Race Recap 5: Age Group Nationals 2013

 

Age group nationals was my hands down favorite race experience to date.  The course was beautiful, the weather was perfect, fans were cheering, and I clocked a 20 minute PR!! Couldn’t get any better!

Now that I’m back in the swing of things (I miss vacation!), here’s a glimpse of how race day went down…

Pre-Race

Normally I like to be at transition as soon as it opens.  At AG Nationals, transition was open from 5:30-7:30…however, my wave wasn’t scheduled to start until 9:50!  Since my bike was already racked from the night before, I knew I didn’t have much to do in transition so I gave myself permission to “sleep in.”  Which basically meant that I still woke up before my 5:30 alarm.  I stuck with my tried and true peanut butter and honey sandwich, grabbed my pre-packed bag of transition stuff, and was out the door by 6:30 to walk to the race.  *Travel note…the Marriott Residence Inn in Milwaukee is in the PERFECT location*

Official Tat's - it's big time here!

My dad and I got to transition in no time.  I laid out my bike and run gear, pumped some air in my tires, and crossed my fingers that I wasn’t forgetting anything.  Then it was time to hurry up and wait…and wait…and wait!  My dad and I found a great spot to post up and watch the swim start, along the railing of the Milwaukee Art Museum.  It was exciting to see the 40-44 men line up…an wait…  Apparently, the highway closure took longer than planned and the start was delayed about 15 minutes.  

The calm before the storm - viewing deck was behind the red TYR signs.

While we were waiting, I was able to connect with my friend Erin, which made the waiting game much more manageable!  We caught up on life and chatted a bit about the race before I drank my bottle of Osmo Pre-load Hydration, took my last chance bathroom trip and squeezed into my wetsuit.

Swim: 27:47, 1:45/100 yds.

Prior to the race, I was concerned about the water temperature being too warm, and with the fact that my shoulders often tire out during the swim.  I attempted to rent a sleeveless wetsuit at Sports Basement on Monday before I left, but luckily (for my wallet), they didn’t have any in my size.  Well, it worked out perfectly.  The water was a perfect 68 degrees…just cold enough to feel perfect in my  long sleeved Xterra Vortex wetsuit.  

Warming up

Our silver capped wave was able to hop in the water for some warm up lengths about 10 minutes prior to our start.  The other ladies were super friendly, but as soon as the bullhorn went off, it was every woman for herself.  I knew that my swimming in training had drastically improved, but I wasn’t sure how it was going to translate to the open water.  I just tried to keep myself in a straight line and keep my heart rate under control.

And we're off!!!

I was able to get in a rhythm, but instead of breathing every 4 strokes, I was breathing every two.  I just kept repeating “relax, Allison, relax!”  My whole goal on the swim (and pretty much the entire race) was to not be the last one out of the water.  When we reached the last yellow turn buoy, I saw that I wasn’t…yay!  Turns out I was 91/157.  I’ll take it!  

T1: 3:02

Not an awesome transition.  It was a long run from the swim exit to the transition area, and I was struggling with getting my wetsuit over my Garmin 910xt the whole way.  Then, once I reached my row, I couldn’t find my bike!  Because of the way the bikes were racked, the numbers for the bikes on the other side were showing on my side of the rack, so I got completely discombobulated!  I figured it out though, and off to the bike!

Bike: 1:16:38, 19.5 mph

This is the area where I was hoping to make the most improvement, and I did!  I shaved 9 minutes off my previous best!  But even with that improvement, I was still towards that bottom of my age group in this leg -  122/157.  Still lots of work to do.  I fueled with 1.5 bottles of Osmo Active Hydration - Orange and a sleeve of Citrus Clif Shot Bloks.

Even though the bike course was flatter than the majority of my rides around the bay area, there were still some pretty consistent rollers, and a pretty darn big bridge that we had to ride up and over.  Nothing too overwhelming, but enough to keep you guessing.  As I rode along, girl after girl passed me L  Boo.  I started to get a little demoralized at this point, thinking “how on earth are they dropping me so easily?”  I just kept at it and tried to enjoy the scenery.  

This was on the side of the Lululemon store in the Historic Third Ward - talk about fitting!

But as I went along and kept track of my speed, I realized that this was the fastest that I had ever ridden in a race and from there on out, my whole mindset changed.  Instead of thinking how crappy I was compared to the other girls, I reminded myself that I wasn’t there to win…I was there to PR!  That became my new mantra, and stuck with me for the rest of the race.

Happy Camper!

**One of the good things about the delayed start was the change in weather – during the bike, it was mostly overcast and decently cool.  My ideal racing weather!

T2: 1:57

This one was a little quicker, but still had trouble finding my spot.  Shoes and visor went on without a hitch.

Run: 49:04, 7:53/mile

Ahhhh…my favorite part.  After watching so many ladies spin past me on the bike, I am proud to say I reeled a whole lot of them in on the run!!  The run went followed the Oak Leaf Trail along Lake Michigan.  My calves felt like they were going to explode (unfortunately, as usual) for the first 2 – 3 miles, but then loosened up enough that I didn’t notice them for the rest of the run.  I’m going to try out compression sleeves or socks on my upcoming training runs to see if that helps.  Any other suggestions are most welcome!

Working Hard!

The sun broke while I was in transition, so the run was hot.  I grabbed water at each aid station, and sucked down a Chocolate Outrage Gu just before mile 2.  Mile 3-4 felt like it would never end, but as soon as I hit the last aid turnaround, I left everything I had on the course.  Even though I didn’t know where any of the timing mats were, my estimates were pretty darn close to the final results, and as soon as I crossed the finish line, I knew that I accomplished my goal to PR.

Total Time: 2:38:29 – 18min (and change) PR!!

Age Group: 108/157

Goals achieved - done and done!

I had an absolute blast running this race and am extremely grateful that I got to run it after only 8 months in the sport.  The caliber of athletes racing was top notch and I’m glad that I was able to hold my own.  Later that day, my dad and I celebrated with beer and burgers at the Milwaukee Ale House along the riverwalk.  I kept repeating that I couldn’t believe that the race was over and that I couldn’t wait to race again.  That’s always a good sign – to already be stoked on another race.  Hopefully I’ll qualify to race in Age Group Nationals next year, because I have records to break.  

After celebrating with what seemed like gallons of beer, I suffered through a recovery week upon returning home…light training weeks are so frustrating!  But as the saying goes, “be careful what you wish for…”  Tomorrow starts a big training week, with some of my longest swim sets ever.  

Happy Training!!!