Sunday, August 16, 2009

North East Triathlon Race Report!

Well, my third Olympic Triathlon is in the bag, and I gotta say: It's exactly as hard as I remember it. It does not get easier. But, I came home safe, uninjured, happy and healthy, and with 3rd in my age group! WHEE! (MUST I tell you how many people there were in my age group??? Sigh. Three. There were three.)

Swim: 41:30 This is a huge improvement. The water temp was 85F, so wetsuits were totally out. There was no current, and no wind. It was like swimming in a bathtub. I still freaked out beforehand (mostly because the race directors kept up a CONSTANT patter about what to do if you get freaked out, and how you can still drop down to the Sprint if you think you're going to freak out, and I gotta tell you: It freaked me out! Many thanks to Will, and Becky, and others who helped talk me off the ledge! And to Shannon, who mostly made fun of me. Heh.) But I didn't have to stop once after I got going. I just got in a rhythm and kept it going the whole swim. No freak out. It was awesome. Yay me.

T1: 4:42 I can explain this. When I got out of the river, I started my gimpy jog, determined to knock some sense into T1, but felt shooting pains in my left breast, every time I ran. I don't know wtf that was. But that's how I blew T1. Pain went away on the bike. Well, that pain went away. Sigh.

Bike: 1:46:45 (13.2mph) Very hilly. It took me a while to get going, I was kind of hyperventilating at first, so tried to slow down. The hills were rough, but not as bad as at Columbia, for instance. I tried to let loose on the downhills. The course went through lovely countryside, lots of woodsy parts, and had a decent amount of shade. I passed a few people. And that would be the last of that...

T2: 2:27 Also a nice improvement. Heading in the right direction.

Run: 1:24:44 (13:40 minutes/mile)--This totally blew. It was brutally hot and hilly. The course was 10k out and back along the side of a highway, with no shade. I pretty much just threw in the towel, and decided to walk fast, and run as much as I could on the downhills. I maybe ran 2 miles total. Oy. But the beauty of out-and-backs is you see so many people running towards you. I saw tons of D.C. Tri peeps. Everyone was unbelievably encouraging, which is why I love this sport!

Total: 4:00:06 (My goal was to come in under 4:00 hours. Good enough!)
Place: 3/3 F50-54 (YAY!!)
Gender: 112/114 F

Oh, and p.s.: D.C. Tri won 5th straight MID-ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP! Go us!


And for you history buffs:

July 28, 2008
New Jersey State Olympic Tri (race report)
Swim: 46:42 (51:53)
T1 4:35
Bike 1:32:53 (15 mph)
T2: 3:45
Run: 1:27:01 (14:02 min miles)
Total: 3:54:54
Place: 12/12 F50-54
Gender rank: 254/263 F

Sept. 14, 2008
Nation's Olympic Tri (race report)
Swim: 48:07 (this swim was long, I'm told)
T1: 5:11
Bike:: 1:45 /14.1 mph
T2: 3:49
Run: 10K 1:25/13:49 min. mile
Total: 4:08:27

Sept. 21, 2008
Savageman Olympic Triathlon Relay (race report)
Swim: 43:43

17 comments:

Petraruns said...

Nice report girl - and nice going! Particularly like how you provide historical data as well -- very informative. 3rd in your age group will you delete the caveat about there only being 3 in your age group? Give yourself some credit..

Vertical Swimmer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vertical Swimmer said...

Your swim time is now probably faster than mine. I don't know you anymore

Tuan

peter said...

Placed in your AG, sweet! Way to go, Jeanne.

LBTEPA said...

LEGEND!!!

Kelly said...

Congrats!! I don't know if your race was today or yesterday, but the run during my race today was HOT and unshaded also! LAME! Congrats on finishing in one piece and not freaking out.

Lesser is More said...

Glad to see the swim is coming around! Congrats a great race. This is a good build up to Nations, where you will have a much flatter course and (hopefully) more shade.

eileen said...

Congratulations! Along with swimming, running and biking, finding events where one is guaranteed placing in one's AG is a highly respected skill. Your AG is very competitive! You are an extremely skilled triathlete!! Did you get a trophy?
You rock!!

montisse98 said...

Yes, Jeanne, you rock! Not only did you not drown, but you took home the bronze medal -very cool!!!

gmgizmo9 said...

Congrats, Jeanne! As always, I enjoyed reading your race report and post in general. Congrats on making the podium. Who cares if there were only 3 - you DID IT! That is so cool!

Nancy Toby said...

Go Triathlete Jeanne!!! Ha ha! You can only beat those who have the guts to show up. You could have beat many who didn't show up too, so there.

Jack said...

Yay you, great job Jeanne - and give yourself credit, you were in third place in your age group (period!).

ShirleyPerly said...

See, I told ya you'd swim faster without all those breaks :-)

Congrats on placing in your AG. And, BTW, you swam faster than any non-wetsuit oly swim I've done. I'm going to have to call you speedy swimmer from now on!

Rainmaker said...

Ok, I'm catching up slowly....

Nicely done! Kick ass job bringing home the bacon...err...hardware. Awesome!

Oh, I still have that bacon tape you gave me. Just thought you'd like to know.

Maryland Girl aka Michelle said...

You rock as always! My race report is finally up since I am back from vacation!

Trihardist said...

Yay! You won!

And you *never* have to tell anyone who else was in your age group. It's enough that you were on the podium. And that's all that anyone needs to know.

It DOES get easier! After you do a half ironman, anything shorter seems like a cake walk ;-).

But it never hurts less; you just go faster.

Danielle in Iowa in Ireland said...

Those six seconds matter not - you were almost having a heart attack in T1! Surely that means that half that time should be taken away since it doesn't count.