Galena Triathlon Race Weekend

Most fun race weekend... Ever!  I didn't put a whole lot of pressure on myself for this race and was mostly just looking forward to a good time in a beautiful area with a great group of people.  Although, I did have a little anxiety the day before the race trying to figure out the logistics.  There are 2 transitions to set up and T-storms forecast for the night before the race as well as on race day.  The big decision was... set up the night before and have my belongings exposed to the possible elements... or set up the morning of and have to deal with driving back and forth to the 2 transitions on race day.  We opted to leave our bikes to save ourselves the morning hassle, which proved to be a fine decision since the weather held out till race day.

This was a fairly local race- 3 hour drive from Chicago.  Michael and I headed out early afternoon on Friday.  We went straight to the swim start/transition 1 to pick up our race packets and rack our bikes.  We ran into several familiar faces while there, which was nice, and ended up grabbing dinner with a couple fellow VQers at Vinny Vanucchi's in town.  Downtown Galena is TOO CUTE!  I wished we had more time to walk around and check out all the little boutiques, etc.  But before we knew it, it was 9pm.  We checked into the hotel, laid out our race gear for the morning, and then to sleep.

I got a solid 5 hours of sleep plus 2 hours of 'not sure if I was sleeping or awake' sleep.  With my recent sleep issues, I'll take it.  Still, I felt groggy and less than awesome on race morning.  We had our free continental breakfast, drove to transition 2/finish area to setup our run gear, parked at the remote lot (big grass field) and boarded a bus to the start.  Everyone was chatty and full of energy on the 17 mile drive. Michael and I were really enjoying the view- green, hilly countryside and farmland with cows, horses and goats roaming around.  It reminded me of Ireland.  It was about a 30 minute drive and we arrived at the start a little before 8am.  The first wave went off at 9am, so we had a little time to do a quick 10 minute ride and short run to get loose.  My wave (F30-34 L-Z) went off at 9:36 and since the swim was only 600 meters, I was able to watch the first several waves start and finish their first leg. This was a nice distraction, as I was feeling my usual 'whatever' feeling at this point.  I usually get neutral-to-negative energy right before the race and during the swim, but I shake it off once I get on the bike and the race really begins for me.

SWIM:  This was the first triathlon swim that I didn't get punched or kicked.  Other than the cold water (60 degrees), it was a fairly enjoyable swim.  I got into a good rhythm with sighting every 4 strokes and did a decent job of swimming a straight line.  Still no rain at this point, but it was cloudy and that made it easier to see.  I was out of the water in ~10 minutes (10:32 official split) and into the rocky transition area.  Helmet and sunglasses on, socks and shoes on, wetsuit and goggles in the transition bag and off I go with my bike.

BIKE:  You mount your bike just prior to the first hill of 8% grade.  I was warned this was a hilly course, but didn't have the chance to preview it prior to the race.  I quickly learned that hilly was an understatement.  This course was SO FUN!  The roads were smooth and curvy and you were either going 30+ mph down a hill or grinding a low gear up one.  There were no flats, but a few soul-crushing false flats.  It started to rain about 1/3 way into my ride, but I was actually not too bothered by it.  I was a little more cautious on sharper turns, but those were few and far between.  I felt like I was pacing pretty well, but I know I lost some time on some of the long downhills.  Being unfamiliar with the course was a major disadvantage.  I found myself sitting upright and even braking a little on some of the steep, winding downhills because you could not see what was up ahead.  The last mile or so was all downhill and I coasted into T2 after ~50 minutes of riding (18.6 miles).

RUN:  My 2nd transition felt pretty smooth.  Unfortunately, the time didn't take for the results so I never got my official T2 or run splits.  The run starts on a super steep downhill and I felt like I was just arms and legs flailing out of control.  Then it went right into a steep uphill.  It wasn't until after about the first mile that I finally found my legs and a little bit of a rhythm.  I enjoyed the run, but had a hard time pushing myself to the limit with the terrain.  With about a mile to go, I saw coach Dan on his cooldown with another one of his athletes.  I was flying down a hill and I don't think he liked the fact that I had enough energy still to smile and wave ;)  The last mile was mostly downhill and the finish line just popped up around a corner out of nowhere.  I've never crossed a finish line with this much left in the tank.  I was a little frustrated with myself because of that.  According to my watch, my run split was 26:08 for 4.3 miles (6:05 pace).

After a few minutes of chatting at the finish, I went out for a cooldown with Michael and another teammate, Josh.  We ran the run course backwards and then hung out under the tent at the Awards Party.  We had good food, but no sun yet.  I was still soaking wet and freezing!  Another lesson learned... leave some dry clothes in a protected bag at T2 for after.  The sun eventually came out and I soaked up every ounce of it I could get... and of course ended up with some pink shoulders afterward- oops.  We had several teammates collecting Age Group awards and a few top 3 overall finishes.  Go VQ!  I finished as the 2nd Overall Female and collected what would be my favorite finishers' prize to date... a 2 night stay in a 2-bedroom rental house of my choice in Galena!!  Yay- now I get to come back for a training weekend!

A little grilling and hanging out on Saturday evening and then some rest for another hilly ride on Sunday.  It was warm and sunny to start and we split off into a guys group and a girls group.  The girls 'group' consisted of me and Shannon.  We had a great time riding the hills of Galena and couldn't get over the views atop some of the long climbs.  It was super windy and threatening storms.  With the amount and intensity of storms/tornados recently, I was a little anxious about getting caught out there... especially when it started to get dark.  Fortunately, we made it out unscathed. 

Overall, a fantastic weekend!  I am learning from every experience and took alot away from this weekend.  This was great practice with the 2 transition setup, which is what I think I'll be dealing with on my upcoming 'A' race in a few weeks.  But, most of all, this was a great reminder of why I really do this stuff... it's fun!  VisionQuest is comprised of amazing talent and personality... I'm proud to be part of the team.