May 4, 2013
400m swim, 20K bike, 5K run
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| Got Pink??!! |
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| The One-on-One Endurance Team with the amazing Coach Jim McGehee! Photo courtesy of Bill Huckle Tripp Godsey, me, Edwin Garita, Tanya Leroith Price, Justin Hendrix, Michele Bloodworth Jim McGehee, Cortney Martin |
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| Christina Van Der Linden and I are bundled! |
What brings so many people out into the cold willing to jump into a freezing lake and jump out to go to the cold bike leg? We are one persevering group us triathletes! It takes alot of guts really just to get started. You sleep less the night before and worry about the race in the days leading up to it. I can't even sleep the night after the race because I run the race through my head! Some people do it for the glory, some for the challenge, some just for plain fun, some for something new to try, and some to overcome big obstacles. It's really a beautiful thing when we all come together for all of our own various reasons and go out there to tackle a course! It's fun to see the camaraderie and seeing great friends as well! And let me tell you, there were lots of great people to see! Hold on to your horses! Warning: You are about to see many pictures of many awesome triathletes! And there are ALOT of pictures! Sit back and take it all in.....and I totally apologize if I didn't get a picture of you like I might have wanted!
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| The super awesome Shari Sturm! We hit up a great friendship when we met at a race a couple of years ago! What would have happened if she hadn't parked beside me at a race all those years ago??!! We were fate :) |
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| My Sandra Kuehn - My rock at races She is racing as much as me this year! |
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| The extremely talented and amazing Cortney Martin ! A phenomenal triathlete and person! I love this gal!!!!!!!! When I grow up I want to be just like her! Watch out United Airlines! Cortney and I are flying back together on the same plane from London! Maybe we need to call the airlines and warn them now????!!!!! |
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| My phenomenal Coach Jim McGehee! Not sure what I did before without him! There is no amount of money in the world that can put a value on his quality of coaching! |
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| My rock Stephanie Pratola Pratola! Always there to lend an ear to listen and a great training buddy! We will be heading to London together! |
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| Stephanie Pratola's super star husband James Dalton He placed 2nd in his age group at the World Championship in Auckland last year! He's also a really cool guy!  |
| The Beautiful and Amazing Triathlete Donna Williams! Very talented TEAM USA member for many years! Love it when I get to see her!  |
| The amazing Mike Morris! He has done a triathlon in every state! Also a TEAM USA member heading to London! |
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| The awesome Liz Futrell! Always having a good time! Always racing! And typically at the podium! I think she might actually race more than me! |
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| These gals are HILARIOUS! Erica Carter and Natalie Newman-Yost! They are always putting a big smile on my face! Super fun times ladies! |
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| Super Star Baucum Fulk! This guy is a really fun guy and awesome triathlete! We struck up a friendship in Bath County a couple of years ago when I was still pretty green and wondering if I was at the right race because he was parked beside me and warming up on his trainer before the race looking super serious! Love seeing him at the races! |
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| Christina Van Der Linden - What a beautiful heart! Enjoyed her warmth and love post race! |
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| Andres Marte-Grau - Man you are fast and one awesome dude! |
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| Jasmin Jerez-Marte, Andres' wife - So glad I finally met her! Sweet gal and we've been racing together in the same age group for years! |
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| Michele Bloodworth! Her fist triathlon and a One-on-One Endurance Coaching Services member! Great gal! Nice job on a first race!! |
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| Scott Moir! I love this guy! He is super cool and super speedy!!!!!!!!!!!! Just another day in the life of a super star triathlete! |
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| Lynn Bradshaw - super talented and great triathlete! |
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| The Super Fun and Nice guy Joe Mott! Always fun seeing at the races! |
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| The super upbeat and very talented and speedy Mark Long! Love seeing this guy! He always brings a smile to many! |
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| Robert Seminario! So excited to see him again! Love seeing him at so many races over the years! His little girl is adorable and we love it when our kids get to play together! |
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| Whitney Smith - photo courtesy of his beautiful wife Tracy Smith Awesome guy! Loved seeing you! |
