Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Square Lake: Wrap Up

After I posted about Square Lake without knowing my results, I continued to sit at the computer and click the refresh button repeatedly. There may have been some mild cursing between clicks, but beyond that I was mostly just wasting my time staring at the screen. About 20 minutes after my blog post, my husband walked in and mentioned that the results had been posted, just not on the web page indicated on the race website. The results were on a completely different page and didn't show up on any of my google searches. So frustrating! At least I have them now and can put my race into perspective.

There were 376 people in the race and 25 in my division of women aged 35-44. In my division, I finished 17th out of 25 with a time of 2:14:29. Overall, I was placed 281 out of 376. I was the most pleased with my swim time. I swam a half mile in 18:42 which placed me 8th out of 25 and 208 out of 376. Swimming has turned out to be my strongest leg this first season which has been surprising to me.

As I had suspected, my bike leg was slow. I was also correct that the course was shorter than the 18 miles advertised. The results indicate that the bike was 17 miles, and I think it was closer to 16.5 miles. My time of 1:00:48 gives me an average pace of 17.3 m.p.h. using their math, but 16.4 m.p.h. using mine. I really think I am right about this one. Either way, my place of 15 out of 25 is a little slower than I would have hoped. This is one area that I think I can improve on during the winter. Riding with my bike on the trainer on bad weather days doesn't sound very exciting, but I know I can bike faster than I am currently.

Finally, the run portion. I ran exactly 5 miles in 50:09 for an average pace just over 10 minutes a mile. I wish I could say that I see lots of potential for improvement in this area, but I just don't see it happening. If the conditions had been better, I think I could have run about 30 seconds a mile faster at the most. I certainly need to keep up with my run training, but given my limitations, I don't see my times getting markedly faster. I ranked 15 out of 25 for the run and am actually surprised I didn't finish a little lower.

My overall finish of 17th out of 25 is just about where I think I should have been. I'm feeling good after the race with the exception of some knee pain. There were a lot of steep downhills which I ran pretty hard to try and make up time that I spent walking up the hills. I've been icing it quite a bit and it is just starting to feel better. I think I should be able to run on a flat trail tomorrow and then hopefully get back on a normal running schedule.

The next race on my schedule is the TC 10 Miler. I'm very excited about this race even though I haven't gotten in any runs in over 7 miles. I can't believe it is only two and a half weeks away. It's been unseasonably warm here the last couple of weeks, so I'm hoping that some cooler temperatures will arrive soon. I love training in the fall and I'm looking forward to running more now that my triathlon season is over. The kids are back in school so I can venture a little further from home to run. I just picked up a book from the library detailing running trails in Minnesota. Boy, I am a running nerd... I'm getting so excited about running someplace new. I can't help it!

10 comments:

tri_al said...

congrats on the results! and great swim :) it's handy having swim as your strength because i think it takes more time to build this up than the other disciplines. and that 10miler will seem a breeze now :)

Mark said...

Very impressive results!! Swimming would be the hardest for me and you rocked it!! Congratulations!! Hope the knee feels better

Porkchopwi said...

Great job this weekend and this season.
You’ve put up some good results and more importantly you showed up and raced (in addition to trying out a whole new (multi) sport). That’s an accomplishment in itself that takes some serious guts.
Nice photo with your mom and daughter. You look pretty tough in the pic!

AZ said...

Nice job on the tri. That sounds like a book that I should check out too.

Sunshine said...

Every now and then I wonder... how hard can it be to get the distances measured accurately? I guess some race directors don't see that as a priority? Congratulations on your day out here in Washington County.
Good luck on 10 miler. Our Runner Dude is doing the marathon again... unless his parents' 74th wedding anniversary celebration gets scheduled for that Sunday afternoon.

Nat said...

Awesome job! You are a natural at all of this, I am telling you!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

great job on your tri!! during my first a few weeks ago, i was surprised when i realized that my swim was also my strongest, and like you, i'm not sure my run will dramatically improve from what it is. I think that's part of the allure of triathlon... most athletes aren't stellar at all three! Glad you finally got the results though :)

Velma said...

Great work and nice report. I have heard that it takes at least two years to master the bike, so I am sure you will see a lot of gains next year.

Good luck training for the 10 mile!

I Run for Fun said...

Great results! Wish I could swim like you...that's an awesome pace.

Helen said...

You are too funny chasing down the results!! Great swim - and definitely a nice way to end the season. You will for sure improve the bike with winter training. And no question you can do same on the running - not that there's anything wrong with your results thus far but given what you've raced this summer you definitely have the potential to lower your times. Some speed work will help and show great results in the triathlons especially - speedwork, intervals & tempo runs - teach you legs to run when tired. You don't need to do it for long - start with short repeats (200s maybe) and just 3 or 4. Add one each time or mix it up and keep number same but go longer. You can do on treadmill either if it's easier in the winter. A mile or two cooldown on either side. You really will see a difference just from working on that through the winter/spring. But hey - next season is a ways off - sit back and enjoy the first of many!! Good luck with final training for the 10 miler. Hope the knee is feeling better.