Pictured to the left are first time Olympic triathletes Nancy Gibson, Su Chang, Kathy Watson, Wendy Kahn and Sandra Brodsky.
Sandra Brodsky
I enjoyed reading everyone's log. Hope you all don't have this happen to you all. Saturday I got everything ready for the race. I laid my stuff out except I got too tired to check my tires.
We had company over and they left later than I thought. I got ready for bed and was in by 11pm. I set my alarm and when it went off. I woke up I felt so groggy. My eyes felt swollen and I could not believe how hot our house was. I got dressed and thought about wearing my sweats but I left them off. I went to eat breakfast. But everything sounded like yuk. I wrapped two hard boiled eggs and took my SE out. I had everything in front of the house ready to go Nancy came and suggested bananas. I grabbed two. I also had a cup of chain tea. I was having trouble eating. I kept thinking am I having hot flashes. Just my luck.
We loaded the car up. We got there in no time. Nancy and I talked about Italy all the way there. I was feeling bloated and needed the bathroom, quick, when we got there. I started to unload my stuff and we started over to the race site.. My eyes felt swollen but I thought I just must have eaten something bad last night.
My stomach was crying to me again. We had not even gotten to pick our registration up. I thought “Is this nerves? What is going on with me?”
I saw everyone said Hi. Started to set up and needed the bathroom again. Oh great I thought I am going to at least not have to worry about the bathroom . I will be empty by then.
I went for a run with Nancy and on the way back hit the bathroom. We looked at the lake and bathroom again. I was starting to the lake and saw some one I new.I wished them well.. I missed the whole introduction. .
I saw Jill and Joan. I spoke to both and then there were pictures. We were waiting for our wave. And I thought oh. I am getting so hot. This sun is really making me hot. I wanted to take my wet suit off. Then it was our turn.
I got in the water and I thought this is not cold. This is like bath water. What was every one warning us about. I got ready and we started off. I made it past the first buoy with everyone and I was headed to the next buoy. My arms felt like lead. I thought this water is so warm, it is not the cold.
I must be out of fuel with all the bathroom stuff. I had tucked a gel in my wet suit, thinking I might need it with all my am problems. But I felt a little queasy. Everyone was passing me at this point. Danielle was with me still and I thought there were a few others. I made it to the last part and could barely stand on my legs. I was trying to get my composure. Then I saw Jill's husband he smiled at me and I felt like my eyes were spinning in my head. I headed to my bike and managed to get it down and start getting dressed. I really don't remember taking my wet suit off. I felt wobbly and stood and looked around. There was no one left. I left the area and I heard them announce some of the winners of the sprint.. I said yeah. Then I saw a whole group running and I thought oh my gosh they are all back already from riding.
I followed the signs with no sign of any one. Then I got my motorcycle escort. I thought I need to pick up the pace. My legs started to ache and I felt like I had on the ride Jill had told me about needing energy. I took out a gel and ate it. I thought great. I hope this stays in me. It did then I ate a small protein bar. Good it stayed in. I picked up speed in about 15 minutes and I was on my way. Thank you, Jill, for suggesting to put extra food on my bike. Just in case.
People, I see people riding. Yeah. I saw Danielle and Jessica on the side of the road and asked if they needed help. They said no were fine. They were almost back on their bikes. I kept having problems with my gears, but I did not know what was happening. Lesson for me always try my bike before a race. The chain must have gotten loose while it was on the back of Nancy's car. It kept making noises.
But I was riding okay. Not my greatest. I thought maybe I needed more energy so I ate some shot blocks. I was ecstatic! It stayed in me.. I kept seeing people going the other way and they kept telling me good job. I had to laugh at myself. I almost pulled out of the race if I had not seen everyone and if my legs did not stop hurting. The motorcycle police kept coming up behind me so I knew I was going the right direction.
These mice kept singing in my head. "WE can do it" Why are there little mice singing in my head? This has never happened. I can always switch to adult music. They sounded so weird. Where had I heard this before? Then I started to laugh and sing more of the song. It was Cinderella and her mice. Telling me they could do it. My kids have it in the car. I must listen to it ever day. Probably 10 times a day. Thank you mice for being there. I needed to not feel alone on this bike.
