tris & tribulations

wow. where to start… i’m still on such a high from today’s race.

woke up to my alarm going off at 3:45… in the a.m. It was a little rough, but knowing I didn’t really have a choice in the matter, I rolled out of bed and started my normal race morning routine. Priority #1, turn on coffee maker. Then I get my hair wet and start the braiding (only way i can wear my hair and not have it get in my way during the race). One braid in and I throw the egg whites on the stove, pop my oatmeal in the microwave and pour my glorious cup of coffee. 2nd braid in and I ate my breakfast (standing up, of course) while scrolling through my checklist. I pulled my bottles out of the freezer (aero bottle half full/frozen, cage bottle was empty but wanted to keep it’s chill). Filled them both with water and added 1/2 a scoop of cytomax to the cage bottle. Did a minimal amount of stretching (gotta get better at making this a priority), slipped into my trisuit. Double checked my list (thankfully) and realized I hadn’t packed my wetsuit. Whew. I was sharing a cab with a couple guys who called and said they were on their way. I threw on some sweats and grabbed my bags and met them outside. Street closings were everywhere and we ended up having to walk a good mile+ to get to the race site. Just what you want to do before putting your body through a tough race.

The sun was just beginning to rise and there was a serene, calm aura about it. Transition wasn’t too crowded and almost felt like it was moving in slow motion. I got to my bike, unwrapped the plastic bags and set up my transition. The bikes were pretty close together (this will come up again later) which made the set up a little tougher than usual. I grabbed my goggles, cap, wetsuit and headed towards the swim start. I found my friend Brian (who was a rockstar– came out at 5:30 to watch and was at every point in the race snapping photos and cheering me on). I also found my friend, Charlie, and was able to wish him luck before his start. Smaller races are great b/c you actually run into people you know!

Swim

There were only 4 swim waves: Open male/female, Men 40+, Men 39 & under, and All Women. Yep, all women in one corral. Interesting. It being an in-water swim start, we all jumped off the floating dock into the delightfully clean Potomac. First swim in the new, unfamiliar goggles. I set up closest to the shore, all the way to the right side. I planned on avoiding the chaos of the center and meeting the top swimmers in the middle. I ended up staying too far to the right longer than I should and added quite a bit of distance. I was keeping good form and reminding myself over and over to swim like I do in the pool. The current was unusually strong (the Potomac is usually stand-still) and we were swimming through mad debris from all the rain we’ve had earlier in the week. I scooped a few twigs, hit some sort of branch-like object, and my fingers ran through some very questionable floating object. I paid very little attention to any of it and just kept going. I’m so thankful that I’m completely comfortable in the water and don’t panic for anything. I realize I’m in the minority here and have to remind myself that I shouldn’t take that for granted. As I turned the first orange buoy a guy in a yellow cap (wave #2) knocked into my face and smacked my goggles. Luckily they didn’t leak and I just kept going. For some reason I was kicking way more than usual and had to remind myself again to swim like I would in the pool. I was slowing down and my (dominant) right shoulder was beginning to get sore. I really wish I had studied the course a little bit better. My sighting was completely off today. I came very close to swimming under the 4th arch of the bridge rather than the 3rd (I saw caps ahead and followed them… they were wrong). I added another 100-200 yards. Still unsure where the next buoy was, I decided to take the safe route and just head in the direction of the shore. I saw the final 2 orange buoys and it appeared to me that you swam between them… until I got there and found out we actually had to swim around the furthest buoy, so I turned around, headed back, and rounded the last orange marker. Added another 25-50 yards. Frustrated at my mistakes, I wanted to sprint the finish but with all the congestion of the green/yellow caps it was near impossible. I spent the last 25 yards dodging swimmers and tapping feet. Once at the ramp, I pushed my way around the stragglers and began running my way towards transition. By the time I hit the grass my cap/goggles were off, wetsuit half down and I was well on my way to start the next leg. Time wasn’t too bad, but I’m certain I’m capable of much better, especially if I hadn’t gone off course.

Swim time:25:09 / pace 1:41 / 3rd in AG

T1

I jogged through the arch, counted 5 rows in and mid-way into the racks, my bike was waiting for me. I quickly yanked the wetsuit off (yay, another success!), I slid my socks on, stepped into my shoes, popped my sunglasses on, and tossed my helmet on my head. I grabbed my bike and started jogging to the mounting line. I had a little trouble clipping in, but then I was off…

