Category Archives: Race Report

Jul 12 0 comments
Race Report

BFAST Triathlon Race Report

Triathlons are not new to me, but sprint tri’s? A whole new beast. I know how to race/pace for an olympic and a half iron distance, but these short distance races are all new. That became wildly apparent three (swim, bike, and run) times during the race…

After doing as much prep work as I could, I actually found myself in bed by 10:30 the night before. I always try for an early bedtime, but rarely does it actually happen. Though I think 4:30 in the a.m. comes far too quickly no matter what time you call “lights out”. I decided to wait til morning to make the last minute judgment call of whether or not to bike myself to the race site or use my car. Pressing snooze 3 times pretty much made my decision for me. Car it was. In fact, I started the day way later than I wanted and ended up cutting it pretty close. i ate my egg whites while i quickly braided my hair, scarfed down my oatmeal while zipping up my tri suit, grabbed my bags and crossed my fingers that I remembered everything. I sorta miss the nerves and anticipation I used to get on race morning– I was so much more prepared…

I arrived at Mickler’s, which i’ve gotten to know quite well. it’s either my turn around point on my weekday rides or a landmark I pass on my longer rides. either way, i see this place pretty much daily. After waiting in line to pick up my chip I found my rack and set up my transition. It was a small race - capped at 500, which was sorta nice. Most everyone there was out there to have a good time and it was clear that the pressure that comes with a lot of races wasn’t present.

Photo Credit: Marni Sumbal

Photo Credit: Marni Sumbal

Swim

The race was a beach start (obviously, i mean i do live in florida!). I was in the 3rd wave (along with all other women), just behind the Age Group Men. The water was pleasantly calm and cooperative– a first on raceday! Unlike bigger races, our coundown was just that. A verbal countdown “10 . 9 . 8 . 7 …. 3 . 2 . 1 .. GO!”. It works, I suppose, but it definitely made me smile :) We were off. After a good run and several dolphin dives we were able to start swimming. I found myself falling back into my old pattern of completely losing all form and swimming like I’m a newbie. What gives? I kept trying to mentally change my patterns and let my form carry me, but for whatever reason I was having a hard time. I was swimming ok, but not great and certainly not fast enough. I was swimming at a pace just a tad faster than I would a warm up and once I turned the 4th and final buoy and realized the swim was pretty much over, I knew I didn’t stand a chance to make up for the lost time. Even a sprint at this point wouldn’t cover the ground I lost. Tooooo slow.

Swim Time: 8:49; AG Place: 4

T1

Holy cow. WORST . TRANSITION . EVER .
So the unfortunate thing about a sprint race is that you really have no time to spare. Losing time during transition is pretty hard to make up. A speedy T1 is crucial. It was a long jaunt from the swim exit (through the sand) back up to transition, which I actually felt like I held a pretty good clip and passed several men along the way. As I entered T1 one of the volunteers called out “8th place in women!” I thanked him and rushed to my bike. I tried to scrape as much sand off my feet as I could but decided time was more important and pulled on my socks on my (pretty filthy) feet. Helmet and sunglasses on and feet in my bikes, I pulled my bike off the rack and ran toward the mount line. Here’s where things went wrong. I regretably found a spot directly behind another guy trying to mount his bike and since he had trouble, I couldn’t start and I had two other people file in on either side of me. i was stuck! As soon as I got the chance, i fumbled a little and clipped my foot in and started to take off.. well, part of me. I can’t remember the last time I had a hard time clipping in… but today I just couldn’t get my left shoe to click. More wasted time…

T1 time: 2:42

Bike

This is the first and only race I’ve ever done with my power tap, so i was really excited knowing when I got home I’d be able to see the data from an actual race! I wish I kept repeating the word “race” in my head over and over again, because somehow in the 16 mile course, I seemed to have forgotten that’s what this actually was. I wasn’t holding back, but I certainly wasn’t treating it like a TT. I felt strong and I was passing men like it was my job, but I hate having the feeling that I could have done better. I want to get to the point where I can just lay it all on the line and feel confident that I gave it my all. I’m not there yet. There was one bridge we did coming and going and I’m not gonna lie, I’ve lot a lot of my hill strength I worked so hard to build last year. I fell behind on both ascends. I was good about sipping my water every couple of minutes, tho it wasn’t hard to remember to hydrate with the incredibly hot florida sun beating down me.

I was keeping a tally of how many women I passed and how many passed me and while I lost a couple spots, I gained more… until I got to about 10 mins out from the finish.. out of nowhere a group of 4 girls caught me and pulled ahead. This was when I realized I wasn’t pushing hard enough. It refueled my and I began working hard. Unfortnately the timing couldn’t have been worse. We were in a close pack at the only point in the course where our course was narrowed by cones and we had a limited amount of space. Naturally we were pushed together and couldn’t avoid riding pretty closely. One of the girls turned around and yelled for me to stop drafting her and I felt terrible, so I let go of the gas and let her pull ahead. It sucks because I did this race party b/c I want to meet people in the area and the last thing I want to do is get on peoples’ bad sides. In retrospect I sorta wish I pushed harder and ignored her comment and prevailed, but oh well. I pulled back into transition feeling like I had a pretty solid ride, albeit not as good as it could have been.

Bike Time: 37:31 ; Pace: 21.7 mph; AG Place: 4
T2

Redeeming leg of the race. In and out.

T2 Time: 0:40; AG Place: 2
Run

We had to do a bit of maneuvering along the parking lot before we got out on the road, which I took easy, trying to judge the condition of my legs (and more accurately, my toe). I hit the road and a volunteer gave me an update “you’re 9, and you’re 10″. There must be another girl right behind me. I started to build up to a steady pace and was feeling fairly strong. First race all season where I felt like I might be getting my running legs back. My stress fracture has taken more time than I ever expected to get back up to speed. Pun intended. One girl passed me (lickety split fast) but I was gaining ground on the girl ahead so I just pressed on and stayed confident in my own race. I hit mile 1 and my watch said 7:57. I tried to pick up the pace a bit and my goal at this point was to get faster each mile and sprint the end. I stayed on target and I passed the girl ahead of me. I was passed by another girl but then I passed another girl. I was staying consistently #9. I hit the turn around and stayed in the tracks of another woman for as long as I could before I felt confident I could make the pass. I did. But then I was passed. I was passed again. There was one girl in eyesight, but a pretty good distance away. I laid my gaze on the back of her head as I crossed mile 2 at 7:51. Keep going. My breathing was heavy but I felt strong. I kept my comfortable pace and tried to quicken my cadence just a bit. I was gaining on her. We rounded the last corner and I knew it was time to sprint. I should have actually started earlier but I couldn’t tell how close I was to the finish and I didn’t want another repeat of last year’s ITU. I kicked it in and closed in the gap between the other girl and me. I didn’t think it was possible, but here I was only a few body lengths behind. The possibility became more realistic so I pushed harder and harder and within the last couple seconds I blew by her and crossed over the timing pad just ahead. A couple deep breaths to regain my composure and I felt fine. I felt fine. I should have felt tired… I should have gone harder.

Run Time: 24:35; Run Pace: 7:54; AG Place: 2
Overall: 1:12:15; AG Place: 3; OA: 92/500

All in all, it was a fun race and a good way to spend a saturday (yes, saturday! i still get a weekend!). This distance is new and I’m not surprised I paced myself too conservatively. Maybe next time i’ll follow my friend Ben’s training motto: “Ride til you Puke”. Simple, yet brilliant. :)

After the race, I waited around for the awards and got a nice lil towel for getting 3rd place in my age group. I used it minutes later to wipe off the caked on grime before zipping back up and heading out for a recovery ride. I was excited to get to ride with my friend Marni and her friend from out of town, Jennifer. We headed back out and revisited the race course at a much more conversational pace. It was super hot, but it felt nice to spin out the legs. They’re both embarking in careers in dietetics so we pretty much talked food the whole way. I’m not complaining. I can talk food any day, any time :) It was really cool getting their take on the whole “raw” revolution and thoughts on training/recovery. I don’t do much training with others, and it was really nice. Marni and Jennifer made their way back to their car and planned to go to the beach but I kept going and wanted to get in as close to 2 hours as I could. It was getting close to noon and the sun was getting hotter and hotter and it was draining me pretty rapidly. I got back to the car after 1:47 and called it a day… well, on the bike. I made my way home, made a delicious, healthy whole wheat wrap with chicken and filled with tons healthy veggies. I ate standing up and (still unshowered) headed out to the garage to gas up the pressure washer and get to work… 4 hours later, my sidewalk, driveway, and the majority of my exterior was cleaner than it’s ever been. Barely being able to move at this point, I did some more work in the backyard before I finally rinsed off in my outdoor shower, slipped on a bikini, poured myself a corona and slid into my hot tub. 14.5 hours after waking up, I finally sat down for the very first time.

Long (but good) day.

