River Cities Tri Race Report pt. 2

With the cork situation taken care of, I felt much better about the day. After we all ate and gathered all of our gear, we loaded up the truck and headed out to the race site. We left at 5:45am, and got to Cypress Lake around 6:30am. After parking, we got things situated with our bikes and bags and then headed to transition. There were a ton of people already there, but it was easy to get into transition, find our racks and get body marked. As we were entering the transition area a race official did check my stem cap, but waived me through - whew! I was glad my DIY cork project passed inspection.

Megan was number 682 and I was number 681, so our bikes were racked right next to each other. I knew this would make our little competition more interesting! We would be able to easily see if the other one was done with the swim or done with the bike. And since we are in the same age group (twins!) we started in the same swim wave, which made our competition a little more head to head.


After getting set up, I left the transition area and ran straight into my parents! I was so glad I was able to find them so easily. Not long after that, I found Chad, his mom and his sister and they all walked down to the swim start. I want back into transition and lost Megan and Genie for about 15 minutes, but eventually found both of them. I did a short little warm up swim, and then waited for our wave to start. Our wave was set to start around 8:30am, and Genie's started about 8:40 or 8:45.

Megan and I hugged and wished each other good luck, and then before I knew it, the cannon boomed and we hit the water. From the get go, it was pretty easy to find clear water. It took me a long time to get into a good rhythm with my breathing, but by the time I hit the first buoy (the course was a rectangle shaped out & back) I felt pretty good. I couldn't tell where Megan was, but I was convinced that she was right next to me. That really made me push myself until the very end of the swim! I was so happy when I made the last turn and started heading back to shore because I knew the end was in sight (literally!) for the swim. I hit the beach running at 18:30 and was very pleased with my time - I was shooting for 20 minutes so I was thrilled with 18:30.

I saw everyone cheering for me as I ran down the chute to transition and that gave me an adrenaline boost. When they told me I was ahead of Megan that really gave me a boost! I headed straight into transition to get ready for the bike. When I left transition I still didn't see Megan, so I knew that I needed to hit the bike hard to increase my lead.

The bike course was good, but WAY hillier than I imagined! It was almost like riding in Kentucky! I was glad that I had trained on hills. The worst thing about the bike was that everyone was drafting and some people were riding 2 and 3 deep, across the road. There were 4 girls wearing LSU triathlon jerseys that were riding three across - that made me so mad! People were swerving into the oncoming traffic lane in order to pass them, and even then they would not drop back. I yelled out that they were going to kill someone riding like that, and they finally got over. I later saw a USAT official on a motorcycle taking down their numbers, so at least justice was served! I ate one gel on the bike and drank one full bottle of Gatorade/water mix, and about half of my second water bottle - it was pretty hot out there!

I finished the bike right under 1 hour, and I was very glad to be done. Megan didn't pass me on the bike, but I didn't know if she was right behind me or a few minutes back. I saw Chad as I was coming in on the bike and he was cheering for me, which was so great. As I was running into transition I saw Mrs. Suzy and Payton and my dad, who yelled out "Go Megan!...I mean Meredith!" That was pretty funny!


I was so glad to start the run. I felt good from the start and just tried to keep a nice and steady pace. The course was out and back, in almost a light bulb shape. There were two water stations on the course, and both had icy cold small cups of water and icy washcloths. Those were both very refreshing! At each station I drank a cup of water and poured a cup on my head.


As I rounded the turnaround area, I knew I was in good shape. I hadn't seen Megan yet, so I knew I had a good enough lead to be able to beat her without a sprint to finish. I saw her when I was on my way back, around mile 1.5. We waved and laughed and I might have said "I'm #1!" Seeing her gave me the final boost that I needed to finish strong. I did get a little close to blacking out somewhere between mile 2 and 3, but I kept going and gradually got my wits about me again!


As I was nearing the finish I saw Aunt Genie and she looked great! As I came down the finishing chute I saw my parents, Chad, Mrs. Suzy and Payton and I was just so happy to be done, and happy to make them proud. At the finish line volunteers handed me a great River Cities water bottle full of icy cold water, so I sucked that down as I made my way to my family. Pretty soon Megan finished, and then Aunt Genie finished. It was a great race, and a great day with family! I hope to do this race with them again!

