It's a very slow process - two steps forward, one step back - but I'm inching in the right direction. - Rob Reiner

August 22, 2011

Oops I Did It Again!!!

PR That is!! 



Sunday, I competed in my 3rd Sprint Triathlon this Summer.  I had struggled with whether or not I was going to enter the race because it's exactly 2 weeks away from my Olympic Tri and this was my last weekend to  get in a long run and a long bike since I'll be in semi-taper starting next week.  But many of my girlfriends were doing the race and it's in my hometown of Lee's Summit.  I know the course because I swim, bike, and run there all the time.  So, I decided I would do it and just have fun, and use it as a trial run/training race for the Hyvee Tri.  I decided to keep my long run on Saturday but did scale it back a bit.  I did a 6.2 mile run Saturday, followed by a quick 500 Meter swim.  I had a pretty good training week this week, and with the long workout Saturday I knew I would be pretty tired going in to the race on Sunday.  I kept telling myself, this is NOT a race, it's a training opportunity.  It's ok if your times aren't that great.  It's a training race!  I really didn't expect to improve on my time from the previous year.......

BUT I DID!  I beat last year's time by 19 Minutes and 47 Seconds!!

I would really like to say that all of the 19 minutes were due to my awesome training, but I have to admit the swim was WAY short.  It was supposed to be 1/3 of a mile which is roughly 500 meters.  In my last tri I did 500 meters in 11:48, today I did it in 5:34.  Wow, I'm amazing!  Based on people's times we were estimating the swim was actually only about 250 meters.  How in the world they can be THAT far off I have no idea.   But unfortunately this is not the best run or organized triathlon. 

The good news is the run course and bike course were exactly the same, so I know I improved in both of those areas cutting over 5 minutes off my bike, and almost 6 minutes off my run.  I also ran my fastest 5K run (in a triathlon) finishing and the super fast pace of 11:29 per mile - but hey that's fast for me.

I'm still certainly not winning my age group or anything, but I am definitely improving and that feels great!  I was really starting to doubt myself and my ability to do this Olympic Tri in a few weeks, so this was seriously a huge confidence builder.  If I can finish this strong in a race after a full week of training, I should be ok for my big race....I THINK!


Me & Michelle with our race results - Michelle did AWESOME getting 5th place overall for the women's

Here's the race breakdown:

Race:  Jackson County Sprint Triathlon
Location:  Longview Lake, Lee's Summit, MO
Race Distances:  Swim - 500 Meters (prob more like 250), Bike - 12 Miles, Run - 5K

            Swim      T1     Bike       T2     Run      Total    
 2010   13:17       2:41   49:35    2:06   40:15    1:47:51
 2011   5:34         1:57   44:01   2:08    34:26    1:28:04 

               Place in Division (women's)    Overall Place (all genders)
2010        31/37                                   351/400
2011        17/26                                   249/334

My transitions could still get a little faster, although I did lose some time trying to find a place to rack my bike when I got back to transition to find that someone had put their bike in my spot.  SERIOUSLY???  I was pretty ticked.  It definitely cost me a few extra seconds.  I also know that my biggest weakness is definitely the run.  I was 200th place in the swim, 225th on the bike, and 299th on the run....UGH!  I have obvious improvement in all areas, but I have also improved in all areas.  Overall, I was VERY happy with my race. 

28 comments:

  1. Great job. Subtract the swim and you are still looking at 5 and 6 minute improvements on the bike/run portions which is awesome.

    Keep up the great work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. WOW!! Congrats on that huge PR!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. GREAT JOB!! Seriously!! What an AMAZING confidence builder for your Olympic Tri! You're gonna do great! My biggie is coming up in less than 2 weeks. I can feel the butterflies.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations!! what an improvement, almost 20 minutes.

    Im sure your first olympic will be a success.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations!!! You're going to do great in the Olympic!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hooray for PRs!!!! Great job, Michael. Love the picture of you and your ladies!

    ReplyDelete
  7. HUGE PR! that's so great. All your hard work is paying off in a big way. congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Michael, that's so awesome! Sometimes a race where you're not pressuring yourself about time is the one where you do best. (Of course all your hard work helps too. :^) ) Can't wait to hear about the big Olympic!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The improvements you have made in just one short year are SO INSPIRING! Congrats on the PR and thanks for always being such a great example to me. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. WOW!!! What an improvement! I can't wait to here about your OLY!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Even ignoring the swim, that is a huge chunk of time to shave off your bike and run. KICK ASS.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That. is.. AWESOME!!!! Girl you are so ready for your oly!!! I can not wait to hear how you kick A$$ there!

    And as one slow runner to another...we just gotta keep trying... :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Crap ... I don't really know how to tell you this, but that was my bike parked in your spot. I rode up to support you and then couldn't find you so I left. How ironic that I parked my bike in your spot ... hope it didn't cost you too much time. I was gonna take a pogo-stick, but a bike seemed faster. Sorry, I really blew it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. what do you mean OOOPS?!!!!!
    it is my like Yahoo! or Yeah!!
    fantastic Michael so happy for you!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. holy cow! major improvements all around!!!! even if the swim was only 250ish, you still improved your time by at least 30 seconds/100 yards!!! you rock!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Awesome job! Even if you add in like 5-6 minutes on the swim since it was short, you still have a 13 or 14 minute PR! You will do great in your Olympic tri!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Woohoo!! That is an awesome PR! Way to go!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have a big smile on my face reading about your PR. Yeah! You improved in everything! Yeah Yeah Yeah!

    ReplyDelete
  19. that is a HUGE improvement! CONGRATS!!! So awesome :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. awesome improvements!! doesn't that feel wonderful? congrats on your PR!

    ReplyDelete
  21. GREAT job!! Congrats on a new PR!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Congrats speedy mcspeederson! :) short swim, schmort schwmin. It counts!

    ReplyDelete
  23. There is no "oops" with a 19:47 PR, its a direct result of you training your rear off and on race day, you were rewarded for all your hard work

    Congrats

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow, way to go! You rocked it!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Congratulations on the great improvements, I am sure you will do well at the Hy-Vee Tri! It's hard to believe that it is coming up so soon!

    ReplyDelete