Everyone was so far ahead of me. Then I got to a certain spot and my gears were giving me problems. Ooops it fell off. My chain. I hopped down and put it back on immediately. My gears moved so much easier. It was not my legs at that point but my chain. Then I took off. I got to the top of a hill and I asked a group, “How much further?” She told me and I said thank you.
I got back to the transition area and my stuff was sitting alone with a bike on top of it. “Oh my gosh”, I said. The guy next to me his bike kept falling on me while I was setting up and we had switched places but he forgot and put it where it fell. Thank goodness for my kickstand. I set my bike up and had to put his back. I squished my finger doing it and I proceeded to take care of my bike and get changed. I was feeling better, but when I put my shoes on. Yikes my feet hurt.
I ran out and Jill ran in. My feet felt horrible. What happened? Now I know my shoes were too tight. The cords must have gotten tighter when I carried my shoes in. Mental note: need new shoe laces. I ran and saw everyone headed home. I wanted to ask how much further than I saw all the signs.
Julie came up behind me and I had to ask her about all the bags. She made me laugh. I needed to laugh after this am. Why was I here? I kept seeing Wendy and then she was next to me. I started talking to her about my mice and she told me her song. Pumped. I liked her song better. We talked the whole rest of the way. My feet were killing me. I asked about toe nails. Mine felt like they were bleeding.
We got half way and I could hear the music. We are half way there.
Then we got a little faster. We were almost at the end and we both
said “Go”. We ran to the end.
Yaaaahooo!!! I was done. Everyone was there. It was so nice to see everyone. I was afraid everyone had left. I kept seeing people leaving.
I hated my swim and I did not realize how sick I was until the next day Eliza got sick and laid on the couch with a fever and stomach ache. Then I remembered the little girl I watched during the week. She was sick the next day and when I put her in her seat she coughed in my face.
I felt so much better at the end of the race. I could not believe how horrible I felt that am. Nancy, thank you for carpooling. What a great parking spot. I felt great driving home but in the early am I do not think I would have driven myself to the race. I felt so groggy and swollen.
I had a great time seeing everyone there and it really made it worth while. I will do more races I just need to figure out what will work in my schedule. It was an amazing feeling seeing everyone there.
-Sandra
Kathy Watson: My race report for Cascade's Edge OLY triathlon
My time goals I had set were:
swim: 30 minutes
bike: 1:35
run: 1:05
Transitions... 4 minutes for swim -> bike. 2 minutes for bike -> run.
(even though my individual time goals come out to 3:16, my overall time goal was to just finish in under 3:30. I set it like that so if I did finish past 3:16 then I'd at least feel like I finished under my overall time goal).
Saturday evening:
I got all my gear ready. Put my bike in my car, and all my gear in my car, except for what I was going to wear, and my water bottles. I filled my bottles up with just water and let them chill in the fridge over night. Went to bed at 9 PM.
Sunday morning - RACE day: For my pre-race morning meal, one thing I usually do is eat 2 scrambled eggs. But, I decided to do hard boiled eggs instead. So, I hard-boiled these Saturday night. The reason I decided to go with hard-boiled was because I had planned to get to the race site very early (6:30 - 6:40 AM) only because I wanted a good parking spot. My family was coming to watch me race, but they would not arrive till later, so I knew they'd have to park a ways away. So, I told my husband during my bike portion, that he and the kids (ages 3 & 5) could just go hang out in my car and watch movies to keep them entertained. This is the only reason I got up so early, so I could get a prime parking spot inside the park. And, so I would have to leave my house by 5:30 AM. I knew I would not start the race until 9:00 or later, so I wanted to eat my pre-race meal around 6 AM’ish. This is why I did hard-boiled eggs.) I woke up at 5 AM.
nutrition: filled one water bottle (for my bike) with 1 scoop of perpetuem, along with one scoop of HEED. (mixed). I also put a couple scoops of endurolyte powder in the bottle. I had one bottle of clear water (added endurolyte powder to that, too). (this is what I normally use for my longer bike rides). I then put 3/4 scoop of HEED in one of my fuel belt bottles, and the other fuel belt bottle was just plain clear water. I also put 2 scoops of HEED in another water bottle to sip on about an hour before the race.
