Crawfishman Race Report

Crawfishman Triathlon - Grand Hills Estates - Bush, LA.  1000 yds / 18 mile / 4 mile

Pre Race:  Why is it that if you don't know anyone that everyone looks so fast?  A lot of very fit women in south Louisiana on race day.  I kept seeing women with 50 and older on their calves that looked like they would leave me in the dust.  I was worried.  Perfect weather that morning, a little breeze in the air, cool enough for a jacket.  Looks like its going to be an awesome day!  I raced in my Recovery e21 Kit!  I keep telling you - this product is amazing!!!  (Use Code: e21WINS for a 20% discount!)



Nina and Lonnie Borrouso!


The Swim:   The water temperature was perfect, probably around 81 degrees.  No wetsuit - hurray!!  I think the swim course was a bit long - my Garmin clocked it just at a mile.  Drafted off of a girl for the first half of the swim, she was swimming just a tiny bit faster than me.  Then for the second half she slowed the pace so I went around her.  I saw a lot of green swim caps in front of me in the water and knew that my swimming wasn't up to normal - not good.  Bill's sister Nina her husband Lonnie and my nephew Scott were supposed to come to the race but at race start they hadn't showed up yet so we thought that maybe they'd changed their minds.  As I came out of the water I heard a woman's voice yell "Go Ginger!" and I knew that they'd made it!!  We'd stayed with them the night before in Covington, LA and I was excited to have family at the race.  Average HR: 155 / Max HR:  171

The Bike:  Anyone who thinks South Louisiana is flat is misinformed!  You have to remember that I'm a flat lander now and that bike course kicked my you know what!  My right lower quad was tight and uncomfortable the entire bike.  I think it's from sitting in the car driving down from North Carolina.  I always run and swim to warm up before the race but should have taken my bike out for a little spin to flush out the legs.  I passed a lot of really young girls in their teens - great age group swimmers from the area.  Towards the end of the bike two girls passed me.  One was 46 and the other 57!  The 57 year old was a woman named Susan Boudreaux - I've raced against her before in Shreveport and on the coast.  I'd looked up prior year's race results from Crawfishman and saw that she always took the Masters or Grand Masters podium spot, and when she was younger was one of the top 3 Females.   Averaged 20.1 mph on the bike.  Average HR: 165 / Max HR: 175

The Run:  More hills - ouch!  It felt like I was running in slow motion.  I had my Garmin set to show me heart rate, pace and distance but I didn't have it on scroll mode.  Rats.  I did see the first mile split - 7:55, not quite as fast as I was hoping to run, but then the hills do slow me down.  At the turn around I saw the two women that had passed me on the bike, they were behind me.  Thank goodness for speedy transitions!  By mile 3 both of them were passing me.  I asked the one if she was Susan Boudreaux but she didn't remember me from prior races.  Hmmmm.... I guess I'm just not that memorable!   The last 1/4 or a mile or so was downhill to the finish.  I'd warmed up out and back up that hill and knew that it would be a fast finish.  I started picking up the pace and saw that I was catching Susan.  I honestly didn't think I stood a chance to catch her, she'd made up a lot of distance on me.  And I wasn't really planning on catching her.  But as we made the last turn onto the grass headed to the finish banner my momentum took me right by her.  She hadn't changed her pace at all on the downhill.  I heard her say "THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT!" as I went by her.  It is a race after all, right?  8:04 pace. Average HR: 176 / Max HR: 190 



Susan in the red tri shorts.

Post Race:  Found Bill and the rest of my family and we went over to the festivities!!  There was Jambalaya, Red Beans and Rice, Hubig's Pies, Great Harvest Bread, Smoothies, Beer and Frozen Margaritas!!  Sweet!  While I was in the beer line I overheard a guy asking a girl if she took the Grand Master's award and she said "No there was a girl who passed me in the finish chute."  I tapped her on the shoulder and said " That would be me!"  The humidity was low and a nice breeze made the wait for awards pleasent!  Bill and I went to the car for me to get cleaned up - I hate hanging around in wet, stinky clothes.  Then we met back up with Nina, Lonnie and Scott to wait for the awards presentation.





Nina, Lonnie, Me and Scott*



I finished 12th Overall Female and Grand Masters Female (50 and older)! 

The award was so cool!  An original piece of artwork from a local artist, Jose Balli.  I found out later that he lives on the race course and we'd passed his home on the bike!

My husband Bill was amazing!  He and Scotty were running all over the place taking pictures.  He did an awesome job as Chief Photographer!!  After the race we went back to Nina and Lonnie's house for an awesome lunch of grilled chicken, sausages, roasted corn on the cob and salad - YUM!!!! 


*My nephew Scott Saladino lives in Virginia with his wife Christina.  They're both serving our country in the Navy.  Scott is at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS until August for training.  I think it's so awesome that he gets to see his family on the weekends and that he came out to cheer me on at the race!