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| The beautiful Tracy Smith there to take pictures! Seeing her reminded me of how much I miss her! Beautiful person! |
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| The amazing Mike Dalsey! I finally had the honor of meeting him!!! Great guy! So glad we got to meet! |
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| Michelle Wright, Hadn't seen her since high school! She is the one who passed me in the last 0.2 tenths of the run and took second in our age group! Nice job Michelle! Our high school must have put out some talent, ha ha! |
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| The talented Edwin Garita! Another One-on-One Endurance Athlete! Super speedy and there to win! |
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| Ann and Mark Dalton - Really lovely people and family! |
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| The amazing Scott and Ginger Vail with the Awesome Tripp Godsey in the middle! Tripp is another One-on-One Endurance member and he is really burning it up on the bike this year! |
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| The beautiful Allison Bowersock who came flying past me on the run! So glad I finally got to meet her!  My super awesome friend Sara Swenson had asked me to find him and I even found him before we figured out we were racked beside one another! Great meeting you! |
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| And listed last and definitely NOT the least is the extremely phenomenal and highly talented triathlete Betsy Henderson! She is really amazing and world class! Sorry I didn't have a better picture! She is really lovely! That is her on the right walking away with her award! |
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| Yay! I win? First in the transition area wins right?? |
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| Transition Area Later |
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| The amazing Edie! Thanks for working at Set Up Events and doing all you do! |
So, yes, clearly my time management was lacking yet again but I sure did have a great time visiting with everyone before the race! So with my suit on I ran towards the beach waiting to hang out with my family before I took a dip in that freezing lake!
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| Me, Eva, Arie, Rob, Thijs |
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| Kissing Thijs |
I had neoprene booties but I decided they took too long to get on and off so I walked with my feet through the freezing sand along with the other triathletes. I decided against "warming" up in the water. I figured I would only be awarded with hypothermia! I finally got in and tried bobbing my head in the freezing water but it completely took my breathe away each time I put my head in! I was beginning to wonder if I needed to bail! I asked everyone "Is it too late to change my mind"?! I think I was really considering that for at least a tenth of a second ha ha. With this cold water I really realized why the swim had been shortened from a 750m to 400m!
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| Bobbing my head before the start |
Once our wave started I didn't notice the cold at all! I was mostly worried about staying on course and focused on swimming. Like many times in the past I did not pull my wetsuit up enough so it tugged painfully on my right arm with each stroke. A sore arm this evening is a not so friendly reminder to work on getting that suit on right! I really had a good time swimming and really prefer open water swimming to pool swimming!
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| My wave starting |
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| And we are off! |
I did pretty good staying on course on my first turn and even towards the middle orange buoy but then I went way too far in front of the yellow turn buoy and had to swim back and go around it. I might should be called "Off-Course Arbouw" since I seem to go off course OFTEN. Luckily it was only a 400m so it wouldn't hurt my time too bad!
My legs felt like they were a trillion tons! I had a tough time trying to get my wetsuit undone in the back but managed to do it before I got to the transition area. My T1 was pretty decent considering how rough the pavement was to run on out of the transition area with the bike. I was pretty sure the bottom of my feet would be completely gone just from running on that rough surface! 1st place in my age group had a T1 of 3:69, 2nd a T1 of 3:52, and me a T1 of 2:12! Pretty big difference! It was much easier running through the grass out of the transition area up to the mount line!
The bike was rolling but apparently I had forgotten how many false flats were on the course! I had done this course last year and I didn't remember the course hurting this bad and then I was extremely disappointed to find out my bike time was only 3 seconds different from last year! This race was pre-coach last year so I really thought I would have lost a substantial amount of time on the bike! But I guess you can't always compare different years.
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| Heading back in! |
I know my feet were pretty cold from the swim because I noticed I couldn't feel them when I was biking. It took a couple of miles in on the run to regain the feeling in my toes and feet! Last weekend in Richmond at the Richmond Tri Club Sprint it wasn't cold and my feet went numb on the bike as well.