Apr 29 3 comments
Race Report

2010 St. Anthony’s Race Report

Race reports. they’re a funny thing. When the race is good I can’t wait to sit down and write them… but when a race less than ideal, I put them off as long as possible. I guess avoiding having to relive the experience seems easier. It’s probably easy to tell how this one went… not so good.

I guess I could say this race went as “expected”. I knew it was not going to be a PR. I knew this very well. I also knew that the run would be tough. I knew this… yet a teeny tiny piece of me thought there was a sliver of a chance that I’d beat those odds and the time off of running/training would somehow spring new life into my rested legs. Silly me.

The morning started out well. Despite my late bedtime, I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to start the day. I don’t even think i pushed snooze! I guess it’s pretty common though, on race morning any sense of exhaustion is immediately replaced with a rush of adrenaline! Since I left all of my preparation until morning I knew I didn’t have time to waste. I put my numbers on my helmet and my racebelt, reorganized all my bags, and stuffed my transition bag with everything I’d need. I braided my air and heated up a cup of water to mix my starbucks via (this stuff rocks). A few minutes later I had a nice hot cup of coffee with the almond milk i brought. Mmm. Much better. I slept in my compression socks and kept those on while I donned my heartrate monitor, sweet new Saucony racesuit & jacket, and popped in my contacts. I probably should have checked my contacts before leaving my house, but for someone who wears contacts ONLY to race and maybe a couple nights a year, they tend to be the last thing on my mind. This became apparent when I put them in and the right lense was super dry and the left lense made my vision worse than without. Awesome. Can’t wait to bike blind. Maybe I should find a stick to use on the run. This’ll be great.

I loaded up the car and tried to navigate my way back to the racesite. I ate my (religious race morning) breakfast: Opytgen HP supplements, eggwhites (I made the day before) and oatmeal with half a banana as I drove. I was precisely on schedule with my plan to eat 2.5 hours pre-race. Perfect. I showed up to the line of cars searching for parking and passed the 3 designated pay-to-park sites. Since I never have cash on me I decided to take my chances. No one knows how to parallel park outside of the city, so lucky me. I slipped right into a “my car will never fit in this crack” space and I pitied all the people continuing their search. As I walked towards the transition area I took note of all the other nervous athletes around me. I love people watching and this was highly entertaining. It made me realize how calm and relaxed I was (surprisingly).

I casually waited for one of the Body Markers to free up and let two nervous looking athletes go ahead of me as I sipped my coffee and drank out of my gallon jug (new thing i’ve been trying lately. I carry a gallon jug with me all day long and i can see exactly how much i’ve consumed). I got my race numbers plastered onto my skin with the thick permanent marker and made my way to my bike. I set up my area as I always do: bike gear up front, running gear in back, optional gear off to the right side wit necessities grouped on the left. Once I got situated and quickly ran through the motions of my T1 & T2, I grabbed my wetsuit, cap, goggles, and water and began making my way to swim start. It was a bit of a walk and the line for the ladies room was massive so it took quite a while and unfortunately I missed both the pro men and pro women starts. bummer.

I found a nice stretch of pier to stand and watch the next few groups take off and construct my swim start plan. I did a good amount of stretching as I intensively watched the athletes sprint into the water. I haven’t practiced a beach start since I race Rhode Island last year so I was excited. With about an hour until my wave started I decided to get out of the excitement and find a nice patch of grass to stretch, lay down, and relax. My left hip had been really tight for the past couple days so I tried to loosen it up as best as I could. I ended up meeting a really nice woman from Tallahassee and we talked “shop” for quite a while. Turns out she’ll be racing Gulf Coast in two weeks, too. She’s done the FL IM a couple times and we had a lot to talk about. She’d also race St. Anthony’s a few times before so I picked her brain about the bike course since I didnt’t quite know what I was in for. She confirmed what everyone else had told me : technical, lots of turns, lots of people, and windy. Well, at least it won’t come as a shock, i guess. It was fun talking to her and I got so caught up in the conversation I lost track of the time! I quickly (well, that’s up for debate. it’s never quick) shimmied into my wetsuit, realizing i forgot to use any Glide on my ankles I squeezed the rest of my Chamois Butter (I always bring the trial size tubes with me to swim start) and lubed my calves/ankles.

Swim

I made my way to the front of the baby blue swim caps and we waited for the group of men to take off in front of us. I positioned myself exactly where I wanted to be: the very front and furthest to the outside. I stood there and calculated my move. I would run in, high knees, out as far as i could go, then i’d dolphin dive until it was time to swim. I would start outside and line up with the yellow buoy and swim inward. We had 5 minutes before the cannon went off which was plenty of time to check out the competition, the announcer to make corny jokes and me to hold my goggles in ready position. The gun went off and a-splashin we went. The front running girls around me and I were just about on the exact same plan. We all dove into the water and began our tumultuous journey. Now, this being the Bay, one would not expect the conditions to be too bad. Or maybe that’s just my naivety, but the conditions grew worse and worse as the time went on. I tried (yet again) to give drafting a shot. I’ve never succeeded at this yet I try every time. Maybe someday, but clearly not today. I get too antsy when the person in front of me is swimming the same speed as i am and i can’t hold back even though I know i’m supposedly conserving energy. I’ve tried drafting off of someone who was swimming faster than me, too. That doesn’t work either. So, it’s just me and my arms and legs. Good thing we’ve done this a time or two before.

I was really happy with my form, effort level, and my spotting. It’s been a struggle for me to race like I practice. For some reason, as soon as I feel there’s something at stake all form is lost and I feel like a fish with one fin. Don’t ask. But, today, today I felt good. I was finding my rhythm, staying with a strong group of girls, and making a perfect line to the yellow turn buoy. As we made the first turn the waves picked up. I was actually sort of enjoying the challenge. Once we turned, we were battling the undertow and that’s never a good thing. I knew better than to waste my energy trying to push forward while the water pulled me back, so I let nature do its thing and I waited for the eventual push forward. I took each push as much to my advantage as I could. It was getting harder and I was losing interest. It’s 1500 meters, I swim 1500 as a warmup. Why did it feel so far? I kept chugging along, made the next turn and was headed towards the exit. I was mostly around the silver and pink and royal blue caps at this point and trying to plan my route moment-by-moment. It gets to be like a maze when you’re swimming around people and it’s always better to swim near the folks in your color cap. They won’t hold you back.

I remembered my coach saying that the hard part of this swim is figuring out where to sight as the destination. It gets a little jumbled near the end and especially since I hadn’t been out in the water before the race, I kept mindful of the possibility. Luckily, the giant gatorade bottle seemed to mark the spot and I kept my eye on the prize. The waves were coming at us from the left and it was hard to plan the breaths correctly- too soon and you’d gulp water from the left, too late and you’d gulp it from the right. Luckily I only drank the salt water once and because I’ve convinced myself I have gills, it only took a moment to recover. I made it my goal to try and do 7 strokes before breathing like I do in the pool, but I was only able to do this once during the entire swim. I was consistently holding 3-4-5. As I got closer and closer I saw the stairs and realized how crowded they were. Being in a later start wave always gives you disadvantages. Just once I’d like to race at the front. Anyways, I got up to the stairs and jumped the gun on standing up. I should have swum further as I lost a couple seconds here. They had volunteers on the stairs helping us gain our footing and I’m most thankful they were there! I jogged up the stairs and by the time I hit the timing mats my goggles were off and I was fumbled my zipper. I looked down at my time only to see the clock, not my stopwatch. I must not have pressed the button hard enough. I lost my split and had no idea where I stood.

Swim Time: 27:58; Pace 1:43; AG : 17/88

T-1

I crossed into Transition and had cap and goggles in hand and wetsuit around my waist. Good start. I grabbed my sunglasses (decided to stay with the contacts), smushed them onto my fact and picked up my helmet. I somehow got the strap stuck inside and had to take it back off, wherein I proceeded to drop it. Nicely done. Moments lost. While I was down to pick it up, I slipped on my left sock. Finally got the helmet on, put on the right sock and slipped both shoes on. I velcroed up and glanced back down to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. I then grabbed my bike and wrestled with it to get it off the rack. The bikes were fairly close together and mine got caught on the one next to it. More precious moments lost. FINALLY after what felt like 5 minutes, I was running my bike through the mats and preparing to mount.

