7/27: Life in the Fast Lane... ITU/Dextro Madrid World Championship Series

Time flies so fast, especially in the summer. It’s been about two months since my last blog, and so much has happened since then that I can’t cover it all - this one covers the first race I did after Columbia.

 

ITU/Dextro Madrid World Championship Series Race (early June). I headed for Madrid on a Wednesday, arriving Thursday morning for my Saturday race, with uneventful travel. I even managed to get a morning nap in the hotel after my overnight flight and got adjusted to Madrid time (6 hours ahead) in the way I intended (which was to only go about halfway – staying up late at night and sleeping ‘til 9am most days, so that I’d only be about 3 hours ahead of home. I planned that out so that it wouldn’t be too much of a sleep adjustment to bounce back from Madrid and race HyVee in Des Moines the following weekend). I think the sleeping patterns may be the only thing I got right for this race! So this is what I learned:

 

1)  Go to more WCS races. This one was my first of the WCS series races and just my third ITU race since my 2008-09 hiatus. It was my best chance to see how much the sport has exploded internationally in the past two years. The start list (75 people) included most of the best in the world, and the quality of competition and depth of field both have increased dramatically. Despite my best efforts to be confident, I found myself intimidated. I need more practice in fields like that, particularly during the violent swims. In this one, I got out too slowly through the first 300m, coming to the first turn buoy with about 40 other swimmers. The result: near drowning! I got pushed under and the swum over with such force that for a moment I thought I might die. I came up coughing and sputtering, literally stopped to tread water, breast-stroked for about 20 meters – and then realized I was dead last of 75 starters. Not a good way to start my race.

2)  Don’t switch things on the bike in the week before the race. I had gotten a new saddle that I was desperate to use but only had a few rides under my belt with it. If I had been honest with myself, I could’ve admitted that the saddle simply wasn’t right for me. David (www.elitebicycles.com) advised me to switch it back, but I really wanted to like it. The team mechanic even warned me that it wasn’t a good idea to change things during race weekend, but I was adamant. I regret it, for sure. I did not ride well!

3)  Don’t change pre-race treatment routine either. One great perk of travelling with the US team for races is that some excellent therapists accompany us on the trips. I was having various minor issues with my back and glutes, partly from trying to force myself to like that saddle, and I ended up getting too much treatment (massage, chiropractic, etc.) in the days preceding the race. I felt flatter than a popped balloon on race day. Mental note – deep tissue massage the night before the race works for some – I am not one of them.

4)  Stick to your training plan. Since the US has a very good share of the best swimmers in triathlon, I always find myself in good company when training in the pool for these races. It’s fun to watch other people swim, especially when they’re so much faster than I am. It’s a bit of a distraction, though. In working with my swim coach over the past year, I’ve learned that repeated results in training give me the confidence to race (I had never really known how to push myself well in the swim until recently). I had workouts planned that would leave me feeling sharp and confident, ready for the aggressive stroke rate we had planned for me, but I got so distracted that I didn’t follow them, instead free-forming too much and not having the confidence I wanted when I lined up to start the swim. Also, I switched my run workouts mostly for scheduling reasons but then regretted it.

5)  Stick to your race plan. I should’ve learned this lesson already…. Instead of swimming my guts out, then riding myself into an even better position, I panicked in the water and then felt so dead-legged and weak on the bike, that I stopped believing I could ride myself up. Instead of trying, I rode conservatively to avoid crashing (many people did that day) even on the safest parts of the course. Instead of making up time on the bike, I just lost more and more.

6)  Get a new water bottle cage. It broke off again. This is the 3^rd race I’ve had a bottle cage break off, so since then we’ve gotten a new kind that works better. In very hot temperatures, it was not a good day to have no Nuun!

 

But those are all negatives…. Here are some of the POSITIVES:

 

1)  Return to the Moroccan restaurants! Lest you think there’s nothing good about this trip – I must say, the food at the Moroccan restaurant up the hill from our hotel (not to mention the hospitable wait staff) made us go there three times! I’ve always enjoyed learning about how various cultures influence a country. The Arabic influence on Spanish culture shows itself in many ways – one of my favorites is the food.

2)  Take the direct flight again. Hooray for a trip less than 8 hours!

3)  See some sights, even if it’s just the evening after the race. We had a great time strolling about town the night after the race, eating ice cream and wandering down busy streets, before departing early the next morning. I wished I had brought my real camera. These trips go by so fast, and we have to rest our legs beforehand, so I’m happy to have done a bit of sightseeing.

4)  Take public transportation. Not living in a city, I don’t get a chance to use the public transport often – but Madrid has a great, easy system. I could see a bit of the city just riding the buses.

 

Some of these takeaway points are nothing new – one of these days they’ll really sink in….

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