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| Race Morning! |
Swim: Me (30:44)
T1: Me (3:14)
Bike: Me (1:27:32)
T2: R+C (1:06)
Run: C (38:30)
Total: R+C (2:41:07)
Place: 4th of 10 relays
See Clint's side of the story/his run recap at the end of my recap!
I have been excited about this event, Challenge Knoxville, for the past few months. Challenge Family recently merged with Rev3 and all Rev3 triathlon events became Challenge Family events starting in 2015. Knoxville was to be the very first Rev3-turned-Challenge Family event and expectations were high all around for a great event. I raced Rev3 Knoxville the past two years and actually my very first Rev3 event ever was Knoxville in 2013 (where I subsequently fell in love with Rev3 events!). I did the 70.3 relay in 2013 (I did the very frigid 1.2 mile swim in 55 degree water!) and did the individual Olympic distance race in 2014. I love the city of Knoxville (from these race experiences) and was eager to return....and to bring Clint along for the adventure!
In addition to being on the Challenge Family age group team and looking forward to seeing my teammates at the race, I was excited to get to spend time with another group of Tri-friends. This seemingly-random group of friends was birthed in the fall of 2012 when my friend from graduate school, Dave Cravotta sent me a facebook message asking if I would do a 70.3 with him. I had just completed my first 70.3 (Ironman Branson) in September of 2012 and he had decided he wanted to give one a whirl as well. From there, our group of two snowballed and became a group of about a dozen...and now we all get together at various races. Last year a group of us met up in Knoxville and stayed together in a great condo in the downtown square area (Shout out to Mr. Knuth for the great discovery!!) and we planned to do the same thing this year.
Clint and I each had a long day on Friday: I spent about an hour at work in the morning and then drove to Peoria for the state track meet where one of our stellar track athletes competed in the long jump and Clint worked until 8. We ate a quick dinner together after he got off of work and hit the road by 9. While we drove, we chatted about the fact that my darn right foot is still being less than cooperative. A few days prior to this, Clint had already told me that he thought I should compete in the aquabike division instead of doing the whole triathlon so as not to run more and risk hurting my foot even more substantially. Though this sucked to hear (running is my "love" as far as the three tri legs go!), I knew he was right. As we talked, though, it hit me that Challenge also has relay divisions for all distances...I asked Clint if he would be down to relay it up with me. He said that he would and seemed excited about the prospect...if he could find some racing flats in Knoxville once we arrived (all he had packed were trainers). A quick e-mail to a Challenge teammate who lives in Knoxville (Lana, you are the BOMB!!!) resulted in a recommendation of a great local shop, Runners Marker. I became more excited...the thought of doing a relay with Clint was awesome!
We drove a few hours and stayed at a crappy Ramada somewhere outside of Indianapolis. Saturday morning we drove the rest of the way to Knoxville...through lots of torrential rain that unfortunately hindered our ability to admire the beautiful scenery (not to mention made it hard to see the road in general!). Thankfully Clint took on most of the driving that day so we arrived in one piece ;).
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| A dreary drive! |
The rain let up about 20 miles outside of Knoxville which was great and meant that we could walk around the expo without getting soaked.
We both walked around the expo a bit and changed my individual Olympic entry to the relay division with no issues (THANK YOU to the Challenge staff for their flexibility and helpfulness!). I had signed up to use some demo Profile Design racing wheels (a special free service Profile Design offered at this race!) and brought my bike to their tent to get the wheels installed on my bike. Clint headed out to find Runners Market (we split up as we were on a bit of a time crunch...it was already late in the afternoon and the running shop closed at 6!). When the wheels were installed, I brought my bike to transition and racked it for the night.
I then wandered down to the beautiful Tennessee Boathouse (where the U of Tennessee's women's rowing team works out) next to the swim start to scope out the water. It was a beautiful day and I was hopeful that the next morning would be beautiful as well (HAHA!).
