Cougar Mountain TT 2010

I am not totally sure how or why I agreed to do the cougar mountain time trial yesterday but I did it. Well actually I know - Eric Kutter was trying to get people to join him and Kyle said he would so I signed him up right then and there(no backing out lol). Then when they sent out an email asking for if anyone wanted early start times Kyle replied yes for my wife and I... Needless to say they were confused since I was not signed up but then I figured why not.

It is about a 2 mile hill climb time trial with an average gradient of 7.2% (L’Alpe D’Huez is 7.9%) ans about 1,200 feet of climbing. This chart says it all...

Anyway yesterday morning we headed over grabbed our bibs and went for a good :30 min warm up ride before the 9:00a start of the race. I felt a bit out of place on my TT bike but since I sold my road bike it was my TT or my single speed.. TT it is. Eric and Kyle both went before me though I was the 1st girl to start and the 8th person. I had no expectations since I have never ridden or even seen the hill I just knew that some of the steepest parts were at the end.

I started up the hill and immediately I was in zone 5 (188 bpm for me) . Since it is steep enough to stand up most of the way I just did a funny game of just 5 rotations standing 5 sitting to mix up the muscle groups. Since I had no idea of what the hill did I just watched my heart-rate and milage and tried to keep breathing. I had to take my inhaler about half way which was hard since I was weesing so bad at that part but luckily it helped and I just kept going up.



I was expecting to get passed but I got passed right away by the guy who started :30 seconds behind me.. Then later by a girl who started a minute (who swims at the same masters group though in a different lane). Before the end I got passed by a couple of other guys.. I just focused on my time and my heart rate and just kept going.



In the end I wound up finishing in 17:44 which got be 91st place overall (out of 106) and 5 out of 5 women.. A bit shocked only 5 women started... but hey I was the only crazy person who did it on a tri bike (that I saw) and I still beat about 20 guys. I will defiantly be adding this hill to may training for Ironman CDA 2011 because it felt like a longer version of some of the main climbs on the bike course and I will do the race again next year but on a road bike...

Carnation TT long course

I decided to do my first time trial - the Carnation long course time trial. The course is pretty flat or slightly rolling with a lot of false flats so it was the perfect opportunity to get some more aero training in while also practicing race pacing and mental strategy.

It was a gorgeous morning - okay maybe a bit warm but not to bad. I warmed up with a 10 min run and the a 10 min spin. I did not bother with the trainer because it just seemed like a hassle when there was plenty of road to ride on.

There were not a ton of girls but I was the only one to register on the day of race so I was the last person out of the start - it was actually a huge comfort to know the sweeper car was right behind me. I knew my race plan but was still a little nervous about getting out there. It was also a comfort that I knew everyone running the start - the guys from Speedy Reedy and Kainoa.
I started at 9:03:30 on the dot. I tried to go easy the first 10 miles or so - which for me means keeping my heart rate under 170 bpm while I kept my cadence up around 90+. It was hard not to overdue it but I knew it would pay off later. Since it was so warm I made sure to take a sip off my aero bottle every couple of minutes - I was sweeting like crazy caught myself wishing there was an aid station with ice cold water to pour on my head.
I was kind of surprised that I was able to keep my speed but between 18 and 21mph but it just made it more fun. I stayed focused and positive the entire race. I only looked at my speed and cadence and nothing else. Just kept after it and did not give up.
With in the last 5k I saw a girl in front of me so it was the perfect motivation to pick up the pace and catch/pass her. I passed her at about 1k to go and was able to pull out a little sprint to finish strong.

In the end the other girls/women kicked my ass but saying that I think I was one of 2 that were not on a team so they should kick my ass. No matter what I am ecstatic with how I did - I accomplished all of my goals for the day and gave myself a huge confidence boost going into Vineman 70.3 next weekend.

Official time 1:18:09 for approximately 46k (28.5 miles) :)