Health Net Tri Race Report - June 13, 2009 (Liz)

As Justin said in his race report, we were both returning to the Health Net Tri this year to end it on a high note. My “course issue” last year was that I missed the 2^nd loop turnaround on the run. Why? Cause little kids were standing in front of the tiny sign on the ground and no one was telling the athletes to turn for the 2^nd loop (I guess this is why you need to know the course before doing it). I had a DQ. I wrote a (nice) note to the race director explaining the DQ in hopes of a fix for this year. Fixed it they did! Only adults worked that water station at the turnaround and the sign (still too small, in my opinion and it was upside down) was eye level with a volunteer directing athletes.

Swim:
39:30 [2:43/100yds]

I don’t know what has happened to me this year but I need to get my butt in the pool. I did the swim 4 minutes slower this year from last year and even at that, I should be hitting better times. I got the guts to start at the front of the swim wave which turned out (obviously with my swim time) to be a bad idea. It took more effort out of me than I think helped. The water wasn’t clear at all, tough to spot other swimmers around you (oh how I miss Hawaii water!). I swam alone the entire way – sometimes feeling like I was off course because no one was around me…luckily I was not (or maybe if I was that would explain my time, ha).

T1:
1:41

I was happy to be out of the water but disappointed with my swim time – I got over it and soon enough was out on the bike.

Bike:
1:11:46 [19.2 mph]

The first 3 miles of the bike is a gradual uphill – I was on the small gear and didn’t push myself hard so that I’d have energy later. I knew after getting past this initial hill, that it would be down and rolling hills afterward so it was something to look forward to. The roads on the course are in alright condition. There were a good number of times when I said “this is where I’m getting my flat!!!” and tense up as if that will help avoid any dangers in the road that could pop my tire. Amazingly, I didn’t get a flat but that was luck, for sure. I rode the course with a group of about 5 other athletes where we just kept passing each other, dropping and repassing. It was a little annoying but what can you do.

T2:
1:09

Socks, shoes, water bottle… I was out running.

Run:
50:35:30 [8:09 min/mile]

It’s always nice to get to the running portion. You’re almost done and no real issues could go wrong that will stop you from finishing. The run course was rolling hills, the nice part was that to every uphill there was a sweet downhill. The run out was far worse than the run in. I stuck it out with no issues but tiredness. Good run.

Total time: 2:44:43

Had I gone 1:48 faster I would have placed 3^rd in my age group – boo to me.

Congrats to Justin and Courtney on a great race. It’s always more fun racing with others you know : ) And a huge thanks to the cheer squad (Les, Kyle, Jen and the girls) for coming out to support us – like we always say, it takes far more effort to cheer than to actually race ; )