I grabbed my 2 hard boiled eggs. I made myself a peanut butter sandwich (I used Adams peanut butter). And, I was off...
As I was driving to the race site, I ate my hard boiled eggs, and 1/2 of my peanut butter sandwich. I intended to eat the whole sandwich, but I felt so full I could not eat any more. I also was drinking plain water. (I drank a lot of plain water on Saturday to make sure I was hydrated well for Sunday).
arrived at race site: I arrived to the race site about 6:30 AM. I got a primo spot in the park parking lot... right by the port-a-potties!! haha. But, I chose that spot since it was so close to the transition area... a good place for my husband and kids to hang out and watch the cyclists come in while I was on my bike.
I got my race packet. Got to the transition area, and saw Su. She was jumping around with lots of energy! Winking smiley emoticon I felt calm, but I thought it was weird that I was calm. I had expected to feel nervous.
I got my transition spot set up as best I could. Visited the "ladies room" a couple times before I put my wet suit on. Then, I got my wet suit on and it was time to acclimate to the water. Su and I were up at Nolte State Park the weekend before, and the water felt like ice! But, today on race day, the water felt about the same as Lake Sammamish. I'm not sure if it was anxiety or nerves that made me not notice the cold, or if the lake did heat up in 1 week. Whatever it was, I was happy it wasn't ice cold! We acclimated to the water and this went well. I was already feeling great about my swim!
Got out of the water, and waited for the race start. (I also sprayed PAM cooking spray just around my ankles and my wrists to help get my wet suit off easily... this is what I've used in the past and it's always worked great for me.)
I made a plan in my head of how I was going to swim the course by looking at the course. The course looked really easy to swim, actually (in terms of not getting disoriented or turned around). 5 minutes before the race started, I realized I had to PEE! shoot! I am not one to "relieve myself" in my wet suit or bike or run... and I knew I could either run to the port-a-potty and possibly miss my swim start, or I could just hold it. I decided it was probably just nerves and I decided to ignore it.
Swim: The swim started, and I was off. I felt great from the beginning... I was literally sandwiched in between these 2 women who were swimming the exact same speed as me. There was someone right in front of me, and so I felt totally locked in like I couldn't just sprint in front of these women. I felt like I was in the middle of a school of fish. But, I still felt good and strong. At least everyone was swimming my speed. I made it around the first turn at the second buoy, and everyone seemed to thin out. So, I didn't feel sandwiched in any longer. I really swam good and strong.
My sighting was right on. I swam straight, and I felt good... I still had to pee, though! Oh well... I just tried to get it out of my mind. I made the second loop, still feeling great. When I made the final turn to head back to shore, I started thinking about my transition, and my bike... I was changing gears in my head to get ready for the rest of the race. I ran out of the water, and I looked at my watch. My watch said I swam in 31 minutes, but my official time was 32. Not sure what happened. I expected to swim in 30. I was happy, though. I felt great.
TI:Ran to TI and I took a little extra time than normal. If it were a sprint, I would have just blasted through the transition. But, this is my first OLY and I didn't want to make a mistake and not be comfortable for my 25 mile bike. I took time to wipe my feet off well, and I wiped off my face with a towel. My wet suit came off real easily (took the top part off as I was running to TI). I put on my socks and cycling shoes, and I ran out of TI.
TI time: 3:53. What I had expected.
Bike:I felt great on my bike from the beginning. I didn't feel cold. I did take a little bit to get my legs going strong, but I think only 5 minutes or less. I passed a few people, and this made me feel good! The first part of the race (before you hit the first intersection), I was maintaining about 16MPH. I think there were head winds, because I really felt I should be going faster, but according to my HR and just how I felt, I knew I was going strong. I remember looking at the bushes to see if the wind was blowing them, and it was hard to tell... but I do think there was some head winds. I made it to the first intersection, and my speed picked up to my normal speeds. I was doing 21 - 23 MPH on the flats, and depending on the degree of up hill, anywhere from 12 - 14 MPH. By the time I got to the last part of the bike, the last 5 or 6 miles, there was this girl who I kept passing, and then she'd pass me, and so on. I was a stronger hill climber than her, and when we got to one of the bigger hills in the final 5 miles of bike, I decided I was going to pass this girl and pass her for good and I decided I was going to stay in front of her till the end of the bike. We got to the bottom of the hill, and
I kept my momentum, and I didn't change gears. I stayed in my big chain ring, and got my butt out of that saddle, and I FLEW by her up hill while still in my big gears. I was pretty excited I did that. I felt awesome! I never saw her again until about mile 2 of the run, when she passed me one final time! Winking smiley emoticon I made to the finish of the bike and I felt awesome, and I thought I had finished the bike in 1:30, but my official time was: 1:26:30. I was pretty excited about my official time. That is about 17.5 MPH av. speed.
