Omaha Women's Triathlon 2012 :: Race Recap

The Omaha Women's Triathlon :: June 3, 2012

This is a sprint distance, women's only triathlon with a 750 meter swim at Lawrence Youngman Lake, a 20 kilometer bike and a 5 kilometer run.

It is one of about 50 USAT sanctioned, women's only races in the United States. This year was the 2nd annual race and I feel honored and proud to be a part of the first two races.

I always get nerves before a race, but there is something calming about being surrounded by a bunch of women with the same goals and fears as me. This race included women of all ages, the oldest being 67 (!) to the youngest at 9 competing as part of a team with her family. There is such great camaraderie at this event. I mean, at how many races do you see complete strangers hugging each other before the gun sounds to start? That's women for you :) That is why I do this race.

OK, so here are the details of my race. First, let me start of by saying that my main competitor? It was me.  Last year, despite it being my first triathlon ever, I felt like I could have done way better. I went into last years race with a goal time of under 2 hours. I finished in 2:02, slap in the face.  So this year I was really determined to finish in under 2 hours.

The Swim
For the swim they had us start in waves, an under 34 group, a 35-44 group and a 45 and older group. The young-ins went first, then my group 3 minutes later. As my group is waiting for our start time, a woman next to me nervously asks me about the swim caps, if I think they will pop off during the swim.  In my experience, over my years of competitive swimming, I have never had a problem with my swim cap popping off. So I tell her confidently, Nah, shouldn't be a problem. Hahaha! Guess whose swim cap popped off 5 minutes into the swim? MINE! I kept yanking on it to try and get it back into place, but between all of my super thick hair and the new-swim-cap-talc it was just not going to stay on. I was hoping this wasn't a sign of things to come in the rest of the race. I stopped for a few seconds, tread water, and tried to get my cap back on. Note to self: Rinse powdery stuff from new swim cap! I should have known this, it's not like I'm a rookie swimmer. So, compared to last year, I finished 4 seconds SLOWER! I'm sure it would have been different if it wasn't for this. Ah well, you live, you learn.

The Bike
After the swim cap debacle, I made my way out of the water, stripped off my wetsuit and other swim gear and got ready for the bike portion of the race. Last year, this leg of the race was my demise.  It was hard. Very hilly and I had no prior bike racing experience. I borrowed a bike from a friend, but it wasn't a road bike. This time I had my own bike, a road bike, and I think it made all the difference in the world.  It was still hard. But I also had much more outdoor training this year.  Mike told me as I was changing in the transition area I looked very "nonchalant" and it looked like I was in no hurry at all.  He said all I was missing on my bike was a bell and tassels! That's me, though, I'm a very nonchalant, stress free person. Like I said, I wasn't really racing against the other women, I was racing against myself. And somehow I knew that the bike portion of this race was going to be better than last year. And it was, I finished a whole 12 minutes faster this time!

The Run
I think I was most nervous about the run this time around. I know my quads will be on fire and the first part of the run is uphill. The best part of the race was seeing my family's faces at the beginning and end of each event. I remember seeing them at the beginning of the run and telling Mike, "I'm tired!" He said, "Nah, you got this!" And hearing my boys saying GO MOMMY GO gave me the fuel to finish off the last 3.1 miles of the race. But, oh so hilly! I seriously didn't think I could get my legs to move after that HILLY 12.5 mile bike ride. But I did, and managed to finish the run about a minute faster than last year.

The Finish Line
It was surreal to see the finish line, it took me a minute or two to realize that I was done. People were handing me water, removing my timing chip, putting on my medal. I wasn't until I was out of the crowd of people at the finish line that I was like, "Oh, I'm done!"

And yes, the first thing I did was pull out my phone and snap a pic! :)

The Results
Swim (0.5 miles) 17:04
T1 1:48
Bike (12.5 miles) 55:29
T2 1:01
Run (3.1 miles) 33:26

Overall Time 1:48:50
Official race results here.

Compared to last year this is a little over a 14 minute difference! I won :)

And then I slept.

My day in a few pictures...

{are you on Instagram? if so, follow me! i'm @jkyamzon :)}

So, this is what was supposed to happen today... run at least a 5K on the track while the two older boys did their tennis lesson.  What really happened today... cuddled with sick baby on the couch for two hours while the boys did their tennis lesson.  Once the poor little guy went down for his nap I ran downstairs on the DREADmill while the big boys make blanket tents upstairs.  At about mile two, I started to get blisters. However, I was determined to get the 5K done so I took of my shoes and ran barefoot the rest of the way. I know not everyday will go as planned. Today was one of them.

Side note: Blisters, huh?! That's nice, since the triathlon is in less than two weeks. I don't foresee myself taking off my shoes during the race, so now I'm considering socks.

