Blog

With so many races so close together, I better be on top of my blogging!  To kick start my 3 races in 3 weeks, I headed up to Mackinaw City with my family for one of my favorite race locations.  I have been racing in Mackinaw for years and haven't missed one yet.  This was a last minute addition to my race schedule due to all the races I have lined up in August, but I'm so glad I added it back in.  

The weather is always risky in Mackinaw due to the wind, which can kick up quickly and cause the water to be very rough.  We had been watching the weather all week and had been worried about getting rained out.  I woke up early on race morning to do my pre-race run around the condo complex we were staying and I was very relieved to see that the weather was not too shabby!  There was a slight wind, but in the protected area I was running I worked up a sweat pretty quickly.  My run went well and soon I was hustling Todd out of the condo and into the car!

It was a little foggy when we arrived, but light enough to set up transition.  We quickly set up, then went for a quick bike warm up.  I wanted to practice my flying mount, which I had learned the day before thanks to a YouTube video!  The practice mount went well and then we worked our way through practicing the many turns on the way out of town and onto the course.  Back in transition I double checked my area, spent some time chatting with Lansing Tri Team member Ken and Oak Park YMCA Tri Team members Gary and Mary before wiggling my way into my wetsuit.  At 64-65 degrees, the swim was definitely wetsuit legal!

We were worried about a delay due to the fog that seemed to continuously roll in, but the race only started a few minutes late.  Unfortunately the wind had kicked up and the water got pretty rough.  The men went off and then they counted the women into the water, which left us ladies with only enough time to scramble over the rocks to the start area before the countdown started and it was time to go!  The horn went off and I went for a fast start, but unfortunately my "fast" start was a little, well, directionless.  I ended up heading far to the right of the first buoy and spent some time getting myself back on course.  The water was wavy, but I kept close to another woman and we exited the water together.

I really like to use transitions to give me a jump start over the competition, its free time and definitely worth practicing.  And I am happy to say that I landed my first in-race flying mount with, I think, a sufficient level of speed and grace.  Most importantly, I didn't fall on my face!  The start of the bike course is a little technical with lots of turns as I headed out of town.  I got comfortable and found a good pace to hold, although it was a little under my target watts.  The hard week of training left its mark!  But I stayed consistent and, thanks to the beautiful views, the bike went by very quickly and before I knew it I was flying down the hill back into town!  

Thankfully my flying dismount is a reliable skill of mine, so that went smoothly as well.  I transitioned quickly, but unfortunately I hadn't checked the liner of one of my shoes.  It looked like my shoe liner was in smoothly, but it wasn't.  It was crumpled up in the front, so that made for an uncomfortable shoe!  I tried to start my run by focusing on a high cadence, I was hoping to get under 20 minutes.  My run started out nice and fast, but I forgot about the wind in my face on the way back.  My pace faltered a bit on the way back, leaving me a little short of my sub-20 min goal, but it was still a fast run at 20:34.  I have to say the crowd and the volunteers were awesome!  It was great to represent God and Tri4Him with such an amazing and supportive crowd.  

My hubby, who just keeps getting faster and faster, also had a great race.  He finished 1st Overall in a competitive field.  My dad also had a great race, improving his time from last year and finished an impressive 19th overall, which was good for 4th in his age group.  Jumping into the family fun, my sister also competed today and ran the 5k, finishing 4th overall.  It was really cool to see members from the Oak Park YMCA Tri Team in Mackinaw as well!  Jamie Jacobs finished 2nd in her age group and Mary Guerriero finished 1st in her age group.  Also representing the blue, Gary Dodge finished 1st in his age group.  Way to kill it Oak Park!  Representing the Lansing Triathlon Team, Ken Frenchen took 2nd in his age group with a killer run.  Thank you to all of you for taking the time to say hi and chat, it was amazing to meet everyone!  I'm looking forward to seeing more tri-friends at Frankenmuth next weekend, happy training!