While on my bike, I made a point to drink my perpetuem/HEED mixture... at least 3/4 of the bottle and get enough plain water in me so I'd have energy for the run. But, I didn't realize this until the race was over and I opened my bottles, but I only drank 1/2 of my perpetuem/HEED mixture... this might explain partly of what is coming up next for my run portion...
T2: Got to T2. My time was 2:04 for T2. About what I had planned. I have speed laces, so these helped make things faster. I decided to wear my fuel belt. Since I'm training for my 1/2 IM, and this is a B race, I decided to do things very similar to how I'll do them at the I/2 IM. This is why I wore my fuel belt.
run: I was off. I could have sworn somebody attached 25 lbs. weights to each of my legs!! I felt like I could barely move them. And, it was really hard (mentally) to run out of the park and see all these racers coming in for their final mile. I remember wishing so bad I could just change spots with one of those people!!!! But, I still had 6 miles to go. My feet were NUMB! I had expected that because of what Jill said from the lake being so cold. That was a weird feeling to run on numb feet. Somewhere close to mile 1 or shortly after, I saw Jill heading back to finish her last 2 miles. She cheered me on. That was encouraging. But, I still felt so "heavy" from my bike, so I wasn't feeling that strong when I saw her. I kept on running, and I had really planned to run close to a 10 minute mile, but I knew I was not running that fast. I was starting to get discouraged.
I need to work on mental strength!! I kept trying to snap out of the discouragement, and I would, but then I'd slip back into that discouraged mental state. Finally, I came to the first water stop. I didn't need water since I had my fuel belt. I was taking sips of my HEED and clear water about every 7 - 8 minutes... just tiny sips. After the water stop, my feet started getting feeling back, and I realized I had a pebble in my shoe!!
At first I decided to ignore it and just deal with it. But, I couldn't ignore it. It was right in the ball of my foot. So, I had to stop and take my shoe off and shake out the pebble. Thank goodness for speed laces!! This took all of about 20 seconds, I think. I made it to the first
turn-a-round (mile 3), and I saw Su coming!! I was very impressed. I knew I would be out of the water before her, and I knew I got off the bike before her. So, she was running fast and strong to have caught up with me!! I was SOOO proud of her! It was awesome to cheer each other on, and that gave me a little boost of energy!
At about mile 3 of the run, I started to feel really hungry!! My stomach was actually growling!! Oh no!! I actually started thinking about food..not good. I knew at this point that something was wrong in my nutrition to feel hungry by this point. I'm not sure if it was that I didn't drink enough of my energy drink on the bike, or if I made an error somewhere else. I started to really lose energy by this point in time, and when I lost energy, I lost more mental strength. I saw more PSCT members, and that was SO encouraging. Every time I saw another PSCT uniform, I felt a sudden burst of energy. I love that!
