Polson race report

Question- I ride and get off the bike and run fairly often. It has gotten easier. So, depending on the race length and the effort is it more difficult to transition?  My legs on Sat. were horrible. Should they be, or was this really not my running race. See more below.

Schedule- There is not more Masters until after Labor Day. Something about pool maintenance. Looks like the rest of the swimming will be at the pond or MSU. Can you write me something for Tuesday?

Definitely have to ship TT bike next Monday. Talked to UPS today. Will have road bike to ride. So, a long ride on Saturday would probably be better than a long ride on Sunday. 

The Bozeman Century ride costs 50$. I don't really want to pay that much just to ride 100 miles. Plus, part of the route is actually one of my least favorite rides in the area. Not worth the money.  I would rather go climb up some hills or something. Can probably get Erik to ride with me since Lawrence is going to be doing Canada this weekend. 

Work- Have a big mouse take down on August 27th(Tuesday) and August 29th(Thursday) with Wed. and Friday being busy running flow and analyzing. Way to pack it in there Julie :). The boss just gave me all this stuff to do. So this week I guess I will work on packing and getting my stuff together. 

Feeling- Monday morning after the weekend. Didn't sleep super well last night so am feeling tired. Looking forward to an easy 30 minute run and getting some other stuff done. I need to start thinking about getting my bike packed up and shipped. Hopefully get some better sleep tonight. 

Race report:

7th. Really wanted top 5. You know what? I really want to be better than everybody else. I guess that is my competitive nature. I need to find something that I am amazing at.  The conclusion of Polson, in my mind, is that I am a little disappointed. I felt  more pressure to perform at this race, especially since Matt S. is the race director. I got #3 and Ali had #2 and Sue # 1.  I respect Matt, a lot, and feel like I let him down. I rode with Ali on Sunday and she said the same thing, since Matt is coaching her. That would not be fun, so thank you so much for not making me feel that way! So, basically my swim time sucked and I had a hard time making up ground on the bike. But, you know what. I actually was feeling good about my swim before I saw the results. I did a good job of sighting. Didn't stop, but kept the sighting as part of my stroke. Even did a little bit of bilateral breathing. I should have been better about swimming right along the buoys.  Felt good on the bike. Was working pretty dang hard. I finally got into the top 5 at the end of the bike but I think I had a dehydrated bonk. I underestimated how much water I would need for the bike(Polson is humid). On the run, first of all, my legs would not turnover, and I was sooooo thirsty. Got passed right off the bat by a Polson track coach and then a little while later by a 17 year old. Demoralizing.  Just never felt good on the run. After more thought, though, I am not sure I could have done much better than 6th. If I had felt good, I know I could have gotten 6th. After the race, sat and drank two bottles of water and a coke. Was not going to run the extra 6 miles because I felt so crappy but after drinking felt better. Ran the second lap slower, but felt much better. Could actually get my turnover and pace up a little if I wanted to. It wasn't an easy extras 6 miles but felt better. I was so tired after the race. I think a bit out of it. Slept really well on Saturday night and felt good again on Sunday. 

Next year(depending on what happens in Wisconsin, obviously) I think I am going to change up the game a little bit. No expensive IM's and be a Montana race warrior. Maybe the GWN.  I really like racing and it would be fun to be able to be more prepared for races like Polson and the Grizzly. Also, after some thought while swimming on Sunday, maybe really swim 10x a week and see if I can get faster. I hate losing the race on the swim.

Tuesday- Friday- Can't even remember what I did all week. Work experiment turned out pretty good. Getting some good results.  Was super tired all week. Erik kept bringing people over in the evenings. On Thursday night I could barely move off the couch and I told him he had to keep them in the garage. Went to bed early on Thursday and felt much better on Friday. Its amazing what a good nights sleep can do. Did change up some stuff a little. My bike was in pieces on Wed so just rode the commuter around a little after work. Didn't get in the full time though. Was super tired, but did go raid the parents garden for fresh beans, peas, and lettuce. Got the TT bike together for racing on Thursday evening, so rode that for ~ 45 minutes in the am on Friday rather than taking a long commute to work. I like to test out the wheels etc. before racing. Still commuted to and from work. Other than that, followed the plan. Swim on Thursday was really good. Didn't help me much, but felt my arms get going a little better each 50. 

Sunday- was disorganized on time and didn't get in 60 minutes right away. Swam 30 minutes. Rode with Ali for 3 hours. She took me on a fun ride around the valley, into the trees at the base of the missions, a water stop at a vet clinic. It was nice to get to know her better.  Swam 30 more minutes when I got back. There was a lot of chop for the 2nd 30 minutes, but it was really fun. Felt good swimming. Uggh. Hopefully that is better than nothing. Sort of jealous of the awesome swimming venue.  Beats the pond for sure. Could have stayed in for two more hours. Jumped off the dock a few times for fun!