Hy-Vee Triathlon Race Report

The Hy-Vee triathlon is definintely something to experience, however, the 3am wake up call Sunday morning is something I do not want to experience for a while. I had a lot of fun that day but not happy with the performance I gave. The race was not wetsuit legal and so I knew that I was going to have a slower swim than normal but didn't think I would have to overcome eight minutes on the leaders out of the water. I think I have figured out that I am definintely crossing over and not swimming straight so my plan of action is to CHANGE this pronto! I am constantly having to change my course of direction in the open water and this is costing me a lot of time. I also need to mentally get my head in the race, I am not sure if this comes with experience as I am a newbie to this sport or if it is just my impatient personality. I probably lost about 15-20 seconds on the run because I thought this one turnaround was where the cones were but someone shouted to me that I needed to turnaround and go to where the barrels were - arghhh... I ended up finishing 4th in the elite wave but 7th overall with the age groupers. Derek told me the other day that "Kort, you are the only one that puts the expectation on yourself - you need to go out there and do what you are capable of doing. Last year you were a rookie to the sport and there weren't any expectations -relax a little."
In all I had a great weekend with family and friends. There were some old college friends who were at the race watching and it was great hearing their voices cheering for me - thanks girls. Also, Owen got to see his favorite person race - his Grandpa. I tell ya - those two are something else. When Grandpa is in the room - no one else exists....however, Grandpa may have some competition from Tony the Tiger. All day long Owen kept talking about Tony the Tiger and how he wanted to see him again, I have never seen Owen run so fast in his life to catch that Tiger!

Copper Creek Race Report - Can I have a do-over???

Derek told me to wait a day or two before blogging, but I hope that by writing this I will feel better. Today was not my day to say the least. Last year I won a series of races called The Flatland Series, down in Iowa. We go to Des Moines a lot, since my in-laws live there and the Flatland team does a great job of organizing these events. I hadn't raced a sprint distance triathlon since my very first race, so I was looking forward to really pushing it for the short distance. I knew there was going to be some great competition at Copper. Two pros, TJ Tollakson and Michelle Witinok-Huber showed up for the big race. The morning of the race looked promising... no rain, however it was extremely foggy (last year they had to cancel the event due to thunderstorms). The race started about 30 minutes late, because of the fog, and when we started swimming it was still difficult to see. I felt good coming out of the water wanted to hit it hard on the bike. You couldn't see very far ahead, again due to the fog, so when I got to an intersection I was told by a police officer to turn left. After about half a mile, I just knew something didn't feel right. I was actually getting onto the highway. I turned around and completely stopped wondering if I should quit or keep going. I then saw a car pulling up to me and he said "sorry about that, you need to go back and turn left by the police officer". I took off in that direction trying to make up time. I saw another biker coming my way and told her to turn around because it was the wrong way. I knew that mistake cost me big time, because I went 0.7 miles over, when I looked at my computer after the race. I was able to pass one girl on the run, but was too far back to catch anyone else. I figured it cost me about 3 minutes. I know we there are lots of people that this has happened to in past races and I hope this will be the last time it happens to me. It just really stinks when you drive home for 3.5 hours thinking about it. Lesson learned - know the course inside and out and don't listen to anyone that tells you different!
On a good note - Derek won his age group. He is doing so great already this year and I am really happy for him!

Buffalo Triathlon Race Report

On Sunday, Derek and I arrived to a very cold day in Buffalo, MN. It was the first triathlon of the year for both of us and will most likely go down as one of the coldest! The weather didn't deter me because I love this race. Last year I won my age group and then decided to start racing in the elite waves. It is a challenging course with hills on the bike and run, and has lots of great volunteers and participants. I think between the Sprint and Olympic course there were about 1500 participants.

The weather in Minnesota is notorious for changing quickly. We have had great weather with highs in the upper 70's, but in the last 3 days it all went downhill. I think the high for Saturday was 55 degrees which made the morning of race day pretty chilly! As Derek and I were driving to the race the thermometer read 46 degrees. Unlike others, I like running in the heat and humidity – it seems that I do better in those conditions and knew it was going to be quite cold in the water and on the bike.