T1: 1:46 / 1st in AG

Bike

My plan was to take the first 5:00 to just warm up my legs– fast cadence, stay comfortable. Then I was to shift up a gear or so and hold it there for the remainder of the race. As soon as I kicked it in gear I realized how tired/sore my legs were. I was hoping for a miraculous recovery overnight. no such luck. I was gonna have to power through it just try and hold a steady pace. I made the turn onto Independence and started to find my groove. The competitors had thinned out a lot and I only saw a couple men ahead of me. I just stayed in my game and focused on my ride and ignored everyone else. I actually liked the 2 loop course b/c I knew what to expect on the second lap. I knew going up the Whitehurst Freeway was going to be a tougher hill than it looked. I took that one out of the saddle and I was ready to do the same on lap #2. Cruising onto Clara Barton was awesome. It’s a road that otherwise bikes would never be allowed on. It was tree-lined and gorgeous. I paid (too much?) attention to the bikers going the opposite direction trying to spot my friends Charlie and Sam. The wind was at my back at this point and I was cruising. I forgot how tired my legs were and just kept on spinning. I kept my cadence at 85-90 the entire ride. Despite my hesitation, every time I dipped below 85, i shifted down. I stopped being stubborn and just did it. I finally saw Charlie and yelled out a good cheer for him then before I knew it I was hitting the turn-around. I wasn’t too far behind! I think this encouraged me to keep pushing it and not let go.

My HR was possibly higher than it should be, but I almost just tossed that logic out the window and used my perceived exertion instead. When we hit the parkway, the wind was on our side and I was holding a good 22pmh w/o much effort. It felt great. I made it to transition after the first loop and saw my friends Brian and Jordan on the sidelines. I yelled a big cheer and kept going strong. I looked at my time– 36 minutes… I did the math in my head and realized I was way ahead of schedule. If I could just perform another lap at the same speed, I’d have the potential to have a great race. At this point, I was racing primarily with all men. I think 2 girls passed me in the first loop (neither of which in my age group). It was kinda fun. I kept thinking to myself “don’t let up”. I was fearing that I was biking too hard and I would have enough legs to carry me through the run. I wanted to PR in the bike, but more importantly, I wanted to PR the whole race. New strategy: “pedal hard, but I still have a 10K”. Over and over in my head “10K left. 10K left. 10K left.” Then all of a sudden, I hear my name being yelled. Sam was passing me on the bike! It being his first tri and the swim being his weakest link I knew he was about to have a phenomenal race. I knew I couldn’t keep pace with him on the bike so I didn’t even make the effort. I kept maintaining my speed and trying to add the times in my head to figure out how fast i needed to go to achieve my goals.

A girl dressed in purple passed me going just a tad bit faster and I kept right behind her (legally, not drafting). I knew I could catch her, but I didn’t want to go out too hard before the finish. I knew I needed to shift down, increase cadence, and prep my legs for the run. Before I knew it, I was back on the parkway and was about to dismount. I glided through to the white line, jumped off and ran across the mat and towards my stuff. I saw my friends out of the corner of my eye and tried to acknowledge them (hope they noticed).

Bike time:1:15:53 / avg 19.6 / 6th in AG

T2

I ran to Row 9, counted in 3 racks and found my spot… but the two bikes on either side of my number were blocking my space. I tried to gently move them but the handlebars were caught and I was wasting valuable time. I thought about just leaning my bike where it was and taking off but I feared getting a penalty for not racking correctly. So I somewhat forcefully separated the bikes and slammed mine onto the rack (my poor bike). I quickly stepped into my shoes, pressed my footpod on, grabbed my race number and headed back towards the exit… whoops! wrong way! (Again, i should really have studied this course more) I turned around and headed back past my bike and through the correct exit. They were handing out water but I passed on it b/c I knew I had lost valuable time already. Now it was game-on. All I had to do was a 10K. Please legs, just make it through. Turns out my T2 time was not as bad as it felt, but imagine if it had gone smoother, I definitely could have shaved some time off here.

T2: 1:10 / 2nd in AG

Run

Here it was. The dreaded run. I exited the transition funnel and hit the pavement. Jordan and Brian were right there cheering and I looked at them and said but one word, “ouch”. I heard them chuckle and sorta laughed at myself. I knew my legs weren’t fresh and that having that fantastic run I was dreaming of was pretty darn unlikely. I just wanted to settle into my groove and make it to the end. I saw the girl in purple and passed her back within the first few hundred meters. The first mile felt ok. I predicted I was holding about a 9:00/mi pace and was pleasantly surprised when I took my split: 8:42! Ok, almost right on target. Now I just had to keep myself from slowing down. I kept my eyes peeled for friends along the way. I started singing songs to myself. I felt pretty good. I tried to utter some motivating words to all the folks I as passing. I looked down and my HR wasn’t as high as it typically is during a race. I tried to crank it up just a little bit more. I crossed the 2 mile mark at with a split of 8:17. I think I must have smiled when I saw that. Seeing that I was doing pretty well motivated me to not let it slip.