T1: 1:55; AG: 5/88
Bike

Start watch now. As I got on my bike it became immediately apparent that my aero bottle had somehow (I do not understand) become un-velcroed. ALERT. Something not going as planned. I immediately weight my options– I could just toss the bottle and forget about it and not lose time or I could spend the time and effort on fixing it. I debated the pros and cons (all of this within a couple seconds). I mean, this bottle ain’t cheap and i’d really rather not have to take the time and shop for another one not to mention it’s leading up to being a hot day and if I don’t drink water on this ride there’s no chance of making it on the run. On the other hand, I have a hard time fishing the velcro piece through the microscopic hole when I’m standing on ground let alone WHILE RIDING. With the lingering taste of salt water and my dry throat naggin me, the decision seemed obvious. I would take the time to fix it. A full 8 minutes. that’s right, e-i-g-h-t. I rode with my left hand holding the bottle while my right hand, not on the shifters, not on the breaks, but was trying to direct the velcro into the hole. I went through at least 5 turns this way and was pedaling fast but in an entirely too low a gear. I was going nowhere fast. Finally I got the water bottle secured and at this point I was able to pull my other bottle out of my cage and get in some calories/electrolytes. 3 sips sports drink, few gulps water at 8:00. It hit me, I missed my scheduled 5:00 target and I didn’t care. Am I finally starting to take things more casually and not be so nit-picky precise on my nutrition? Could it be? Halelujah, the girl is growing up.

I shifted a few gears and began gaining my speed. “Just try and not let everyone pass you” I thought. Then something strange happened, I passed a small cluster of people. I was gaining speed on the next group. I passed that group and I wasn’t being passed. Concerned I was going too hard I thought about slowing down, but my heart rate was on target and I felt fine so I kept going. I gave myself one goal– do not drop below 16. If I get close, I have to just push through it. We hit a straight away where we faced oncoming cyclists and you could tell the wind was punishing them. I kept at t and stayed steady and fluid. My hip was a bit tight, but otherwise I wasn’t in any pain and my saddle sores weren’t even an issue! We hit another turn and there was that wind. I refused to go below 16. I went 18. I was feeling strong. Only two girls in my age group had passed me and I was keeping one in sight, her pink jersey was easy to spot.

The course continued to take us on bends and turns and eventually numerous speed bumps. I was really happy with how I handled them all- i only had to break on one turn (and for me, that’s huge! i’m always overcautious and tend to slow down too much. I handled them like a champ and was feeling good about it. I was really trying to make this a PR. i had my eye on the clock and I really tried hard. I thought it was possible, and I think had I not had the water bottle issues at the beginning, it could have happened. Unfortunately, I didn’t hit it, but I’m still happy with this performance. I learned from it and for the very first time i felt like a cyclist.

Nutrition

In total (not exactly on time schedule) I drank 3-4 times (3-4 sips each time) of my sports drink and I had 2 endurolytes. I also had most of my aero bottle of water.

Bike Time: 1:18:47; Pace: 18.9; AG; 28/88
T-2

Run bike to the rack, helmet off, shoes off, shoes on, visor on, run out.

T-2 Time: 1:30; AG: 3/88
Run

Yep. Went just about as well as I thought it would. I felt like I had never run a 10K before. I felt like i was walking. I had no speed and not much drive. I was still on a high from how great I felt on the bike and I tried to use that to push me on the run, but for some reason, I just didn’t have it in me. I told myself to just keep this easy pace and slowly and gradually try and build. I can do this. Why won’t my legs do this?
As I’m jogging a man comes up and starts to pass me on the left and as he does and turns to me and says “I was eating your SMOKE on the bike”. That very moment was the best of the entire race. I felt so good. It put a little pep in my step… but not quite enough to deem this even a “decent” run. It was at about this point when I had the internal debate of whether or not I kick it into high gear and push myself all-out and try and salvage whatever I could for the rest of the race… or I take this run more as a training run and accept that that’s all I could do on this day. I chose the latter approach. With Gulf Coast less than 2 weeks away, it would be a bad idea to destroy my body and put myself in a position to further injure my foot or invite other injuries. Part of me felt like this was a cop-out, but it IS the first race of the season and I want to make sure there IS more of a race season, so I just kept on trucking.
I barely remember the course. There was a little (of course it felt big) bridge into a neighborhood we had to cross and lots of pretty houses. That’s about all i remember. This wasn’t a big spectator race, though I am thankful for the few kids and families who stood in their yards and sprayed us with their sprinklers! It was slightly overcast but blistering hot and incredibly humid. I grabbed water at just about every aid station and tried to drink as much as i could (though let’s be honest, most of it spills). I didn’t take any nutrition on the run and I only had mild stomach distress– mostly near the end and mostly because my body did not want to drink any fluids.
I aimed for a negative split and I definitely kicked it up on the way back. I didn’t have much speed to give, but I gave what I had. I honestly did not feel like I was racing. I felt like I was on a leisurely jog. I couldn’t figure out why this was happening. What a disapointment.

I usually kick my sprint in with 1 mile to go and do the full on sprint once I can see the finish line. Today, I barely increased my speed when I saw the mile 5 marker, but as soon as I got close enough to deem the sprint woulnd’t kill me, I pushed. I gave it my all. I ended up challenging another girl on the mats and we went all out. The two of us were neck in neck and vying for the finish line. I had to run around a man doing the infamous “kiss-the-ground-at-the-finish-line” maneuver and my dodging this guy on all-fours cost me the last split second. Her foot crossed first. But it was close, real close and I was glad I kicked it in. I just about collapsed after that intense sprint and found myself a chair to catch my breath. It was over. Thank God.

I gotta find my runnin legs. This is ridiculous.

Splits

mile 1 - never saw it.
mile 2 - 16:34, 182, 178
mile 3 - 8:58, 179, 175
Turn around - 1:38
mile 4 - 7:14, 179, 176
mile 5 - 9:28, 180, 164 Please tell me you’re kidding.
mile 6 - 8:41, 184, 176
10 K - 3:11

Run Time: 54:15; Pace: 8:45; AG:37/88

Total Time: 2:44:22; OA 8922490/; Gender place 168/746; AG place 16/88
In Review

Maybe I should find a race that’s just transitions. I seem to do pretty well in those, and these were long and drawn out compared to my typical times. Hmm…

Things I did well:

• Spotting in the water
• Form in the water
• turns/handling on the bike
• Overall relaxed mentality
•

Things I should work on:

• Better race prep– KNOW my water bottle is secure.
• Building my legs back up to speed in the run.
• Preparing for the heat/humidity

Aug 17 1 comments
Race Report

North East 2009 Race Report

The Zipps stick out like a sore thumb... but in the best possible way!

This morning was much more leisurely than most race mornings. With transition closing at 7:20 and me having a a start time of 8:15, I didn’t roll out of bed until 6 (which has been the recent START time). Nice. I didn’t need to eat until 6:15 (exactly 2 hours before my swim), so I got up, braided my hair and started checking my gear. I really didn’t do much preparation and sorta saved everything for last minute. I went downstairs to find that the coffee had already been started and the sweet aroma was waiting for me :) I love family. I pulled my oatmeal (+ chopped banana) from the fridge, cut up a nectarine and popped it into the microwave and cracked open 3 egg whites into a pan. Within a few minutes I was eating breakfast… right on time.

It’s a small town, so nothing is far away, but my uncle’s house is conveniently close to the race… right at the 1 mile marker along the bike/run course, to be exact. So I finished getting ready, grabbed my things and drove over. I got there, put the stickers on my bike and helmet (yes a tad last minute) and rode to the transition. I got there around 7, got myself body marked and had about 20 minutes to set up my area before they closed. Since this was a smaller race they didn’t have marked spaces for the bikes, just a rack for a group of #’s (so like 850-880) and you just had to rack somewhere along the rack. A bit different than what I’m used to, but I found a spot and the girl next to me was nice enough to move over a bit so we’d have more room. I saw a bunch of folks in their DC Tri gear, I didn’t know any of them, but it was great to see such a good turnout!

After a few texts, tweets, and a picture, i left my phone behind and made my way to the port-a-potty line. Shortly after I conveniently ran into my friend Robert who I met at SXSW this past year. We decided we’d race for all the fellow web-geeks today in prep for our larger 2010 geek-triathlon event, TBD. Rob and I caught up and hung out while the we waited for the race to start. The water was pretty calm, the current was moving, but not much. Water temp ended up being a whopping 85 degrees! definitely not wet-suit legal.

Swim

it was not wetsuit legal and i wasn’t prepared for that, so after multiple unsuccessful attempts the day before to go by a suit, i had to resort to wearing a sports bra and tri shorts… major drag suit. i was in the last wave and it didn’t seem to be a terribly intimidating group so i set up in the center. Gun went off and was holding a pretty good pace to start. I started to lose form a bit and just felt a little sloppy & lethargic. I was at least aware of it and tried to make corrections. It wasn’t a terrible swim, but I just couldn’t seem to feel the way I do in the pool. After i turned the last buoy I felt better and was gaining speed, but it was no stellar performance. At the very end some giant man decided to stop and stand up on the ramp and i swam RIGHT INTO HIM! i was so mad, and in my flustered sate I just couldn’t get around the guy.

The top of my right foot (where it connects to my shin) was bothering me throughout the whole swim, so I kicked very little the whole way. It reminded me of my senior year in high school when I had knee surgery and refused to stop swimming, so I raced with out using my legs. I was “that girl” who just pulled. It actually got me really strong and took me a few years to relearn how to swim WITH using my legs. I’ve felt this pain in this spot before, not sure what causes it or why it only happens on occasion, but I was fine with not aggravating it. Plus, I wanted to save my legs for the bike/run and not risk injury.

