ChelanMan 2010
Readers of my report must be aware that this is an Event Report, not a Race Report.
My training plan for the Chelan ½ Iron was a little helter skelter. Competing with my husband for training time, being a working mom, etc; these and other responsibilities made it very difficult to work my training plan to the syllable. I did my best however by switching the order of workouts through any given week. So into the race – I mean event, I went, as well prepared as I could be.
When we arrived in Chelan on Thursday it was about 89°, I knew I’d be looking at a hot one come Saturday. We hung out at the Best Western Pool, cooled off a bit and then it was out for a short run. I felt great and was not bothered by the heat however; I did manage to drink a 12 oz bottle of water during the course of a 30 minute jog. I knew I needed to be prepared.
Friday night it was lights out at 10, but guess what, no sleep. I was staring at the clock at 2 AM. Dave and I kept asking each other “you still awake” “yep “. Finally I was able to take some sort of a nap after 2AM. I consider it a nap when the sleep time only amounts to about two and a half hours. So up at 4:45 and onto prerace – no prevent – breakfast of oatmeal and one cup of coffee.
The Best Western is great for ChelanMan because it is located right at the park where the races start and finish. We could look right outside our window and see the transition area. That was awesome. It meant we were able to walk right out our room and set up our transition stuff. No parking stress, no long hikes to and from the car, it’s all right there. I had forgotten my swim cap in the room but was able to walk back to the room to grab it, no big deal! I even made it back in time for the team picture!
Waiting for the gun to go off for the swim start I simply told myself that I was about to begin a 45 minute swim workout. I looked over at Dave and realized he was in his own world so I went and found someone else to talk to. While some around me were concerned about the small waves in the water, I didn’t give it a second thought because I grew up scuba diving and am totally accustomed to harsher water conditions. When the gun went off I jumped into the already choppy water and started going. I love my consistent slow and steady pace. I’m no racer; I have no sense of urgency about these things. I just go and I love it. When I left the water I felt as though I had finished a regular swim workout and it was time to go for a ride. No big deal I said, just a ride. I did notice there were not very many bikes around me, oh well, just going for a ride.
Time to peddle. In truth I was dreading the bike course because when I rode it in June, it gave me a good butt kicking. Tough hills, lots of heat. I rode along eating and drinking and popping S Caps according to the plan that Debbie O’Connell had helped me to put together. I stopped at all the water stops along the bike course, made sure I had plenty of fuel, visited with the nice volunteers, used a toilet (I was informed that I was the first to use it), and had an enjoyable Saturday ride. I kept smiling. I thought of Bill Swedberg and his IronMan smile, what a great role model. I kept on smiling. After some tough hills and a final ride along the lake, I returned to transition ready to go for a little run.
I did manage to run out of T2 with my bike gloves thankfully Erica was standing nearby and I passed them off to her. After a few glances at my Garmin, and thinking “hey I’m doing pretty good” I realized, “oops I hit the stop button”. Well keep on running. I ran from one water stop to the next. I would collect some Heed in my water bottle, pour Ice down the front and back of my shirt, and plug away down to the next station. I was feeling great the whole way, no stomach issues, no leg cramps, no sense of total fatigue. My pace combined with my nutrition plan helped me to achieve my goal, a fun event!
I really enjoyed each of the volunteers at each of the aid stations. They were great; they seemed to have a greater sense of urgency about the event than I did. I love ‘em. So eventually after 7 hours and 18 minutes I crossed the finish line with a big smile. I love this stuff!!
Triathlon is great. You don’t have to race to enjoy yourself. They say it’s about the journey not the destination so, why not enjoy the journey. If you take your time you’ll get to the destination eventually, and you might as well be in good spirits when you do!
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