I have participated in this race a few times over the years, it's a race I love to support. It's local, it's small, it's a race that a fair amount of athletes use to make the leap to long course. Troika was my first half-iron distance race.
When Ironman Coeur d'Alene was moved from Salt Lake, long course or Iron distance racing popped up on our radar. Having never raced long course it was a natural step to a half before stepping up to full iron distance. Troika was a perfect fit to make that happen.
Over the past few years I have raced Troika as part of a team. This year was not to be any different and Team Five Boobs was in place. Earlier in the year race director Scott Ward had spoke at a Tri Fusion monthly meeting about the race. He was kind enough to offer a free slot to both distances for raffle. Well guess who won the half-iron distance slot? That's right, me! I never win anything. Very cool!
I reached out to Scott about the team and he was glad to let us pay the difference between a free individual entry and a team entry. We were set to race as a mixed team. It would be Super Swimmer Tratz with me on the bike and Bootsy on the run. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to race together and liked our chances for a strong race.
Until...
I haven't been swimming much this Spring and my run has been coming along but is not in race condition. However the bike has been good and I was looking forward to a solid bike effort to evaluate my fitness. That was until about two weeks prior to the race when I got a text from Super Swimmer, she had fallen and broken her thumb, she was out. Bootsy has had a few niggles and went to Doc to try to work through them. The decision was made that it wasn't the best time for a race effort, so she was out. Team Five Boobs had been reduced to one single boob.
Once it became obvious that I would be racing solo a change in mental approach was needed. I would go from competing to participating, using this race as a long training day. This race would also serve to draw a baseline on where my fitness is and more importantly, how far I need to progress before Calgary.
In the days leading up to the race I felt no pressure. Just another training day, right? But I still went through the usual pre race prep, securing nutrition and changing out the bike with race gear.
Race morning I arrived a bite later then I had hoped but it was just a training day so my place in transition was of no real concern. I found a spot near the far end of transition with lots of room and athletes with the same mental state about the race as mine. It was a relaxed atmosphere to say the least and very welcome.
I squeezed into the wetsuit and headed down to the water. As the time for the gun approached I moved to the back, I had no interest in a quick start. There was plenty of room on the beach which made it easy to get off to a good start.
The issue with limited swim fitness usually doesn't manifest in the swim itself, my general fitness can carry me through the swim. The lack of swim fitness seems to bite me on the bottom side late in the day. Lack of swim fitness can costs me on the run.
Going into the race I, of course, had a range of times in my head I hoped to swim. Coming out of the water prior to what I thought I would was a highlight of the day but left me wondering if I went to hard and would pay later. Very few blow up in the swim. Everyone has only so much gas in the tank, the swim is the beginning of the emptying of that tank.
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| Photo by Tom Reisenauer |
Out on the bike and I quickly settled in. Again, it's a smaller race so there aren't a lot of people to pass in the early part of the race even for a slower swimmer. There was a tailwind on the way out which pushed us along. It's not as easy to close on other riders with a strong tailwind. We were all moving along well and the miles were ticking off pretty quickly.
The turnaround brought us into a headwind which slowed the field. As we worked our way back toward town I was able to catch a teammate or two. It's always great to see friendly faces as you grind into the wind.
The last 6 or 8 miles I was pretty fidgety on the bike. The floatation of the wetsuit can add tension to my back but with good swim fitness it doesn't seem to bother me much. With limited swim fitness a tight back on the bike is just another price to pay. I would stand to stretch my back from time to time but the stretching and fidgeting were breaking my rhythm. This was costing me minutes not just the seconds it took to stretch my back.
Going into the race I knew the run would be the true test. How my body reacts to the stress of half-iron race pace would be found on the run course and I knew it.
The first loop of the three loop course was trying. My tummy wasn't exactly settled but I controlled it with some nutrition and Gummy Bears. Gotta love the Gummy Bears. I eventually came across friend, teammate, and super fan in Jessi T who had been out on course with her family all day. I was struggling to settle in on the run and when Jessi T encouraged/coached me to "find a rhythm", I had my starting point to build from for the rest of the run.
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| Photo by Jessi T/Tri Fusion |
The second loop went better and seemed to slip by without much trouble. The third loop was a different story. This loop would prove to give me a good picture of where my fitness is currently. There is a lot of work to be done to get to where I hope I can with my fitness, but it was fun to race. With friends and teammates out on course doing the same thing I was, testing their fitness, it felt good to be racing in their company. It was great just to be out there racing with them.
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| Getting some high fives. Photo by Reanna Guerrero |
I love racing locally. Sometimes I forget just how great it can be. There were so many friendly face out on course with countless cheers of encouragement and high fives. It is a blessing to be able to draw energy from the folks that have come to support you and the race as a whole. And on this "long training day", I can't say thank you enough to everybody out there. My memories of this race will always be filled with your encouragement and smiling faces!