We both walked around the expo a bit and changed my individual Olympic entry to the relay division with no issues (THANK YOU to the Challenge staff for their flexibility and helpfulness!). I had signed up to use some demo Profile Design racing wheels (a special free service Profile Design offered at this race!) and brought my bike to their tent to get the wheels installed on my bike. Clint headed out to find Runners Market (we split up as we were on a bit of a time crunch...it was already late in the afternoon and the running shop closed at 6!). When the wheels were installed, I brought my bike to transition and racked it for the night.
I then wandered down to the beautiful Tennessee Boathouse (where the U of Tennessee's women's rowing team works out) next to the swim start to scope out the water. It was a beautiful day and I was hopeful that the next morning would be beautiful as well (HAHA!).
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| A BEAUTIFUL afternoon in Knoxville! |
Soon, Clint returned with some sweet Brooks flats and striped shorts (and a singlet that ended up being too big) and picked me up. We then headed out in search of dinner...to one of our favorite places that is unfortunately not available in BloNo- Whole Foods!
After finding some dinner (hooray for the Whole Foods yummy food bar!) and food for the rest of the weekend, we headed back to our rented condo where we were greeted by my friends Chuck, Colleen, Richelle, Gina and Esteban. We hung out for a bit and got our things settled...and then Clint and I went for a walk around the Market Square area where we were staying so I could show him around this cute part of the city and we could scope out some restaurants to eat at later on in the weekend. This area of Knoxville is a lot of fun and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to travel to the area!
After our walk (which included purchasing some dark chocolate covered espresso beans at a local chocolate shop...YUM!) we headed back to the condo to put on our race number tattoos and to get everything ready for the morning. The race number tattoos always end up being not as easy as they seem they should be and we ended up with a few mistakes...oh well. In addition, some of them were incredibly sticky once applied...causing anything and everything to become stuck to them. I had a long black hair stuck in my arm tattoo the next morning. Interesting...
Sunday morning we woke up nice and early and ate breakfast. My breakfast of choice: a yummy sweet potato we baked the night before, mixed up in a cold mush with almond milk + figs + walnuts. Don't knock it til you try it...it's one of my favorite breakfasts...YUM!! Chuck had left the condo before I was even up (he did the 70.3 division and had an earlier start time). The rest of us started wandering down toward transition a little after 6am. HOORAY for early mornings! NOT...
Transition was about a mile away from our condo which was not bad. The walk was more than worth it for the convenience of having our own kitchen in the condo and lots of space to spread out and hang out with friends. Once we arrived, I busied myself with the typical tri-duties of making sure my transition area was set up with everything I needed. It had been a while since my last tri...so there were a few things I forgot (like flip flops), but nothing that was crucial. I had the big things...you know...a bike, helmet, goggles, bike shoes ;).
Transition closed at 7:30 for oly athletes, so around that time we made our way to the porta-potties for my final visit and then with a vigorous application of TriSlide + Clint's help, I wrastled on the rubber beast that is my wetsuit. UGH! I hadn't worn the thing since June...thankfully it actually fit a bit better than I had remembered since I am down a few pounds since this time last year so at least I had that going for me.
As we walked down to the swim start, it started drizzling. The day was ugly and overcast, not at all like the beautiful blue skies that were present the day before. I danced around nervously in my wetsuit and slurped down a cold brew coffee energy packet for some helpful caffeine. Soon it was time for the orange caps (the last heat!) to meander down to the end of the dock and jump in...so Clint told me goodbye and good luck with a kiss and I was off! I walked down to the edge of the dock and hesitated for just a moment before jumping in. I had heard the water temp was great...around 72 degrees or so and indeed it felt pretty great. I had gone back and forth regarding the decision to wear a wetsuit (in general I think I am more comfortable without one because they make me a bit claustrophobic) but I ended up feeling really good in the suit and was glad I had it (honestly, like I said previously, I think the better fit now has something to do with that!).
