UNreal race--HyVee Triathlon Recap

The past few posts, I've been debating about racing HyVee or not (mainly due to transportation issues).

Let's just say I'm pretty glad I decided to suck it up, ride the Megabus and race.

This weekend was pretty unreal.  I raced out of my mind, truly.  

Race Results. Age Group Hy Vee Triathlon.

The HyVee Triathlon had a bunch of races going on.  First, there was the IronKids race on Saturday.  One of the kids I was lucky enough to "train with" this summer (as in me swimming in the same pool as the kids) got SECOND place!  Hearing that made me pretty excited to do well myself, despite claiming all day that I didn't care how the race went.

Truth be told, I didn't care too much about this race going into it.  Back when I was swimming 3-5times a week in the summer, I cared a lot about this race and really wanted to win it.  Like overall (for the Age Group category).  Then school started and I stopped swimming, and started biking less and running more.  My focus shifted to the marathon and HyVee was just a fun excuse to race on my bike.

Ryan was working the expo (thus my Megabus transportation), so I was on my own without a car and stuck at the expo.  I did some school work until a PowerBar Team Elite member (working the PowerBar booth with Ryan) told me there was a Farmer's Market going on.  Um, you can guess what took priority.  I sampled a bit of wine, ate some local food and fresh produce.  Then I walked the 0.6miles back to the expo.  A few hours later (and after watching the Professional Panels interviews!), I realized I needed the Internet....so off to Amici's coffee shop I went, another 0.6mile walk.  All in all, I walked about 3 miles, sooooo decided not to workout.  COMPLETELY unlike me, but like I said, I didn't have many expectations coming into this race.

After a PHENOMENAL steak dinner with above mentioned second place kid (and her parents), I came up with a few goals:

1. swim under 30 minutes (yes, I realize that is a joke to a lot of people, but that's HARD for me!!!)

2. bike average 20mph (at the Batavia Du, I averaged 21.2, so even though this race was longer, I felt stronger on the bike now and wanted to prove it)

3. run sub-40, maybe even sub-39minutes, for the 10k

4. break 2:30 for my overall time (a goal that Ryan told me would be hard....but that just gave me MORE motivation)

Race morning, we woke up wondering why we do these thing as per usual.  I put on my tri-tats, packed my stuff and off we went.  The great thing about HyVee is that you get to leave your bike there overnight...no hassle with it in the morning.  Ryan helped me switch out my wheels and there I sat for about 1.5 hours until my race.

HyVee has four separate races:

-US 5150 Championship race for Elites (requires qualification at prior 5150 race)

-US 5150 Championship race for Age Groupers (requires qualification at prior 5150 race)

-Elite Age Group (must submit proof of a sub-2:30 Olympic distance triathlon for women, 2:15 men)

-Age Group (the category I fell into as I did not meet any above requirements)

I'm not going to lie....I looked up last year's results and was a little upset I couldn't be in the Elite Age Group race.  I was signed up to do the Kansas City 5150 in May, but that was when I banged my knee against the metal door frame and was out of running for 3 weeks.  My own fault, but I was still frustrated.

It was finally my turn to go off in the swim.  This is my new bff that I made--I asked her to help zip my wetsuit and we talked until we went in the water!

It was frustrating swimming.  The Relay teams were the group to go right before us (females 15-34) and I passed a LOT of people.  Yeah, you read that right.  ME, Jacqui Aubert, a NONswimmer, PASSED A LOT OF PEOPLE.  Usually I catch a few of the slower ones from the previous wave, but I easily passed 20 people, even getting kicked by a few and losing my goggles at one point.  There was also a part in the swim where the water was so shallow that my hand scraped the ground, so I had to stand and run through it.  

30:12.  Dang.  SO close to my goal.

Time for the bike.....I was READY for this.  I immediately started passing people and told myself that I would GO with anyone that could pass me.  This held true for quite a few bikers.  In the beginning, one girl and I kept passing each other, but I was getting so annoyed with the constant back and forth that I made a real strong go for it and just surged ahead.  It was the exact motivation I needed.

Off to bike!

I made sure to look at my Garmin at the half way point.  36minutes.  Even if I took 40 minutes to do the second half, 2 minute transition (which would be slow), and ran a 40minute 10k, I would STILL break 2:30.  I was a pretty happy girl upon this discovery.

With about a mile remaining, one girl passed me and yelled something to me (not sure what).  All I could think about was keeping her in my sight and just blowing by her on the run.  Who has the energy to yell something at another competitor during a race?? I was not impressed.  After a quick transition, I was off on the run.

The first two miles were out and back on a split lane bike path.  Aka a crowded bike path.  So, I just weaved in and out of people and was AMAZED to see my Garmin split a 6:12 at the first mile!  Mile two was even better with a 6:02.  At this point Ryan was practically running next to me screaming at me that there was just one girl ahead of me, about 95 seconds.  I knew I had to catch her.  Mile 3 was a 6:03.  I HAD to be gaining!  Sure enough, right before mile 4 (6:07), I caught her and Ryan and his dad's friend Ken thought I had 1st overall Age Group female locked in.  Mile 5 was a 6:08 and mile 6 ended with a 6:20....thanks to a fun (*sarcasm*) giant uphill.  

My 10k overall was a 38:30, which placed me 2nd fastest 10k out of EVERY SINGLE FEMALE (5150 Championships, 5150 Elites, and Age Group Elites).  UNREAL.  

Ryan and me at the finish!

Unfortunately, the race did end with me in the medical tent as a giant rock found its way into one of the "holes" in my shoe (triathlon shoes sometimes have holes in them to drain the water).  Yeah, from mile 3 on, that rock was scraping my foot and I have now popped that lovely blister 4 times since yesterday. But, small price to pay for one of my best races ever!

The scoring for overall finishers included the elites, so I ended up placing 4th overall.  Two Elite females beat me (2:14 and 2:16) and another lady in a later wave beat me just by a minute.  Ryan and Ken obviously weren't able to see these three ladies, so in their minds (and mine), I had won.  

While hearing that was disappointing, it was incredible to see that my bike split was only 2 minutes off the 2nd place girl and 5 minutes off most 5150 Elites.  My bike used to be what held me back BIG TIME and now it's just my swim!  My swim of 30minutes was anywhere from 6-9 minutes off of the 3 ahead of me and also the 5150 Elites.

Guess who's starting Masters Swimming after her wedding?  This girl.  

BUT, until then....it's MARATHON TRAINING TIME!!!!! Woo hoo, my kind of training!  I'll still be incorporating the biking and strength stuff as that's what keeps me (and many others) injury free, but MAN am I excited to be back to 60mile weeks:)