Swim Time: 24:10; pace 1:28; OA place 49/350


Transition 1

Compared to New York, the distance to transition was nothing, but compared to a normal race, it was a bit of a jaunt. We had to run up the boat ramp and past a couple picnic areas and a gazebo. My goggles and cap were off by the time my feet hit the grass and I was instantly encouraged when I saw my friend Jon on the sidelines. I got a huge smile on my face, ran a few more paces and then I saw Trish and Matt! I was so excited they were there cheering me on. I found my way to my bike and they yelled for me from the other side of the fence. I’ve never had to change shirts before so first thing was first, get that jersey over my head… that’s about as far as it went. If you’ve ever tried to put clothes on when you’re sopping wet, you know it ain’t easy. I left it around my neck as i quickly put my socks and shoes on. I slipped on my sunglasses and fastened my helmet and was off… all the while battling with my shirt and trying to get it all the way on, as the picture awkwardly shows…

T1 Time: 2:15; OA place /350


Bike

I started off feeling pretty good. About a mile into the course I rode by my Uncle’s neighborhood and waved hello as I passed by. He and his wife were out there to cheer me on and I gotta say, there’s nothing like having people out there supporting you.. especially on a hotter than hot day like today.
About a mile further and I passed “Cara Cove”, the street that leads to the house my mom was born and raised. It’s very close to my heart and I couldn’t help but blow a kiss and a rode past this literal memory lane. The boost of excitement that provided helped for the next couple of miles as I was able to concentrate on childhood memories (like feeding the neighborhood horses giant carrots, or catching lightening bugs in our hands, or lying in the backyard watching shooting stars…). But then I was reminded of the heat and my heavy legs.

This was a hilly course and i was slowed down by some of the inclines… but thankfully, i was FLYING on the declines! My HR was higher than my coach suggested, but I decided to ignore it. it was in the 160’s for a good part of it, but my PE wasn’t that high. I don’t know what was wrong– it almost felt like i had a flat, i was putting in effort/energy but couldn’t quite seem to gain speed. Very bizarre. The hills were sorta tough and I just wasn’t feeling terribly strong. i kept falling into a comfort zone and simply pedaling rather than racing. I had to keep reminding myself it was a race!

Nutrition

I was pretty solid on my following my plan:
5:00 cytomax
30:00 1 shot blok, 2 endurolytes
50:00 cytomax
60:00 cytomax, 1 enduro

Bike Time: 1:17:16; pace 18.2; OA place 168/350


Transition 2

Smooth, quick and easy. Shoes and helmet off, shoes and visor on. I grabbed my package of shot bloks, stuffed them in my pocket and fastened my racebelt while running out.

T2 Time: 0:51; OA place 49/350


Run

Man. i don’t know what to say, other than NOT my best performance. it was hot. like really hot. like fry an egg on the sidewalk hot. There really wasn’t much flat road on this course– it was all long gradual hills– both up and down.

My cheering squad was waiting for me as I exited transition. Man was I happy to see them! I only wish I were having a better race for them to see. Matt jogged alongside me and I think I high-fived him just before this photo was taken, maybe that explains the awkwardness. haha.

I realized after a mile or two in that there was no way I was gonna PR this race and I had two choices– push myself hard and have a crappy training week next week or hold back a bit and use the run as a training run– save the legs from defeat. For the first time in my life, I raced smart and I chose the latter. Being so competitive I don’t like to hold back. I didn’t give up, but i certainly didn’t push myself as hard as i have in previous races. If i saw someone ahead of me instead of pushing myself to catch up/keep pace, i simply thought “good for her, she’s have a good race” and i continued along with my pace. I started getting upset stomach at about mile 3 and it made it hard to keep going. All i could think about was how badly i wanted to cross that finish line so i could stop and get out of the sun. I’m not sure what caused GI distress, i did everything according to plan.. it must be the heat? i grabbed 2 cups of water at each aid station– drank one and poured the second cup over my head each time. I also had a shot blok and an endurolyte at mile 3.

This race was the 2009 Regional Club Championship and I have to say it was a lot of fun racing in a team jersey. I was out there (with countless others) representing wearing the same colors as you. With most every person I passed an exchange of support was given– a “GO DC TRI” or “KEEP IT UP” or something similar… At least for the first few miles… towards DC Tri Club. I really don’t know most of them, but tere’s an unspoken bond when you see someone the end I mentally made note that I was crossing paths with a teammate but had so little energy left that I practically ignored it.

I passed my Uncle’s neighborhood and knew I only had a mile left. I could make it. My typical last mile of a race is a sprint, but not today. I tried to increase my speed a little, but just kept it comfortable, I’d be done soon. As I got back to the town and rounded the last corner I saw my friends and family. Wow was it good to see them! Matt took off his flip-flops and ran with me, encouraging me and yelling for me the whole way. I wanted so badly to respond with an all-out sprint, but instead I think I just gave him a huge grimace. I did manage to catch up with the 24 year old girl who was ahead of me the entire run and with about 50m left, I kicked it up and blew right by her. Small victory.

Mile Splits

7:54
8:47
8:39
8:34
8:39
9:42

Run Time: 52:16; pace 8:26; OA place 122/350


Total Time: 2:36:46; OA 95/350; Gender place 16/120; AG place 5

There were lots of volunteers around just past the finish line arch and one extended his hand and offered a bottle of water, i graciously accepted it, let another volunteer take off my timing chip and staggered my way to a bench on the grass. I sat and caught my breath for a few moments before I got up and searched for my friends. We found a spot in the shade and I was feeling much better and within minutes I was back to my goofy self– dancing around and having fun… really, i was just so happy to be out of the sun!



We decided to head back to the city and do lunch once we got there rather than try and find something crowded near the race. My stomach was completely upset from (had been since mile 3), but i know my typical ravenous appetite after a race, so we stopped at a gas station and picked up some snacks for the drive home. Indecisive as always, it took me a while to figure out what my body wanted. Nothing sounded good and everything sounded good all at the same time. I decided on an elvis sandwich– got a toasted whole wheat bagel and topped it with a Justin’s Almond Butter squeeze pack I brought with me and a sliced banana. Heavenly.

We made it back to the city in no time and found our way to a Pho restaurant in Cleveland Park. Hot soup on a hot day seems a little ridiculous… but with the lime and cilantro, it’s actually quite refreshing. After showing Matt his first meal of Pho, we all parted ways and I finally got to shower off the sweat from earlier. lovely. I found myself on the couch in my compression socks for the remainder of the day vegging out to mindless tv and eating what was meant to be just one serving of (soy) ice cream… and what turned out to be the entire pint! I always splurge a little on raceday, but today may have been a bit overboard. whoops… what can i say, ice cream just tasted so good after such a hot morning! Oh well, back on track tomorrow.

All in all, I’m glad I did this race, even if it wasn’t the race I hoping for. It wasn’t a complete loss: I had fun, loved having my friends there, and earned some points for the tri club. Every race is a learning experience and prepares you further for the next one. Now it’s time to focus and train hard. Nation’s is only a couple weeks away!

Jul 30 0 comments
Race Report

Nautica New York Triathlon Race Report

It wasn’t a stellar race, but it wasn’t a terrible race, either. Nothing really eventful today. I was a bit disappointed in myself on the bike, but I’m happy with my run. I wasn’t really expecting an awesome race, so i really can’t complain.

I woke up at 3:50, made my oatmeal (with 1/2 banana and 1/2 peach) and got out my 2 hard boiled egg whites. I turned on a motivational playlist, reviewed my gear checklist, did my hair and got in some stretches when Morgan walked in the door. Pretty funny that she was getting IN from the night before at the same time I was getting ready to start my day! We caught up a bit and she told me about her fun (late) night and then it was time for me to leave. It started pouring outside so I waited a few minutes for it to die down before heading up the street to catch a cab. I headed across town and a few minutes later found myself in the hustle and bustle of transition. It was dark, wet, humid, and you could feel all the nerves running wildly. I stuck to myself, set up my area, and set forth on the mile-long walk up to the swim start. It was raining pretty hard at this point but not much I could do about it, so I just shrugged it off and trekked on. The body-marking and chip pick-up areas were total chaos. This would probably be the one aspect of the race that could have been better executed. No signs or direction, just mass crowds of clueless people. Finally, I got marked and got my chip and made my way to stand in line for the port-a-potties. I made my way down to the organized areas dedicated to the various age groups/swim waves.

