Kirkland Triathlon Race Report
Today was my first “race” since December last year. I have been recovering from plantar fasciitis. I am happy to report that my plantar fasciitis is under control after taking the usual measures: PT, massage, ice, stretching, chiropractic, yoga and finally time off! It’s combination of PT, ice and time off that have really made the difference.
I have participated in the Kirkland Triathlon since it’s inauguration, 6 years ago. I’ve done it as part of a relay 3 times with clients. This was the 3rd time on my own. I love the course and it’s local. It’s a great measure of fitness.
This year I went into the race after taking a lot of time off running, not spending as much time on the bike and with maybe half a dozen open water swims under my belt. I am confident in my cycling skills and the run has never been a problem for me. I went out and did a couple of bike/run bricks and felt okay about that part.
I woke up this morning to drizzling rain. Okay, that’s not that big of a deal, not the best conditions, but oh well. I drive out to Kirkland to set up my transition area and make my way over to the swim start.
The Swim
The water is choppy. I am talking big waves and white caps. I start the swim portion, and it’s not too bad for the first 2 or 3 minutes. Then the waves really picked up. I am not even to the first buoy and I feel tightening in my chest. I come up for breath only to take a mouth full of water. I am breathing hard now. A woman next to me is doing the breath stroke. I try that and find it doesn’t work for me. I abandon the crawl and start swimming inefficiently with my head out of water. The white caps keep coming. I make it to the first buoy and veer to the left, more white caps. I am really breathing hard now and wondering if I can do this. For the first time ever since I have been doing triathlons, I seek out a lifeguard on a surfboard. I am thinking what if I just stop? The lifeguard says they’ll take me back to shore if I want right now. I am 8 minutes into the swim. I am close to the half way point. I decide to keep going. A huge sense of panic washes over me. I make it to the next buoy. I actually seek out another lifeguard. I’m really struggling to keep calm. I think about maybe just doing the swim and forgetting about the bike. I’m into this 19 minutes now. I find my strength and continue swimming. I finally make it out of the water, a 28 minute swim! I’ve never been that slow, but then again I’ve never swam in these conditions.
The Bike
I transition to the bike. I am thinking maybe I should give up swimming! As I get warmed up on the bike, the blood is rushing to my quads and they start to burn, but I feel good. I pass at least 14 people in my age group. Now I’m thinking maybe if I bought a faster bike it would make up for my swimming. Swimming is a crapshoot for me. Half the time I am able to remain calm the other half of the time I struggle. I tend to get sea sick, so maybe that was my problem today. I push it on the bike. I am feeling strong and in control. The cops on the course slowed things down a bit by taking part of the bike course in an effort to keep us all in the right lane. It made it tough to pass people. The bike was 46 minutes something, about 4 minutes slower than last year.
The Run
The transition to the run was quick. The heaviness in my legs disappeared after the first mile. I notice that my watch has frozen with my bike time. I have no idea how fast I am going, so I just keep a steady pace. I continue to pass a couple more women in my age group. My HR is high I know because I am not able to drink water at the water station. Other than feeling like I’m going to throw up, I feel okay. I know it’s because I am pushing myself. The feeling is familiar. I finish strong.
Last years results:
15. Lisa Sabin
802 40 F 1:30:24
Swim 0:18:17 T1 2:05 Bike 0:43:07 T2 1:58 Run 0:24:57
23. Lisa Sabin
276 41 F 1:44:49
Swim 0:27:56 T1 2:39 Bike 0:47:22 T2 1:29 Run 0:25:23
After talking to some veteran triathletes I feel better about the whole thing. It was a bad day for swimming. I feel okay about my bike and run considering this was my come back race. Hopefully, next year I won’t panic and I’ll have a new bike!
Although I got a late start, I’ve been a serious runner since 1994. I ran my first marathon in 1995 on my 30th Birthday. It’s been my goal to run the Boston Marathon since then. I missed qualifying by 12 minutes that year. I needed to run 3:40 and ran 3:52. Running in the most prestigious marathon, is the ultimate for most runners. The fact that you have to qualify, only fueled my competitive juices.
Over the next 9 years I ran 6 more marathons. I love running so much that I became a 
10 comments:
Wow, that swim sounds like a bear! Way to push on through!
Thanks. It was pretty tough!
The swim sounded like a bad dream, but you made it through. I’m glad you finished! Congrats!
Lisa, sorry to hear you had a bad swim.
Have you considered taking a TI course? I wonder if it wouldn’t help you out a lot.
What’s the T1 course? I definitely need help!
Great result though - going from thinking of quitting in the swim, to finishing running hard.
Actually I know what you mean about swimming in choppy water - I’ve only done it once here, but it completely messes your rhythm, and quickly makes it seem like you’ve just forgotten how to swim. Maybe Brad’s right, and a Total Immersion course would help . . . or maybe just more practice in choppy windy swimming weather!
BTW - what were the distances for the race?
The swim was 800 meters. The bike was 12 miles with 760 feet ascent. The run was 5K.
Hi Lisa,
I just found your site through the Running Blog Family Directory. I did a search for people training for Boston (it’s one of my goals as well), and there you were! I then clicked on your blog and exclaimed, “Hey! She’s in Seattle too!!!” (I live just a couple of blocks from Greenlake.) Although you’re probably a bit faster than I am, if you ever want to run Greenlake, let me know. I’d love to pick your brain about Boston as well.
Also, I did the Kirkland tri last year. One of my neighbors, an elite triathlete, told me if a race ever offered the Athena division (women 150 lbs.+) I should go for it since you can sometimes place. So I did for this race. My time was 1 hour, 42 minutes, 45 seconds, which put me in the bottom third overall. However, as I was perusing the race results, I spied the the No. “1″ What? Turns out I came in first in the Athena division age 40+!!! (Okay, so there were only 10 of us in the division, but STILL!)
Awesome race! Congratulations. Are you training for any races right now?
[...] Last year I had a horrible experience at the Kirkland Triathlon. I’ve participated in this event since it’s inauguration. I’ve done the tri as a relay twice. I’ve done the sprint tri 3 times now. In 2007, I had my worst triathlon experience ever. The weather conditions weren’t bad. I was prepared and adequately trained. The problem was choppy water and my mental state. The wind kicked up and I just panicked. For the first time in my life, I seriously considered dropping out. I swam from lifeguard to lifeguard. Yes, the lifeguards were cute, but I’m too competitive to hang out with them during a race! I made it through the arduous swim and got my head back into the race. I managed to finish with an okay bike of 47:22, a decent 5K 25:23, but the swim took almost 28 minutes! [...]