C'ville Oly Race Report

The weekend brick was shortened since many of us IMFL girls were racing the Charlottesville Olympic distance tri today. So Saturday morning bright and early, I met up with Fave for a 12 mi bike and, for me, an 8 mile run. Since Timberman is her last race, Fave had to run 10. Other girls not doing C'ville biked 24 and ran 16. Oooph.

Fave and I made it through the bike, and met up with Lynn to do the first 8 miles together. Man, I love running with these girls. We chatted, laughed, and ran. The time always seems to go so much faster, and goodness knows that misery loves company. Lynn has become such a strong athlete--with two ironman races under her belt in less than a year, she has developed such stamina. This week seemed a managable amount of training for me until Saturday afternoon, when I went to lie down for just a few minutes and ended up sleeping for 2 hours. I got up just in time to shower and get dressed for a dinner date with Lynn, her husband Derek, and a another couple at Havana 57. I did manage to limit myself to ONE, yes ONE, mojito. Today's early (4:30am) wake up call meant that it was a good thing we skipped out on wine/cigars on Lynn's deck in favor of bed at 10pm.

I picked up Grandison a little after 5am, and we headed west. It seemed as the sun came up that it might be overcast, which I think is the best kind of race weather. Most of the 2007 IMFL girls had done this race last year, and loved the course. Charlottesville is nestled up against the Blue Ridge, so picture lots of rolling hills, and horse farms. Emphasis on the ROLLING. The lake was warm (about 82) so no wetsuits, but they sent us off in nicely-sized swim waves--not too much chance to get knocked around jockeying for position. I felt very good about the swim, and was able to quickly settle into a rhythm. Sighting wasn't bad, and I came out of the water about 6th in the swim wave of women 40+. Swim time: 33:08.


Right from the start on the bike, I was passed by Patty. I couldn't catch her to save my life. (And she ended up placing first in her age group!) The hills came one right after another, and there seemed to be more grind-it-out-in-your-lowest-gear gradual climbs than bomb-it-downhill runs. Bummer. I'm starting to really enjoy getting in a tuck and flying. Anything to help that average mph! I still have a lot of work to do on getting enough food in me on the bike. Even ClifShots start sticking in my throat after an hour, so I'll have to work on that this coming weekend. Total time on the bike: 1:31.


The run sucked. It was entirely on trails, very hilly trails, and I was getting tired. You couldn't look up and enjoy running through the woods for fear of tripping over a rock or exposed root. I know, in the picture I'm smiling, but inside I'm not. There is something very humbling about being passed by a 75 year old man (whose swim wave took off just 3 mins before ours). By the second loop of the course, I did manage to catch up with him again, and we played leap frog the rest of the way in. I was so afraid this man was going to trip (which he did once) and break a hip or something. My sucky run time: 1:16. Yuck.


The way home went quick--aided by the iced coffee and wrap sandwiches Grandison and I found just outside UVa. It was nice to have time one on one with my TriGirl coach, and chat about everything. We beat the thunderstorms home, but only by a couple of hours. This afternoon was lazy: reading in bed, napping a little, and then fixing dinner. Looking ahead to this weekend, I know I'll need all the extra rest I can get. Our third and final Blue Ridge ride is this coming Saturday, 70 miles of hills and FUN!