It's been a little while since the last blog and there has been a ton of activity on the Anderson home front. Michelle is still wrapped up in her schooling, the kiddos are busy with school, art classes, and gymnastics. On top of it all I've been completely immersed in this IRONMAN training for 6 months now, and I think we're all ready to things to slow down a bit. Michelle has been very supportive, but she's definitely at the end of her rope with my training. My "honey-do" list is growing as we speak...."fix kids bath tub, clean out basement, replace strip under door....." shall I read you more? Not sure I could squeeze out any more 40+ hour work weeks and then 8-10 hours of working out on Saturday and Sunday. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though, as the heavy stuff is done, and it's time to taper - hallelujah! Of course an Ironman taper consists of 3 hour rides vs. 6 hour.
Although I've missed a few more workouts than I care to admit I do have to say the results of all my training are starting to show. A couple of weeks ago I participated in my first triathlon of the season. It was a short sprint down in St. George, and since I was planning on being down there training on the course I decided to sneak this is for fun. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to practice my transitions with the new babe... I mean bike. One of my training buddies Rory The Rocket also decided to sign up for the race, so it was fun to use each other as motivation to go fast! Since I guess Salt Lake decided to act like Anchorage, Alaska this winter and spring, it was nice to enjoy two days in St. George with temps in the mid 80's. I hadn't seen 60 since St. George marathon, so I wasn't sure if my body would know how to handle this "scorching heat". Race morning was absolutely beautiful, a little chill in the air, but nothing like what I've been training in up here in SLC. Rory and I decided to start right next to each other so we could keep tabs on each other during the race. The swim was 400 yards, and it went by really fast. In my mind I felt like I'd had a decent swim, but as I got into T1 I didn't see Rory or his bike anywhere in sight! Either he had an amazing swim (which he did), or I'm still slower than I want to be (which I was). Not knowing how far behind I was I tried to rush through transition and cost myself a few precious seconds. My bike seat is set really high, and I could not get my bike out from under the rack. There were a ton of bikes and so much stuff that I just couldn't tilt my bike enough to get it out. A little pushing and shoving and it finally came free. Note to self...don't put your back pack right under the back wheel, it makes it impossible to get the bike out! Finally out onto the bike...
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| Who can say they've done a race with mom AND dad? Not I. |
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| 25 yard pool with deck counter. |
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| Like sardines in a can...packed |
The bike course was nice because part of it was on the IRONMAN route. It was short, but it gave me a good chance to test out the aero helmet and new bike. As I approached the turnaround I saw Rory. He had about a minute or so lead on me, so I was glad he was still in range. I pushed hard through the first loop, and up through the turnaround again. I had lost a little more time to Rory, but not a ton. As I climbed the hill right after the turnaround some dude latched on to my back wheel, and wouldn't break free. Since this was not a USAT sanctioned race drafting was not illegal, so he didn't do anything wrong. It annoyed the heck out of me, though. I just think it's classless to draft off of someone else in a non-drafting type of event. But that's on him, not me. As I cruised into T2 I really hoped to have a fast transition. Unfortunately, the race was so large there were still people coming out of the pool when I finished the bike. The run from the pool and bike merge as you come in to T2 and I got caught up behind a guy who was slowly jogging into the transition area. I hoped he would go down a different aisle than I did for his bike, but luck wouldn't have it...he shared the same route to his bike as I did. Oh well, another slow transition. Off to the run...
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| Rory with the fastest bike split of the day |
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| Coming into transition |
My run has been really strong this year so far. I've set PR's in every event I've raced, so I felt very confident that I'd have a good run. The bike wasn't long enough to mess up the legs, so I just decided to let it loose. I headed out at a pretty fast pace with intentions of trying to catch Rory before the finish. I had no idea how far ahead he was at this point, but luckily Michelle was not to far from the transition area and said he was about a minute ahead. He's worked really hard on his running and has gotten fast; couple that with his fast swim and bike splits and watch out! The run course was a two loop out and back, so I'd get a good chance to see where I was as we approached each turnaround. As we came up on the first turnaround I was still holding a solid pace, and had a lot left in the tank. I pressed on and was able pass Rory just into the second loop. I kept pushing all the way to the end not knowing where I'd finished, but feeling good about the race. Rory finished about 30 seconds after me and we were both really happy to have had each other there to push against.
After I finished I wanted to get back to the condo and get the kiddos. We were traveling with some friends and had left the kids with them for the race, so thanks to Kassie and Chris for helping out. As I was at home Rory called and told me I was in first place overall, and he was in second. That's cool, I thought, never been there before, but there were a bunch of racers still on the course. I didn't know if it would hold up, but it was fun anyway! When it was all said and done I did end up losing first place, but was really pleased to finish second overall. My best finish ever!
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| Michelle took this. Pretty cool but not true. |
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| 1, 2 and 3; not bad, not bad |
Final Times
Swim (400 yrds) = 7:38 (wow, soooo slow)
T1 = 1.00
Bike (10 miles) = 27.01
T2 = 0.54
Run (3 miles) = 16:46
Total = 53.21
Good times...more to come on the SLC Marathon shortly.
