Rachael and Carol, smack dab in the center-back of the pack.  And, like we all have learned over the years (and for some reason a few of us tend to repeat) this is not the ideal place to start a race.  I had nowhere to go.  Not only that, the start of the swim is like a funnel.  There are two large pilings that narrow the path out to the buoys.  Needless to say I'm pretty sure I did the breaststroke for about three quarters of that swim (and it's only a third of a mile).  The rest of the race wasn't very memorable.  The bike is an out-and-back and is relatively flat...or actually it's more like false flats on the way out and then flat on the way back.  The run...all exposed, pavement, and farmland smells.  Beautiful.

My plan going into this year was 1) position myself well for the swim, 2) swim the crawl the entire time, 3) bike hard and aero, and 4) probably match my run time (8 min. pace) from the previous race.


Pre-race was… well to be honest I wasn’t taking this very seriously. I just wanted to have fun. So the night before was mellow but I didn’t worry about having the exact pre-race meal like normal. Nor did I worry about getting enough sleep – it was going to be a short race and I figured I could gut out anything that short. The next morning I collected all of my gear (the only thing I forgot was my number belt – I’m keeping it in my transition bag from now on), drove over to Kyle’s house and we were on the road.

Once transition was set up Kyle and I did a short run warm-up and then headed for the lake. There are only two start waves – men/teams and women. I scooted off to the far right, did a short swim out to loosen up the arms and then waited for my wave to start. When the countdown finished we were off. I made it to the end of the dock and past the piling without incident and then once out in the open water I was only swum over once – and the girl even apologized and called me ‘hon’. It’s so weird when people talk to you while swimming! The rest of the swim was the same as any other – following bubbles, sighting buoys, and trying to go harder. My overall split time was 11:49. I’m pretty sure that’s not ‘fast’ but I could bet money that it is faster than two years ago which I’m satisfied with. At this point in the season I’m realizing that my swimming has totally taken a back seat. I’m actually convinced that I’ve gotten SLOWER since I started my swim training back in the fall. Who knows.

T1 – not the smoothest transition. In fact, I couldn’t find my bike for a split second or two so that couldn’t have helped out the times. And to cap it off, my tank top got stuck when I was trying to get it on. I’m mean COME ON! You’d think I’d never done this before.

The bike leg felt good. I worked hard and passed quite a few people and held off many others that I’m sure would have caught me in years past. In the first mile or so I concentrated on just getting my breathing regular so I could get fluids in – I think I was a bit worked up after the swim and maybe pushing just a tad too hard. I’m not sure I fully got my breathing under control for the entire race but it wasn’t a detriment. My time was 48:41 which gives me an average speed of 18.2 mph. I think if I do this race again I’m shooting for under 45.

T2 – found my bike slot a bit faster than T1 but still nothing to write home about.

The run was awesome! I went into this expecting to hit the same 8 min. pace that I did two years ago and was completely content with that. Immediately out of transition (i.e. within a few strides) I was passed by one guy – after that I wasn’t passed at all which is a really good feeling. I spent the next 30 some odd minutes (well 31.18 to be exact) picking people off. This course is also an out-and-back and so everyone you want to beat is right there in front of you. I clipped right along with a 7:50 first mile, 7:47 second mile, then hit the turn around, grabbed a swig of water (again, this course is all exposed and can be super hot) and decided to kick it in. There was a group of 3 women in front of me that I was trying to hunt down. They were my bunnies and over the course of the next two miles I closed the gap but they were just a tad too far out for me to catch in the short 4 mile run. The last mile was a 7:25 pace and I was giving it all that I had to try and catch them. They definitely made it a race for me and pushed me without even knowing it. I have to say that that is what I love about triathlon racing – the ‘true’ race at the end.

Overall – 2nd place in my age division. That’s one place higher than I was two years ago but about 4 minutes faster, a few years wiser, and a bit more competitive.