Rattlesnake Triathlon Crazy Back 2 Back Day Two

Ok before beginning the story of day 2 lets go back to day 1 for a minute. Besides much stretching, ibprofen, cold water bath (I'm to chicken for actual ice) and laying around I did nothing for the rest of the day. I was debating on the race for Sunday but soon decided there was no way I couldn't show up. Besides the fact that I heard that while the sprint racers would get the t-shirt we got for doing the oly, the back 2 backers would get something differnt  and usually pretty good.....well I am all about the swag so I'm there.

Nice long sleeve t-shirt and finisher "medal" from the sprint day  1

Up close of the medal/key chain/bottle opener.
I actually really like it. 

Once again the alarm went off at 4 and I rolled out of bed. I was not as sore as I had feared I might be so of that I was glad. I made the drive, this time not missing my turn and was soon set up and ready to go.

Swim 15:15 (it was only a 500 meter swim)
This time at least I was prepared for the start, and they got us lined up correctly which had been a challenge the day before...have you ever seen a bunch of triathletes tri to put themselves in numerical order...no wonder we do mass starts. Luckily they had someone to help us today and that someone knew the correct order to put us in.  This time we just did the triangle that was the end part of the race yesterday. It felt ok, my arms could feel the swim from yesterday and I did swallow a couple of big gulps of water. I just took it  easy and based on my time it was... easy that is..although I would say I was slower "running" up to transition also which is included in the swim time.
T1 2:43

Bike 51:19

I just barley started out on bike when I realized that something had moved and my bike computer wasn't giving me speed info. It was however showing my cadence so I was glad of that as that is kind of what I was using as my guide, just try to keep it around 80. I did have my Garmin but did not have it set to show average speed. It wasn't long before I realized just how tired my legs were, but the turn around came very quickly compared to yesterday and that felt really good.Of course  we did however turn around in to winds just as strong as yesterday.  And boom just like that it was over. I was pleased when I looked at the results to see that my average pace on Sunday  was 14.11 while Saturdays was 13.7. Neither of these fast speeds but I was happy to be faster on the 2nd day. You can see the profile above which of course looks similar to the oly because it was the same course. :)
T2 1:38

Run 39:33
Oh yea....the legs are tired....toes a little numb from the ride when I started. I had decided on a different pair of shoes to run in and put in one of the pad things that I used when my morton's neuroma seemed so bad last year. I could feel the pain in the butt occasionally but never really got bad. I did a bit more running today, it was of course easier knowing it was only 3 miles. It was fun also as I saw all my friends on the course and was able to shout to them and both encourage and be encouraged. Also nice was the fact that becuase the course was so much shorter there were still many people on the course (they didn't all have time to pass me!) and that always makes a race more fun. It's never a joy to be one of they only ones out there. So again my average pace was faster (not fast...just faster)  on the 2nd day...which is a good thing since it couldn't have been much slower...Sunday 12:43 Saturday 14:13.

For the most part this was a very fun race and I think I would like to maybe do it again. I would however like to...once again...lose some weight and train a little more. The race photos...hideous...so I won't bother to "borrow" them. :) However upon finishing we did get our swag for completing the B2B and it was a really nice fleece vest.

Sarah, me and Kathleen after completing the B2B all sportin' our new vests

There were 115 crazy people this year who decided to do the Back 2 Back.

I am on the far right, three rows back with the white hat with sunglasses on it. 

This was a very fun and well put on race. For the most part everything seemed very well organized. The volunteers were awesome, all of them, and the swag...well I'm not complaining, both the t-shirt and vest seem to be very nice quality. I believe I will do this race again...snakes, wind and all. 

Rattlesnake Triathlon Crazy Back 2 Back - Day One

This was another one of those races that I signed up for back in January or so when I was still flying high from the finish of my 70.3. Feeling strong and ready to conquer it all. This was the Crazy Back 2 Back which consisted of an Olympic distance on Saturday and a Sprint on Sunday. My training has been less then stellar but I figured I could make it though the oly. Even though I hadn't swam much my biggest worry was the run. I hadn't done much of that either and the longest run I had done in some time was 4 miles. Well I know there would be much walking.  The day started early as the alarm went off at 4. I headed out by 4:45 to make the 45 minute drive. I think I may have dozed off as I drove as somehow I managed to pass the exit but luckily it wasn't much of a problem and only added a little time to my drive. When I got there I was lucky enough to meet up with Katie of Will Race for Carbs Katie has been somewhat absent from blogging but hopefully will start to blog a little more. She is a riot and I loved getting to meet her! (She  did a fantastic job at her first olympic distance! This girl is fast!) Also doing the race were my friends and training partners from last year Kathleen, Sarah and Paul, as well as a few other people I knew.

Me (looking pretty dorky in my glasses) Katie.