After the pre-race briefing all of the elite athletes started putting on their wetsuits and jumped in the lake for a “warm-up” and the lake was actually warmer than the air, so it felt really good to be in the water. I did not want to get out! I stayed in the back of the pack for the swim because I knew there were some really great swimmers (especially women, three of the seven elite women had the top ten swims on the day). I didn’t go all out in the beginning of the swim and stayed pretty aerobic and felt great coming out of the water. However, when I looked at my watch I was pretty dissapointed because I swam a minute slower than I had last year. I knew my sighting was really bad, because I was pretty far away from the buoys. I kept moving over to the right, but it felt like I was swimming in a straight line…WRONG! When I got up to my bike, I didn’t want to take the time to put on the underarmour shirt that I planned because I knew I was at least three or four minutes behind the other women.
The bike went great despite that I was FREEZING and the wind was blowing like crazy. I believe I was in fifth place coming into the bike and made my way up to second. I was so happy to get off the bike and start running to warm up, but it felt like I camped out in T2 for five minutes. My fingers were so frozen that I couldn’t get my helmet off and then my feet were so numb that it was hard to get them into my shoes. When I finally made it out of transition it felt like I had stumps on my toes and I don’t think my feet thawed out until the fourth mile of the run. I knew I was second coming out of transition and that Kate McCann is a great biker (and even better swimmer) and was probably about 2-3 minutes ahead of me and that Heidi Keller Miler was right behind me. As I made my way up the monster hill I could see Kate at the halfway point and kept telling myself to run faster. Close to the turnaround I saw Derek and he gave me inspiration to go-go-go. He told me “You can catch her Kort, do it.” I had read an article in a magazine a couple days before talking about going for the win and having confidence to go after it. I used that determination to push myself to the finish line, and get my second win as a newbie to this sport. Next weekend we are heading to Iowa and the weather looks to be much nicer – bring on the humidity!!

Below is a picture of Derek and I after he found out I had won.

Respect the Van!

Well we did it - we bought a minivan and I couldn't be happier. The purchase happened on Wednesday night. We spent about three hours at the car dealership and I think Owen was so hopped up on candy (I kept feeding it to him to be quiet as we were signing all the paperwork) that he didn't even get to say goodbye to the Nissan Altima. I was a little sad about saying goodbye to the Nissan, it was my first car that I bought after college without my parents help, and it was a good car to me. However, after having the van for a couple of days I can officially say good riddance! Owen really likes the new wheels - he keeps saying it is HIS car. It is so functional and will be so great when we can go to races and not have to take apart our bikes and put them in the trunk and then our wheels in the back with Owen trying to kick them the whole way to the race!

Apple Duathlon - High Caliber Competition

Saturday was the Apple Duathlon, which many say is one of the most competitive duathlon in America. I definintely think it was! The event was also a Worlds Qualifier, and the top three earn Team USA berths. I decided to go ahead and race elite just to see how I would do against the top.

It was a beautiful day and I felt good going into the race. The first 5K was brutal - I knew that the girls I was running with could run fast. There were 5 that did sub 6:00 miles. I would have liked to run a faster first 5K but I didn't know if I should conserve a little, but now I know what that feels like and to push harder. Coming into the first transition, my coach had told me that there was a hill at the beginning of the bike and I practiced getting into my shoes and felt comfortable with having them clipped into my bike, however, that didn't work out that well. I tried getting into my shoes too soon and I actually had to stop on the middle of the hill put my bike down, clip off my shoes, put my shoes on and then get back on my bike. I am thinking this cost me like a minute - AHHHHHH!



The picture above is me coming out of transition without my feet in the pedals. I was right there with a couple of girls and this mistake really cost me.

I made up a little time on the bike and passed three girls so I knew going into T2 that I most likely wasn't in contention to have a spot on the podium but still wanted to finish strong. The run was the same as the first 5k so I knew where I needed to push it into gear. I passed one girl on the run and just could see another runner in front of me but just didn't have enough at the end to catch her. I finished 7th overall so I am not overjoyous about that placing but know that I did well and should be proud. With being new to the sport I know I am going to make mistakes, I just need to learn from them and go on. Next race is Buffalo Triathlon and really looking forward to this race as I know the course pretty well.

Move legs move

Yesterday was the first big race of the season - the Gear West Duathlon. It is a great race but a tough one. I haven't felt the best for the last two weeks, I have been battling this cold that just won't go away and haven't felt like running has been the strongest for me. However, it was going to be a great day - hardly any wind and lots of great competition. The race didn't start out as I would have liked though..... I was at the start line ready to go talking with some other girls when I heard some cheering and look out the corner of my eye and the elites have started the race! Needless to say I pretty much bolted my way through the crowd and probably gave up a lot of energy because I didn't know I was the first female for a while until I got passed and then got passed and passed some more. The run was a cross country style with running on the grass, trails and hills - I pretty much hated it. I was so glad to get on my bike and have been working on my transitions and was excited that I was able to mount on my bike and have my shoes clipped into their pedals and bike away. I caught up to a couple of girls on the bike but mega bikers Julie Hull and Jan Guenther caught up to me at about mile 10. I tried hanging with them because I knew that the run was only a 4K and I wouldn't have much time to try and catch them. Coming off of the bike I knew I wasn't far behind three of the women and that I was in fifth place. In the end my legs just didn't have it and finished fourth overall for female. Next weekend is the Apple Duathlon which is a qualifying event for the 2009 ITU Duathlon Short Course World Championship and they are some stellar duathletes coming from all over the United States to try and qualify for the event . I have been going back and forth about if I should race elite or age group. Since I am not planning on going to the World Championships I decided that I should just race elite and see how well I do against some of the best duathletes out there - Wish me luck!!