I did a few practice strokes and before long it was time to get situated for the start. We treaded water for a bit...and with the blast of an air horn, we were off! The beginning of a tri swim is always a slightly uncomfortable endeavor. Bodies thrashing around to find their rhythm and people swimming in less-than-straight lines makes for a hazardous environment. I am not a strong swimmer (frankly, I have never put for the time and effort necessary in order to become one!) and this was only my fourth swim of the year (and first open water swim). Going into it, I didn't even know if I would be able to swim the entire 0.9 mile course without pausing! Within the first hundred meters or so, some woman behind me to my left literally hit me in the head with her open hand. It made me see stars and I responded with some strong kicks to get away and to let her know that there was indeed another swimmer in the water (sorry I'm not sorry!).
The loop course had us swimming to the left of the start, taking a right turn after a few hundred meters, going straight for about a third of the length of the first portion, and then turning right again for the final long straight shot down the river to the swim out. By the first turn, I had found my own place and rhythm somewhere in the middle of the pack and settled in. After the second turn I wondered if I was going a little slow and reminded myself that Clint was waiting at the end of the swim and I didn't want to be TOO embarrassingly slow! So, I buckled down and made myself put forth a bit more effort. Though I know little to nothing about truly GOOD swimming form, I tried to concentrate on keeping my body on top of the water with my legs straight and did my best to produce some trunk rotation. My self-perception was that I did start moving a bit faster at this point and settled in to this new, "better" rhythm as I soldiered on to the end. As I swam, I picked out orange caps to pass and counted at least 5 that I passed. I also passed a fair number of yellow caps (from the previous heat) which made me feel a bit more confident.
Soon the dock where we were to exit the water was well within my sights so I cranked out a few last strokes and pulled myself out of the water (silently congratulating myself for making it through the swim without pausing!). I turned to the left to run up the dock and saw Clint, smiling. Turns out he was taking a video of my ever-graceful exit ;). Nice.
After finding some dinner (hooray for the Whole Foods yummy food bar!) and food for the rest of the weekend, we headed back to our rented condo where we were greeted by my friends Chuck, Colleen, Richelle, Gina and Esteban. We hung out for a bit and got our things settled...and then Clint and I went for a walk around the Market Square area where we were staying so I could show him around this cute part of the city and we could scope out some restaurants to eat at later on in the weekend. This area of Knoxville is a lot of fun and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to travel to the area!
After our walk (which included purchasing some dark chocolate covered espresso beans at a local chocolate shop...YUM!) we headed back to the condo to put on our race number tattoos and to get everything ready for the morning. The race number tattoos always end up being not as easy as they seem they should be and we ended up with a few mistakes...oh well. In addition, some of them were incredibly sticky once applied...causing anything and everything to become stuck to them. I had a long black hair stuck in my arm tattoo the next morning. Interesting...
Sunday morning we woke up nice and early and ate breakfast. My breakfast of choice: a yummy sweet potato we baked the night before, mixed up in a cold mush with almond milk + figs + walnuts. Don't knock it til you try it...it's one of my favorite breakfasts...YUM!! Chuck had left the condo before I was even up (he did the 70.3 division and had an earlier start time). The rest of us started wandering down toward transition a little after 6am. HOORAY for early mornings! NOT...
Transition was about a mile away from our condo which was not bad. The walk was more than worth it for the convenience of having our own kitchen in the condo and lots of space to spread out and hang out with friends. Once we arrived, I busied myself with the typical tri-duties of making sure my transition area was set up with everything I needed. It had been a while since my last tri...so there were a few things I forgot (like flip flops), but nothing that was crucial. I had the big things...you know...a bike, helmet, goggles, bike shoes ;).
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| Me and Mr. Wells before the race |
Transition closed at 7:30 for oly athletes, so around that time we made our way to the porta-potties for my final visit and then with a vigorous application of TriSlide + Clint's help, I wrastled on the rubber beast that is my wetsuit. UGH! I hadn't worn the thing since June...thankfully it actually fit a bit better than I had remembered since I am down a few pounds since this time last year so at least I had that going for me.
