HITS Napa- First race done and dusted

Pretty Freeplay Page

 

Mission accomplished! Cobb webbs were dusted out this weekend at the Inagural HITS traithlon in Napa. I was the 1st Amateur woman and 3rd OA behind local awesome pros, Jess Smith and Kelly Omara. Now, I feel ready to head to the Big Easy on Friday ready to do some serious work on Sunday at the NOLA 70.3.  Most of us know that being the classical slow twitch diesel semi truck that I am, an Olympic tri is a tough ask for me, mainly because I can almost maintain the same speed for an entire 70.3. This is not a compliment to my speed, rather an acknowledgement that I am not able to reach a very fast top speed- I can reach a moderate speed and sit there for days on end. Anyone else?

Still looking fresh Pre-Race

I do however love trying to race my pants off at an Olympic and see just how high (185) my little heart rate can get. So this past Thursday I headed to hang with bestie KC in St Helena and then it was off to work at the local office in St Helena (I passed on a glss of wine at WORK people) and some delish pre race Mexican food. I know that my pre race go to would cause enough GI distress to keep most people in the bathroom queue past the starting gun, but for me it works and I LOVE it. Nothing like a plate of rice, beans (not a ton) and maybe a tamale to get me fired up to race. I slept well Friday night and had all my gear laid out for Saturday. Thank goodness I brought my arm warmers and a small jacket as when I was driving to the race, I saw 38 for the outdoor temp. COLD! The race venue was beyone gorgeous and the HITS team has a great set up for transition: your own seat (in case you need a minute) and a whole 2x2 box for your bike gear. None of that fighting for space with other type-A I need more space and won't move an inch friends. I got into my Freak and headed down to the balmy 51 degree water. Jess kept making fun of me during the warm up as every time I took a breath it was coupled with an "ohmygoditssocoldmyfacemayfreeze" comment/whimper. If only I had a freak to keep my face warm in the water. Maybe that will be my next suggestion to the awesome people at TYR.

My own pink seat

OK, onto the race. I know that you want the actual race details, you have put up with non race reports all winter and it's time to get down to business

Swim time: 23:22, 70 seconds faster than same time last year. I would say a 5% improvement year over year is spot on to where I should be right now. THANK YOU Stanford masters swimming and the TYR family for making this happen. The freak kept me toasty in the cold water and the only hiccup that I encountered was that due to the nature of the out and back 2 loop swim course, the poor folks who were not so hot at sighting came into oncoming traffic. This meant lots of sigghting and one contact with a fellow swimmer, at one point my hand collided with someone's teeth. The way I know that is by the cut/indentation it left on my hand. No other major incidents to report. Into T1 I ran, with Kelly Omara right next to me. I must have fumbled in the cold wayyyyy to long as all of the sudden I heard her bike hit the ground and I hadn't gotten my wetsuit off yet. WHOOPS! Better speed that up for Sunday as that was the last time I saw her and she ended up beating me to the line (OK she is a pro) by about 3 minutes.

Thanks Freeplay Magazine for the great pic!

Onto the bike I went, with arm warmers all the way up and hoping that I wouldn't regret the decision to not put on my small jacket. In the sun I was OK, but ohh was it chilly in the valley where the fog hadn't yet lifted and the sun rarely shines. BRRRRR. I would much rather be a hot sticky mess than be cold during a race. Total time on the bike was a fairly slow 1:15...I am attributing that to the quite hilly 1k course. There was never a groove where you could just get aero and hammer (my fave thing to do). Friends and I rode the half course yesterday and in the 56 mile loop, there was 4k worth of climbing. So if you like the hills, this is the race to come to! This was my first race on the new Argon18 and I am in love, just as I was with last years model...these bikes are fast and fun sand it fits me perfectly. 

After a quick T2 I was onto the (again hilly) run course. Did I leave on my bike shoes or were my feet just SO cold that it felt like they were solid blocks of ice? Thankfully I had put on my running shoes and after about 2 miles, my feet began to thaw out which ment they went from feeling awkward to stinging. Awesome! Then by mile 4, we were finally onto feet feeling normal territory. YES! I am very thankful for my Garmin individual mile splits today as the goal that I was scared to metntion on Friday was to run at least one 6:xx mile. It could have been a 6:58 and I would have been pleased. I was able to tick off not one but 2 miles at a 6:42 pace which makes me SUPER excited about my running progress. Pretty please, show up this Sunday OK?

Finish line goodness! Time to down the Muscle Milk shake I had brought with me. Glad I had a BYO meal as there was very little post race food that would really do the body right. I ate a greek yogurt as well and had some fruit. Good enough to get me to lunch.

A BFF Sandwich, my fave!

Next up it was time to watch KC race for the first time since having two gorgeous girls and of COURSE she crushed it and was the first woman in the open division. YES! We got her kitted up in a team kit and the first words out of her mouth after she crossed the finish line were, "WOW this stuff is seriously comfy". We headed back to the house on Berryessa and grilled some dinner, had some wine and prepped for another day of training the next day. And then, it was family time. My neice turned two and we had a ragin' pizza and ice cream party for her.

Ice Cream please Auntie Hailey!

I would really like to thank all of my support team for helping to get me to the first race of the season in good shape! I would like to send a BIG thanks to Stephanie at Freeplay Magazine, for the gorgeous page that she put into the magazine highlighting me. I felt so special! She also took the pic on the bike course and was out in force cheering on the women of the enduracne community. It was great to see another awesome mag representing out there as well. 3GO was out on course taking pics and interviewing the top finishers. HOW COOL?!! Thanks Paige!