Splash'n'Dash September 2013 race report.
I went out to do a loop or two of the run for warmup, and my legs felt awwwwwful. After having ridden 96 miles on Saturday, then riding another hour on Sunday and running 12 miles off the bike, my body wasn't too thrilled about the concept of "racing". But it was the last Splash & Dash of the season, so I just had to muddle through this one last time.
As we swam up to the start line, I seeded myself behind Carolin, because I've been drafting off her at the last few open water swim workouts, and she's been a really good speed for me. I figured I'd lose her in the start fray, but once we started, I actually just stuck right on her feet.
And remained on her feet the entire time. Sort of. I admit, I may have taken the lazy way out here. Sometimes I would feel like maybe I could swim faster, and that I wasn't really pushing as much as I should be in a race. But I know that drafting is deceptive, and I suspected if I'd tried to pass Carolin, I would have ended up swimming directly beside her, the same speed. So I just stayed behind her. And it was pretty damn delightful. I know Carolin well enough to know she swims her intended course very well, so I didn't even bother to sight for 90% of the swim. Just trusted her to pull me the right way. So the whole thing felt very lazy. And wonderful. I figured I was saving my legs for the run. (And I was no threat to Carolin, who's twice as fast as I am on the run.)
As we rounded the next-to-last dock, someone swam up next to Carolin and started swimming a very poor line toward the shore, and not at all toward the next dock. I know Jamie says that even drafting off a person going the wrong way is better than not drafting, but I just couldn't make myself follow her toward the shore, so I struck out on my own toward the dock. And felt bad for Carolin, who was being completely boxed in by this girl.
Eventually the girl got herself straightened out, which allowed Carolin to get back on track, and we ended up swimming side by side in from the last dock. As we got to the shore, I sighted to see how close I was, and saw Matt sitting up on shore with his camera. I waved while swimming. Advanced maneuver.
Got out and threw on my shoes, thanked Carolin for the draft, and followed her up the hill for the run. As I started my first lap, Kelly Williamson was just finishing her first loop. Damn.
My legs felt tons better for the run than they had for the warmup. Not perfect, but not bad. So I just settled in and started cheering for people passing me, and cheering on people I passed, and trying not to pass out because it was so stupidly humid.
And really.. nothing else notable happened. As I passed the aid station on my last loop, Devon passed me and told me to race her to the finish. I told her I was giving it everything I had already, and told her to go get her sub-30 (and then hoped that we were on course for a sub-30, since I hadn't actually looked at my watch). I couldn't come near holding her pace, but I tried to use her retreating back as a rabbit to make me finish a little bit faster. And then I was done! And sub-30!
Total: 29:42
Swim+T1: 13:46 (watch says 13:06 for just the swim)
Run: 15:54 total (5:26 (8:07/M) 5:18 (7:55/M) 5:10 (7:43/M))
So the swim was a bit slower than my fastest S&D swims, and significantly slower than my 12:36 from last Thursday's time trial, but also at a very low effort. And my run was roughly average for what I've done at S&D, maybe on the faster side. Total time one second faster than last month! Woo! And 8th woman overall.
A nice way to end my S&D season. (I'msogladit'sover.)
As we swam up to the start line, I seeded myself behind Carolin, because I've been drafting off her at the last few open water swim workouts, and she's been a really good speed for me. I figured I'd lose her in the start fray, but once we started, I actually just stuck right on her feet.
And remained on her feet the entire time. Sort of. I admit, I may have taken the lazy way out here. Sometimes I would feel like maybe I could swim faster, and that I wasn't really pushing as much as I should be in a race. But I know that drafting is deceptive, and I suspected if I'd tried to pass Carolin, I would have ended up swimming directly beside her, the same speed. So I just stayed behind her. And it was pretty damn delightful. I know Carolin well enough to know she swims her intended course very well, so I didn't even bother to sight for 90% of the swim. Just trusted her to pull me the right way. So the whole thing felt very lazy. And wonderful. I figured I was saving my legs for the run. (And I was no threat to Carolin, who's twice as fast as I am on the run.)
As we rounded the next-to-last dock, someone swam up next to Carolin and started swimming a very poor line toward the shore, and not at all toward the next dock. I know Jamie says that even drafting off a person going the wrong way is better than not drafting, but I just couldn't make myself follow her toward the shore, so I struck out on my own toward the dock. And felt bad for Carolin, who was being completely boxed in by this girl.
Eventually the girl got herself straightened out, which allowed Carolin to get back on track, and we ended up swimming side by side in from the last dock. As we got to the shore, I sighted to see how close I was, and saw Matt sitting up on shore with his camera. I waved while swimming. Advanced maneuver.
Got out and threw on my shoes, thanked Carolin for the draft, and followed her up the hill for the run. As I started my first lap, Kelly Williamson was just finishing her first loop. Damn.
My legs felt tons better for the run than they had for the warmup. Not perfect, but not bad. So I just settled in and started cheering for people passing me, and cheering on people I passed, and trying not to pass out because it was so stupidly humid.
And really.. nothing else notable happened. As I passed the aid station on my last loop, Devon passed me and told me to race her to the finish. I told her I was giving it everything I had already, and told her to go get her sub-30 (and then hoped that we were on course for a sub-30, since I hadn't actually looked at my watch). I couldn't come near holding her pace, but I tried to use her retreating back as a rabbit to make me finish a little bit faster. And then I was done! And sub-30!
Total: 29:42
Swim+T1: 13:46 (watch says 13:06 for just the swim)
Run: 15:54 total (5:26 (8:07/M) 5:18 (7:55/M) 5:10 (7:43/M))
So the swim was a bit slower than my fastest S&D swims, and significantly slower than my 12:36 from last Thursday's time trial, but also at a very low effort. And my run was roughly average for what I've done at S&D, maybe on the faster side. Total time one second faster than last month! Woo! And 8th woman overall.
A nice way to end my S&D season. (I'msogladit'sover.)