Indian Springs Triathlon (All Female) Race Report

Written by Yvonne Bedell

Swim
I started out at a good pace but immediately got water in my right goggle. I pushed it tighter on my face and thought I could deal with it. But too much water got in and all I could think about was losing my contact and having to bike with one eye shut. Not a good thing. So I stopped for a few seconds and fixed my goggles. I lost a little time, but not too much. I tried drafting off one woman to my left, but after the first turn, she started drifting too far left. I stayed on track and noticed she swam the rest of the course inside the buoys. Not sure if she got a penalty, but I’m glad I didn’t stay behind her. The sun hit me when I was nearing the last 500 meter buoy but I sighted okay and saw about 4 women in front of me. I noticed Lisa Marshall getting out of the water about 10-15 seconds in front of me, so I was happy that I stayed that close to her. She’s an amazing swimmer.  I debated on whether to wear a wetsuit but I’m glad I did. I didn’t lose much time in transition and definitely went faster in the water.

Bike 

The run down to the dismount line sucked. Way too far to run in my cleats. But once I got on the bike, I quickly got up to a comfortable speed.  I wore a video camera on my helmet for the race director, so I was looking forward to getting some great footage on the course. The first 6 miles are like stair steps…up hill, flat, up hill, flat…not many downhills. So I just kept telling myself that the way back will be fun. I saw Lisa Marshall way up ahead and knew Jamie was in front of her. There were 2 women between me and Lisa, so I started out in 5th. Around mile 4, I passed the woman in front of me, but I just couldn’t catch Lisa Taylor. She slowly got farther and farther away, so I just kept hoping no one would pass me. I thought if I could stay in 4th, then maybe I had a chance to out run someone for third. I had fun on the bike cheering for everyone as they rode by the camera. I kept looking at my time and was hoping to beat 40 minutes (which is what I did last year). As I came into the park, my time was about 38 something, so I was happy. My legs felt a little sore from training, so I wasn’t sure if I could beat my previous time.¼br> I took my feet out of my shoes and had a good flying dismount. I feel pretty comfortable with that now. I heard Steve yelling for me as I ran up to transition. Steve yelled that I was in 4th and only 30 seconds behind 3rd. He yelled at me to catch her. Ugh…here I go again…pressure to out run someone at the end. I took off my helmet as I ran up and made sure to film Kristen and the volunteers that were at the top of transition. I quickly put on my shoes, grabbed my visor, race belt, and watch, and ran out of transition with a mission. 

Run
As I headed out of transition, I put on my watch and fumbled around trying to put my race belt on. It got folded up and it took forever to get it on right. As I headed up the first hill to the road, I noticed my breathing was so loud. I didn’t think this was going to be a good run for me. My heart rate was probably skyrocketing. As I came up to the road, I saw Lisa Marshall and then Lisa Taylor up ahead. Lisa T. looked strong and I didn’t know if I’d be able to catch her. After the turn around, I just concentrated on getting my breathing under control. I think I was mentally trying too hard to catch Lisa right away, so I tried to focus on me and not the “carrot” in front of me. As I settled in to a steady pace, I headed up the first hill at mile 1. That’s when I gained on Lisa T. and passed her. Whew. That relieved a little pressure. Now I was in 3rd and just had to keep anyone else from gaining on me. I ran toward the first loop and all of a sudden I felt this sharp bite on the top of my foot. I think an ant was trying to hitch a ride. I tried to ignore it, but it was intense. I just pictured my foot swollen and covered with ant bites after the race, so I decided to stop and get it out of my shoe. That cost me a few seconds. But I was glad I did that. I didn’t want to worry about that ant crawling around during the rest of the run. I ran down the first loop and dreaded the hill back up. Oh those hills. Ugh. I actually felt like I ran up them pretty fast, but my legs were definitely burning after the first big hill. I kept looking back to make sure no one was gaining on me. I was worried that Katrina might have a crazy fast run and beat me. But at mile 2.5, I looked at my average pace and saw it was 6:49. So I thought as long as I kept that up, I could hold onto 3rd. That’s when I saw Steve up ahead cheering for me. And Lisa Marshall wasn’t too far up either. I didn’t think I was going to catch her, but I was excited to know I was that close to her. As I turned down the hill towards the finish, I was so happy to finish. The run was brutal. I crossed the line 11 seconds after Lisa Marshall and ended up 3rd overall. I couldn’t believe it. I was very happy with another great race. When I looked at my watch and saw my run time, I was amazed. This was a tough course and I beat last year’s overall time by 3 minutes finishing in 1:12:15. I guess training really does pay off.  haha :) 

 Well, when I consider all of the little things that held me back: water in my goggles, biking with a camera (drag), fumbling with my race belt, and stopping to get that ant out of my shoe, I definitely lost several seconds. But that’s what racing is all about. There are always little things that happen that cost you time…every race can’t go exactly as planned. That’s what makes it a fun challenge…there are always things to work on and “try” to perfect.