As we walked down to the swim start, it started drizzling. The day was ugly and overcast, not at all like the beautiful blue skies that were present the day before. I danced around nervously in my wetsuit and slurped down a cold brew coffee energy packet for some helpful caffeine. Soon it was time for the orange caps (the last heat!) to meander down to the end of the dock and jump in...so Clint told me goodbye and good luck with a kiss and I was off! I walked down to the edge of the dock and hesitated for just a moment before jumping in. I had heard the water temp was great...around 72 degrees or so and indeed it felt pretty great. I had gone back and forth regarding the decision to wear a wetsuit (in general I think I am more comfortable without one because they make me a bit claustrophobic) but I ended up feeling really good in the suit and was glad I had it (honestly, like I said previously, I think the better fit now has something to do with that!).
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| Me? Nervous?! |
The loop course had us swimming to the left of the start, taking a right turn after a few hundred meters, going straight for about a third of the length of the first portion, and then turning right again for the final long straight shot down the river to the swim out. By the first turn, I had found my own place and rhythm somewhere in the middle of the pack and settled in. After the second turn I wondered if I was going a little slow and reminded myself that Clint was waiting at the end of the swim and I didn't want to be TOO embarrassingly slow! So, I buckled down and made myself put forth a bit more effort. Though I know little to nothing about truly GOOD swimming form, I tried to concentrate on keeping my body on top of the water with my legs straight and did my best to produce some trunk rotation. My self-perception was that I did start moving a bit faster at this point and settled in to this new, "better" rhythm as I soldiered on to the end. As I swam, I picked out orange caps to pass and counted at least 5 that I passed. I also passed a fair number of yellow caps (from the previous heat) which made me feel a bit more confident.
Soon the dock where we were to exit the water was well within my sights so I cranked out a few last strokes and pulled myself out of the water (silently congratulating myself for making it through the swim without pausing!). I turned to the left to run up the dock and saw Clint, smiling. Turns out he was taking a video of my ever-graceful exit ;). Nice.
I ran into the boathouse where a kind woman waiting there helped me pull off my wetsuit (I thought there weren't wetsuit strippers...but I was grateful for the help!) and then continued on my way up the dock, across the road and into transition. I hit lap on my watch and tried to get my bike shoes, helmet, and sunglasses secured as soon as possible. I grabbed a PowerBar performance energy blast (one of the fruit puree things...love them!) and ran with my bike to the bike out where Clint was standing. With a smile and a, "go get it Matyasse" I was off!
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| Mmmmm...slurping down some PowerBar fruity goodness before setting out on the bike! |
Looking back at the results, somehow I was out of the water in 30:44. I really don't know how this is possible, but I managed to shave some considerable time off of my time from the same race last year which was 35:36. I don't remember how much swim training I did prior to last year's event, but I am fairly certain it was more than this year's. The last time I did a swim of any meaningful distance was in June of 2014 when I did the 1.2 mile swim at the Rev3 Dells event. Following that race, I didn't do another complete triathlon all year (I did a relay at Rev3 Cedar Point, but just did the bike leg). I have been in the pool 3 times since January. Three. I was almost 5 full minutes faster on the swim this year and managed to keep a 2:08/100m pace which is pretty decent for me. It didn't feel like there was much of a current....but maybe there was! After the swim leg, our relay team was 8th out of 10. Well...we weren't last!! ;)
I passed a few bikes right away as I started mile 1 and made my way up a highway ramp. Within the first two miles or so, I saw someone by the side of the road fixing a flat. Wow, that sucks, I thought. I noticed as I passed that the person helping out with the flat was actually my friend Esteban! I smiled as I continued on my way...it was no surprise that this guy was helping another athlete in need. Last year he came to hang out for the weekend even though he was injured and could only do the swim (he swam and then DNF'ed as he planned) yet still brought along an entire arsenal of gear and tools to help everyone else out! He's a stand-up guy, that Esteban!
