Race Report: You Go Girl Women's Only Triathlon

Pre-Race

I slept okay but only got about 5.5 hours of sleep which isn't really enough for me. I left the house shortly after 5am and arrived at the race site around 6 am (about a 50 minute drive for me). I unloaded my bike and proceeded to the transition area and picked up my packet, got my chip and headed over to body marking. Lori was there volunteering so it's always great to see familiar faces at events. I had a solid 30 mins to setup my transition area to my liking and there were a lot of first-timers there that looked confused on what to do so I helped them out since I know first hand what it feels to be clueless at your first triathlon. With about 15 mins until participant meeting, I headed to the pool for a short 200 yard swim to get a feel for the water. Perfect mid-80s...I knew I was going to swim fast and well so my nerves calmed down after that.

Swim (250 yards)

It was over before I even knew it. I couldn't believe how easy swimming 250 yards felt even with only two swim workouts since Middle Tyger Triathlon. Didn't even have to stop at the wall to rest once and ended up passing one swimmer and catching up to another so that felt great. Swim time: 6:16 (includes a 10-20 sec  run to transition). And to my surprise, fastest swim time in my age group!

Transition 1

Legs felt really good coming out of the swim and was able to make a good run to transition. Got on my cycling shoes, helmet and sunglasses and proceed out of transition. Transition 1 time: 1:18

Bike (9.5 miles)

I felt really good when I got on my bike, legs felt fresh unlike they did at Middle Tyger Triathlon. I was able to surge ahead two riders which that felt great but one caught me a few miles later. I had a hard time controlling my heart rate and breathing for the first 5 miles but after I got relaxed, it got easier, just too bad only 4 miles were left at that point. Ended up passing 3 other riders while 1 other rider passed me. For the first time, it actually felt like I was racing. In most triathlons, I get passed but don't do any passing. Bike time: 40.04 (14.3 mph).

Transition 2

Much, much better than last time! Got my shoes off, helmet off, put on my running shoes and grabbed my hat and number belt to put on while I was running. 49 secs.

Run (2.5 miles)

Running still hurts after riding, no matter how long the run is! The first 1/2 mile was brutal, mostly because it was on grass then went uphill before doing 2 loops then returning back. I had an issue with my watch starting (apparently I forgot to reset it from last time) so when I hit start, I didn't realize it was wrong until about 2-3 mins later. So pretty much the entire run I had  no clue how fast I was running. I felt like I was crawling at some points but I guess I ended up running much faster than I thought. Averaged an 11 min pace which for me, I'm super happy with considering all my runs after cycling have been 12+ min pace. Time: 27:32

Overall Time and Final Thoughts


1:15:56 (89 out of 134) – Finally feels great to finish in the middle of the pack. Sure, there was a lot of beginners but still it feels good. With very limited training in the last 5 weeks due to extreme hot temperatures with triple digit heat indices, I am thankful I did as well as I did. I swam, biked and ran faster than I did in the Middle Tyger Triathlon and although it was a shorter course, I still didn't expect that.

This is a great course and a fun race! It's very beginner friendly so if you're a women in Upstate, SC and want to try a triathlon, this is the one to do! I really hope to be able to do this one again next year.

Race Report: Candlelight 5K

Considering I haven't ran since June 9th and helped my husband for 5+ hours earlier today shoveling and spreading white rock and brick edging to our backyard, I couldn't of asked for a better race. I was so tired when we got done with our landscaping project, that I almost decided against doing this race. But I love night races, mainly because I love evening running and there just isn't many night races to choose from around here. Plus unlike last year, the weather was actually pleasant. Mid to low 70s felt pretty darn cool after weeks in the 90s.

But, I beat last year's time of 37:00 with a time of 32:07 (unofficial) this year so yea, big improvement over last year but it's always better when you know what to expect! But if my unofficial time is correct, this will be my third fastest 5K. Of course I always tend to do better in impromptu races that I really didn't train for. If I keep focusing on my goal to have fun and just enjoy myself out there, then I usually do much better then when I'm being competitive and chasing a PR. Oh and I just about made it up that entire hill without walking. That hill is so freakin' long that you never think it's going to end! Of course once you hit the turnaround and come down it, well that's the fun part!

Oh and how can I forget to mention the issue with the porta-potties...they never got delivered! So, it was quite the nightmare with only 2 bathroooms....the line was a good 45+ mins long!

Mile Splits: 10:12, 10:50, 9:50, 1:16 (7:45)

Race Report: Middle Tyger Y Triathlon

Pre-Race

I slept surprisingly well and got a solid 7 hours so I woke up feeling really good. I left the house right at 5:50 am and arrived at the race site around 6:15 am. I unloaded my bike and proceeded to the transition area where I realized there was no assigned racks and it was first come first serve so I found a good spot that I felt would be easy to get in an out of and set up my transition area. We were called to the pool area about 10 til 7 am for some last minute race instructions. We then lined up for the swim and like most of everyone else, I was a little surprised by the out-of-pool start.