The run course was one of the worst I’d ever seen. Not sure who dreamed up the route on this one, but I’d be interested to hear the thought behind it. The one redeeming quality in the course was that with all the out-n-backs, you crossed paths with the same people multiple times. I was able to cheer on Charlie, Sam, and Simon several times. It also helped judge your pace by seeing how far ahead others were. Now, DC itself is not terribly hilly. They had to work at it to devise a course that had as many hills as this one did. I was definitely surprised at how many ups and downs we took. We ran through 2 tunnels and over an overpass to one of the bridges. Pretty crazy. The rain held off until the run and it felt so good when it came down. I love running in the rain. It dumped on us for only a minute or two and then went back to being a sprinkle. Though it was humid, the sun wasn’t quite peaking out yet and the mist felt great.

I never saw mile markers 3 or 4 but I saw the mile 5 on the opposite side of the dark tunnel as I ran towards the biggest hill of the day. As we neared the light again I saw the hill staring at me. I knew what had to be done– quick steps, gaze up, and power through. Before I knew it, I was at the top. It didn’t even hurt! These hill workouts must be paying off! I grabbed a cup of water at the turn around and knew the infamous mile 5 mark was waiting for me at the end of the tunnel. Just as I started the descent, a woman breezes past me. “wow she’s fast”, I thought. Her leg said 43 so I knew i had nothing to worry about (age group wise). I knew there was no way I could keep up with her, so my goal was simply to keep her in sight. There it was #5… my split was 23:28. I was pretty sure that couldn’t be right– that’s practically a 5k in less than 24? Nah, couldn’t be right… could it? I saw my total time and I was about 2:24 at this point. I was in serious disbelief and tried not to let myself get my hopes up… I was going to be really happy if I hit 2:40 today, and judging by my watch I was way ahead of target. I wanted it so bad, so I pushed. I was gaining on the woman ahead. We were on the straightaway stretch of Pennsylvania. There it was (or so I thought): the finish line arch. Not too far, time to kick it in. Using a different sprint technique– quick, fast turnover vs my normal wide, long stride. As we neared the first white arch, I realized that was not the goal… ok, next white arch, that’s gotta be it… Nope. Turns out the 2 white arches were for the professional race that took place later on… Our finish line was still ahead. At this point I had 2 options: slow down, recover and jog my way in -OR- continue this all-out sprint until I physically can’t continue. Reminding myself I had the possibility at PRing my olympic distance, I chose the ladder. “catch that girl.” I kicked it in top-speed, closer, closer, closer… DONE. I ended less than a second behind the woman I deemed far faster than myself. After we both caught our breath a little we thanked one another for pushing each other. She said she could feel me right on her toes. To this woman I do not know: thank you.

Run time: 48:44 / pace 7:52 / 6th place in AG

There it was on my watch: 2:32. Dazed, confused, and in disbelief I scrambled to get my chip removed, get my finishers medal and find my friends who were waiting at the finish line. I told them the news about how I *thought* I may have done the unattainable and reached not only my race goal, but my entire season’s goal. I really didn’t want to celebrate just yet b/c I honestly didn’t think it was right. I had to see it on the results page before I would let myself get too excited. I knew I had a good race and my legs lasted through the run and I had plenty else to be pleased with, so I focused on what I knew.

Turns out my watch didn’t lie. I was a mere 2 minutes from a (far-fetched) goal I set last year. I never actually thought I’d get there this year, especially after having two rough races this season. I did it. I couldn’t be happier… that is, until I came to realize, I accomplished another one of my goals for the season. I was going home with a trophy: 3rd place in my Age Group.

Total Time:

2:32:40 / 3rd in AG

Just the reinforcement I needed. All of my hard work, dedication, and devotion are finally paying off.

I stayed afterwards and watched the entire Elite men’s race and then the women’s swim. What an experience. I’ll post pics and stuff later.

Several hours and no food later I was ready to eat my arm off. A few friends and I ended up going to a Korean spot, Mandu, in Adams Morgan for my post-race meal. I think I would have eaten anything at that point, but the Mandu, Japchae, Bibimbap, and Sapporo were excellent. I think I ate my weight in food today… later on, my incessant sweet tooth kicked in and I caved. Knowing far and well that walking anywhere was not an option, I baked myself some cookies. That’s right, cookies just for me. Thankfully I was smart enough to made a small batch so I couldn’t overindulge. They were dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, pretty darn healthy… and pretty darn delicious. I’ll post the recipe later. I made a nice, hot soy latte to pair with the cookies and me, my dessert, and my compression socks found a movie and vegged on the couch. it was glorious.

though not gonna lie, the almond butter came out later. jar, spoon, pure bliss.