Training Camp/Havasu Race Report

After five months of literal blood, sweat, and tears my race season has officially begun again.  As has been the case for the past few years, my season kicks off strong with the two most important races of the collegiate season: the MCTC (mountain collegiate triathlon conference) championships (in Lake Havasu, AZ) and USAT collegiate national championships (which will be April 13^th in Tempe, AZ).

As this past week was our spring break, a few of us decided to fill it with a good mix of fun and training.  My adventure began with a few days in Las Vegas with my friend Megan.  I had plenty of cross training walking up and down the strip and dancing my booty off until the wee hours of the morning (where I was further blessed with the fun experience of how non-triathlete men react to cyclist legs in short shorts – oh boy).  

Vegas with the lovely Megan

On Sunday night, a few of my teammates arrived in town with my bike along for the ride.  Megan was sweet enough to release me from my position pool-side for a few hours in the afternoon to take advantage of the awesome riding around Las Vegas (who knew?).  On Monday, we rode a modified version of the Ironman 70.3 World’s course, changing it to take us on a sightseeing tour past the awe-inspiring Hoover Dam.  What an incredible sight!  On Tuesday morning, we headed out of town for another gorgeous ride through Red Rocks Canyon followed by a somewhat demoralizing track workout.  We then loaded our smelly bodies up and headed over to Lake Havasu, AZ where we would be for the rest of the week.

Riding up from Lake Mead

Wednesday started with a solid run of the course and a much needed pool workout.  Unfortunately the pool was open less than an hour, heated to 86 degrees, and swamped with retirees breast-stroking around.  After lunch and a little beach time, we wiggled into our wetsuits and got in some open water work.  Gliding through the cool water, I was filled with bliss.  I had really forgotten just how much I love open water swimming!  Thursday was another tough one, riding the course and doing repeats of “the gauntlet,” a section of steep hills through a neighborhood on the course.  While this was tough, this workout really paid off come race day.  On a side note, I was shocked by how much easier these hills on my new little carbon bike versus the aluminum beast I was riding around a year ago! 

Getting in Some Open Water Practice

As of Thursday evening, the rest of the team arrived in Lake Havasu and Friday meant final race recon and prep.  This race is a little different than any other is the majority of the field consists of collegiate racers from within the Mountain conference.  Over the years many of us have become friends and/or created friendly rivalries so packet pickup turns into a little reunion.  I had the further joy of my friends Amanda and Mike driving over from California for a visit (I haven’t seen Amanda in over two years so this was beyond exciting for me). 

CSU Tri Team Ready to Race!

Race morning I woke up ready to rock.  I was finally grateful for the last nine months of 5am alarm clocks for swim practice as this one felt no earlier than a normal day.  I heated up my new favorite race morning meal of mashed sweet potato, applesauce, banana, and honey and donned my lovely CSU tri suit.  Finally, after months of anticipation, it was go time. 

Go Time

The wind was blowing at a solid 15-20 mph, making the swim start fairly wavy and a little tough to see.  A large group of ladies drifted off course and wound up on the wrong side of the channel.  While I went slightly off course, I did realize it before the main pack and was able to right myself before being washed up on shore.  Once in the channel, I took off, concentrating on holding proper form and on catching the feet in front of me.  The past few months of 100 and 200 repeats rang through my head as I heard Coach Reu’s uncomplicated advice of, “it’s ok if it hurts, just go faster.”  With about 500 to go, I found myself stroke for stroke with another pink cap with only a few ahead of us.  We pushed each other out of the channel and into transition.  I almost laughed out loud with glee when I glanced at my watch and it read 20:25 – a three minute swim PR for me.  Coach Mace yelled that I was in about fifth or sixth place (a little farther back than I had hoped) so I grabbed Maureen (my Slice) for her inaugural ride and took off into the wind.  I quickly passed a few ladies and was going strong until I misjudged my shifting and dropped my chain on an incline.  Fortunately this was a fairly quick fix.  Back on the bike, it was an absolute battle into a strong headwind heading out, though I was for once extremely grateful to be so fun-sized as my low profile gave me a little advantage.  With Thursday’s workout behind me, I was able to hammer through the hill section (passing a couple of nervous riders) and get back on the straightaway with the wind at my back. 

Running out of T2

Running out of transition, Coach let me know I was in third or fourth place about 40 seconds back from the girl ahead of me.  Now, this run is a little different than the average 10k as the out and back is book-ended by a section of soft sand and a large set of stairs (which leads up to the London Bridge).  Despite this, I set my brain to track mode and found myself running some fairly decent splits.  However, I still have my head in a place of being a “bad runner” and was therefore shocked when I started using landmarks to time the distance between myself and the girl ahead of me and found myself gaining on her.  I finally passed her at the turnaround and set my sights on the finish.  Around mile 4 I was unfortunately passed by one of the girls I had taken on the bike.  At this point I realized I was in third and in a position to go well under 2:20 (my two goals).  I visualized Coach Mace’s grueling track workouts at this point and managed to keep my pace for the final miles.  I crossed the finish line in 2:18:23, a two minute PR (and a 14 minute course PR), good enough for third place. 

Women's Podium

Following the race, I got in some relaxation, sun, and quality fun time with Amanda as well as with my teammates.  While I would’ve loved to bask in the glory of a successful race for a few days, it was right back to training at Monday morning for me (though I did sleep through 5am swim after the van rolled into town at midnight).  Seeing the results of hard work fuels me to work even harder in the final weeks leading up to my nationals taper.  I am excited to make a few adjustments and to hopefully ride this wave into another big PR.  Train happy, race happy – it’s going to be a great season!