Troika 1/2 Ironman Race Report

Troika 1/2 Ironman Results:

Caitlin Norton:
Total Time: 5:33:53
Swim: 39:27
Bike: 2:54:14
Run: 1:57:34
Age Group Finish: 6/15

Wendy Graves
Total Time: 5:53:26
Swim: 42:30
Bike: 2:59:07
Run: 2:07:52
Age Group Finish: 6/16

Let me start off with – yes, broken bones are involved in this race report!!! But we’ll get to that later.



We are ½ Ironmen!!!! Together do we make a single Ironman? Anyways, here is the race report for Caitlin and I (because of course, we can’t do anything athletic without each other) for the Troika ½ Ironman. I am pleased to say that both Caitlin and I beat our goal time of 6 hours (Caitlin BLEW hers away) and also achieved our goal of beating over half of the people in our age groups. The only goal I didn’t achieve was beating Caitlin . . . but I had pretty much realized I wasn’t going to hit this goal a couple of weeks back. Caitlin and I have been training since February for the Troika ½ Ironman in Spokane. This was our first ½ Ironman event. Randy Wooden, the third member of our trio, was supposed to do Troika with us . . . but after we broke him during the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon in Arizona, he adjusted his goals for the year.



In case you haven’t met Caitlin and I . . . we’re pretty competitive. Not that we’re great athletes, but we’re competitive. Especially with one another. For example, By some fluke, I won the mini-Tri at Lake Meridian when the thunder prevented us from doing the swim portion of the race. Caitlin, displeased with this result, decided to pull a Tonya Harding on me. She stopped her bike directly in front of mine AFTER the race was over on our ride home. I hit my brakes and did an endo over my handlebars. Pretty road rash and a split helmet with a slight concussion resulted. Mean girl! Yeah, yeah. It was probably partially my fault, following too closely and all that . . . but I think she was out to get me.

A further example of our competitive spirit. My husband planned on going to Spokane to cheer me on during Troika. He promised to cheer on Caitlin as well. Not good enough. She had to have someone who was cheering first and foremost for HER! So, her brother-in-law Brian flew over to cheer her on. AND, her niece and nephews made her good luck signs. With a drawing of Caitlin as a 1/2 Ironman. They were cute. I was jealous.

Anyways . . . on to race day. Brian drove us to the start at Medical Lake. We had been warned at the race meeting that the cops at Medical Lake are bored and like to write speeding tickets. We forgot to warn Brian. Brian got a ticket along with some bad attitude. Caitlin decided that our bad luck for the day was complete so we would have a good race. She was mistaken . . .

Back up . . . I got NO sleep the night prior. Hotel bed was uncomfortable. Family above us was jumping up and down on their beds, going up and down the stairs. At 3:30am when my alarm went off, I think I had less than 4 hours of sleep.. Yeah. Then I was sure I was going to throw up all morning. A little pre-race jitters. YUCK.

Back to Medical Lake. Both Caitlin and I were pleased with our swim. It was our first land start and a bit chaotic. Some of those women were just plain mean! Caitlin had a couple of people purposely elbow her. Then we were both a bit confused and afraid we’d cut the course short somehow because we started passing yellow caps (men) . . . lots of them. Yet we were both sure we’d followed the course . . . so we continued on. We both completed the swim in less than our goal times. THANKS COACH MIKE!!!!

The bike went well. Caitlin and I had come to Spokane a few weeks back to do a dry run of the course. And we were happy we did. It made the bike route much easier to follow and prepared us for some fast downhills as well as the rollers. We both enjoyed the bike . . . except . . . I had to pee the whole time. Very uncomfortable. I considered doing like the pros do . . . but I just couldn’t bring myself to pee on the bike. Especially since we’d have bike catchers. Yuck! Yet my discomfort was nothing compared to Caitlin’s on the bike . . . At the turnaround on an out and back section she took it a little too fast . . . and her back tire slipped out from underneath her. Down she went. She got back on her bike and took off again. Then, while looking at her knee to see how bad it was scraped up . . . she went down again. She thought for an instant “screw this, I’m done”, but that thought was quickly replaced with “Are you kidding me? I didn’t train for 7 months to quit 8 miles into the ride. I’m doing this!” So on she went. And then she missed a turn. But she figured it out immediately and corrected her course. And she still beat me on the bike. Grrr!!! I think it must have been the adrenalin. My dad said she must have been doping (my dad still thinks I’m the greatest). I’m sure it HAD to be one or the other!

The run. Neither of us enjoyed the run. I did it barely over my goal time. Caitlin did it faster than her goal time. But it was painful, long and slow for both of us. It just seemed to drag on and on and on. I’m definitely planning on doing more bricks next year. At one point some spectators asked how far we were running. The runner in front of me said “13 miles”. I clarified with “AFTER swimming 1.2 miles and biking 55 miles . . . that’s all”.

Crossing the finish line . . . nice strong finish. A fellow athlete and I paced each other for the last mile. Thank God he was there or I may have walked. At the finish line, Caitlin, Brian and my husband Dave were all there cheering me on! I had completed my first ½ Ironman. I didn’t get to bask in that accomplishment for long, though. As soon as everyone congratulated me, Caitlin said she needed to visit the med tent. It was then I found out about all her accidents. Not only did she crash twice but she waited 20 minutes for me to finish before going to the med tent! Damn, she is TOUGH! No wonder she beat me. She impressed the hell out of me and I’m glad she’s my training partner. Now if I can just keep up with her while we train for the California International Marathon . . .

One last note. Thanks to Ann Sloan for all her info on Troika. It was great to have in advance especially with the multiple transition areas and strange set-up. And congrats on a great race! You kicked butt, girl! And thanks to all our well wishers at RTB. Both Caitlin and I really appreciated it. We wish we’d had the team there to cheer us on – but we knew you were thinking about us.