Swim

I was one of the earlier waves which is atypical for F25-29, but I was excited to get started (and finished) early. The current apparently grows less strong the later it gets., so to make up for getting the extra boost on the swim, the folks who were in the yellow transition had a further distance to run from the swim exit to the yellow transition area. All the waves were pushed back 20 minutes due to the lightening and rain storm we received while setting up in transition, but they pushed the swim waves closer together and we were going in increments of 1:30. It was very well organized and the announcer was keeping the energy light and fun. He asked random people where they were from and had a witty response for each one. I think he’s done this a time or two before :)

Anyways, not much after the pros and elites were off (they got to do a dive start while the rest of us had an in-water start), the age groupers started. I ate 1 shot blok and washed it down with the rest of my water ten minutes before my predicted start. Like clockwork the next 3 waves jumped in and were off. Now it was our turn. I’ve never been so at ease before a race. A couple girls around me had said it was their first triathon and were asking for advice, it was kinda fun to feel like the veteran! I was totally at ease and I put so little pressure on myself for this race, I was just excited to get out there and enjoy my morning. They called our wave to start walking down the barge and we all jumped into the Hudson and quickly grabbed on to the rope. The current really was pretty strong and if you didn’t grab ahold you’d start floating downstream. I set up to the far outside, it seemed as though that’s where the pros had chosen to swim and i figured they probably have a good idea as to what’s the fastest. so i followed their cue. We waited for a little bit and then the horn set us free.

I started off and used a long, relaxed stroke. I planned on going very low-effort on the swim and saving my energy for the bike. I was right on task. I felt like I was swimming warm-up pace. I was still in the lead pack which really surprised me for how little energy I was putting into it. I lifted my head to spot more often than I usually do because the water clarity was zero. The only time my HR spiked was when a fellow red-capper continually grabbed my ankles from behind and I tried to kick back. Hey, she started it.
I continued along in this fashion for the entire distance. I did manage to swim into a paper bag and get my hand stuck inside for a second. I’m pretty sure I can safely say this was the poorest water quality I’ve had to swim in (and after swimming in the Potomac twice, that’s saying a lot). Every time the water got in my mouth my stomach churned. Disgusting.

My goggles fogged up a bit, but as soon as I saw congestion ahead I figured it MUST be the finish area and that’s when I decided to add a little bit of a push. I glided in, passing 2 more red caps and glided in to the ramp. We were warned to swim all the way up the ramp until we were basically “beached” as to avoid the muck on the bottom. If you try and stand up too early, you risk getting your feet stuck in the mud. They had volunteers at this section to help you stand up and get your footing. I got myself up and out of the water, ripped off my goggles and began my transition.

Swim Time: 17:44; pace 1:04; AG place 23/268


Transition

By far… by FAR… the longest transition I have ever seen. I’m not sure the exact distance, but I bet it was close to a mile. Now a mile in a normal setting is not bad, but when you are running barefoot, in a wetsuit, and have two more events ahead of you, a mile is a lot. Not to mention a blow to the ego when you see your T1 time has quadrupled. Under the circumstances, I sucked it up and did what I could. I turned off the boat ramp, hit the pavement and held a good, steady pace. I pulled off my cap, reached for the zipper on my wetsuit and pulled it down to my waist. There was a good crowd along the sidelines cheering along and clapping. A few hundred yards in, one of the spectators yells “wipe your face!” … awesome, I had remnants of the Hudson adorning my cheeks. I sure hope the race photographers captured that. Thankfully a little bit further and there were sprinklers to run under. I still held my pace but I took advantage of the clean water. I was passing all the athletes around me and feeling pretty good. I was going through my next steps in my head– visualizing the transition area and the route to my bike and going through my list of to-do’s once I got there. My bike was positioned in the center of the row, so I spent some time yesterday figuring out which side I’d run in from. I always pick landmarks to help me find my row. There were banners along the fence and ironically there was an Orbea banner at the end of my row. Perfect.

I ran in, spotted the Orbea logo, jumped over a few messy transition spots, saw my bright pink transition bag and with a quick yank my wetsuit was off. I liked having my socks on my gear shifters last weekend at RI, so I repeated that trick today. They were damp from the rain, but no more wet than I was already. Slipped on my socks, velcroed my shoes, sunglasses on and helmet on. I decided since it was a short race I’d just wear my contacts the whole way, so I didn’t have to worry about ripping those out. I pulled my bike off the rack and ran towards the bike out exit. I made the mistake of not fastening my helmet back before grabbing my bike and once I hit the mounting line I lost a few seconds dealing with it.

T1 time: 5:29; AG place 11/268

(ouch)


Bike

I had racked my bike in a low gear in preparation for the short but steep incline that comes pretty quickly, but there was a short straight-away before the hill and I ended up shifting up to pass riders ahead of me first. After the climb we had a sharp left turn onto a traffic circle and then another sharp left onto the highway. It was a little dicey with wet roads and lots of cyclists, but luckily no crashes. I followed my plan of taking the first 5:00 to get comfortable spinning and going high cadence. At 5:00 in I took a few sips of cytomax, washed it down with water and then shifted gears. I was passing several people ahead of me. I started playing a game in my head– I kept track of how many folks passed me. I counted each person that passed me then if I passed them back I subtracted them. For the first 15:00 the number was 0. Eventually 2 men slipped ahead. Then a girl. Then another man. Then I passed the first man. I kept this going the whole way. I actually made up names for each person. There was a guy who had to be 6’5, his seat post was taller than me when I was in aero position, he would be called “Tall George”. The girl with the t-mobile hot pink bike spun her feet at an insane cadence, she would be “Speedy Gonzales”. Little did these folks know they were playing the game, but it kept me entertained and focused. I knew what was ahead and who I had to take down. The largest the number got was 13, but I kept picking them off along the way. I think the final count was 9, and most of them were men.

I didn’t know much about the course going into it. I had heard there were some rollers, a few good hills but didn’t sound too terrible. It didn’t feel too bad, but it must have been worse than I thought b/c my bike split was nowhere near what I thought. I must have knocked the magnet or the reader b/c my computer didn’t pick up any data. I had to do the entire ride by feel, which in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I think it’s good practice to judge pace by feel every now and again… but I really do like having my cadence at the ready so I can adjust accordingly. I definitely think not having my computer affected my overall ride. I felt like I was holding a good pace and pushing myself. I kept reminding myself that today was all about the bike portion of the race. I wanted to hammer it. Regardless of how I felt on the run, I wanted to crush the bike. Today was about experimentation… I’ll call it an experiment failure. I didn’t push myself hard enough and didn’t at all reach my potential. Oh well, just gotta train harder for next time.

I followed my nutrition plan pretty well–
5:00 cytomax
15:00 1 endurolyte
30:00 1 shot blok
45:00 1 endurolyte
I was supposed to drink cytomax at 60:00 but I was also supposed to not take in anything (except water) after 20 miles, and since I never saw a single mile marker I wasn’t sure which trumped the other. I decided to skip the drink and just continue with water. I had no stomach issues and had plenty of energy. As we rounded the final hairpin turn and headed back up the last hill, I pushed pretty hard to pass a couple folks and knock the number down a few more.

Getting back into the yellow transition was a little ugly. We had to pass the “bike in” for the red transition and that caused a bit of congestion and awkward/cautious riders slowing down. Despite my “ON THE LEFT!” calls, I had a really hard time getting by anybody. Finally I hit the dismount line, jumped off and rushed towards the Orbea banner.

Bike time: 1:21:26; pace: 18.3; AG place 15/268


Transition

This went quite quickly. Racked the bike, slipped on my shoes, and grabbed my race belt, shot bloks, and baggie of endurolytes (wasn’t gonna forget those again!). As I ran towards the run out, I stuffed the nutrition in my pockets and clicked on my race belt. I jumped over the obstacle course that was everybody elses transition areas and realized I didn’t start my foot-pod. I quickly stopped, turned it on, made sure it connected and started running again. I hated that I had to stop, but I think it only added a total of 2-3 seconds. It’s funny how that can seem like an eternity while racing. It’s true– every second does count.

T2 time: 1:21; Place in AG 15/268


Run

There were too many athletes clogging the path at the aid station directly outside of transition so I ran around them and skipped the water. We were immediately greeted by a pretty nice hill which spiked my HR up a bit, but shortly after we were on 72nd street and a multitude of people were lining the course screaming and cheering. I felt like I was the only one out there, like they were all cheering for me. It was such a rush. I definitely had a huge smile on my face. The crowds here were incredible. I can’t explain enough how much it helps to have people encouraging you and pushing you to push harder. Makes all the difference.

I was trying to use the first few minutes to get a grip on my cadence and find my “fast feet” before settling into my groove. Just before entering Central Park I heard my name, I turned to see my friend Ellen and a group of her friends. I was so excited and I know I got an extra jump in my step. She had a few other friends she knew doing the race and I think it’s awesome she came out to support. (thanks Ellen!)

The course was awesome. I loved it. It was hillier than I expected, but turns out I think I like hills now! Who would have thought!? There was only one big climb, the rest were rollers, but not much of it was actually flat. There were aid stations at just about every mile and I grabbed water at each one. We had the far right lane dedicated to us and the rest of the path was still being used by recreational runners, bikers, walkers, etc. So many of them cheered us along and shared encouragement. I got a lot of women cheering for me as I was in a crowd of men. I passed a group of ladies who informed that I was one of the first women to go by. Really?! I knew I wanted to wait until the halfway point to pick up my pace, but her comment made me want to push. I’ve learned that when I feel like I’m doing well it motivates me to want to do even better, and likewise, when I feel like I’m doing poorly, I lose my drive and begin to give up. So, to the lady who gave me the ego-boost, I thank you.