I know there would be a slow uphill climb in the first mile on the run and I was not expecting to do my typical 7:30 in the first mile so I relaxed into it and really felt pretty good for the run! I tried to run faster when it flattened out and tried to take it home as quick as I could. I didn't realize how disappointing my run time was until I saw the results! I guess I should have spent more time looking at my watch! I was passed several times on the run but was paying attention to ages on legs and in the last 0.2 of a mile wouldn't you know I was passed, one of which was in my age group! Oh well, I just didn't bring it on the run apparently! After last weekend's race my shin became so inflamed that my husband said I should not be racing on my injured leg and after attempting to run on Monday I took running off my schedule for the week. I bought KT tape and probably should have considered taping my injury before the race today! My first mile was 8:11 and I thought I would make up the time the rest of the way but my second mile was 8:13 and my third was 7:38. My running just isn't consistent. I really didn't have a base and while running improved over the winter I ended up with plantar fasciitis and unable to run for some time. Hopefully with consistency it will improve! I seem to have "good" days and "way too relaxed" days! I felt pretty comfortable out there at least!
At last weekend's race my friend's daughter ran to the finish line with her so my daughter Eva (pronounced "Ava") asked if she could do the same at today's race! It was great fun having her run in beside me!
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| This is me telling the announced how to actually pronounce my last name There is usually a pretty BIG pause after the Kimberly ha ha |
It was a fun race and I didn't even notice the cold (except for the part where I couldn't feel some limbs) most of the race! I get into a zone when I'm racing and am focused on what I'm doing and focused on the moment. I had a good time seeing friends along the course when I did notice them but again I was very focused in racing! I really appreciate the cheers along the way! I heard my name alot but I apologize if I didn't know where the cheers were coming from!
I ended up being 13 overall and taking 3rd in my 35-39 age group. 1st with a time of 1:17:47, 2nd at 1:19:13, and me at 1:19:33.
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| Mike Morris doing an amazing job at announcing awards! |
It was a pretty nice award in that box! I didn't even end up opening it until I got home!
After the race we hung out at the race site at the beautiful Smith Mountain Lake State Park. The kids had a great time playing on the beach!
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| Arie, Thijs, and Eva |
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| Arie, Eva, and Thijs |
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| Arie and Thijs |
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| Thijs and Arie |
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| Arie |
And they just had a good time hanging out under the gazebo watching the lake.
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| Eva, Arie, Thijs, husband and Papa Rob |
And just having fun climbing rocks!
We also went on a great hike right there at the race site around the lake.
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| Can you find me? ;) |
And on the way home we passed by the Homestead Creamery for lunch and ice cream!
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| https://www.facebook.com/pages/Homestead-Creamery/87601527080 |
None of this would be possible without my support crew, including my mother who you don't see pictured here!
Thanks to Set Up Events who put on an amazing race each and every time and BIG thanks to the race director Glenn Cook!
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| The super awesome and amazing Glenn Cook! Thanks for all you do! |
Also a big thanks to Pete Lampman with Virginia Amateur Sports for having this race each year!
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| Pete Lampman - such an awesome guy! |
Thanks also to the crew at Smith Mountain Lake State Park who make our racing just as possible!
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| Chester Webber - folks like him have to take care of clean up after races! Thanks Chester! |
So us triathletes are a fierce and determined group! We are willing to travel far for races, willing to sacrifice sleep and comfort just to go do this thing we love, and I wouldn't give anything for all of the fun and camaraderie I experience at each and every race! Speaking of travelling far, on Friday afternoon I drove to Salem, VA to have my husband's shirt labelled "Arbouw Support Crew". Yes, it is amazing he is willing to wear it ha ha! I debated on getting coffee because I was worried I wouldn't sleep but I decided to stop at the Starbucks anyway. This Starbucks doesn't have a drive through so I went in and it was quite busy. I noticed a guy with a "TEAM USA London" shirt on standing there in his compression socks. I couldn't help but ask where he had acquired his shirt, sensing he was a triathlete. Ofcourse the compression socks are usually a dead giveaway! So come to find out it was Dan Feeney, a professional triathlete working towards making the 2016 Olympics team, travelling from Delaware to Knoxville on his way to the Rev3 Triathlon. How neat was it to run into a professional triathlete in a little town, just passing through?!
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| Pro Triathlete Dan Feeney http://www.hookit.com/members/danfeeney/resume/triathlon/ |
So a great time was had by all this weekend at the Appalachian Power Smith Mountain Lake Sprint Triathlon! Thanks again to everyone who makes it possible and to us crazy triathletes who are willing to do anything to make it happen! It really is a beautiful thing!
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