Issaquah Sprint 2006 Race Report

Nutrition

Pre race: 1 pop tart (brown sugar cinnamon: 210 cal, 34g carbs), diet coke, 3 endurolytes

Double tall non fat caramel macchiato, 260 cal, on the way to the race

Race ½ small water bottle carbo pro mix (100 cal) drank this in the bike.

I carried a gu packet …just in case, on the run

Morning I woke up at 4:30 to get ready to leave for the race . Everything was organized and ready to go the evening before but with Stephen racing too, I knew we would need some extra time making sure we had everything and everyone ready to go by 5:00. We arrived at the race site at 5:45. The entire drive there I listened to my MP3 player and visualized my whole race over and over. It was still pretty quiet when we arrived. We unloaded the bikes and I headed over to the transition area. I ran into Tom price and Cynthia Krass and we all chatted for a bit, it was nice to see them. Then it was time to get ready for the race.

I set up my transition area pretty quickly then took off for a quick ride. Everything was OK, no brakes rubbing, bike was good to go I headed back to the transition and then went out for a jog with Jo Ann. I think this is one of the most important things you can do before a sprint race…warm up.. Go for a good jog and get a sweat going, activate those muscles.

6:30AM I put on my wetsuit and headed down to the swim start. I was just going to swim out to the first buoy but once I was out there I decided to swim the whole course. I was really glad I did this. It gave me a great warm up.

SWIM My swim was pretty good The only contact I had was half way to the first buoy when someone kicked me in the face and my goggles came off. I did think about just pulling them off and swimming without them but decided in that split second that this would not be a good thing to test out in the race. So I stopped and readjusted and off I went. I really like the Helix wetsuit... I feel like I'm so much higher on the water, and my arms feel so much more free than in my prior wetsuit. Running from the water to transition, I was surprised how good I felt. 9:13

T1 I am still getting use to my new blue seventy wetsuit in transition. I keep forgetting that it zips up, when for 5 years I have been zipping down! I struggled a bit with this while running, but managed to get it off fairly quickly and lost no time. As I exited transition there were two other PSCT athletes right in front of me; Josh and Jennifer. As I ran out of transition Mike yelled to me that the lead girl was 1:30 in front of me. 1:02

BIKE I knew heading out on the bike that it was probably Cynthia ahead of me…could I catch her? I decided to stick with my plan and if I did then it would come down to the run, which is what I had already expected. The ride at Issaquah is a constant grade as you are heading out to the turn around. I have ridden this many times and had broken the ride up into segments and knew how I was going to attack each section. I was going to ride more aggressively on the hills this time. I had ½ a bottle of water with carbo pro on the bike. This was the 100 calories which I knew I was going to need to get me through the run, so I made sure I go that in. I passed Cynthia about 2 miles out from transition. I still didn’t know if there was someone ahead of her. I hadn’t seen anyone but thought maybe I missed someone. After I passed Cynthia I started thinking about the run. I was mentally preparing myself for a tough one. Mike had sent me an e-mail the day before joking around telling me I would need to “ RUN FOR MY LIFE” if I came off the bike in first…now I realized that was exactly what it was going to be ..I knew this would hurt! 37:52 22.98mph

T2 As I came into T2 someone yelled “You’re the first female!”…ugh…I knew Cynthia was right on my heels and I knew what a tough competitor she is. As I ran in to rack my bike there was a gal who’s bike was next to mine who was just getting ready to head out for her ride. She was standing in the aisle. This slowed me down a bit but not much…helmet off, shoes off, shoes on, grab the gu and away I went! …Cynthia was now about 10 yards in front of me; she had a great transition and passed me. Here we go!!!! 0:56

Run (I had a flash back to this same race 2 years ago as I came out of transition. I could see the leaders heading out of transition as I pulled in. There were 4 girls ahead of me. When I started running I honestly did not believe I could run with them. I was full of self doubt and just let them go. I have never forgotten that. Afterward, I was so disappointed in myself for giving up and not even trying to go after them. I promised myself never to let that happen again. The race is not over until it is over…until you cross that finish line you never know what is going to happen so never give up.) The first mile was tough. Cynthia was holding a pretty good pace. I decided my strategy would be to hold her right there in front of me, about 8-10yds …let her dictate the pace and see what she had. I knew this was a gamble because there were probably girls coming close behind, but I felt good enough that if I had to I could have picked up the pace a bit. I tried to focus on my form and cadence but this was hard. I don’t care for the run on this course. The ground is so uneven it is really hard to get a rhythm going. You are running on grass through most of the trails so it is hard to see where the holes are.. I notice I am much more tense than usual on this course as I am constantly worried about twisting an ankle.

Cynthia was running really well. As the race went on I knew that it was going to be a sprint to the finish…she is tough and would not give up. SO when would I make a move? That was the big question. I have made the mistake of doing this too early, not a good thing especially when racing someone as experienced at as Cynthia is. I knew that when we came out of the woods, before the last turn to the finish, that it would be about 400 yards to the finish. I decided this is where I would start the attack. SO we come out of the woods and as she made the turn I picked up the pace. I decided to get right up next to her and see how she would respond…I was hoping she would just stay with me and we can run a at this pace for a bit ( I didn’t; want to do a 400 yard sprint!)…NO, she speeds up…UGH! .OK another gear. I was still OK….as we got to the end of the parking lot…I decided to pick it up…she comes with me …DANG! We are side by side almost touching…Now it’s started; there is no going back. No way out, I am going to have to sprint the next 200 yards with her right there, side-by-side.

Our breathing was quite labored. I was glad to hear she was struggling too! It was obvious she was not giving up. As we came around the corner I had all these thoughts racing though my mind, “Remember the Vo2 intervals… you know how long you can hold this….It’s not over until you cross that finish,….You have earned this….go go. …You want this… You can do this.” I don’t know how close we were to the finish, but it was very close when I knew this was it! I had to give one more push.. everything that was left. So I accelerated 1 last time with everything I had, and that was it. I crossed the line just a half second ahead of her. 24:30, 7:00 pace

This was the most fun I have ever had in a race…I felt like a kid racing on the playground… running as hard as you possibly can. How often do you get to do that as an adult? Cynthia put up a good fight as I expected she would. She didn’t let me down. She is someone I have admired and looked up to over the years, so to finish like that with her was a real thrill.

I had a really nice time after the race, seeing so many familiar faces, and meeting others whom I had only heard about, or had only communicated with via email. My daughter, Candace, was a volunteer on the bike course for the third year in a row. My son Stephen participated in the kid's race, after moving up into the 10-12 division this year. He had a great race, finishing second place. After my race, we were talking about the sprint finish, and he said to me, "Mom, I didn't know that you could run fast like that!"

This website is dedicated to the sport of triathlon, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Jill Fry is a triathlon coach and an athlete who competes in triathlons ranging from Sprint Distance to Ironman. Jill and many of her athletes and friends have also formed a team, Team JFT². Information on Jill's coaching services can be found under Coaching Services & Info. On this site you will also find a large number of personal race reports, as well as event reports, with many event-specific photos.