Goals for the race: 26-30 minute swim, 2.5 minute T1, 20 mph+ average on the bike, 2 minute T2, under 9 minute miles on the run. 4 out of 5 ain't bad :~)

Got to the race site early, as usual. Turned out to be a very good thing because about an hour later there was a line of at least 100 people for packet pickup, and the same for body marking and to get into the transition area. Got everything set up - nothing too eventful.

My swim wave was the second-to-last of the day, which stunk because there were so many people in front of me through the whole race! Swim was LONG! As I passed the first buoy (the place where the sprinters turned around), I found myself wondering why I had decided to do the Olympic distance. Couldn't find a fast consistent pair of feet so I just tried to find some calm water. Not easy to do when one of the "aid" boats (with a motor) kept speeding back and forth and making waves. Tried to get in a groove - not sure if I ever actually got into one. I kept forgetting to kick! Whenever I remembered, I would scoot past a few people. I started to develop a slight cramp in the outer part of my right thigh - never had that before. That probably contributed to my pathetic kicking. Funny how easy it is to completely zone out in the water and just cruise along. Made it out of the water and raced up the hill to T1.
Swim: 29:43 (1:15 per 100 yd, but that seems awfully fast for me - course was probably long again)
19/33 AG

Nothing major in T1 - just forgot to take some Advil before the swim so I had to choke down a few. I've been having some serious pain lately in the…uh…upper inside portion of my hamstring (I'd call it my groin, but that doesn't seem very ladylike and I'm not sure if I even have one of those), which has been extremely painful to run on. I think it's from my bike saddle - a bruised bone (if that's possible) or maybe sciatica. Doesn't bother me on the bike, just on the run. My run training has been severely limited the past couple of weeks because of this, but I decided to just take some Advil and suck it up for this race. Decided at the last minute before the race to keep the "coffee caps" on the cleats of my bike shoes because of the long run through T1 to the bike mount area. Worked well - I'm sure I saved more time and looked less dorky than if I had tried to get on the bike with the shoes already clipped in.
T1: 3:13

I had decided beforehand that my only hope for a decent place was to hammer the bike. I can do that reasonably well and since my running is less than stellar, I needed to make up time where I could. The bike leg consisted of an out-and-back east to the Troutdale airport, then another out-and-back west past the Portland airport on Marine Drive. Had a nice tailwind on that first out-and-back and was cruising along in the 22-25 mph range (okay, "cruising along" might be an understatement - I was pushing pretty hard), passing people like crazy. Gotta love that. Turned around and headed into the headwind. Tried to keep it above 20 mph but dropped below that a few times. I kept thinking, "I'm only X miles into this race. Am I being stupid to push this hard this early?" Then remembered my mantra for the race: HAMMER THE BIKE NO MATTER WHAT. I knew it wouldn't matter how much I "saved my legs", I was not going to be setting any records on the run. Even on fully rested legs during a recovery week, the best run I've ever had was a 25:35 5k so I was just hoping for anything under 9 minute miles. They had a STUPID turn back into the park where you had to go up and over a grassy area that they had covered with a carpet. Not a great idea for road/tri bikes. Don't know if anyone wiped out but I was sure I was going to eat it. Managed to stay on and finish strong.
Bike: 1:11:51 (20.38 mph average, only 3 minutes off the fastest bike in my AG - pleased with that)
9/33 AG

For the first time in a race, I decided to try slipping out of my bike shoes while riding. I practiced this a couple of times last week and it worked well. Again, had a long transition run to T2 so I was glad to be running in bare feet rather than bike shoes. Tried to down some Hammer Gel but I don't think I got more than a tablespoon or so. I had gotten through almost a full bottle of Gatorade on the bike so I wasn't too worried. In retrospect, I probably could have used a bit more Hammer Gel. I almost put the flask in my tri-top pocket but decided not to. Off to the run…
T2: 1:51

Ouch. It wasn't any pain out of the ordinary, I'm just not all that fond of running. Had no idea how I would do with this sciatica or whatever it is, but I really didn't notice it much. (Ahh, the beauty of over-the-counter painkillers). Wasn't too hot out so I wasn't worried about hyponatremia or whatever that's called. Plus, Jeff had fortified my Gatorade with Endurolytes so I was good to go. Just tried to maintain a steady pace and keep going. My last olympic race last year was a pain-fest that involved lots of walking, so I was glad to just stay moving. I think I hit a couple of 8.5 minute miles so I was happy with that. After the turnaround, I started getting a bit discouraged because up until that point, nobody in my AG had passed me. I figured I was either dead last, first (HIGHLY unlikely) or somewhere in the middle, but at least I was holding my place. Well, I saw four of those blasted "F4"'s pass me between miles 3 and 4 (I later learned that 2 others passed me at some point during the run). I was cursing at the 4th one under my breath when I recognized her race number - 102. Sprinted up to catch her and asked if she was Camie from MT. Introduced myself , hung with her for about 3 seconds, and then let her commence with kicking my butt :~) (Nice race, and nice to meet you, Camie. And sorry for cursing at you under my breath - it was really more directed at me anyway, and it was more like, "C'mon, hurry your @$$ up! These people are FLYING past you!") The last mile was pretty painful. Basically, everything from my waist down hurt, except for my feet (which had been numb for the last 4 miles of the race). I guess that's what happens when you don't run more than 3-4 miles at a time during the 2 weeks before a race :~)

I think I'm caught in a strange spot with my running pace. At running-only races, I'm usually mid-pack. But my run split in a tri is always in the back half (sometimes back third, fourth, tenth, etc…). I guess that just means that most of those runners who are slower than me on the running-only races are to WIMPY to do a tri, right? I shouldn't beat myself up because my goal was under 9 minute miles and I beat that (barely), but I sure would like to improve my pace. If you need to get ahold of me in the next 6 months, I'll be at the track…
Run: 55:39 (8:57 min/mi)
27/33 AG (Ugh! How do these freaks run so fast???)

Overall: 2:42:17
18/33 AG

Jeff met me at the finish line and we headed over for some uh…FOOD (of course). Talked with Scott in PDX and his SO (Hilary) for a bit, then met Sam-I-Am. Ran into Wildarcher as we were taking our bikes to the car and had a nice chat with him. Sam came by again and we ogled his carbon OCLV for a while. Wish I had gotten a chance to talk to Jamie & Camie after the race since I'm from Missoula, but didn't see them in the transition area. There were so many people milling around! Also didn't get a chance to meet Rado - just didn't see him near his bike or notice anyone with his race number.

Fun race. Like I've said many times before, I need to work on my running. No need to do all that hard work on the bike just to get sucked up by all those speedy runners. Maybe next fall I will finally crack and join a masters swim club - I could stand to knock a few minutes off my swim time too. After hobbling around most of Sunday evening, I ordered a new saddle from Bicycle Sports first thing Monday morning. Hopefully I have not done too much damage and the new saddle will do the trick.

And the best news: Although I never have done so, this is one of the first races where I couldn't have raced in the Athena category (150# or more) even if I wanted to (unless, of course, the race was in SoCal, where 135# is considered Athena - whatever THAT'S about). The 10-day crash week/mini-camp/"vacation" in BC knocked off a good 2-3 pounds :~). Still 10 or so pounds from my "goal weight" of the low 130s, but progress nonetheless.

Wowie…these things just keep getting longer and longer! If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Happy training & racing, everyone!

- MG