Tugaloo Olympic - GA State Championships - Race Report

Submitted by: Sarah Hackler
Race Date: September 19, 2007

2007 was my second time racing at Tugaloo, and I had enjoyed the race the first time around. I was really looking forward to it this year for a couple of reasons… first, I hadn’t done an Olympic since St. Anthony’s. My running has been getting a lot better (even though I still have a way to go!), and I was curious to see how I would do in a 10K. Second, it was one of the fall Team in Training races, and I’ve been helping coach them. I was definitely excited to see so many people finish their first tri.

The week leading up to the race was a little crazy. I knew I wasn’t going to have time to get all of my workouts in, so basically I skipped the swims… I knew that wouldn’t hurt me nearly as much as skipping a bike or a run. I didn’t get much sleep that week and was lucky to get out of town as early as I did on Friday. My bike got a nice bath in the downpour as it sat on the roof of my car on the drive there.

Swim:
I’m not a big fan of time trial starts. In a wave start or a mass start, I line up in front and go hard at the beginning to get out ahead of everyone. I don’t feel as much of a sense of urgency in a time trial start, and I think I end up swimming a little easier just because I don’t have to sprint as much at first. I didn’t line up quite as far forward as I should have – mainly because I was talking to friends on the beach before the start. I ended up being in line right next to Vicki Cherry – we talked for a little while, and before I knew it, we were running into the water. I passed a lot of people at the beginning, and after ten minutes or so, I was in pretty clear water. I didn’t have too much trouble staying on course until the second turn. The buoys had been pretty far apart, but I did OK. Once I made the second turn to come back in to shore, I was lost. I was looking straight into the sun and couldn’t see a buoy or the swim finish on shore. I picked up my head to look around a little more but still couldn’t see anything. There was a swimmer way over to my left and another way to the right… so I decided to just stay where I was and hope for the best. I ended up having a pretty good line in to shore. The swim felt long but other than that felt OK. I was trying to keep my stroke stretched out and probably should have tried to pick up the pace a little. As I was running out of the water, I heard a couple of people cheering, “Go Sarah.” It was nice hearing them, but then I heard someone say, “Go Miss Hackler.” Even though it was in the middle of the race, I had to take some time to see who it was… and it was one of my former students. I said something to him and kept running. I crossed over the mat in 24:15… for me not very fast, but given the lack of swim training that I’ve been able to put in lately, I guess it was expected.

T1:
It felt like I spent forever in T1! I don’t know why, but I was moving in slow motion. Lisa Marshall was in there as well as a bunch of other relay participants, and I just could not get moving. I threw on my helmet and shoes… one of these days I’ll try having my shoes already on the bike… but not yet. That’s a project for next season! After 2:04, I ran out of the transition area and was ready to start the bike.

Bike:
Like I said, I’ve raced Tugaloo once before, so I was somewhat familiar with the bike course. The worst is running out of T1 and having to climb that stupid hill at the beginning. My heart rate was really high, and it took quite a while for it to settle down. Trey passed me early on as well as Kristin Aziz and Vicki. I just kept watching my heart rate as it gradually came back down. It took five miles or so to stabilize. At that point, I just felt sluggish. There was a little more traffic on the road than I remembered and I was getting passed way more than I would have liked. I kept going and tried to stay positive. Amy Amlicke passed me and then Mike Gaw, Brent Johnston, and Michael King. At least I was able to see some of my friends out there. I think I’ve lost a lot of the speed that I had last year with all of the Ironman training that I’ve been doing. Hopefully it’ll come back once I get myself back into some more interval training next year. The bike ended up being uneventful. I made it back in 1:27:28… yikes! It was slow, but I was ready to run.

T2:
I was glad to be off the bike and was ready to start running… I threw on my shoes, grabbed my race number and visor, and took off in 1:07.

Run:
I felt pretty good on the run. The first hill was a little shaky, but I settled into a rhythm fairly quickly. It was nice that they changed the course around a little so that the long hill at the end was now at the beginning. I started seeing people I knew and kept an eye on my heart rate, making sure that it didn’t get too high. It was nice running around all of the campsites – there were all sorts of spectators along the course, and it was pretty too. Lots of short loops had us seeing the same people over and over. Obviously, I was getting passed by some people, but there were plenty of people that I was passing too… it was fun. From the first step that I took out of the transition area until we got to mile 5, I was essentially running behind some guy in a red jersey. While I couldn’t ever manage to pass him, I kept up with him the whole time… and then he got a cramp! I was on my own for the last mile as he stopped to walk it off. By the end of the run, I was definitely feeling tired, but I still felt almost as strong finishing as I had starting out. My pace had slowed down a little, but it was still a really good run for me. I finished in 54:22, which is 8:47 pace… my first time under 9 pace for a 10K. It’s nice to start seeing some of that run training paying off. I still need to get my run time a lot faster, but I’m moving in the right direction. Overall, I think that Tugaloo is a great race… it is TOUGH with all of the hills on the bike and the run, but it’s well-organized and a lot of fun.