I never raced in Clearwater, Florida where the 70.3 World Championship race has been held in the past, but a decision was made by the WTC (World Triathlon Corporation) to move the race to Las Vegas, Nevada for 2011 (and beyond) with hopes that the course would be much more challenging with hot temperatures, tons of climbing/descending on the bike, and a hilly run. I would say that the race organizers met their goals because the water was 80 degrees so the swim was non-wetsuit, the bike was very challenging, and the run was never flat and it was hot, though not the 105 degree hot that Vegas had been experiencing up until the day before the race. We were told at the pre race meeting that the course had over 5,000 feet of climbing, most of which was on the bike. I pondered that for a bit, and though I bike plenty in the mountains, I hadn’t done any transition runs after my hard mountainous bike rides. Too late to worry about it now and at least I had a few hilly races under my belt for the season.
Qualifying for the championship was not my main goal this year, but going into Ironman 70.3 Boulder I figured that IF I won a slot to the championship race I’d take it. I’ve raced the Boulder course about 6 times and it is truly a great triathlon venue. The swim is beautiful in Boulder reservoir, the bike is a fast and fun 2 loop course north of Boulder, and (this is the reason I really like the race), the run is on a DIRT path around Boulder reservoir. It is a very eco friendly race, and the former race director, Barry Siff, who still has a big role in the success of the race, is just an all around great guy.
I didn’t win my age group in Boulder, but the woman who beat me just happened to be the 3 time 50-54 70.3 World Champion so she automatically qualified by winning the championship race last year. At any other 70.3 race I would have to win my age group to qualify since there is only 1 slot allotted for women age 50-54 at all of the 70.3 races. So, I took the qualifying slot in my age group after finishing well behind the winner in Boulder, and made plans for Sept. 11 in Las Vegas. My good friend John Brown from Tijeras also qualified in Boulder and planned to race at the World Championship but had to withdraw a couple weeks before the race.
My trip started off on Friday morning with snow on the peaks above Taos where I live. That had to be a good omen since skiing is my favorite activity besides triathlon. The flight to Vegas was fine except the plane reeked of alcohol and was quite a rowdy party scene. I suppose this is standard for flights to Las Vegas. I even recall lots of cheering when we landed. The race expo and registration were at the Henderson Pavilion just southeast of Las Vegas. This was also the sight of T2 while T1 was located at Lake Las Vegas, about 15 miles away. The WTC races always seem to require racers to arrive well before the actual race to “check in”. I did the required check in and settled in to watch some US Open tennis on TV at the hotel in Henderson. Talk about amazing athletes, but that is another story.
On the Saturday before the race there was an organized practice swim from 6:30 to 8:30 AM. A 650 yard course was set with buoys and only those of us registered for the race were allowed to swim. The water was somewhat murky but the practice swim felt good. I arrived about 6:45 AM and had a relaxing swim. It looked like many more people were arriving after I’d finished my swim, so I was glad to have gotten up early.
Later in the afternoon on Saturday we had to drop off our bikes and gear bags at T1. There was ample parking near T1 and I never got caught in any traffic jams throughout the weekend. As we entered transition with our bikes there were about 30 people sitting along the sides of the check in line with clipboards and pencils checking off everything from bike brands to wheel sizes. I guess keeping track of bike related statistics is important at the big races. The whole bike and gear bag check in process went very smoothly and quickly. The steep winding walkway from the road down to the bike racks would be an uphill slog on Sunday morning as we left transition.
Race day began very early with the transition area opening at 4:30 AM, though I arrived more like 5 AM. All the women 45 and older started the swim right after the pros at 6:35. I’m sure there were other important announcements on race morning but I only remember hearing that the water temperature was 80 degrees. We were lining up by waves and I chatted with quite a few of the women in my wave, all of whom seemed very friendly, and quite happy to be starting a race at 6:35 in the morning. There were many swim waves following ours, the last of which was the 18 to 24 male age group at 8:00. Andrew Templeton from Albuquerque was the youngest male competitor (he’s 18) in the event, and I chatted with him for a bit at the airport on the way home on Monday. What a great kid and super fit!
Lake Las Vegas is a small manmade lake with smooth, somewhat murky water, and some fancy hotels and golf courses surrounding the lake. It is an attractive setting for a triathlon. The race organizers put together a very safe, easy to follow course for the swim and the race started precisely on time after an emotional moment of silence in remembrance of the 9/11 tragedy.
I felt very comfortable in the WTC legal swim skin that Amy Regan lent to me, although the swim seemed to go on forever which is never a good sign. There was definitely some body contact in our wave, and though I’m used to this, I became somewhat annoyed with the woman who kept tapping my feet on every stroke. Finally I stopped to fix my water filled goggles, and she swam on past me. I continued on towards the next buoy and the next and the next and it seemed like forever before I actually got out of the water. I managed to get through transition without tripping on anything or anybody. I don’t really remember the winding steep uphill walkway to the bike mount line, so I guess it was uneventful.