Around mile 2, I accidentally hit one of the buttons on my still-new Garmin and ended up sending the timer into "transition two" (it was in tri mode). Darn it! I flipped through and just re-started it in "bike" mode, but was slightly disappointed that I wouldn't have accurate times for the race on the watch. Oh well ;).
It wasn't long into the ride when I realized Wow! This course is a lot hillier than I remembered! Similar to how some women say they forget the trauma and pain of childbirth (ok, clearly I wouldn't REALLY know! ;)) I had apparently wiped from my memory the fact that the Knoxville bike course is a hilly beast! It is really never flat...rather it's a series of pretty constant climbs and descents. Not long into the bike leg, it started raining harder and frankly it made me kinda paranoid. I am not the strongest cyclist regardless, but this was just my 3rd real bike ride off the trainer of the season (I had ridden the 12k Tuesday Night Time Trial in our town the week of the race and the week prior to the race...in addition to that, I rode 7 miles alongside Clint in the country as he ran after the Lake Run a few weeks back...and I did a few 1-4 mile rides leading my track distance kids...other than that, my winter + spring bike training was limited to sporadic trainer rides!). Additionally, I was riding on new-to-me wheels and tires. I was white-knuckling it down most of the {scary} descents just hoping and praying I would stay upright!
As I neared mile 11 (or so?) I came across a man who was standing alongside the road warning cyclists to slow down because there were two wrecks ahead. I heeded his caution and carefully made my way down the next curvy hill. At the bottom, I saw an ambulance with a female in the back on some sort of body board with a neck brace on. This induced moderate panic within me and I felt my breathing start to intensify...clearly conditions were dangerous and I didn't want to see myself be part of the casualties! It also brought back an icky memory of a ride Memorial Day weekend in 2012. I had just purchased my shiny new Trek Madone road bike and was excited to bring it home to show my parents. My dad was excited to go on a bike ride with me on his hybrid Trek and to show me the 10-mile route that he enjoyed riding near their home. It had rained earlier that day, so the roads were slick. I let him lead because I knew my bike was faster than his and I didn't want to accidentally go too quickly. We carried along at a reasonably gentle pace and came to a hill in a neighborhood. The hill was pretty steep and curved to the right toward the bottom. He took off down the hill with reckless abandon and when he turned to the right to go with the curve, wiped out pretty darn hard. Let me tell you, I can still see that entire scene playing out in my head to this day. Long story short, my mom came to the rescue and carted him (and his bike) to the ER. I followed on my bike. He was fine...aside from basically superficial wounds that were just painful enough to be annoying but not serious. But...I am still a giant chicken on wet road conditions now because of that day (well, mostly because of that anyway ;)).
Shortly after seeing that girl in the back of an ambulance, I mentally talked myself down from my pseudo-panic attack and slowed my breathing. Soon afterwards, I saw a guy who had crashed being helped by a group of people. Other than these two significant crashes, I saw more than 5 people dealing with flat tires or other mechanical issues. Not a good day on the bike course! I was relieved to make it back to transition with NO mishaps. I saw Clint right next to Bike In and was so happy to see him! We hurried together to our transition area where I racked my bike and he took the timing chip from my ankle, I stole a kiss...and he was off! I started a run timer on my watch so that I could be sure to be in place to finish the run with him by 35 minutes or so (he was shooting to finish in under 40 minutes). I cleaned up my transition area a bit...UGH! Nothing like some nice rain to make everything a soggy mess. Triathlon is a disgusting, high-maintenance sport ;). After a few minutes I headed up to the finish line and watched finishers run in.
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| Ready to run...always! |
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| And he's off! |
A really fun part of Rev3-now-Challenge events is the fact that they allow you to have family members, friends, relay teammates...whomever!...cross the finish line with you. I waited for a few minutes and soon enough...saw my shirtless wonder booking it toward me and the finish line. I threw off my sweat shirt and crossed my fingers and prayed that my foot would allow me to finish off the final 0.1 mile at Clint's blistering pace ;). As he approached, I started running and he quickly appeared by my side. We ran together, me grinning of course, and finished together in a total time of 2:41:07...faster than I could do an Oly tri on my own for sure!