Overall Results

• Total time: 1:51:19
• 14th out of 37 in 25-29F Age group
• Swim: 18:30 (12th in AG)
• T1: 2:40
• Bike: 59:36 (17th in AG)
• T2: 2:30
• Run: 28:01 (14th in AG)

Some pictures from race day!

My number #1 fan.
He strategically wore yellow so that he would be easy to spot from the course!

The lake before the swim start - it was a beautiful morning!

Coming in from the swim, all smiles when I realized I was ahead of Megan!

Waving to my fans!

Heading out of T1

Megan heading out of T1

"I'm #1, I'm #1!"

Happy to be done! (and #1)

Megan accepted her defeat well

Hug it out

Aunt Genie sprinting to the finish!

My family! Dad, Megan, Mom, me, Chad
(My mom's shirt says "Twins Tri Harder"!)

River Cities Race Report pt. 1

On Friday (7/30), I got off work mid-morning and went straight home to finish packing and load the truck, and then we set off for Mississippi. I knew we would have a long time in the car, so I tried to pack somewhat healthy snacks like grapes, pretzels, and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for me to eat. I am a sucker for fast food meals and gas station ice cream bars, but I didn't want to eat any of that junk before the race.

We stopped just north of Jackson, MS about 10pm on Friday, and settled in for a short night. We were up and going at 5:30am, and back on the road by 6:00am. This was Emma's third stay at a hotel, and she did pretty good! She even got to ride the elevator a few times.

We pulled up to Chad's parents house in Alexandria around 10:30am. We were so relieved to be out of the car! I was full of nervous energy for the race and so excited about our week in Alexandria. It was great to be back on Louisiana soil, at the front end of a great week to come! Not long after we arrived, Chad's sister Payton and her husband Jay arrived with their German Shepard, Miles. Chad's mom (whom I call Mrs. Suzy) whipped up a great lunch of big baked potatoes with brisket. They were great for carbo-loading! I went easy on the brisket though.

After hanging around for a little while, I said goodbye to everyone and headed north to Shreveport. The plan was that I would go to Shreveport early Saturday afternoon to meet up with my family, pick up our race packets, etc. and Chad and his mom and sister would drive up to Shreveport for the race Sunday morning, and then Chad would stay with me and my family in Shreveport on Sunday, and then we would drive back to Alexandria on Monday when my parents and sister left for Houston. And Chad's parents would baby-sit Emma through the whole thing. Try saying that 5 times fast! I wish Chad's dad (Mr. David) could have come to the race, but he is a pastor so he is usually pretty busy on Sunday mornings!

I got to Shreveport about 3:00 pm and headed straight to my grandparent's house to meet up with my sister Megan and my Aunt Genie. After getting unloaded and arranging our triathlon gear in the garage, we headed to Sport Spectrum to pick up our race packets. I have always heard that the swag at this race is incredible, and this year was no different. This year was the 30th anniversary of the race, so we lucked out and got a really, really nice triathlon suitcase (with a $250 msrp tag still on it!) a New Balance race shirt, a fitted technical hat, socks, and a pair of sunglasses. Nice!!

After organizing our stuff and applying our race numbers to our bikes, helmets, and race belts, we headed to dinner at Cypress Inn with my parents, grandparents, and my cousin Emily. Cypress Inn used to be located on Cypress Lake (the location of the tri) but the original building burned down a few years ago and they relocated to a newer building just up the road. My grandparents and parents love Cypress Inn (it is the first restaurant my sister and I ever went to! My parents took us there when we were just little babies). I haven't been out that way (Benton, LA) in a long time, so it was nice to get an idea of where we would need to go in the morning for the race. I had grilled shrimp, a baked potato, salad, and a roll. It was very good and I ate it all, but I didn't feel stuffed. I was so happy Emily could go out to dinner with us and that we were able to see her for a little bit!

We were home from dinner by 8:30 pm, and after making some last minute race preparations, I was in bed by 9:30 pm. Also, on Saturday night my grandma gave me, Megan and Aunt Genie really cool Clean Bottle water bottles! Thanks, Darling!