Swim 36:15

The air temp was pretty chilly, around 65 I think so I was ready to get started. When they played the National Anthem I started to tear up..oh who am I kidding I was crying.  They had someone playing the trumpet and the thoughts of my son were right there on the surface. I got a grip pretty quick though as I knew swimming and crying would not mix well.   The water didn't feel to bad since it was around 70. This race has a couple things that are different from any race I've done. First off it starts with a time trial start...I've never done this and to tell the truth the first day I was not actually ready to go when it was my turn...I didn't quite get that I was going right then, didn't take me long to figure it out though. Because of the fact that we were doing the B2B we got to go first on the swim both days.  The course was a little different also as you can see above by the blue line you go straight out make a u-turn come back run around a buoy and swim back out then you turn wide and head to the finish. This is both nice and strange.  There is a yellow guide rope that keeps you from running into people going the other way and it also let's you swim without really having to do any sighting if you stay near the rope..that was AWESOME! It was however strange to look up and see someone that appeared to be swimming right at you. It also seemed to make the water a little choppier and I swallowed a bit of water but through the whole swim I felt pretty good. I just took it easy and finished feeling good about it. There is a pretty long run to transition and that along with the wet suit strippers is all added into the swim time.

T1 2:35- uneventful, I am never going to be fast at this. I just don't have the balance to stand and put my socks and shoes on. 

Bike - 1:49

Felt pretty good on the bike. It is a rolling course...there are not many flats to speak of you are pretty much always going up or down. The above elevation profile is from the race site (I was trying to download my Garmin but gave up when because of the multi sport thing I kept getting the run instead. I know I figured this out one time, but I'm tired to night and have no patience for it.) So anyway given that it is an out and back course I'm not sure where that flatish downhill comes from and I would say the first 12 miles is pretty accurate.   I actually was feeling pretty good at the turn around....not fast but feeling pretty good. At one part I rode past a snake and thank goodness it was dead, but I was still grossed out and later they posted a picture of this "beauty" on Facebook...he/she/it  was seen at the bike turn around. ...uhhhhh gross... 

I guess we know why the call it the Rattlesnake Tri huh?

So then comes the turn around and you know it...right into a head wind so yea you  had to work  hard even going downhill. And while at the turn around I was showing an average pace of 15.? mph it ended up being 13.7 thanks to the wind. But it seemed like it went fast. I was passed a lot but I knew I would be since I started the swim as one of the first few people. All in all though I felt pretty good about my bike. 

T2 1:54
The "run" 1:26....

Yep you read that right took me 1:26 minutes do a 10k.... what can I say. The first 3 miles were going pretty good. I started chatting with a girl on the course and we were working on 2 minute run and then walk. I could tell a few of my issues were coming on. The butt/sciatic was bothering me some, my ankle/achilles felt a little tender and I was most concerned about messing that up and then it wasn't long before the numb toes/front of foot started in and was causing much pain. At the turn around I convinced my new friend to go ahead as I was only slowing her down and from there on out it was much more walking than running. For the most pat though I just didn't care. I had said all along that it wasn't a race I was just "doing the distance" and that's what I did.

Total time 3:57

What remained to be seen...could I actually do the sprint on Sunday....to be continued.

Cougar, Cheetah or Perv?

As you may remember I decided to bail on the Boulder 70.3 this year. My lack of training as well as my stress level and what seems like one small injury/sickness after another left me feeling very unprepared. I was not really sure how I would feel when the day rolled around..and you know what I felt really good about my decision. It didn't bother me at all to get up a little later and head on up there to cheer on my friends and volunteer. I was told upon check in that I would be doing sunscreen at "run out". Ok I can do that. It's not a bad job for the most part. It was amazing to be right next to the pro rack and watch them come rolling in drop their bikes and run out..AMAZING! how fast they are...This was the first time that I've really gotten to watch any of the pros. It was pretty fun. There was just one other guy and I doing sunscreen and as you would expect none of the first people through were interested in hanging out for sunscreen. But we soon became pretty busy. Arms, shoulder, heads, necks, ears, and even some legs. All shapes and sizes, male and female, some hairy, some sweaty, but hey I'm a triathlete too so what's a little gross stuff between friends and strangers huh? So as things are slowing down there is much more standing around waiting, while I'm standing there pro Ben Hoffman tells me thank you for volunteering, Matty Reed asks if they can get their bikes out and this guy below  Marcus Fernandes from Brazil asks in cute little accent if he can have some sunscreen.

 Sure I say and proceed to put some his back and shoulders...and then...he turns AROUND! Yes he wants it some on his chest too!!! What is a girl to do? I of course did his chest and his abs...OH MY GOD!!! I have never felt such a hard body... incredible! Ok I'm going to stop there...this is a "family blog"  The next day I couldn't help but wonder if that's what he really wanted when he turned around...my brain got a little mushy...so  while I was telling the story of the highlight of my weekend.....he was probably telling the story of the pervy old lady. But hey I'm still smiling so it's all good. 

Wordless Wednesday

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