Aaaanyway, that was my day.  How was yours? :)

Dig deep.

{endure necklace by endure jewelry co.}

Today day I did a brick workout as part of my triathlon training.  Per my training schedule, I rode for about 30 minutes then ran for about ten.  If you remember me talking about my last triathlon, you may have heard me say how hard the bike leg was.  It is definitely my weakness.  I could swim forever, I can run just fine.  But being on the bike sometimes makes me want to cry.  Some things that went through my mind during this mornings ride...  Dig deep. This is your weakness. Find your strong. This is a race. This is not a leisure ride. Ooo, downhill. Crap, another hill. Almost there. Use your legs. Hustle.

Those last two thoughts are words I say to my kids when they're on their bikes.  I took my own advice.  I finally turned the corner to my street.  I dropped off my bike at home, ditched the helmet, put on a hat and took off for a quick run.  I know the person who came up with the name "brick" workout must have also considered how your legs feel when you try to run after being on the bike.  I'm pretty sure I said this when I trained for my last tri, but it feels like my feet are cemented in buckets and I have weight belts attached to my quads.

Sometimes I wonder why I sign up for these things.  But to answer my question with a question, "Why not?"  If I can endure this, I'll certainly come out stronger on the other end.

Meet Capri, my new BFF

Raleigh Capri 3.0

After I completed my first triathlon last summer, I knew I was hooked.  I had no idea that I'd ever want to compete in one, but why wouldn't I?  I was a natural swimmer, I had just started to enjoy running and, biking... Well, how hard can it be?

I didn't have a road bike, but a friend of mine let me borrow one of her bikes, a hybrid bike.  I didn't get much outdoor training due to weather or time.  But I thought that the bike portion of the race would be relatively, I don't want to say easy, but do-able.  Ha!

Where I made fantastic time on the swim (41st of about 280), I lost it all in the bike portion.  I don't blame the bike.  I blame those damn hills!  No, I'm kidding.  But I do think I may have done somewhat better if I did have a road bike.  Your body just sits on it differently.

So, since I knew I'd be doing more triathlons in the future, we started to really consider buying a road bike.  They are not cheap, and quite an investment.  But what better to invest in, than my health?  I'm so excited to start training for this June's triathlon on my new ride :)

There's a shoe for that.

One of the million questions I have about my first sprint triathlon is... What kind of shoes do I wear?  Is there a specific type of shoe for the bike/run portion of the race?  Yes, there is.  It should to be a shoe where I won't have to deal with socks, nor laces, and can wear while biking and running.  After some research, I found the company Zoot, a Hawaii based company who specializes in gear for swimming, biking and running.

I ordered these yesterday, and they came today (thank you Zappos for your lightning fast delivery!).  I put them on and gave them a test run on the treadmill.  Quite comfortable after a mile run, even without socks.  It will take some getting used to, but overall I like them.  We'll see how the shin splints like em.  :)

I'm doing it again...

No, I'm NOT having another baby!!  But just to fill you in since my last post on this blog, I did give birth to a healthy baby boy on August 31, 2010.  Brendan is a bundle of joy ready to play with his big brothers, Nathan and Ryan.

But, what I am going to do is a triathlon.  I know, after the half marathon I did in Las Vegas in December of '09 I swore I had challenged myself enough and I'd never do another one again.  But, like the title of the blog says, I'm HEALTHY, BECAUSE I CAN.  I'm 34, I have my health, I'm physically able, so I'm going to do it.

Yesterday, on the first day of the new decade, I registered for the Omaha Women's Triathlon.  This is a sprint triathlon which means it is shorter than a typical trithlon... the sprint triathlon will consist of a 750 m swim (in a lake, yikes!), about a 12 mile bike, and a 5K run.  Although I am a swimmer, I am a little freaked about swimming in open water (piranhas, ah!!).  I think I'll get over my fear by doing this triathlon.  I ran the 13.1 mile half marathon, so a 5K is a welcome change... although it is the last leg of the race so it very well might FEEL like 13.1 miles.  The part I'm most worried about is a) learning how to use the gears on a bike, and b) the transition from the swim to the bike portion of the race.  The pros already have their shoes attached to the bike!  I don't know if I'm coordinated enough for that.  We'll see.  Oh, and I don't even have a bike yet.  Well, I have my girly beach cruiser but I don't think that will suffice.

I have about 22 weeks to pull it all together.  When I trained for the half marathon I started from scratch.  So that's what I'll be doing this time around, too.  I hope to keep updating the blog, I'd love to have a record of my training.  Maybe someone else who is considering a triathlon for the first time could find some inspiration here.  Maybe.

Here we go...