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| Big Finish! |
After we finished, we spent some time at the finish cheering on other finishers. The finish line of a race is always one of my favorite places to hang out! We saw some pretty inspirational finishers (like the pro who had crashed yet still finished the race with tri shorts that had big holes in the front and back and big bandages covering up some pretty significant road rash!). We also saw our friend Chuck finish his 70.3 with a PR! Way to go Chuck!!
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| Pretty sure he was darn relieved to be done! |
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| Shrimp + Goat Cheese Grits? When in the south... |
THANK YOU to Challenge Family for putting on an AMAZING race and for the privilege of being on the Challenge Triathlon Team! THANK YOU to my teammates for being all-around awesome people and inspirational athletes.
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| Me with some of my Challenge Teammates and the Overall Winner, Cameron Dye |
THANK YOU to my friends and weekend roomies for the FUN and support!! Chuck, Richelle, Colleen, Gina and Esteban...you guys are awesome and I hope to see you again (and race with you again!) SOON! {Special thanks to Chuck for setting up the accommodations!!}
THANK YOU to Often Running + Mitch for allowing my teammate + partner Clint to accompany me on this adventure so that he could ultimately become my last-minute relay partner! THANK YOU to the Often Running Racing Team for the constant support and camaraderie. THANK YOU to Clint for being a great relay teammate and for stepping up at the last minute to do the run leg for me in my broken state! {I also SO appreciate Clint's patience and support of me...if he had a relay partner with skills that were more comparable to his, the relay's finishing time + place would've been far more impressive. However, he never makes me feel like I am less than an equal with him in spite of my lesser skills...and for that I am grateful!} Last but not least, THANK YOU to another area team, the Grim Reapers, for the camaraderie before, during and after the race! It is SO awesome to see familiar faces at races...especially when they are far from home! I do so love this sometimes crazy sport and am grateful for all of the lessons it has taught me, the fun I have had as a result and for the people it has brought into my life.
Next Up - Tri Shark Sprint Triathlon in Hudson on June 6 and then the Steamboat Classic in Peoria on June 20. I am doing my best to be a good girl and to rest + roll + ice + stretch so that I can be up and running again ASAP! The early season races have really gotten me excited about this season and I hope not to be sidelined from running for much longer! {Someone has a marathon PR to set this year!! Come on, foot!!}
Keep on keepin' on!
~Rachel
{CLINT'S PERSPECTIVE} -
Friday night after work Rachel and I ate dinner, packed, and got on the road for Knoxville, Tennessee. She is a member of the Challenge Family Triathlon Age Group team. As part of her team requirements, she has to complete in a couple of their events during the course of the year. There are really only two events that are logistically "easy" to do (read - within reasonable driving distance): Challenge Knoxville and Cedar Point. Challenge Knoxville has a few different races to choose from; Half iron-distance, Olympic, and aqua bike in either distance. There was also a Championship distance for people that qualified based on last year's race performances. Anyway, we drove about 3 hours Friday night and stayed in a dank and dingy Ramada inn. The air conditioner in the room wouldn't work and was only spitting out slightly cool moist air. We had two beds in the room; one of the beds was clean and the other had a wide array of stains and markings on the comforter.
Saturday morning we left the hotel and drove the last 5 hours to Knoxville. During that drive it popped into our heads that we could do the race as a relay. Rachel has been dealing with a pretty nasty case of plantar fasciitis and hasn't been running. I thought that would be a pretty great idea but I had no racing flats and nothing to race in. After a few quick emails we get the name of a local run shop so that I could try and get a pair of flats. We arrived at the race site and got everything situated-- we changed her entry and switched it up to the Olympic relay--. As she was getting her bike racked I drove over to Runner's Market. The sales people were awesome and I bought a pair of Brooks Racing flats and a pair of Brooks split shorts. I tried my best to get something Adidas but they quit carrying Adidas. Shoes secure, bike in transition, we made our way to the condo.
