Snake River Tri 2009

Well, the first race of the season is officially under my belt. This weekend was the Snake River Sprint Triathlon. I really like starting the season with this one because it's broken up into two days. The swim is on Friday night in a pool and the bike and run follow on Saturday. Nice way to ease back into racing. This year was a little different because Eric had decided to do the race. I was so excited I could barely stand it! He has been working his butt off and I couldn't wait for him to compete in his first race. It's been a dream of mine for the past three years!

I always get really nervous for this swim. It's nerve racking to know that other people are watching your entire swim, and, as always, I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well in this leg of the race because I know it's my fastest. The second we pulled into the aquatic center, the butterflies were in full force. Once we got inside, it was like a Sunday swim at Oz. Tri Fusion had taken over the pool. It was awesome to see so many familiar faces.

Here's me pretending I'm not nervous as all hell.

At the Whitworth masters' swim on Thursday, our coach, Kevin, gave us some great advice for swimming this 500. Kevin definitely knows what he's talking about when it comes to swimming so I decided to stick with his plan. Eric and I jumped in side-by-side and started warming up.

Here's Eric getting some last minute advice from Greggor.

Warm up went well. All I really wanted to do was start the swim and get it over with, but Kevin was adamant about getting a good warm up in, so I did. After that, it was all about sticking with my plan. I was supposed to kick as little as possible and just focus on a strong pull for the first 200. That was easier said than done. It's hard not to kick it into high gear with so much adrenaline rushing through your body. I stuck with it though and picked up the kicking after completing the first 200. Steve was nice enough to yell my 50 splits out for me. They were oddly consistent. I kept on waiting for them to get higher, but they never did. The last 100 yards was tough, but I knew I could endure anything for a 100. Thank you Sunday swims! My time for the 500 yards was 6:36. I was shocked. Last year I swam a 7:16 so I would have been thrilled with a 7:15. Steve had set a sub 7 goal for himself, me, and Jessi, but I was not holding myself to those standards. I didn't want to set myself up to be let down, so I was completely stoked when I heard my time. All three of us A+ed, by the way, and swam sub 7's. :)

Eric ROCKED his swim. He literally just started swimming about 6 weeks ago, but he worked his ass off. He was in the pool almost every day and it definitely paid off. He swam an 8:55! Unreal!

Here we are after the swim. This smile is genuine!

Once the swim was over, I had a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I seriously felt like a different person! We headed outside to go to Tomato Bros for dinner. In the parking lot, we noticed a lit up cross on a hill side in the distance. Ever the devoted ones, Jessi and I said a little prayer together.

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song."

After some bedtime stories from Papa Roger, it was time to hit the sack. I was anticipating a crappy night of sleep and a really nervous stomach, but I actually slept pretty well and woke up feeling much less nervous than I ever had before. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but I just went with it.

When we pulled up to the race site, this is what it looked like. No one else in sight!
We left our bikes for the taking since the race director wasn't even there and headed out to drive the bike course.
I felt very spoiled during this drive. Not only was I able to talk to Jessi about the bike, I was also able to get some strategies from Roger. I can't really think of any other people I would rather get advice from! It was awesome. We headed back and had a good hour and a half before the race started. It was great to hang out with everyone and to see so much red and black out there. I would have been pretty intimidated if I was not a part of the group!

The time finally came to line up and then the nerves rolled in. They start the clock and you just have to wait until your swim time comes up to run to your bike. It's sheer torture. I found the girl who beat me in the swim. White Tank Top. She looked like she was in my age group. Crap. Well, at least I had a rabbit. Once my time came I ran to my bike, took forever to clip in, and headed out. I passed White Tank Top a couple of minutes in, but then she passed me on the first hill. Are you kidding me? My response was, "Oh no you diin't!" so I took full advantage of the quick downhill that followed and passed her right back. This was honestly the first time I have ever felt like I was actually in a race. I was so scared White Tank Top was going to pass me again that I didn't relax on the bike for one second. I pushed hard the entire time, especially on the way back since it's mostly downhill. Definitely heard Jessi and Roger's advice echoing in my head. By the end of the bike, I had been passed by Jessi (obviously) and Erica (who did not slap my ass as she had promised!), but I was the third woman off the bike. What? I had no idea how far behind White Tank top was. I didn't get a split on her at the bike turn around because she was too close. I didn't see her in transition though, so I headed out on the run praying it would be a good one. I wanted that third place more than I've ever wanted anything!

A couple of minutes in my stupid left calf cramped. I don't know why this happens to me in races - never in training. I even remembered to strech it on the bike. I tried to run with it, but I knew stopping to stretch it would be faster than letting it go into a full blown cramp. As I was stretching, all I could envision was White Tank Top passing me. Thank god she didn't! I felt pretty good on the run. My IT band wasn't bothering me which was a nice surprise. I pushed it though, because I had no clue where White Tank Top was or what kind of a runner she was. I took a split on her after the turn around. It was 40 seconds. What I forgot to do was double that time, so that was the number I had in my head. I'm an idiot, but at least it pushed me!

Towards the end I saw Steve waiting to run me in. He always seems to be there right about the time I want to stop, puke, and walk the rest of the way. As always, he was really encouraging. I asked him if he could see White Tank Top. He said, "No, but that doesn't mean you get to slow down." Jerk. :) After that Jessi was there giving me that "C'mon!" as only she can say it. I busted my butt to the finish and had an overall time of 1:01:09. First in my age group and third woman overall. Seriously unreal. Jessi and I shared an emotional hug and then I got to head back out to run my hubby in.
I was so proud of him. He looked great and picked up his pace to sprint to the finish.
His time was 1:08:11. He totally blew me away. Way to go, baby! You rocked the crap out of this race!

Here's the crew.

Tri Fusion completely dominated this race! It is really indescribable to race with such an awesome team. Everyone is so supportive. I'd be almost sad if I was at this race alone and saw all of the support we give one another. It's pretty special and I'm so proud to be a part of it.

I know this post has turned into a book, but I definitely have to give some thank yous!

Of course a HUGE thank you to my coach and person, Jessi. Thank you so much for the schedules that kicked my butt all winter. I am stronger this year all because of you! It was awsome to be able to celebrate with you at the end.

A big thank you to Roger too. Not only for the advice before the race, but also for all of the bike workouts he wrote for the sweat lodge all winter. I know that he is to thank for the strong bike I had at this race. Thanks to Rog also for the swims he wrote all of us two days a week. It's pretty incredible to not only train with such an amazing athelete, but to actually get workouts from him too is totally over the top and SO appreciated.

Thank you to Steve for running me in and for pushing me. A+ all the way.

Finally, a HUGE thank you and congrats to my hubby. Being able to trian with him has been a dream come true and celebrating both of our results together at this race was awesome. Can't wait for the next one!