Monday, March 29, 2010

what a day

first off- THANK YOU to all of my local peeps, friends and teammates for being out on the race course either volunteering and/or cheering everyone on! the best part of my day was knowing i was not alone on that course! from the start of the swim having people yell 'go colleen' to seeing friends as i was leaving TI- and of course- all along the run course- thank you thank you! it is WAY more motivating to try your best and do your best when you have your friends out supporting. i cannot be more appreciative.

my favorite part of the race saturday was the start of the run. i was next to a tall guy and we were running together for at least 2 miles. i had people saying 'go colleen' every few steps- at least it seemed- and tall guy noticed. he says to me 'you've got a lot of fans out here colleen' and i just smiled and told him to stay with me because i knew we'd see them all again and more! so much fun- and totally made my day!

i think i had been looking for this race ALL of last season. to finally put swim-bike-run together in one piece is a satisfying feeling. the race saturday was unique. i was not rested- not totally wreaked either- so i had a more casual feeling about the entire thing. i told myself just do what my body can do and do not expect anything else. and i kept thinking if i feel good- ill just go for it- and thats what i did!

the water was not half as bad as years prior- in fact- it was fine. wasn't cold except that split second of entering the water. the swim is always funny to me. the best-and worst- part is when i round the turn buoys- i think people just use those buoys as an excuse to stop or something. i always approach the buoys full speed and never fail to see at least 5 swimmers with their bodies bobbing like they are buoys! its hilarious... i had to dodge so many people but that was expected. my swim time was still competitive but it was not as fast as i would have liked... however- as in my last post- i really wasnt expecting a stellar performance given my lack of workouts.

2nd out of the water and on to the bike. i caught the first girl on the first hill entering the base. that got me going. then i passed a handful of gals in the 40 AG and was thinking i was on a roll since that wave was two waves ahead of me. once off base i told myself to just settle in- there was a lot of work to be done because all of the real hills were yet to come! i did the entire ride with only seeing 1 or 2 other women. one gal in my AG caught up to me but then i never saw her after about the 2nd climb. i felt good the entire time. i felt like i was in control and i was aggressive with my pace. it paid off because my time was a PR for the course and competitive within the women's splits. there were some crazy winds out east but i just sucked it up and held on.

getting off of the bike i could not believe how good i really did feel. my legs did not have the heavy feeling at all! i just felt ready to go my 'long run' off of the bike. again- i wanted to be aggressive but not stupid. so i just stayed where i felt in control. that happened to be at 7:20 pace. okay!! ill take it. i listened to my body and i knew i did not have to push any harder because that was fast enough for me. all of the little hills i thought of my runs in the ranch and the short hills that mimic the same feeling- its hard but only for 30seconds. the run course is the most fun because you can see all of your competitors. i could see beth, brandy, kristin all just 1 mile back from me most of the time.

i was in first the entire race until the 2nd loop on the run. this girl passed me like i was standing still! my 7:30 pace then seemed like slow motion!! she had to have been running 6:30s... so i ran my own race to the finish. i am so happy i did what i could do- and i am so happy it felt good, aggressive and controlled all at the same time. i finished second. turns out the girl who passed me ran a 1:21 split!! hi pro runner. anyway- came close to that kona spot- but just wasn't my day to get it.

for first race of the season i could not have asked, hoped, wished for a better start to the season. i feel so much more motivated because i know my hard work from last season and the past 2 months of training is paying off. now i have to figure out to do double the distance...

ironman- here we go!

to your health,
C






5 comments:

Tawnee Prazak, M.S., CSCS said...

You seriously ROCKED that course. Major congrats, I'm soooo happy for your stellar day! You looked focused and strong when I saw you before the swim, then later when you were way ahead of me on the run.

Did you take the Clearwater spot?

jameson said...

congrats!!! you killed it out there. so stoked to be out there cheering you on!

Kiki said...

GREAT RACE!!! Sounds like you had fun AND went super FAST!! Awesome. Can't wait to see you rock IMCDA!!

Charisa said...

Whoooo hoooo nice work out there!!! Congrats :)

X-Country2 said...

Great race and great race report!