Race morning
Woke up at 5am to get coffee and breakfast situated. We gathered our gear and headed down to transition to set up everything. Rachel grabbed her goggles and wet suit and we made our way down to the swim start. It was raining the entire walk down to the race start and continued to rain through the swim. I snapped a few pictures of Rachel and she got out of the water and as she got onto the bike. I don't think the rain really let up much at all during her entire bike ride.
As I was waiting for her to get done with the bike portion, I set out to get a warm up mile in. My legs were totally unresponsive. After three weekends in a row of racing my legs were in strict protest. I jogged about a half mile before I just gave up and headed to transition. I waited for her to come in, and while doing so, saw many people being brought in off the course. The rain had caused some dangerous conditions and people were wiping out on the course. One was pretty bad (I heard) and had to be carted away on a stretcher. I was a bit nervous but as if on cue, she pulled into transition. I grabbed the timing chip from her ankle, threw my shirt off, and hit the run course.
Mile 1: 6:10
I told Rachel that I was going to go out at 6:10 pace and see what happened. If I averaged close to that for the entire run I'd be happy. The run course is an out and back with a few rolling hills. Shortly before receiving the timing chip, the rain had stopped. At this point, the weather started to warm up and the humidity was creeping steadily up. My legs felt pretty awesome at this point as I clicked off my goal pace for the first mile.
Mile 2: 6:10
This mile was a bit more of a struggle than the first but still manageable. I was passing people left and right and I made it a game to continue passing as many people as possible. I felt remotely bad since I was doing a relay and most of them were doing the entire swim-bike-run.
Mile 3: 6:18
A bit off the mark. I had started grabbing water right from the start. I'm pretty sure all of that travel had left me a bit dehydrated. I was still passing people so I was good there.
Mile 4: 6:06
I hit the turn around and started gunning it for home. I passed a few of our roommates and some Grim Reaper fitness athletes. Still sucking down water, the humidity was becoming stifling. I was now taking two cups at a time; one cup to drink and another to throw on my head. When the watch heaped and showed my time I knew I had hit it a bit too fast
Mile 5: 6:26
I definitely paid for the last mile. The heat, the hill on this mile, and the humidity were starting to suck.
Mile 6: 6:27
It was a struggle to keep this pace. The past few weekends of hard races and the Thursday workouts were taking their toll.
The last .2
I knew I would be seeing Rachel soon so right around the 5.9 mile mark I started upping the pace. With .1 left to go Rachel joined me. We sprinted into the finish together with my run being 38:31 (a 6:13 per mile average pace. We ended up being 4th out of the relays after adding in her swim and bike efforts.
Normally I would thank Often Running and Adidas but this time due to unforeseen circumstances (not knowing I was going to race) I have to thank Runner's Market and Brooks for having some pretty awesome gear. If any of you are in Knoxville, Tennessee check out their store. It definitely had an Often Running vibe to it. Thanks to Rachel for letting me do the relay with you and introducing me to some pretty awesome people.
SAYONARA, Knoxville! ...Until next year! :)
Next Up - Tri Shark Sprint Triathlon in Hudson on June 6 and then the Steamboat Classic in Peoria on June 20. I am doing my best to be a good girl and to rest + roll + ice + stretch so that I can be up and running again ASAP! The early season races have really gotten me excited about this season and I hope not to be sidelined from running for much longer! {Someone has a marathon PR to set this year!! Come on, foot!!}
Keep on keepin' on!
~Rachel
{CLINT'S PERSPECTIVE} -
Friday night after work Rachel and I ate dinner, packed, and got on the road for Knoxville, Tennessee. She is a member of the Challenge Family Triathlon Age Group team. As part of her team requirements, she has to complete in a couple of their events during the course of the year. There are really only two events that are logistically "easy" to do (read - within reasonable driving distance): Challenge Knoxville and Cedar Point. Challenge Knoxville has a few different races to choose from; Half iron-distance, Olympic, and aqua bike in either distance. There was also a Championship distance for people that qualified based on last year's race performances. Anyway, we drove about 3 hours Friday night and stayed in a dank and dingy Ramada inn. The air conditioner in the room wouldn't work and was only spitting out slightly cool moist air. We had two beds in the room; one of the beds was clean and the other had a wide array of stains and markings on the comforter.