I decided to play a different game on the run– I knew I’d be passed by all the crazy fast runners, so I’d only count the women who passed my with 25-29 written on the back of their calves. I was about 2 miles in when I counted the first. I found myself running alongside with a gentleman about the same pace for a little while and for the first time in any race, I actually held a conversation with him. He had a great accent and it was fun listening to him talk. He had a great sense of humor and made many of the spectators laugh when he ran past. It was great, then we hit an aid station and I suppose he must have slowed to grab his beverage, b/c that was the last I saw of him.

I kept passing the mile markers and couldn’t believe how quickly this race was going. At mile 3 I popped an endurolyte. 3-4 girls in my AG had passed me, but I kept my speed and held steady. One girl passed me and was going SO fast, I couldn’t believe her pace. She was definitely a college runner and I had no plans of trying to keep up with her.

The day seemed to be flying by. My time, however, was not where I wanted it to be. I passed mile marker 4 and shortly after someone yelled “1 and a half to go!!”. I looked at my watch and it said 2:22, I had approximately 8:00 to cross the finish line in order to make my 2:30 goal. I knew it wasn’t going to happen but I pushed anyway, I wanted to get as close as I could. I told myself not to leave anything behind and crank it out- I can rest once I cross the finish line. This felt like a repeat of ITU where I sprinted too early thinking the finish line was closer than it actually was. The end of the course sort of snaked around twisty-turny and there was no telling where the end would turn up. I was holding a (too) fast pace that I couldn’t sustain and ended up having to drop it back a little so I’d have that last spurt of energy to sprint the end. Once I saw the line ahead, I had very little left in the tank but I kicked it in and passed the last two men ahead of me.

Run Splits

Mile 1 - 6:42 (unlikely); max HR 172, avg 169;
Mile 2 - 8:16; 172, 166
Mile 3 - 8:01; 171, 164
Mile 4 - 8:08; 175, 167
Mile 5 - 7:53; 179, 175
Mile 6.2 - 8:51 (also seems wrong); 192, 184

Run time: 47:56; Pace: 7:43 ; Place in AG: 28/268
Overall time: 2:33:53; Place in AG 12/268

I crossed the timing mats and had a momentary lack of balance. A nice volunteer took my arm and insisted he walk me over to the med tent. I assured him I was ok and just needed some water, but he made me talk to one of the medics. I completely understand it was a safety precaution and he was just doing his job. He asked me all sorts of questions to make sure I was cognizant and assess my mental state. It was actually kind of fun to have someone to talk to and tell about my race, plus I got a place to sit and an ice cold water! Despite his attempts to keep me longer and make sure I was in fact healthy, I convinced him to let me leave. The volunteers were top-notch and seemed to not only take their duties seriously, but went above and beyond. Well done, NY, well done.

After I finished I knew I had a while before Charlie finished and with the CROWDS of people, the chances of finding anyone was not gonna be easy. I decided to go wander the finish festival on my own. I picked up my morning clothes bag which really just contained a pair of flip flops and a biz card with my friends’ phone numbers on it. I switched shoes and ventured towards the food area. This was the best post-race spread I’ve ever seen. Bagels (plain, cinnamon raisin, poppyseed, etc), oranges, bananas, apples, etc. There were tons of vendors and free samples and all sorts of goodies like water bottles, Muscle Milk, cytomax, protein bars, glutamine packets, nuts, etc. They handed out drawstring bags to carry all our findings and I filled two of them! They had a massage/stretch area that was pretty empty and with plenty of time to kill, for the very first time, I put myself in line. The line started with 6 chairs with foot massage machines on the ground. It felt alright, nothing to write home about and it kinda grossed me out to be sitting in a chair covered in other athletes’ sweat and put my bare feet on something that several others’ put their bare feet. That’s gotta be a fungus breeding ground if I’ve ever seen one. About 10 minutes later it was my time to be stretched. I told the guy about my IT band and my calf and he did a few really good deep stretches that felt really good.

I kept on exploring and found my way to the crowd-covered posted results. I waited patiently for a spot to view the (unorganized) papers. I finally found my name and ran my finger across the rows and there it was: “total time: 2:33:53”. Not my goal time and slower than my last olympic race, but not bad. I was ok with it. I read the numbers again and realized I actually PR’d my run! I went almost a full minute faster than at ITU (which was a PR, as well) and this course was much hillier! I’m continually making progress in my run, and I love it. I can feel myself becoming stronger and faster and it really encourages me to want to continue the trend. My bike, however, was a big let down. I planned on using this race to test my strength on the bike leg and really drop the hammer. I dropped it alright, fumbled and let it fall. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all and it was a good learning experience and I’m glad I did it. This was a great race and I’d recommend it to anyone.

I got the chance to have a front row spot for the pro awards. Greg Bennett took home the gold for the 4th year in a row- pretty incredible. The announcer handed over the mic to all the podium finishers to recount their races and every single one of them talked about the difficulty of this race. I really didn’t find it to be bad, but maybe my view is just so skewed after racing the infamous hill in Rhode Island. Nothing could compare. Makes me feel good though to have had a decent race on what is apparently one of the tougher courses in the sport. The girls were given their awards and then all 6 of them stayed on the stage for the famous champagne “toast”. My front row spot turned out to be right in the “splash zone” and seconds later I was wet and sticky and smelled like New Years Eve. It was great. Salud!

In Review
Things I did well

• No nerves, put little pressure on myself

Mistakes I made

• Not fastening helmet strap before grabbing bike
• Not double-checking bike computer before race

Jul 12 0 comments
Race Report

Ironman Amica Rhode Island 70.3 Race Report

Alarms went off at 3:45, though I had been awake since 3 and I used that time to stretch and roll out my IT band and calf a little more. I got up and opened the curtains to see a dreary, wet dark morning. It had rained during the night and did not look like a good start of the day. I took care of typical race morning duties– put in my contacts, heated up water in the coffee maker (to make my oatmeal), braided my hair, put sunscreen on my face, and put on my tri-top & shorts (decided to go all black today. i mean business.). Because Ironman Rhode Island 70.3 is a point-to-point triathlon (start in one spot, finish in another… and in this case, you start on one side of the state (Narragansett Beach) and finish on the other side (Providence), race morning was a little different. All of our T2 gear was already in transition and all we had to bring was swim/bike gear (if we didn’t already leave it in T1 yesterday) I double/triple checked my black (”morning-of”) gear bag– wetsuit, goggles, cap, body glide, bike shoes, helmet, and bike nutrition). Satisfied with my checklist, I threw on big comfy sweats and my compression socks (hot, i know), gathered everything and packed the car. Luckily since Jordan wasn’t racing, she could drive the car to the race start and we didn’t have to deal w/ the shuttle bus (and lots of anxious athletes!). We set out on the (hour long) journey to the beach. I sat in the back seat eating my hard boiled eggwhites, oatmeal, and sipping on my water bottle. The hotel coffee hadn’t been made yet so for the first time, I was gonna race w/o coffee… not wanting to change anything on race day, I was a bit nervous, but it didn’t seem to be an issue.

We arrived at T1 with only minutes before transition closed so we quickly gathered our things and rushed over to body marking and then made our way to our bikes. Soon after, they made an announcement that the storms from the night before had moved the buoys around and they needed remeasure and place them again, resulting in a delay of about 30 minutes. Nice, I needed that! They made it clear at the race briefing that this race was to have a “clean transition”, meaning nothing except your front (or rear) wheel can touch the ground. Everything had to be either on your bike or in your green (bike) gear bag hanging from your bike. I put my helmet on my bars with my sunglasses inside, one sock on each gear shift and my shoes on my arm pads with my arm warmers inside. I re-attached my computer, put all my nutrition in my bento box, affixed my aero bottle (filled with water), and put my other bottle filled w/ 2x cytomax in the cage.

I met back up with Charlie and Jordan and we waited in the infamously long line for the port-a-potties. It was pretty amusing, Charlie was next door and needed toilet paper, so I opened the door and gave him the last of what was in the stall. Too bad we didnt get a pic of that! Then it turns out there was none left in any of the stalls, so one volunteer was grabbing tissues and passing them out to the folks in line. Never a dull moment.
It was absolutely freezing and most people were wearing their full wetsuits just to stay warm! We made our way to the beach as they started the national anthem and the pros prepared for their start. It was still dark, drizzly, and gloomy and the waves were a bit rough. They actually gave the option for anyone who wasn’t comfortable swimming in these conditions to instead do a duathlon and skip the swim. Crazy. The cannon went off and the pro men fiercely stampeded the water. Most of them ran as far as they could before dolphin diving the waves. I tried to pay close attention to the current and find any sort of pattern that would help me when it came my turn. I had planned on setting up on the outside and coming in diagonally, but after watching the first few waves go off, it seemed like more folks were being pushed to the outside. I made up my mind to start on the very inside and hope for the best.

