GWRT Race Report - Good Start to the 2015 Tri Season

Yesterday I raced the Great Western Reserve Olympic Tri put on by Champ Racing. I will admit that I was nervous going into this race. I am always a little worked up about the first OWS of the season and I was not really sure that I was tri-ready with so much focus on the run this season and not as much focus on the bike. I have been pretty good about my swimming and gotten in as many bike miles as I can around a very run-heavy schedule. I just had to give it my best and see where I am right now.

West Branch State Park was the venue for the race. I really liked this venue. The swim was in a calm and warm inland lake and for the most part the bike roads were good and the run course was a nice setup. In addition to the olympic race, there is a sprint, a half and a half aquabike option so that brought out some good people to race. It was nice to see so many friends and fellow Cleveland Tri Club members at the race. Many of which had a great day at the races!

Steve and I both raced the olympic and we are racing an olympic again this weekend at Challenge Williamsburg (formerly Revolution 3 Williamsburg). I love the course there and it's my first team race of the year so that's pretty exciting. Racing GWRT was a great way to test my fitness before Williamsburg.  I am pleased with how things turned out yesterday and looking forward to giving it another go Sunday!

Prerace: We arrived at West Branch around 6:30am to pick up our packets and setup our transition areas. The olympic was scheduled to go off around 8am. The start was delayed about 30 minutes due to the other waves starting later. This was actually not a bad thing for me because I had time to relax and chat with friends as well as get in a nice warm up swim. The water temperature was 71 and my sleeveless Blueseventy wetsuit was very comfortable.

Swim (1500 meters):

Start of one of the swim waves

The olympic men's wave went off and then olympic women were 5 minutes later. We were the last wave. This again was okay with me. I like a relaxing swim where I am not crowded with people. It was a double loop course and the second loop really felt like it went quick. I looked at my watch leaving the water and I was around 26 minutes and change. Once crossing over the timing mat I was at 27:31 (about a 1:50 pace), which is not bad for me in open water. I am working on my sighting as I have a tendency to get off course.

T1:
I felt wobbly in T1 but got the wetsuit off pretty fast, dried off a bit, put on my gear and got in a Powerbar energy blend gel before heading for the bike mount. My 1:52 was a little slow but I'm just getting back into the swing of things.

Bike (26 miles):
I liked the bike course. It was mainly flat with a couple sections of rollers. It was a straight forward course so not too technical. The best part I think was riding along the dam. It felt like flying through that section and I got to see Steve and some friends here. My goal for the bike was to average between 19-20mph. I knew that my bike fitness was not as good yet as it was during some of last year's races where I was close to averaging 21 for this distance. I felt pretty strong on the first 13 mile loop and through the first half of the second loop but started to labor toward the end of the ride and had some pesky low back pain as well. I haven't spent too much time in the aero bars yet this season so I am sure that I will build up my tolerance to this again. My new Lazer aero helmet worked great. It was light and comfortable and well ventilated. My bike time ended up at 1:20:16 (19.4 mph average) so for where I am right now this was decent. I will be switching my focus to the bike in early July after I recover from the Charlevoix Marathon.

T2: 
Again I felt a little slow here with a 1:23 but as the season goes on hopefully I will be quicker with my transitions. The one thing that annoyed me in T2 is that my GPS signal for my run watch did not come on right away so I just had to start the run without it.

Run (6.2 Miles): 
The run was pretty straight forward and flat. Leaving the park was hot but most of the olympic run was shaded, which was nice on a hot day like yesterday. It was an out and back, 2 loop 5K course with 2 aid stations on each loop. It was nice to see so many friends on the course and I got to see Steve a couple of times as well, which was a nice boost of motivation. I ended up running a negative split for the second loop, which allowed me to move up at least a handful of spots in the race. I ended up running a 46:08 10K (7:41 average).  I was glad to have my run working for me with all the miles I have been logging training for my marathon June 27.

Post race with my hubby

Finish & Post Race:
It was nice to have Steve cheering as I finished. I am happy with my time of 2:37:12. It was good enough to win my age group and place 6th female. In looking at the results the swim is really what killed me for this race along with not having my bike legs at 100% yet. I am okay with that. I will get stronger as I change my focus to multisport! Steve had a solid race too and placed 3rd in his AG. We stuck around to hang out with friends and eat. Champ does a great job with the post-race food especially the pizza! Mmm! Many of our friends set PRs and placed so it was a good day at the races!

Closing Thoughts:
I liked this race and will plan to do it again - possibly the half too. Champ did a nice job with the course, volunteers, food, and I loved the race shirt! Today is a recovery day and then I get back into a hard week of training followed by the Challenge Williamsburg olympic tri this Sunday!

Cool shirt & my AG medal

Busy Weekend, Lots of Training & a Race for Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend is always one of my favorite times of the year since it's the official welcome of Summer for us Ohioans. This Memorial Day was full of friends and family and lots of training, including a race!