The bike has been my favorite part of the races that I’ve done this year. I felt great as I started up the first of many climbs right out of transition. One nice thing about going to low altitude to race is that you just don’t breathe as hard on the climbs. The pavement was smooth and the course went into the beautiful Lake Mead National Recreation Area for about 40 miles. There was never a flat section in the 56 miles on the bike so we were always climbing or descending. There were no grind it out tough steep climbs, but lots of medium pitch longer rollers and I really enjoyed the entire bike course though the last climb back to T2 seemed long and since we were back in town it certainly lacked that remote desert feel of the Lake Mead part of the course. All in all though, the bike course is spectacular, and a good course for those of us that ride in northern New Mexico.
I thought I was pushing reasonably hard on the bike, and I passed some women who obviously swam faster than I did, but there was a never ending stream of men passing me throughout the bike. I expected this because all the men except the pros started after the women’s 45+ wave. The race organizers hoped that this much more challenging bike course would curtail all the drafting and pack riding that occurred in Clearwater. I did see a few guys drafting but not in huge numbers. I also caught glimpses of the pro men and women flying by on their way back towards Henderson after the turnaround at mile 20 something.
The bike ride was very quiet (ie: no chatting, no spectators cheering until near the end) except for some strange noises coming from my bike. Nothing serious I figured but slightly annoying. And it served me right for not having the bike tuned up all summer! The green powerade from the excellent and well stocked aide stations was starting to taste way too syrupy by mile 40 and I noticed the temperature was rising a bit as well. And had I actually only consumed 3 packets of Gu on the entire bike leg? Most races I am pretty careful with timely nutrition intake, but for some reason I mostly paid attention to drinking on this course, probably because I knew the run would be hot, and I thought getting more fluids was important.
It turned out I was in 3rd after the bike. The previously mentioned world champion was right behind me and was running so fast I literally did not even see her pass me right after transition. In fact I think the top 7 women in my age group were all in T2 within 2 or 3 minutes of each other. I haven’t done many races where T1 and T2 are not in the same place. It definitely makes for some logistical challenges, and it also meant the bike course gained quite a bit of altitude by the finish in Henderson. One of the obvious logistical challenges is transporting gear bags. The race organizers handled this very well since we dropped off all our run gear the day before the race at T1 with our bikes and bike gear bags. The run gear bags were all transported and nicely arranged at T2.
As soon as we dismounted from our bikes at T2 they were whisked away by friendly and efficient volunteers. That was very nice, and unexpected. Now my only concern was changing shoes, grabbing a hat and some Endurolytes, and getting on the run course.
I actually felt ok as I headed out onto the run. For the first few miles I settled into a rhythm quite well, though the pace felt pretty slow. The run was quite busy (actually very busy) with racers, spectators, and aid stations and the course continued to be hilly, but gently so for the most part. The run consisted of 3 “repeats” of an out and back circuit near T2. It started out gently downhill for the first mile, then uphill for 2 miles, and then gently downhill for another mile plus. Because each little segment of the run course was out and back, there were always runners going the opposite direction. It was definitely hot and the ice and cold drinks were welcome relief at the aide stations. I had no idea where I was in my age group throughout the whole race. One guy said something like “I haven’t seen many women your age come through here yet” at T2, but I didn’t pay too much attention since people seemed to be flying through transition and flying through the run course as well.
I thought I was running a smart race because it never felt like I was working too hard, and I hoped to pick it up on lap #3. But somehow, probably because I never run on pavement and I don’t really run very many miles in training, by lap #3, my legs felt like lead and I wasn’t moving well at all. I tried a little more Gatorade (at least it was orange and not green!) and my legs picked up a little for the next 5 minutes and then I was back to survival slog mode. Temperatures were close to 90 by now so it felt pretty hot and seeing so many amazingly perky runners fly by me was a bit discouraging. I wanted to run like that but just couldn’t! I was surprised that only 3 women in my age group passed me and I finished 6th in 5:23. I was very happy with the race, and though I knew I hadn’t had my best race of the year, it was still a good effort at an incredibly competitive race.
The post race massage and food tents were both a welcome sight. I made the decision to go with massage first since the line wasn’t very long. It was a nice relaxing 15 minutes or so, and I highly recommend seeking out a post race massage when it is available. I next made my way over to the food tent and was eyeing the pizza slices on other athletes plates, but when I got to the pizza, it was gone. That was somewhat disappointing, but I found plenty of pasta and fruit and chips instead. I joined some women from Colorado at a table and, as most post race discussions go, some of them felt pretty good about the day and others not so much. I didn’t pick up on the details, but I think the difficulty of the course had surprised many of us.
There were plenty of shuttles to take us (and our bikes and gear bags) back to Lake Las Vegas where the race started. It seemed like quite a few racers stayed at the hotels around the lake and those that didn’t parked cars in the parking lots near the lake. My shuttle ride was very pleasant and I talked with a nice Colorado man getting ready for Kona (his first time). I recall hearing him say that his biking is a bit weak but he was a bigger guy so he probably won’t even notice those winds on the Queen K!
1 comment:
Awesome race report, Tamsen. You're an amazing athlete and an inspiration. I think it's so cool that you're a Triatomics member...because of course, we're the coolest too. Your report makes me want to do that race. It sounds hard.
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