Savageman Oly!

I love everything about Savageman -- the venue, the scenery, the volunteers, how well organized it is, the very cool swag we get every year....Oh I could go on and on and on. When I first did this race 4 years ago, I was too scared to do the whole thing by myself. So Tracey swam, Priscilla biked, and I ran. Our team name was "Keep The Finish Line Up."  As back-of-the-packers, we were always wondering if they'd be breaking down the finish line by the time we finally rolled up; hence, the name. 

Savageman has become a tradition for us and a way to gauge our progress over the years. It's the one race the three of us always do together every year. And my, we have come a long way. Speedy Janet is part of our team now too!

So here's how this year's Savageman 2011 went for me:

Pre-Race

I was surprised by how laid back I was about Savageman this time around. I felt none of the usual pre-race jitters and low key dread that have accompanied every Savageman I've done. I'm guessing it's because of all the IM training; it makes even Savageman seem doable! Just 23 miles on the bike? Really? And a 6.2 run?  Cakewalk. The swim was the closest I came to being nervous, only because I had announced to my swim coach that I would be trying to set a new swim PR....so the pressure was on.

 

Swim
Goal:     Beat my 38.31 PR
Actual:  33:36

It was chilly and windy and I did not want to get in the water!  But getting in for a warm up swim is always part of the plan, so Janet, Priscilla, Jacquie and I decided to HTFU and get in. We were the first crazy people in the water, actually. The air temp was in the 40's but the water was a balmy 64 degrees, so it felt warm by comparison. Then we had to get out and wait about 15 minutes before our swim wave started and it was windy---that's when I really got cold. But eventually we were back in the water, the horn went off, and off we went.

The thing that really stood out about this swim was that I actually was swimming around other people. Usually everyone pulls ahead and I'm all by my lonesome, bracing for the next wave to swim over me. So it was a different experience. I tried to "draft" off other swimmers but wasn't really sure what it was supposed to feel like - LOL. I also kept asking myself:   What would the swim coaches be telling me at this moment? Alexis would probably remind me about high elbows, Mark would probably say something about watching my hand entry into the water and Jim would probably tell me to drop my hand first on the pull. So I kept telling myself all of those things and before I knew it I was swimming around "Thomas the Turtle" and heading back toward the big Swan boat.

When I made the final turn toward the beach, I glanced at my watch and couldn't believe what I saw!  I was thinking perhaps I wasn't seeing the numbers right without my glasses on....but indeed, I managed to PR the swim by 5 minutes. Yippeee!  Regardless of how the rest of the race went, I would be happy.

Bike

Goal:     Beat last year's time of 1:56:27

Actual:  1:50:20

I kept thinking, after that hilly 100 miler in Gainesville last weekend, how bad can a mere 23 hilly miles really be?! And the hills really weren't as bad as I remember from last year. However, it was colder and really windy this time. There were moments when the crosswinds were so strong, I thought I was going over. 

Here are the deets on the hills:

 Hill                Location        Length     Aver. Grade     Max Grade
George              9.2                .9                 5%                   8%
Spear               13.1               .5                 7%                   7%
Bumblebee       14.9             1.2                 7%                 11%
Foy                  16.4             0.6                 8%                 14%


George and Spear were no big deal. Bumblebee just seemed to go on forever. We had a headwind going up, which just added to the difficulty. Coach Alexis was in a devil costume waving a pitchfork at me, and yelling something like "Is this windy enough for you? Can I get you more wind?"  And I yelled back "Only if it's a tailwind!" And I just imagined a tailwind pushing me up that hill. Other Zs were there blowing horns, ringing cowbells, and cheering us to the top. It was great.

Foy was the most savage of the Savage hills. Coach Ed, Matt, and other Zs were there cheering us on. They kept telling me to drive my knees up, so that's what I tried to do. Several people ahead of me gave up and started walking their bikes up. But I had made it up this hill last year and I wasn't going to walk it this time. 


Finally at the top, there was a sign that read:  "Course architect:  Kyle Yost. 202-236 ...."   LMAO at that point and from there it was pretty much downhill all the way back to the park.


Run
Goal:    Beat last year's time of 1:28:00
Actual:  1:16:43


Yay! Back in my total comfort zone. It's hilly, but I love this run. You get to see a lot of Zs out on the course, plus it's shady and the fire tower trail provides some variety and an extra challenge. Once I hit mile 3 I started looking at my watch and trying to figure out my total time. Could I actually come in under 4 hours at Savageman?! It seemed almost unthinkable before the race;  last year I did it in 4:14.  I still had the fire tower hill ahead of me and knew I would slow down, but I decided to give myself permission to slow down on the way up the hill as long as I made up for it the rest of the way back to the park. No walking on any other hills on the way back!


Making the final turn back to the park I saw Priscilla heading toward the fire tower trail and looking strong. I yelled at the guys manning the water stop "That's my friend P! You need to cheer her on!"  And they were like, "Hey P! Go P! You need special cheers!"   Did I mention how awesome the volunteers are?!

Finish Line!
Goal:    Under 4 hours would be a nice surprise
Actual:  3:52.01

Really, Sally? You couldn't push it and come in at 3:51:59?! That's what I thought when I saw my official time. Then I thought I should just be happy making it in under 4 hours and leave it at that. Plus, they actually had Diet Coke on ice at the finish line! What's not to love about Savageman? I can't wait to go back next year and crush my times. ;P

Another Savageman in the bank...bring on Waterman's Half!