Lake Stevens Tri Race Recap
The lead-up to the Lake Stevens Triathlon was great in terms of my physical taper but I had a bit more emotional stress than I would’ve liked. On Wednesday, I made a mistake babysitting and it really scared me. I got really worked up, spiraled, and ended up crying for 3 hours over it. It didn’t help that I was extra emotional because I was PMSing SO BAD. Anyways, I slept like shit, my eyes were all puffy the next day and I was just generally exhausted. Thursday was better but then ended poorly because Andy and I were going to meet up to get some drone footage of me biking, but we had a miscommunication about where to film. We both couldn’t get ahold of one another because of bad cell service, it was just stressful. My bike workout was still good though, ensuing some confidence for the race on Saturday. On Friday I took it super easy and just laid in bed a lot and did some extra stretching and eating. I also talked with Siep which gave me a lot of confidence. He said things like “Don’t hope, just do it. You’ve been working hard on biking and running. Be confident” That helped a lot to allow myself to just go for it. I got a good night’s sleep at Andy’s and now it's time to race.
Swim start. Photo by Andy Dewey
Race day morning was typical: Finding transition in and out, saying hi to friends, and getting all your stuff set up among everyone else’s stuff. I bravely tried something different for this race; I wasn’t nervous. It helped a lot to not have the emotional toll before a race, and just knowing you can do it. I recently listened to the “Chasing the Burn” Podcast where Ashleigh Gentle, a very good professional triathlete, mentioned she doesn’t get nervous for races. And if she doesn’t get nervous, then why should I? The race started late and the directions for the swim were unclear. The map showed one thing, and the referee said another. It was confusing and to say the least, the ref had it wrong and the swim was too long for everyone. The gun went off and I sprinted for 100m and then panicked a little before finding a rhythm. My arms felt amazing. They have felt sore and fatigued the past couple of races, but Saturday it was like butter. I sprinted out of the water and into transition where I realized I forgot to put on my bike computer, which isn’t the end of the world, but it would’ve been nice to have bike watts to look at after. I only like to look at speed during a race though, that’s what matters. My legs were heavy and hips felt a little tight. I pushed through the pain so forcefully. I thought to myself “This is what you wanted” so I just kept going because that was true. The cars were pushy and dangerous. I even passed a bike crash where everyone slowed down for about a minute. A minute can be a lot to average bike speed. Finally, on to the run. I planned to go below threshold first 2-3 miles then, at threshold for the next 2 miles then, finish all out. When I started running though I couldn’t get my HR below threshold, so I just managed it until 2 miles in. Then I let myself speed up a little until it was 1 mile to go. For the last 1.4 miles, I just thought over and over and over “Don’t think, just run”. I couldn’t afford to think about the pain in that moment, just keeping the same pain consistent. I managed to hold it till the end! It was awesome. After crossing the finish line, I went to my knees and breathed hard for about a minute before jumping in the lake with friends to cool off in the lake.
On the way to run my fastest 10k! Photo by Amara Christensen
I am really happy with my performance this past Saturday. A bunch of my tri friends and I celebrated at a burger joint after. It always makes my heart full to spend time laughing and eating post-race. I only have one more race!! I am locked in to finish strong, but equally excited to get going on off-season activities. I am also SUPER excited to plan for my races next year.
2nd place Overall (women) ! My first OA podium. Photo by Amara Christensen
Cheers to another race in the books and another stepping stone to reaching my goals.