I don’t know what happened. Honestly.
Chicken Face and I arrived at the start at 6:30 a.m. (which felt like 5:30 – thanks for nothing daylight savings time), and once I took a quick look around, my gut started to sink. Fast-looking bikes. Aero helmets. Disc wheels. Oh man, was I in over my head?
I took a look around and tried to copy as many people as I could: this is how you hang your bike up, this is where you put your helmet, this is how you lay out your stuff. My measly pile of gloves, shoes and a water bottle looked pathetic next to everyone else who had towels laid out (wait, I thought there wasn’t a swim?) and boat loads of unnecessary crap. People were warming up around the lot and exuding some serious parking lot intimidation.
I used my old bike for the race – my new baby and I still need to get better acquainted.
Once 7:30 rolled around I toed the start line, which was actually just a road hump, with the following strategy in mind (thanks, Coach Paul):
First Run (10k): Pace myself somewhere between a 10k and half marathon pace, but DO NOT go my full 10k pace or I’d surely blow up. Fueling should consist of one gel half way through the race.
Bike (40k): Give it my all. Given that this is my first bike race, Coach Paul said to just lay it all on the line to see how I feel. However, I was admonished to NOT go over heart rate zone 4 or that too would result in blowing up on the last run. Fueling should consist of hydration and 200 calories.
Last Run (5k): I obviously would not be able to go my regular 10k pace, but give it a good effort. No fueling should be needed.
Once the announcer said, “Oh, um, GO!” I found my spot in the pack with two other females ahead of me. I kept looking at my watch and thinking, “Oh god, I’m going too fast.” But the funny thing was, I felt slow and in control. Were the stars aligning? When the mile marker passed and all of our watches went off I told the other women, “Well, at least all of our watches are in sync.” They didn’t comment back. Ok then, never mind.
The 10k was two loops and I felt solid, fast, easy and strong. Chicken Face cheered me on as I entered the transition and he starting shouting at me, “Shoes first, gloves last!” I smiled, heeded his advice and starting yelling, “I have no idea how to transition!” Lets just say that my transitions need some serious work as all of the women zoomed past me.
The 40k ride consisted of five, yes five, loops. Each loop included a killer hill climb that I saw some people walking their bikes on, but I vowed never to dismount. The five loops wasn’t ideal, but I did get to see Chicken Face multiple times and shout out to him, smile for the camera, and get that extra boost of confidence.
Don’t worry, I know my outfit is super sexy and oh-so-official. Pink compression socks, orange arm warmers, and a pirate jersey that is far too short for my torso.
Throughout the entire ride, I never looked at my watch (I don’t know why) nor did I know what speed I was going. I just rode. I also tried to drink my prescribed 200 calories worth of hydration, but unfortunately, grabbing the water bottle isn’t my strong suit and I opted for 200 calories worth of my back-up: margarita flavored ClifBloks.
Despite the screeching noise my bike was making (which I chose to ignore), the entire ride was pretty seamless. Well, that is until I took a turn to sharp and started to veer off the road.
“SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!”
Instead of completely crashing, I spared my life and took out a cone instead, immediately clipping out.
“Well, that was embarrassing,” I thought. Then I went on my merry way.
As I made my way back into the final transition, Chicken Face was there to greet me (well, outside of the fence) and once again, I continued to loathe my transition skills and having to untie and tie back up my shoes. My heart rate monitor hadn’t stayed in place the entire ride and finally I shouted, “This thing is annoying as shit!” (Yes, I curse a lot). A volunteer was advising me to just forget it and go, but I had to rip it off and throw it in the transition area. I’ve yet to determine if I’ve found it again.
Coach Paul advised taking short steps as I ease into this next run, so I did just that. Naturally, my legs felt like Jell-O, but I just stayed calm and ran where my body felt comfortable. When I looked down at my watch, once again I thought, “What the hell?!”
As we entered the last stretch, my shoe came untied and there was no way that I was going to stop and fix it. I just hustled in and strangely, felt absolutely amazing.
Official Time: 2:31:29
1st in my age group, 5th female overall (out of 124 females)
Who is this person and what have you done with Page? Here’s how the splits broke down:
10k: 43:53 / 7:03 avg. pace (3rd female)
T1: 1:38
25k: 1:22:35 / 18.05 mph (11th female)
T2: 1:43
5k: 21:38 / 6:57 avg. pace (1st female)
While it was a small race, I still came away shocked. I was so incredibly nervous, but like Coach Paul said, I just need to trust in my training. I’m excited to see what the rest of this year will bring.
Happy Running!
DUDE!! Seriously!!!??? AMAZING!! Congrats!!!!
What an AMAZING performance and recap! Congratulations!!!
Holy crap, girl, you SMOKED it! Huge congrats!!! Killer runs + bikes. Can’t wait to see what you can do with more practice.
Whoa, congrats on the nice race! It’s always a great feeling when training pays off. I can’t wait to see where the next few months bring you. Amazing!
Congratulations! You rocked it!
Wooo Hoooo!!!!! You did fantastic!!!!! Go, Page!
that strong finish is SO FUCKING AWESOME!! Pardon the language, but Page, this is a HUGE performance for a flipping tri debut. Wowowowowowowwowowowowow! 1st place age group! wowowowowwowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. You worked hard for it, I’m so happy your training paid off. Stud.