Swim (400 meters)

I have been swimming 1-2 times per week and getting in solid 1 hour workouts so I wasn't really concerned about the swim but maybe I should of been. The Swim Center pool is kept at very therapeutic 85° and my brother's neighborhood outdoor pool is probably around 86° or warmer so when I dove into the colder water (probably around 78-80° which is usually what they keep it at) of the Middle Tyger Y's pool, it was quite a shock. [Lesson #1...if at all possible jump in the pool before the race!] So for the first 50 meters, I nearly panicked as I tried catching my breath but was able to keep it together to at least do the breast stroke until I got my breathing under control. About 100 meters in, I finally got into a rhythm but the combination of nerves and cold water seemed to took a lot more energy out of me as I had to rest at each wall for about 5-10 secs, something I rarely needed to do in training when I did my 400 and 500 time trials. Still only 1 person passed me so either I didn't do as bad as I thought or everyone else was having trouble too. I glanced at my watch as I exited the pool and it was at 9:56 so a lot slower than the 8:40 I was hoping to achieve.

Transition 1

Went as good as it could of gone. Got my socks and shoes on, sunglasses, helmet, grabbed my bike and jogged (as best as I can in cycling shoes) to the mount line. Got on my bike and got clipped in without any issues and ended up beating 2 others out of T1 that were there before me but they caught up to me and passed me on the bike about 2-3 miles in.

Bike (14 miles)

Got on my bike and immediately realized this is going to be much much harder after swimming then I thought! [Lesson #2 Do more swim/bike bricks!] The first few miles were painful but after I got up the first hill, I was pretty much on cruise control. I did get passed by several guys and 1 women during the bike leg but all gave me words of encouragement as they passed as well as every volunteer and police officer so that felt pretty good. At the 1/2 way point I was right at 28 mins (bike portion only) so I knew if I kept this pace, I would finish the bike in under an hour. Up to 12 miles, I averaged a 14.2 mph pace but then got to that final hill which took everything I had to get up it and where my average pace dropped down to 13.8. I still finished in 1:01:00, just 1 min over my goal so I was pretty happy with the bike portion considering I did only one short swim/bike brick during training.

Transition 2

Got a good dismount and no mishaps unclipping...in fact I never really thought about it as it's now become a natural instinct. It was super awkward to jog to my rack with wobbly legs in cycling shoes but I did the best I could. Took off my helmet and swapped my cycling shoes for my running shoes, grabbed my visor and number belt to put on while I was running and off I went. However, as soon as I started running out of transition, my legs started to feel like lead and was already was in pain. Exited transition at 1:14:00 overall time which means both transitions combined couldn't of been more than 3 mins.

Run (5K)

Running is hard enough for me on fresh legs so on fatigued legs...well to be completely honest...it sucks and usually the moment where I ask myself "why am I doing this again?" I've been running 5-10 mins after every bike ride and have done several bricks with up to 1.5 mile runs afterwords but nothing any longer than that. I got off to a good start and was thankful the first 1/2 mile was downhill to allow things to loosen up a bit. I was able to run to the first water station (about 1/2 mile in) where I took my first walk break. I decided then that I was going to run the flats/downhills and walk up the hills. I guess I was averaging a faster pace than I realized because at mile 1, my time was at 1:24:00 and at mile 2, I was at 1:36:00. So the first 2 miles went better than expected and I was hoping for at least another 11-12 min mile but that's when I started to fall apart. [Lesson #3 - Do longer bike/run bricks...as long or longer than the race distance.] My entire lower body felt like it weighed 5 times more than normal and my legs just didn't want to do anymore running. It was all I could do just to walk at that point as my calves and hip flexors are screaming for me to stop but once I saw the mile 3 sign, I just gave it everything I had left to jog the remaining .1 mile to the finish line. Which means the last 1.1 miles was around 20 mins, yikes!

Overall Time and Final Thoughts


1:56:14 (57 out of 61) - Okay so I'm not a fast finisher and there was only about half the number of participants than in year's past. I improved 19 mins over the Greenville Triathlon which was the same distances and finished under my goal time of 2 hours so that's what I'm going to celebrate.

This was a great event and I loved that it was only 18 mins from my house! The spectators cheered for everyone and not just for those that they knew, and the volunteers and police along the course were great with their words of encouragement.

Swim Time (400 meters) - 10:31
Transition #1 - 1:18
Bike (14 miles) 1:01:13
Transition #2 - 0:53
Run (5K) - 42:20
Total Time - 1:56:14