Elkhart Lake Triathlon A.K.A The 7th Circle of ...

56.5K...Approximately 35 miles...My first Olympic Triathlon...The 7th Circle of  Hell.  

All of these things describe the Elkhart Lake Triathlon.  I am told that in 2011 the race was literally cold.  On June 9, 2012 it was over 90 degrees.  And there was wind, 25MPH wind.  And God there were some mighty hills for a course that was described as picturesque with rolling hills.  I'm sure I might have considered the course beautiful and picturesque (and maybe even rolling hills) IF I had been in a car instead of on a bike!  But, I finished!  And although I was not very fast (read as extremely slow)...I FINISHED (which meant the Tiki Bar was in my future)!  

It is important that you know that I finished and that I am smiling in this photo before I tell you the tale of the Elkhart Lake Triathlon.  Otherwise, you might never consider doing a triathlon...and you might think I was never doing another triathlon...This sign really should say, "I SURVIVED the Elkhart Lake Tri!"

Swim

Getting Into Wetsuits with the Team Girls

TNT Super Hero's Ready to Swim

We swam the Sprint swim course on Friday before the race.  The water was a little choppy with waves, but I got used to it. And the lake was so clean you could actually see the bottom! On race day the water was a little calmer, so I was feeling good about the swim except that the course looked like a long way out which made me a bit nervous.  A bigger wave hit during the Sprint Triathlon and 18 sprinters had to be pulled out of the water...so, the Olympic race started 40 minutes late (read this as 40 minutes hotter).  When I finally got into the water (I was in the last age group in the water and it was a time trial start...this is important information later.)  I went for it.  As usual I had that moment where I thought "I really do not want to do this" and I had a lot of moments where I thought to myself "Am I there yet?  Where in the heck is that bouy?"  


The swim took me approximately 40 minutes.  Although the course was 1500 meters, I am pretty sure I swam more like 2000 meters because of the current cutting diagonally across the Y shaped course.  The course was not particularly well marked, and the sun and choppy water made it extremely difficult to see where we were supposed to go.  And while ordinarily these conditions might have annoyed me, I was so happy to have accomplished a long distance swim without freaking out or thinking I was going to drown the less than ideal conditions really didn't bother me.  Also, another Team member got  hit n the face with a dead fish and I was lucky enough not to come across any wildlife (dead or alive) so I chalked this up to a win!  1500 M Open Water Swim, check!

Looks like I am happy to be out of the Water!

T1
Here is where my race started to go down hill mentally.  When I got back to transition (as a side note, Transition was a seriously long way away)  I realized there were approximately 5 bikes left in transition.  I know there were people behind me in the water, but the sheer lack of bikes was unnerving.  Remember, I was one of the last groups in the water and then I proceeded to swim out of my way quite a bit, but the lack of people was unnerving.  So, I pulled of my wetsuit, pulled on my socks and bike shoes, snapped on my helmet and sunglasses grabbed my bike and headed out to the bike course.

Bike

I had been expecting to pick up some time on the bike and really enjoy myself during that piece of the race...after all, it was the run that I was not looking forward to.  I had even slept the entire night before the race uninterrupted and had biked the run course on Friday.  The Bike was going to be fun... Turns out,  I was wrong.  

I live in Indiana.  Indiana is very flat.  My definition of rolling hills, and Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin's definition of rolling hills seem to differ quite a bit.  For example, a bike course that is mostly up hill would not be considered to have rolling hills, but I digress.  

The bike was really tough.  Looking back, I think I was capable of doing reasonably well on the bike course, but the 25MPH wind really killed me.  And, I was out on the course BY MYSELF.  This was mentally challenging for me because I was unprepared for being alone on the course at all.  I think I passed two people at mile 25 on the bike course.  It was a long, miserable, slow, windy, hot ride.  28 Mile/45K Bike Ride, check!

Pictures may be worth a 1,000 words...and I may be smiling in this photo, but I assure you that my smiling was for the camera and not because I was enjoying my bike ride.  I may also be smiling because this photo was taken at the top of a hill.

T2

I was never so happy to be back in transition after the bike.  And it was at that point that I seriously started considering whether I could skip the run and dub my race an Aquathon.  I stripped off my bike shoes and helmet, pulled on my Newtons, sun visor, and race belt.  I sprayed on some extra sunscreen and headed toward the run out.  

Run

Did I mention that it was 90 degrees?  Or that the first 4 miles of the run were uphill with only about a 1/2 mile of shade on the entire run course?  By the time I made it to the run, I was seriously hating life.  I was trying to keep my mind occupied thinking of the people that I was racing for...but my mind was foggy.  Looking back, I likely didn't take in enough calories on the bike to account for the harsh conditions which is why my "run" (and I use that term loosely) was more of a walk.  But, I hoofed every step of that 10K happy or not.   There is not much else to report on the run except that I was really happy it was over.  6.2 Mile/10K run, check!

I must have seen the camera, because this photo suggests that I might have actually run during the run portion of the race.  Pictures can be deceiving.

Tiki Bar

I wish I had pictures, but I don't.  The after race margaritas and the Tiki Bar were by far my favorite part of the race.  I note that the Tiki Bar would have been more fun if I had not been so tired as to head for bed at 9:30!

Lessons Learned

Steelhead is going to be a seriously long day!


People my age are fast despite the fact that I am not.  Be prepared to be on the course alone for Steelhead.


If I get up at 4 in the morning the Friday before a Saturday race, I apparently get great sleep on Friday night.


No one signs up to do an Olympic distance or 70.3 distance triathlon and just wings it and "doesn't train."  It's too far, so there will be no stragglers...it is likely that I will be the straggler...I am ok with this if I can get my 70.3 sticker!