CONGRATS!!! So so happy for you! You are going to CRUSH the Ironman…I just know it. Screw all the haters for mean comments about you already signing up 🙂 this DEFINITELY will show them!
OK, so I may have been stalking the race results this morning, so I may have already known your insanely fast times, and I may have been thinking for quite a while that you’re going to kick ass in triathlons… But I did NOT know that the bike course had a hill where people were walking it, and which you rode FIVE TIMES! WOW! Congratulations on a job well done! To make a pirate pun, you kicked booty!!
Wow, what a performance! First duathlon, and you knock it out of the park! I have no concept of biking times, but if you can run a 7 min pace 10K and it’s not at your full speed you are in phenomenal shape right now. And then to do the same 7 min pace after a 40K bike ride is amazing! If you ran a 10K right now at full blast I bet you would beat your 10K PR.
Congratulations! I’m so happy that you win. You did your best so you deserve to win that race! Keep it up. When is your next race?
Wow Page, Congratulations on the amazing race!
Wow! You. Are. Amazing! Great job! You a;ways amaze me with how fast you are! How do you do it? I want to be like you!
Wow!!!!! Amazing performance. You’re a rock star. Seriously the transitions are the toughest part. Practice, practice, practice. But you’re well on your way. Awesome job!
Congratulation Page! Having spent the weekend taking a bike class, I can understand the nervousness you must’ve felt pre-race. What an incredible confidence booster – I’m so thrilled for you!
You are amazing!! I am so excited for you. Go Page, go!
You freaking rock Page! I hope that was a big confidence booster because it should be! YOU ARE SO FASSSSSSSSSSST! Congrats <3
So awesome!! First place- you are killing your training. Congrats again, you are incredible. 🙂
Holy crap girl! Way to go!!!! Congrats!!!
hahah that last picture is priceless. I was SO clueless when I went to my first triathlon…it was a womens only even so everyone was SUPER nice and I just looked around to see what everyone else was doing…how to rack my bike (my exboyfriend’s mom’s mountain bike, mind you), what to do with my shoes, etc.
Congrats on your finish, that’s incredible!!
congrats!!
Congratulations!
DAAAAAMN GIRL! Congratulations! So I’m not at all surprised that your race went off without just one little cone-hitting hitch, but this must be so reassuring and confidence-boosting for you! You still have so much time before AZ and you’re already out there WINNING SHIT. I swear a lot, too. I am so proud of you and so psyched for you and your very strong showing this weekend. Amazing splits. My hero. And that final photo is GORGEOUS. Congrats, Page, you little red-headed rockstar.
that’s amazing! you did so great!
THose are some awesome times!!!! Nice work
That is freaking awesome!!
You kicked butt woman!
You are awesome! A natural! I swear every time I read pros bios they always say “oh yeah I showed up to my first triathlon and won my age group!” Haha…. maybe you are the next Chrissie Wellington!? 😉 Either way, you are def going to dominate your first Ironman!!! Congrats!
huge congratulations! i can’t say i’m surprised though : ) you’ve been training HARD and this performance shows how incredibly strong you are! keep it up and who knows what you’ll be capable of! unstoppable!!!
Congratulations on the awesome race!
don’t be so shocked that you kicked serious butt! I knew you would do fantastic! 🙂 Congrats on a great race and what a good way to boost your confidence for the next one. 🙂 PS I am so jealous of your bike(SSSSS) It’s pretty much insane.
PAGE! Way to go! You should feel so proud of yourself! I can’t wait to see how else you are going to rock it this year! Great work!
Holy crap you killed it!! Well done girl! Great race report too!
Good job. Don’t waist time beautifying in T1 & T2. Gloves are no no in tri/duat. How did you do in the sun tan division?
I had no idea! Thanks for the tip!
YOU ARE KILLER AWESOME. That is all. What a freaking debut!
You killed it! Way to go!
SO EXCITING!!! Congrats!! how are you liking your Brooks!? I’ve been waiting a review!!!! =))
Thank you and the Brooks are amazing! Thanks for reminding me that I need to post a review 🙂
omg you did awesome! I knew you’d do great! someone told me once that duathlons are ‘runners races’ and you are a kick ass runner. I think you need Yankz laces. I put them on for a tri and never took them off. Why tie your shoes if you have to? 🙂
http://www.swimoutlet.com/ProductBrand.asp?Brand=1540&Click=1719049&gclid=CLS2rabN5K4CFQcFRQodTBjqWw
Isn’t running at the end weird? I always feel like I’m dragging along but I’ve had my fastest runs EVER at the end of a tri. Apparently I should consider warming up before a race it seems… but that would require getting there on time. 🙂
I just ordered some on Monday! Learning so much!
Congrats on a job well done!
Congrats Page!! That’s awesome! You absolutely killed it!!! 18 mph on the bike on a hilly course is SOLID! Definitely glad you got the tip on speed laces….that is huge for transitions. Practice in them though because they feel a little different than regular laces. And I assume you have a tri top and tri shorts for when there is a swim? I got cheap stuff at Sierra Trading Post.com for my first summer of racing. Then you can see what you like without spending too much. Good Luck! Loving following your training!