I got to watch and cheer on Charlie as he started the swim then a few minutes later got to watch the pro men exit! I love watching the pros- everything is so fast and deliberate. James Cotter was the first male out of the water lept through the waves and sprinted across the sand. He had about a 30 second lead on second place Richie Cunningham. I was getting really into being a spectator and for a few minutes forgot that I was soon going to be in the water myself. I then decided to walk away from the action and spend a few minutes by myself and do some visualization and race prep. I reminded myself of my plan of attack and psyched myself up for the day. I opened my eyes and almost instantly the announcer called my age group to line up “on deck”.

Swim

I love beach starts. We stood on the sand and anxiously awaited the cannon to go off. I lined up at the very front and inside. I counted the buoys– 6 yellow buoys until the turn around. Just 6 measly buoys. I was ready. I put my goggles on, adjusted my cap, and got into my starting position. BOOM… and we were off. I jumped through the first few waves and ran as far as I could before dolphin diving my way through the rest. On my second dive my goggles got knocked off enough to fill with water. I had to roll over and readjust. I quickly gathered myself and got up to speed. It only took a few minutes for our swim wave to disperse and quickly spread out into different ability levels. The race organizers did a nice job at spacing out the different waves and it wasn’t until a good ways into the swim that i found myself dealing with different colored caps. I held a pretty consistent pace and effort level and found myself using good form (something that has been an issue for me in the past). I kept reminding myself “let my form carry me”. I kept playing leap frog with another girl– we would be right next to each other for a few strokes then one of us would pull ahead, then back to side by side, then the other would pull ahead. I didn’t want to focus on her or anyone else, i wanted to focus on me so I tried to ignore her. She never pulled ahead enough for me to catch any draft and she seemed to have a hard time staying in a straight line so I tried to drop her w/o increasing much speed. At the turn-around point I finally lost her. Once we rounded the orange buoy and were headed back to shore i could tell the current was slightly more in our favor. I was doing a great job at sighting and for the first time ever I didn’t swim off course. I was ready to start kicking it up but was slightly hesitant b/c I knew I needed to conserve energy. I kept looking up and could not seem to find any red buoys so I followed the crowds and hoped they knew where they were going. Every time I tried to spot I saw red blobs but they were caps, not buoys! I was swimming around more and more different colored caps and less and less purple caps. I think the waves knocked things around in the water, but next year I would suggest more buoys on the return. Finally I crossed the first buoy and I saw the beach just ahead. I was next to a purple cap and we seemed to be pacing each other. I knew I could outswim her so I let her set the pace and I held back until I was close enough to warrant sprinting in to the finish. I crossed the last buoy and then threw down. I lengthened my stroke, added some strength to my kick and pushed my way ahead. I didn’t stand up until the sand was shallow enough to almost hit with my hand. I let a wave push me and i streamlined in. I got up to my feet, pulled my goggles off, jumped the waves and began running towards the beach. I glanced at my watch and saw 30 minutes and some change. Excited that I beat my prediction, I pulled off my cap, reached for the zipper on my back and started running fast.

Swim time: 31:25, 1:38/100; 13 in AG

t1

It seemed like a ridiculously long way to run and I passed 3 people before I hit the timing mat and saw the wetsuit peelers ahead. Having never used peelers before, I was a bit hesitant, but I decided ahead of time that I’d give it a chance. I saw the biggest, toughest, strongest guy in the line and went straight to him. I jumped to the ground, laid on my back, threw my legs up and let him do the work. In about a second and a half it slipped right off. LOVE THIS. i thanked him, grabbed my wetsuit, and rushed to my bike. 1…2…3 racks in and I ran until my landmark (exactly even with where the swim chute hit the pavement) and found my bike, right where I left her.

T1 time: 2:01; 9 in AG
Bike

Sunglasses on. Helmet on. Chin strap secured. Tossed my wetsuit, goggles, and cap into the bag hanging on my bike and dropped it on the ground. Right sock on. Left sock on. Right shoe on. Grabbed my arm warmers and dropped them into the gear bag (made a last minute judgement call while running to my bike– it was still chilly, but not freezing and I remembered the trouble I had at Columbia trying to get the things on, so I decided to leave them behind). Left shoe on. I yanked my bike off the rack and began running towards the mount line. During this jaunt I poked my finger in my eyes and ripped my contacts out (I had my prescription sunglasses). I jumped on, clicked in, and was off. I used the first 5:00 to keep a high cadence/easy gear and spin my legs to warm up. Once my watch said 5:00, I shifted up a gear or two and settled into my groove. Knowing this course was pretty flat for the first 15-20 miles and it was going to gradually get more difficult, I was prepared to hold back and reserve my energy for the hills. I was feeling good and confident. I hit 15:00 and took in my cytomax + water. I was right on target. I hit the 15 mile mark and the first aid station and grabbed a water bottle. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very graceful when it came to refilling my aero bottle and a good portion of it ended up on my bike and on my legs! whoops. It was right around then that I came across a guy on a red Orbea, and feeling so thrilled to be out there doing what I love, as I passed him I told him I liked his bike. Little did I know I’d see much more of this guy throughout the day. We went back and forth and back and forth and back and forth for the ENTIRE bike course. I stayed on target with my nutrition plan of refueling every 15:00 and rotating between sports drink and shot bloks. I took my endurolytes at the hour mark. I passed the mile 25 mark and not noticing much by way of hills, I knew they must be right around the corner. A few rollers, some downhills and some uphills, but nothing major. They must be coming…. well, I’ll be honest, they never really came. I was prepared for (and expecting) much worse. I held back accordingly and looking back, I wish I would have pushed harder.

I found myself to be riding with the boys pretty much the entire time. Every once in a while a girl would come into the picture, but not very often. I was holding strong. We had to wear our race bibs during the bike (facing the back for the bike and facing the front on the run), which is unusual, but I loved it. They had our first names on them so it was great and added some personality to the otherwise tedious road. I held conversations with them in my head (hey what else are you gonna do for 3 hours?). “Hey Tom, ready to get passed by a girl?” things of that nature :)

The race was flying by. Every time I looked at my watch I couldn’t believe how quickly time was passing. I was actually really enjoying myself and things to slow a little (crazy, i know!). I didn’t want the race to end. I caught myself smiling for no reason a few times and couldn’t help but think maybe I’ve been a little too hard on Chrissie Wellington. Maybe she’s just caught up in the spirit. it does happen. Anyways, before I knew it I hit the 3rd aid station and mile marker 45. Shortly thereafter I encountered the biggest climb of the day. While it was not anywhere near as tough as some others I’ve done this season, I just wasn’t expecting it. I thought all hills were behind us at this point. I guess maybe I didn’t read the map well enough. Another good reason to always drive the bike course first if you aren’t already familiar with it. Anyways, I got myself up tit without too much trouble and was rewarded with a nice, fast downhill. I was flying.

The last 6 or so miles were the worst of the day. Not b/c of difficulty, but b/c of road conditions and traffic. The section of road we had to ride on was covered in potholes and uneven pavement. It was like a game of who can avoid crashing. If you’ve ever done IM FL or Gulf Coast Tri, you know how poor the quality of Hwy 388 is (after the turn around).. Rhode Island is worse. I’ve never seen so many water bottles lying on the side of the road. As if that weren’t bad enough, we also had the pleasure of crossing about 6-7 railroad tracks, which any cyclist knows can mean terrible things. At one point going downhill on a very narrow stretch with bumper-to-bumper beach traffic on our left we got completely bottle-necked. There were about 5 riders ahead of me who had really slowed down and with no room to pass, I had no choice but to come to a halt. Frazzled and frustrated as soon as I got the chance I weaseled my way around them and kicked up my effort level. I wanted to make up for that lost time. I kept looking at my watch and I was just under 3:00 but I wasn’t sure how much further I had left. I knew I was close to T2, but we were riding through downtown Providence and it all tends to look the same. I decided to take no mercy and go hard. Seeing a bike time of under 3 hours would make my day and though I should have been keeping a high cadence/quick legs in preparation for the run, I threw logic out the window and went for it. I was passing lots of folks and just kept checking my watch. Finally I heard a spectator shout that the dismount was just after the hill ahead of me. Now one of my biggest pet peeves is when a spectator tells you you’re close when you’re not… but I decided to trust him. I crested the hill and saw the dismount line ahead. I jumped off and ran for the timing mats. I didn’t hit my 3 hour mark, but I came pretty darn close and I KNOW if I had pushed harder earlier in the ride I could have shaved off a couple minutes. All in all, I’m happy.