When I hit mile 4, I don't know what happened, but I suddenly felt like I was running great and strong. I picked up my pace. I do not know where that energy came from. Then, I made it to the start of the trail around the lake. I knew to try to push it on this trail because it was the final mile. I was trying to run strong. And, THEN I saw the signs for the sprint race... the mile markers for the sprinters. And, my brain was not processing things right, obviously, because when I came to the sign that said, "sprinters 5K, 2 miles", I thought that meant I HAD 2 more miles to go. (my brain was running on fumes by this point in time, so this is why I got it mixed up in my head). When I THOUGHT I had 2 more miles to go (even though it made no sense to me because I had seen the mile 4 sign a ways back, but my brain was telling me 2 more miles), I just lost energy suddenly. I was trying everything to tell myself there is only 1 mile to go, but that message wasn't sticking in my brain. So I reluctantly slowed down. I felt discouraged again. Then, I came up to this big hill at about 1/2 mile to go, and I knew that would zap even more of my "fumes" I was just running on. I did NOT want to do this, but I made it half way up that hill, and I had to walk up the rest. I could not believe I stopped to walk up that hill with only 1/2 mile to go!! (this was another sign I had lost so much mental strength). When I knew I was close to the finish, I just took everything I had and tried to run strong. I did not feel strong, though. I finally saw the finish, and I remember thinking, "Thank you GOD!" haha. And, I ran through the finish. I was SO glad to see the finish, and it 
was SOOO cool to see people I actually KNEW cheering me on!!
How fun!
It was so awesome to have my kids run up to me and tell me how proud they were of me. My 5 year old asked me when he can do his first triathlon!!
My run time was 1:10:44... over an 11 minute mile pace. MUCH MUCH MUCH slower than I had wanted, and much slower than I have been training at, and I was really disappointed with this time. But, this also was my first EVER 10K race to run, so I was proud of myself for just running it!
My overall time was: 3:15:22. I was very happy with my overall time.
What I need to really work on for my next race:-nutrition. I need to figure out what went wrong.. I have a 1/2 IM to on Aug. 6, and I cannot be burning out by mile 3 of the run!-mental strength, especially for the run... I need to know how to convince my brain that I LOVE to run, and I FEEL great.. and I need to know how to get those little discouraging thoughts to just LEAVE my head! I can do this on my bike, but I have a hard time with this on my run. -speed up my transitions a little more, but not much.-running all together. I need to work on all aspects of my running...distance, endurance, speed...
What I felt great about: everything but my run. I was feeling on top of the world up to when I got off my bike. I also just felt SO great that I did my first Olympic!! Last year I never would have dreamt I'd do an Olympic race, and now I've done one and am heading to my first 1/2 IM in 5 weeks!!
Jessican Zahn's Race Report can be found here
Su Chang: Cascade’s Edge Race Report
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Olympic: Swim 1.5 km, Bike 40 km, Run 10 km
Main goal: To finish feeling strong, ie finish feeling like I could’ve done more. This was important to me because my main race is the ½ IM.
Time goals:
Swim: 40 min
Bike: 1:30
Run: 10 min/mile
Total transition time: 5 min
Overall time: 3:15
I woke up at 5 am. For breakfast, I had 2 slices of toast with soy nut butter and jam, 2 scrambled eggs, and coffee. I got to the race site just before 7 am and managed to park inside the park. Before leaving parking lot, I gulped down some water (probably 8 oz or so).
I was the first one to get to my bike rack so I was able to get the end spot on the rack. I took my time setting up. I sipped on a bottle of SE while setting up. I was in the water at 8:30 to acclimate to the water. I felt pretty good with the water warm up. The water didn’t feel much colder than Lake Sammamish. I felt comfortable. No feelings of panic. No hyperventilating. I got out of the water at 8:45. I went back to transition area and took 2 Enduralytes, then went back to the beach to wait for my wave start.
My wave was the last to go out. I went out with the mass of swimmers. I didn’t wait until people went. I didn’t get kicked and nobody swam over me this time. Whew! I felt very good during the first lap of the swim. I had no problems with sighting. I felt strong and I felt like I was going fast. In fact, at a couple of the buoys, I literally bumped right up against the buoy. I didn’t sight too often because I was going very straight and the buoys were so visible (they were HUGE). When I bumped right up against the buoys, I remember thinking: wow, I’m here already. However, I got into trouble on the second lap. I got completed disoriented with the buoys. I missed a buoy (#2) at the far end and started to head for #3 until a kayaker thumped his paddle in the water (very close to my head!) to get my attention. I had to backtrack and correct course once I figured out which buoy I was supposed to go to. I lost my rhythm but I didn’t panic at all. I just continued swimming and picked up my rhythm again. I’m not sure how much time I lost. Shortly after getting back on course again, my stomach started to REALLY hurt. I had gulped down some water so I thought maybe that was it. My stomach felt bloated and very gaseous. At one point, I slowed down my swim so I could burp! But, I was very thrilled to get out of the water ahead of my target time despite getting disoriented and having to back track.