Friday kicked off the weekend with a recovery run and a Bikram Yoga class. Saturday Steve and I got in a ride on the tri bikes then spent some time with the kiddos at the driving range. Of course their favorite part was driving the golf carts!

Pre Blossom Run Fun at Ginny & Bobs

Sunday we headed to Chagrin Falls for the annual Blossomtime Run, which is always a fun and challenging race with the heat and the hills. Our friends Ginny and Bob had a nice little prerace party at their house for the runners. Some of our Cleveland Tri Club friends were there so it was nice to catch up with folks before jogging over to the start.

Last year I went out too fast at the race start so this time I held back with my first mile being a 7:15. My splits were pretty consistent as I never really felt I was pushing too hard and I ended up finishing the 5.25 mile course in 38 and change (7:20 pace), which I was happy with since it was a better time than last year. With that I placed 3rd of 85 in my AG.

Post race with my speedy guy!

Steve also had a good race finishing in 33 and change and 3rd in his AG, which included some pretty fast local runners! After the race we caught up with my friend Jilllian for a few minutes and then headed to get a post race smoothie. The rest of the day was filled with house cleaning and yard work so it was a busy day!

Yesterday I was going to go with Steve to do the Snakebite Racing Death Ride but I needed to get in a decent long run and bike so I opted out and went to the Towpath in Independence instead for a 13 mile run at marathon pace followed by 30 miles of riding on my cross bike. Steve was nearby so we met up after for some much needed Chipotle! Then we ran some errands and headed home to get ready for our neighbors picnic.

This week will be full of lots of swim, bike, run as well and the first multisport race of the season too at the Twinsburg Duathlon, which is a sprint consisting of a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike and 2 mile run. I am hoping to do well but will see how it goes as I don't feel I am in great bike shape yet this season. It will be a great tuneup for the next two weekends, which will both consist of olympic triathlons (Champ Racing's GWRT and Challenge Williamsburg). I am excited to switch gears a little bit these next few weeks!

Race Season is Starting this Week! An Update on my 50K & Cleveland Marathon Training

It's hard to believe that my first race of the season is this weekend already! I guess it's more of a fun run than an actual race but it's the first thing on my schedule this season so still pretty exciting to get it started! I'll be running the Run for Regis trail half marathon this weekend in Peninsula. Originally we had planned to do the 50K distance but I just didn't feel ready. We'll be running the Green Jewel 50K in early March instead! 

I also just signed my husband Steve and I up for another trail half marathon at Holloway Park in Lakeland, FL next Saturday! We'll be going from one extreme to another...from snow, ice and cold to green grass, rocks and sunshine/warmth! I think it will be fun and coach agreed running back to back trail half races would be good training for the 50K and upcoming marathon season. 

So far the long runs to train for the Cleveland Marathon are going well also. I plan to run Toledo first and toughen up for Cleveland! I've been doing longer runs back to back most weeks with this past weekend being 18 miles on the road including some hills and a trail 10k run Sunday at North Chagrin Reservation. The legs are feeling pretty strong so far!

This week my training is a little lighter than the last couple of months to freshen up the legs a bit. I look forward to starting the season out strong and continuing to work on developing my endurance for later in the season!

2014 Lake County YMCA Turkey Trot 5K Race Report

Steve and I had opted to do the Lake County YMCA Turkey Day 5K race instead of the downtown Turkey Trot since it is in our local community and was easier for us logistically. For it being a local 5k, it is a fairly big race with about 1200 runners coming out each year.

I was not happy to wake up to snow on Thanksgiving morning as I knew this would slow things down for the race. On our mile warm up my feet got wet and my warm up clothes were drenched in wet snow. Luckily Steve and I had both brought trail shoes in case the conditions were bad so we both changed after the warm up. This proved to be a good decision as the roads were snow covered for much of the race.

The race starts at 8:30 in front of the Painesville YMCA and heads east down Mentor Avenue towards Lake Erie College. It is a flat and fast course but with the snow it slowed things down some. I saw a few people slip and fall including one woman that tried to pass me around the halfway point. It was a cold, wet run but it went super fast. I wanted to break 22 minutes but I ended up being just over with a 22:07, good for 10th of 670 women and first in the 35-39 age group. Steve ended up running just over 20 minutes and winning first in his age group as well. Neither of us had a PR but in these conditions I think most people were close to a minute slower than usual.

Post race with our hard-earned pies!

The YMCA does an excellent job with the race. It is well organized and they give awesome awards! The age group winners received pumpkin pies and really nice travel coffee mugs so Steve and I each earned a pie and mug, which was awesome! We shared the pies with our loved ones but the mugs are ours! After the race we went home to cook a delicious Thanksgiving meal and enjoy spending time with our families.