Get in Gear 1/2 Marathon Race Report

The Get in Gear is a very popular race in the Twin Cities and many look forward to this event no matter the weather. Coming into this race the weather report looked very grim and unpleasent. Rain and possiby a chance of snow in the morning -YUCK! However, it actually turned out to be a great running day, minus the gusts of wind every now and then. The sun started to come out just as the race announcer told everyone that it was time to line up. The Elite 10K racers would start first - WOW are they ever fast. You could tell they meant business by the way they were warming up and preparing themselves - glad I wasn't in that group!

The morning of the race I thought back to what I didn't like about the 10K race I did just a couple of weeks ago and changed up a couple of things. I was definintely more prepared for this race and was able to get to the race site with plenty of time to warmup. I didn't have to worry about Owen this morning as I knew I would see him sometime during the race, because Derek was going to meet me at mile 9 and cheer me on.

My goal was to run 7:00 minute miles and I almost got there. I ran 7:03's but think I could have pushed myself a little harder and finished faster. I know at the last mile I was slowing down because I wasn't sure if I was going the right way. I asked some people if this was the 1/2 marathon and they said yes but everyone around me was walking and then there were people walking toward me - I was really confused. As it turns out it was the right way and the walkers were part of the 5K walk that started after the 1/2 marathon and 10K. I finished second female overall so I was happy about that - I swear I am champion of second place! I need to get over that hump!

Learning Experience

Yesterday was the first road race I have done since 2007 and we are going to put it in the books as a learning experience. For some reason I never seem to get my head into the game with road races. The race was a 10K organized by the City of Golden Valley - where I work. However, it left me a little frustrated, because it was probably the worst race I've had in the last year.

Before the race, we dropped Owen off at a friends house so we were kind of running late to the race and I am the type of person that races better when I am really warmed up and prepared (duh - aren't we all)!!! Derek ran the 10K too so we did like a 5 minute warm up with a couple pickups before the start. The weather was decent but not at all warm - I think it was about 30 degrees and I actually thrive in the warm weather. There were a couple of things that frustrated me during the run:
1. Was having some stomach issues
2. I had no idea where I was at - I couldn't see any mile markers and had a plan of where I wanted to be at for each mile
3. My darn hat and headband fell off my head I think around mile 2 during the run so I turned around and went and picked up it - probably loosing like 30 seconds and had to run the rest of the way with the hat in one hand and the headband in another. I thought about throwing it in someone's yard or at a spectator, but I knew that we needed to get Owen after the race and didn't want to be driving around looking for these items. I finished in a time of 41:44, so a 6:44 min/mile pace and the 3rd women overall. I need to remember to just think about the race and nothing else - push everything else out of your mind for that hour or so and dig deep.

I have another road race - the Get in Gear half marathon, in a couple of weeks before the duathlons and triathlons start. I actually like running longer distances and this one is in the city. There should be a lot of people watching, so it will be a fun one.

Surprise!!!

On February 11th I turned 30 and Derek decided to make a party out of it! My birthday was on a Wednesday but we went out to celebrate on Friday. I thought we were going out to dinner and a show but to my surprise he coordinated a surprise party. I seriously had no idea that he had been plotting this for the last three weeks. He gave some excuse that he forgot the tickets at home while we were at dinner and that we would have plenty of time to go home and then to the show. Here are some things that he did this week without my knowledge:
1. Went to Costco and told me that the money he spent there was because his brother wanted to get some stuff there
2. He told me that we had to turn on the refrigerator downstairs because he read some article that you should turn appliances on every 6 months
3. Was picking up the house like a madman before we left for dinner and I was like "why do you care what the house looks like, it is just our family coming over."
As we were on our way to pick up the "tickets", there were some cars that were parked down the road from our house and I mentioned to Derek that "Wow looks like our neighbors are having a party". Little did I know the party was in my house! Thank you to everyone who helped Derek coordinate the party - especially to our brothers and sisters - Jared, Rachel, Bethany, and Jason. Thank you to Derek who surprises me everyday with his generosity and love.

Woga poses - according to Owen

I had a long run today and was pretty stiff when I got back so Owen helped me do some yoga (he says Woga) afterward. He loves to do downward facing dog and the cat poses.

The weather has been great here for the last couple of days - above 30's!!! The snow has melted a little and I hope it stays that way but I have a feeling that the cold weather is not through with us yet!