Pigman Sprint '11 Race Report

 I competed in the Pigman Sprint over the weekend. It was my third time at this race. On Saturday I went to the race site to do my little pre-race workout. The venue was a state park in a small little town just outside Cedar Rapids. One might say the park was filled with red necks. It was quite interesting. A few people had some comments towards me and it took everything I had not to say some things back to them. I was wearing a two piece swim suit for the swim and then just put shorts on for the rest of my workout. The other people were not exactly fit, and after their comments towards me I had to work very hard to keep my comments to myself.  

This race is what they call an equalizer. The women start first (in this case 8 minutes ahead of the men) and the first person, male or female, to cross the finish line won $750. My swim went well and I was out of the water first by over a minute. Wet suit came off ok in T1 and helmet went on easily.

For the bike I was really just trying to go hard the whole time. Only 3 miles to run after it, so even if I wiped myself out it wouldn't be that bad. I think I did okay on the bike. I was in the lead the entire bike and it's definitely a mental focus game to push yourself hard the entire time when no one else is even in your field of vision. However, this was good practice for those 70.3 races where I spend most of the time all alone also. There was a turn around a little over 2/3 through the bike and I could see I still had a good distance on the women but that the men were closing fast. Unless I ran the fastest 5k of my life I knew I would get beat by the men.

T2 went fine, no glitches. On to the run. It was difficult to 'sprint' 3 miles! All of my training has been geared toward halves. Again, I was constantly trying to remind myself to go faster! Even when I did it I could tell I just didn't have enough speed to have a great 5k time. That's okay because I would rather have the endurance for the longer races and this race was more for fun, but at the time it can be a bit frustrating. Especially when the men are chasing you down quickly! I was passed by fellow Discount Tri Supply athlete, Patrick Davis, just after mile two. Two more men ended up passing me before the finish but no women passed me. So I won overall female but was over a minute short of winning the equalizer. Patrick ended up coming in second for the males. A pretty good day for DiscountTriSupply. I was 2 minutes faster than my time last year, always a good thing. All in all it was a good day and lots of fun. Pigman is a great 'big' small local race and the race director and volunteers do a great job. As far as the random rednecks...

Up next is Kansas 70.3 this Sunday. Might be a scorcher but I'm excited. There will be some real fast competition but I guess if I'm gonna be a big girl I will have to play with the big girls. Post race I may also indulge in a treat from the Cheesecake Factory just because, feel free to join me!

Pigman Sprint Race Report

On Sunday I raced the Pigman Spring in Palo, IA. Great race, good time, and definitely a sprint! Here is a quick race report. My warm-up was mostly putting on my Hurricane wetsuit from Kyle's Bikes and swimming for about 20 minutes. And yes, I seriously count putting on the wetsuit as part of the warm-up! The elite female wave was first as this was an equalizer event (women start first, men 8:44 back and it's a race to see who can cross finish line first).

The swim started and I was out in front but some chick was right on my feet grabbing at my ankles. She almost pulled my timing chip off so I had to stop and shove it under my wetsuit quick. But right back to swimming. I was surprised that in such a short swim no one was closer to me-I was first out of the water in 6:14, a minute up on the next few girls. Into T1. The wetsuit didn't come off as easily as two weeks ago, but still not bad.

Out of T1 and onto the bike. What is this car driving on the course in front of me? Oh yeah, it's the lead car! I had never been the first one before! It was kind-of neat to follow the lead car for a while, makes you feel kinda special. And in the good way, not the short-bus way. I lead the bike until about half way. Three girls passed me within one mile, then no more girls passed me on the bike. The bike went well except none of my computer was working so I had no idea my speed or cadence and I tried to fix my front brake about half way through because I was afraid it was rubbing on my wheel. Next time I need to double check these things before the race starts!

Came into and out of T2 in fourth. I managed to pass one girl half way through the run, but right after another girl passed me. So I was 4th overall. I was the first Iowan to finish so I called to race in the Best of the US race in Orange County in October. That was pretty cool. I know what I need to work on this week (transitions!) and how to better prepare for future races (double check equipment and check out the areas leading into and out of transition). Glad I did this race but really looking forward to more Olympics and especially the 70.3s!