Once I was settled in bed, I thought it would be a good idea to read through the race instructions and information booklet. I felt pretty good about everything until I saw that race officials would disqualify you if the stem cap on your handlebars was not plugged. The stem cap on my handlebars came out over a year ago, and I have just taped over it for races this year. Usually this satisfies race directors, but the River Cities information clearly stated that tape would not suffice! I was too tired to do anything at that point about it, and I knew that I would have more brain power in the morning to address the stem cap issue. My grandpa has a well stocked garage shop, so I figured that I could find something to plug it with.

My alarm went off at 4:15 am and I was up and ready to go. I drank a Starbucks Doubleshot (thanks, Mom!) and had a bowl of cereal with a banana and then headed out to the garage to figure out what I was going to do. I found a bottle cap that worked, but I was afraid to have something on the outside of the handlebar rather than something plugging up the inside. When I explained to Genie what I was trying to do, she just said "put a cork in it." Duh! Why didn't I think of that!! I will forever be grateful to Genie for that advice, because it ended up working perfectly. After I spent some time with a saw and a piece of sandpaper, the cork fit perfectly in the stem. We even colored it black with a Sharpie so that it matched. Talk about redneck ingenuity!

Next up, the actual race report!

6 Days to the Race!

Six days to the River Cities Tri! I am getting really excited about our trip to Louisiana and the triathlon this weekend. I've been excited for months, but the fact that we are leaving this week finally makes it tangible. My training has been going well, and I'm glad that we've had some high temps lately. I'm hoping this will acclimate me a bit to the beastly Louisiana weather!

This week will be busy with wrapping things up at work and getting ready for the trip, so I am going to do a slight taper in my training. It will be interesting to see what state I am in after a 9 hour drive on Friday, 3 hour drive early Saturday morning and then a busy afternoon picking up our race packets, having dinner and checking out the race site. I hope I am able to get some sleep on Friday night - we are stopping for the night just outside of Jackson, MS and Emma sometimes gets a little wild in hotels. So many new smells and sounds and sights for the little gal usually means that she wants to do everything but sleep when its lights out!

We'll arrive in Alexandria after a short drive (3 hours or so) Saturday morning, and then at 1:00 I will head to Shreveport (2 hours north) to meet up with my family and get our race packets. Chad and I bought a cooler yesterday (how did we not have a cooler after all this time?) and I am looking forward to stocking it with road snacks like grapes, apples, pretzels, water, and trail mix. I'm a sucker for gas station snacks and drive-thru burgers, so I want to make sure I have healthier options at my finger tips during the drive.

I'm not bringing my computer with me, but I'm hoping to use Chad's to get a race report up early next week. I know I will probably be updating Twitter frequently though!

I am so excited about this race - even though it is just a sprint distance triathlon...which is really not much in the world of triathlon. But for years my sister Megan and I have been saying that our ultimate goal is to do the Hawaii Ironman together. While I don't know if that will ever happen (although we definitely plan on doing a 70.3 together in the next few years) this race we are doing together this weekend is a small step in the direction of our ultimate goal of doing an Ironman together. I love sharing this passion for run/bike/swim with my sister! It will be great to do this race with her, and our Aunt Genie, too! I am looking forward to posting pictures from the weekend here. My mom has already made a "twins tri harder" shirt!

Training Log 7/19-7/25

Monday 7/19
• Rest

Tuesday 7/20
• 42:00 run (AM)
• 1:09:05 ride (17.1 miles) (PM)

Wednesday 7/21
• Rest

Thursday 7/22
• 42:46 run

Friday 7/23
• 23:00 swim

Saturday 7/24
• 51:52 bike (14 miles)
• 1:05 run
• 30 swim

Sunday 7/25
• Rest

Transitioning to Triathlon

Oh, the triathlon puns are just too easy. Last week was Week 1 of my triathlon training for the summer triathlon season. I have two triathlons planned for this summer:

• Markey Race for Cancer Sprint Triathlon: Lexington, KY - June 27th
• 400m pool swim, 14 mile bike, 3.1 mile run
  

• River Cities Sprint Triathlon: Shreveport, LA - August 1st
• 800yd open water swim, 18.2 mile bike, 3.1 mile run
  

I also have some 5ks and 10ks thrown in:

• Bluegrass 10k: Lexington, KY - July 4th
• Bluegrass State Games 5k: Nicholasville, KY - July 17th
• Midsummer's Night Run 5k: Lexington, KY - August 14th (Chad is going to do this one!)