Time was 37:32, pace 2:17/100 yards. This was my fastest swim even though I lost time due to being disoriented.
I transitioned as fast as I could. I did take the time to put on my cycling gloves. I’ve never ridden without them so I didn’t want to try riding without them on race day. I felt pretty good on my bike. I used the woman in front of me to keep up my pace. She was also in my age group. We kept passing each other. I would pass her on the up, she would pass me on the down. On the down hill, I was on my highest gear and I was pedaling as hard as I could but she still passed me. She’s probably 25-30 lbs heavier so that might be why she’s faster on the down. For the first 30 min, we just kept passing each other. Then, Jo Ann Sittig blew by me on the bike. I decided to try to keep her in sight. So, I put the hammer down and passed the woman in front me while going up hill and just kept pushing really hard. I left her in the dust. She never passed me again. I eventually lost sight of Jo Ann. She was just way too fast. But, I did my best to keep pushing. I definitely need to get a bike computer. I think that will help me keep pushing hard on the bike. It’s too easy for me to relax on the bike. Time was 1:27:58 for an average of 16.95 mph. I was pretty pleased. I drank 1 bottle of Heed+SE(1scoop) on the bike. My HR on the bike was in the low to mid 160s which is a good push for me.
The run was very hard. My stomach was still very upset. It was more aggravated by the run than on the bike. I pushed as hard as I could but my legs felt very heavy. It was hard to run at my target HR. For the first mile or so, my HR was in the high 150s which is low. I wanted it to be in the high 160s to low 170s. I just could not get my legs to move. The gravel part of the run was hard on my knees. But I kept pushing. There were several times during the first 3 – 4 miles where I just wanted to stop and walk. I had many mental battles with myself to keep pushing and to keep my legs moving. My stomach was hurting quite a bit. My knee was sore. But, I refused to stop. I remember decreasing my stride so that I can increase my cadence. This helped a lot to keep me moving. I couldn’t lift my legs. I felt like I was taking baby steps. By mile 4, I felt normal again. It took a while. I felt the strongest during the last mile of my run. I finally felt like I was running normally. I’m not sure why it took so long. The last mile, I was finally able to get my HR into the low 170s. I didn’t feel like I was able to do that “all out push” that Jill told us to do. I tried to get my HR into the high 170s but I couldn’t get my legs moving. Time was 59:51 for a pace of 9:38 min/mile. I was surprised at my pace. I was hoping for a 10 min/mile pace which I clearly exceeded. After the race, I thought I could’ve run faster so I was disappointed that I couldn’t run in my target HR zone. But then, when I saw my result and saw that I ran a 9:38 pace, I was very happy. I can’t believe that was my pace after a 25 mile bike ride! I guess I ran faster than I felt.
Overall time was 3:10:05. So, I exceeded all my time goals in all three.
I’m very happy with my results. Except for the stomach pain throughout the whole race, I felt great. When I started the triathlon season this year, my goal was to do an Olympic by the end of the triathlon season. I’m very pleased that I was able to do that at the beginning of the season.
I definitely felt strong at the end of each segment. Although I was very happy to be out of the water, I felt that I could’ve continued swimming. I wasn’t fatigued. I was still going fast and strong. I felt strong after the bike as well. I remember thinking that the bike felt short, actually. I initially had trouble at the start of the run. Although I exceeded my pace, I felt that I probably pushed a little too hard on the bike. My legs just felt really heavy. With my HR in the high 150s, I was no where near my target zone of high 160s to low 170s. It took me 4 miles to get into that zone which seemed like a really long time to me. Of course, the 1 mile of running on gravel and dodging potholes didn’t help. That was pretty hard on my knees. But, when I crossed the finish line, I definitely felt like I could’ve continued running longer. So, overall, I feel like I definitely met my main goal of finishing feeling strong and feeling like I could’ve done more. Meeting my time goals was an added bonus! :-)
I got my race day nutrition wrong. I’ll be spending some time learning about proper nutrition and trying various things out in training. I hope to do better with my nutrition for my next race.