Saturday morning we left the hotel and drove the last 5 hours to Knoxville. During that drive it popped into our heads that we could do the race as a relay. Rachel has been dealing with a pretty nasty case of plantar fasciitis and hasn't been running. I thought that would be a pretty great idea but I had no racing flats and nothing to race in. After a few quick emails we get the name of a local run shop so that I could try and get a pair of flats. We arrived at the race site and got everything situated-- we changed her entry and switched it up to the Olympic relay--. As she was getting her bike racked I drove over to Runner's Market. The sales people were awesome and I bought a pair of Brooks Racing flats and a pair of Brooks split shorts. I tried my best to get something Adidas but they quit carrying Adidas. Shoes secure, bike in transition, we made our way to the condo.
Race morning
Woke up at 5am to get coffee and breakfast situated. We gathered our gear and headed down to transition to set up everything. Rachel grabbed her goggles and wet suit and we made our way down to the swim start. It was raining the entire walk down to the race start and continued to rain through the swim. I snapped a few pictures of Rachel and she got out of the water and as she got onto the bike. I don't think the rain really let up much at all during her entire bike ride.
As I was waiting for her to get done with the bike portion, I set out to get a warm up mile in. My legs were totally unresponsive. After three weekends in a row of racing my legs were in strict protest. I jogged about a half mile before I just gave up and headed to transition. I waited for her to come in, and while doing so, saw many people being brought in off the course. The rain had caused some dangerous conditions and people were wiping out on the course. One was pretty bad (I heard) and had to be carted away on a stretcher. I was a bit nervous but as if on cue, she pulled into transition. I grabbed the timing chip from her ankle, threw my shirt off, and hit the run course.
Mile 1: 6:10
I told Rachel that I was going to go out at 6:10 pace and see what happened. If I averaged close to that for the entire run I'd be happy. The run course is an out and back with a few rolling hills. Shortly before receiving the timing chip, the rain had stopped. At this point, the weather started to warm up and the humidity was creeping steadily up. My legs felt pretty awesome at this point as I clicked off my goal pace for the first mile.
Mile 2: 6:10
This mile was a bit more of a struggle than the first but still manageable. I was passing people left and right and I made it a game to continue passing as many people as possible. I felt remotely bad since I was doing a relay and most of them were doing the entire swim-bike-run.
Mile 3: 6:18
A bit off the mark. I had started grabbing water right from the start. I'm pretty sure all of that travel had left me a bit dehydrated. I was still passing people so I was good there.
Mile 4: 6:06
I hit the turn around and started gunning it for home. I passed a few of our roommates and some Grim Reaper fitness athletes. Still sucking down water, the humidity was becoming stifling. I was now taking two cups at a time; one cup to drink and another to throw on my head. When the watch heaped and showed my time I knew I had hit it a bit too fast
Mile 5: 6:26
I definitely paid for the last mile. The heat, the hill on this mile, and the humidity were starting to suck.
Mile 6: 6:27
It was a struggle to keep this pace. The past few weekends of hard races and the Thursday workouts were taking their toll.
The last .2
I knew I would be seeing Rachel soon so right around the 5.9 mile mark I started upping the pace. With .1 left to go Rachel joined me. We sprinted into the finish together with my run being 38:31 (a 6:13 per mile average pace. We ended up being 4th out of the relays after adding in her swim and bike efforts.
Normally I would thank Often Running and Adidas but this time due to unforeseen circumstances (not knowing I was going to race) I have to thank Runner's Market and Brooks for having some pretty awesome gear. If any of you are in Knoxville, Tennessee check out their store. It definitely had an Often Running vibe to it. Thanks to Rachel for letting me do the relay with you and introducing me to some pretty awesome people.
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