I am really excited about both of the triathlons. The Markey Race is an inaugural race here in Lexington, and I know it will be done very well. Swim Bike Run of KY is involved with the race directing, and those folks know what they are doing. It will be a 400m pool swim, 14 mile bike on rolling hills out by the Kentucky Horse Park, and then a 5k. I am really excited about this race! I have already set my goals high, and I am going to try to place in the top 3 in my age group. I hope this is a realistic goal. I placed 2nd in my age group at the Lame Duck tri last summer without even really trying! My goal was just to finish under 1:30. In my training for the Lame Duck, I mainly tried to focus on being able to complete each leg of the race - namely swimming and biking. I focused on technique and endurance, but not really speed. Since I have a huge endurance base built up from my marathon training this spring, I want to focus on getting faster now.

I am really looking forward to the second triathlon, River Cities, in Shreveport. This race is known as the oldest and largest triathlon in the South. No way am I getting an AG award here! What is going to be so cool about River Cities is that I will be racing with my sister Megan and my aunt Genie! Chad and I go to Louisiana for a week every summer and it just so happened that this race is on one of the weekends we will be home! It will be awesome to do something I love with the people I love on the race course and on the sidelines!!

So needless to say, I am super motivated with my training. I want to get faster and fitter this summer in order to get an AG award at Markey, and to finish well at River Cities. When creating a training plan for this summer I modified and meshed a few plans together from TriNewbie.com and BeginnerTriathlete.com. I am only one week into my training, but I love it so far! Instead of focusing on getting in specific mileage, I'm focusing more on getting in time. Here are a few pictures of my 15 week training plan, which I cut and pasted into a Moleskine 2010 planner. I have the plan at the front of the planner, and then I keep a workout log on the monthly calendar.

Weeks 1-5

Weeks 6-15
(note: the "vacation in LA" days will be right after the River Cities tri, so I will use that week as a rest week, but I know I will still make good use of my in-law's pool and the flat roads of Louisiana!)

Workout Log: May 3rd-10th

My training plan follows the same basic pattern each week, with build-up weeks and recovery weeks built in. For the most part, my schedule will look like this:

Monday: 1 hour push-run*
Tuesday: 45 minute swim (am), 1-2 hour group ride (pm)
Wednesday: 4-6 mile repeat run
Thursday: 1 hour push-run
Friday: 45 minute swim**
Saturday: 1 hour run, 1 hour ride, 30-45 minute swim
Sunday: 1 hour ride, 20-30 minute run

*Push-runs, created by Brett at Zen Triathlon, consist of running for 10 minutes, then stopping to do a set of push-ups, pull-ups, or squats. I've found what works best for me is to do a set of 10 squats every 10 minutes, and then when I get home I immediately do 3 sets each of 10 push-ups and 10 sit-ups. Mixing anaerobic and aerobic really helps to burn fat, plus the squats help with my cycling and the push-ups and sit-ups help with my swimming.

**I realized last week that I didn't build a rest day into my plan...whoops! I think I am going to try to use Friday as a rest day, and get in my scheduled Friday morning swim on Thursday evening.

Last week was my first week on this plan and it was so much FUN! I really love the variety that comes with triathlon training. It is a fun mix of really beneficial workouts, too - I think. I do short intervals during my push-runs, so the whole run helps to build strength, speed and endurance.

• My Tuesday night rides are with two experienced and fast cyclists, so they always push me to ride harder than I would on my own. We also usually do a pace line (think back to Indian Runs in high school) which helps to keep our average MPH higher and helps to build power in the legs.

• The swims are pretty simple. I'm working on my form and getting my 100yd time down. Right now it is right at about 2:00, which is dismal. I'm working on getting down to 1:45.

• Saturdays will be for endurance - spending quality time in each discipline but at nice and easy pace, making sure to keep my heart rate under control.

• Sundays brick ride and run will be for race simulation. I have a nice 14 mile loop and a 5k route that I will use each week to simulate the Markey distance. I'll work on my nutrition on the bike (probably just diluted Gatorade and a few shot blocks for a sprint) and my transition to the run.
  

So all that to say, I am excited about the summer race season! I'd like to get back into a semi-regular posting pattern, so I will aim to post a workout log and review each Sunday. To anyone out there training for summer races - have fun and stay safe!