I drank my water throughout, but I only took a bottle at the first aid station. I felt like I still had plenty at the 2nd and 3rd stations, so i breezed right through. I ended up skipping 2 cycles of my nutrition plan, but other than that I was hitting my every 15:00 eat/drink goal. I took my endurolytes at 1 hour and at 2 hour, but fumbled when I tried to get the pills out of my baggie for my 3 hour dosage. With the rough roads, I really needed to keep both hands on my bars and concentrate on staying upright. So I missed my last round of endurolytes, but more on this later…

Bike time: 3:04:26; 9 in AG
T2

I ran into the transition area counted the racks and made my way to my spot. I put my bike on the rack, tossed my helmet on the ground and ripped open my red gear bag. it was heavier than i remembered… oh wait, it was FULL of water from the storm the night before. i literally dumped out the water and grabbed my soggy running shoes. I had placed the “don’t forget” items (visor, shot bloks, flask of cytomax (which i decided i wasn’t going to bring), and endurolytes) inside my shoes and everything else was loose in the bag. Unfortunately, in my frazzled state, I took what was in my shoe and dropped it all on the ground while I changed shoes and while I thought I grabbed everything from the grass, I left one key item: my bag of endurolytes.

T2 time: 1:26


Run

I made my way underneath the “RUN OUT” arch, crossed the timing mats and was on my way. There were crowds of people lining the street. It was awesome to see so many supporters out! People yelled your name (read it from the bibs) and cheered us on. I was feeling good at this point, i couldn’t believe how quickly the first 2 legs had gone, I just had to make it through the run. 13.1 miles, I can do this. I was definitely feeling the energy and it must have showed b/c I got several comments from spectators about my huge smile. haha. I made the first turn and had this nagging feeling like I had forgotten something, and that’s when I realized I left my bag of endurolytes back at T2. Knowing this could very well affect my race I got a little worried but tried not to freak out just yet. I wasn’t having stomach issues yet and if I could just stop thinking about it, perhaps I’d be lucky. I had missed my last cycle of endurolytes on the bike so I was already behind on my nutrition plan. I was worried about eating my bloks w/o having the endurolytes, so in a preemptive effort to avoid GI distress I decided to just drink water and hold off on eating. I saw the first aid station, grabbed a sponge and stuffed it in my tri top, grabbed a cup of water and prepared myself for what I knew was coming: the hill. Not just any hill, but the MONSTER hill. I saw it just ahead of me, set my gaze on the top and told myself just to get it done. I tried not to pay attention to anyone else, but i couldn’t help but notice almost EVERYone was walking. I just kept telling myself “quick cadence, fast feet, breathe, keep form.” I crested the top of the first half, took in a deep breath, and was ready for the second part. this one looked even steeper. I didn’t take my eyes off of the top of the climb. No walking. I can make it. Truth be told, it was tough, but I knew I didn’t need to walk. I saw a few of the pros sprinting in the opposite direction and I knew I’d be there doing the same thing soon. As I got closer and closer to the top I think I actually picked up some speed– there was something about knowing I had almost conquered it that gave me a rush. I was actually excited for the second go-round. I wanted another go at it. I can do that twice! i WILL do that twice! There’s gotta be something wrong with me– when I find a challenge or something really hard, I find a way to make it even tougher. Guess i just like the sense of satisfaction.


As I crested the top I knew it was just going to be rollers for quite a while, until I met the big hill again. I used the next few seconds to catch my breath and regroup. I saw a few folks wearing DC Tri gear and I made sure to give a shout-out each time. Next aid station I did the same thing– water, sponges, and skipped food. I knew I’d be berated for not taking in calories, but I was afraid that my stomach would get upset and I didn’t have the pills to counteract it. Could have been a total mental thing but I didn’t wanna chance it. I took my splits at every mile, but I’m pretty sure the mile markers were not very accurate and I don’t trust them. I was keeping an eye on my total time and kept trying to count and see what I’d have to average in order to get my 5:30 goal. Focusing on numbers and counting helped keep me from thinking about my stomach/nutrition. The sun was finally coming out and starting to beat down on all of us. I took sponges at every aid station and stuffed them into my top and squeezed them over my head. I refused to have another experience like I did at Gulf Coast. I made sure to take a cup of water every chance I got and drank as much as I could without slowing (or spilling).

I finally got up the courage to attempt to get in some calories at mile 6… it was in the form of just one shot blok, but it was better than nothing. I was still feeling pretty good and as I motored down the giant hill I knew I was getting close. I ran through the crowd-lined street, completed the turn-around and began the second loop.


Jordan captured a great shot of the hill that shows EVERYONE walking. That’s exactly what I saw, but I refused to be one of them and I quickly moved my feet to power me up and over the top. Goal accomplished. Now I could go find the guy who lead our briefing yesterday and prove to him that it is possible.


At mile 8, I attempted more calories and ate one more shot blok washed down with water. It went down ok and stomach was doing ok. The next section of the course was hot, bright, and lengthy, but I still had plenty of energy and showed now signs of slowing. I reached my favorite section of the course– the beautiful tree-lined stretch with the running path in the center. Something about it just made me want to smile. So refreshing and New England-esque. The grassy median was lined with signs cheering on athletes, and while I knew there wouldn’t be one with my name one it, I read each one and pretended that they were for me. Some were funny, some were sentimental, and some were simply giant displays of children’s artwork. This certainly passed the time and kept my focus off of my worrying about my nutrition. Shortly thereafter, I hit the turn around and knew I was almost there. I picked up my pace a little and knew I needed to push if I had any plans of hitting my goals. The clock was ticking and my 5:30 (ultimate) goal was becoming less and less of a possibility. I reevaluated and focused on my penultimate goal: 5:40. If I could keep ahold of my current pace and kick up the last mile, I could do it.


I was passing most of the folks around me at this point and the rush I got from it fueled me even more. I was knocking off landmarks and continually setting sights on what was ahead. A few more aid stations, a few more cups of water, a few more sponges. Just . keep . going . There it was– the downhill! I could feel the finish line ahead,. I just had a little over a mile. GO!


I rounded the crowds of screaming spectators and I was hauling. Made the next turn and embraced the last (big) hill towards the finish. Naturally, my pace slowed a bit but I held it steady and focused my eyes on the top and let my feet turnover quickly beneath me. I saw the capitol ahead and began my sprint. Just as I entered the chute I saw my friend Mike’s wife, Amy and their son. I had already passed them when it registered it was them, but I heard them shout my name and I got an extra kick in my step. As I rushed across the timing mats the announcer said “And here’s Doris Steere from Washington, DC. Where is that energy coming from?!” hahah. love it.

Mile Splits

Mile 1 - 8:52 (Max HR 174, avg 161)
Mile 2 - 7:59 (172, 152)
Mile 3 - 9:29 (170, 158)
Mile 4 - 8:51 (182, 162)
Mile 5 - 8:52 (175, 162)
Mile 6 - 9:20 (188, 161)
Turnaround - 4:59 (173, 164)
Mile 7 - 3:55 (178, 168)
Mile 8 - 9:39 (195, 166) (HILL)
Mile 9 - 9:03 (164, 126)
Mile 10 - 8:47 (164, 93) (monitor glitchy)
Mile 11 - 9:09 (171, 151)
Mile 13.1 - 18:55 (186, 141) (missed split)

Run Time: 1:57:48; Halfway split: 58:24; Pace: 8:59; 29 in AG
Overall Time: 5:37:06; 27 in AG

The volunteers removed my timing chip, placed a medal on my neck, and handed me a water. I was done. I felt great. Tired, yes. Exhausted and needed to sit? nope. I had plenty of energy and wanted to find my friends and celebrate! All my hard work had paid off. This race proved so much and now I know I have no plans of slowing down. This is what I love and I want to continue to set goals, aim high and work hard.


It didn’t take long before I found Charlie and Jordan and we made our way to the finish festival to find some food and chill. The food was slightly disappointing- they had the typical bagels, oranges, and bananas, and pizza… but that was about it. Nothing appealed. I forced myself to eat a mini bagel and drank a few bottles of water. I was excited about finding some “real” food. We found a nice shady spot and sat in the grass and told each other about our race. Charlie finished his first half-ironman and I’m so excited for him. You only get one first time and his went pretty darn well. We both had a great day and the weather was so fitting- bright sunshine with a nice New England breeze. The only thing that could ruin this day was reminding ourselves that we had a LONG drive ahead of us…


I made my way back to the finish area to look for the results and check out my standing. I thought there might be a possibility of qualifying for the World Championship 70.3 race in Clearwater… I knew it was unlikely, but worth at least looking. The top 2 in my age group automatically qualify, but they use a roll-down process (if #1 has already qualified or declines, it goes to #3 and on and on), I’ve heard of it getting down to the 20’s. The results were not in any convenient order (by division, AG, or even gender), but instead just one long list based on finish time. I finally found my name and decided to count backwards and figure out how many lied ahead of me (and my chances to qualify). I counted 21 when I decided the chances weren’t good enough to warrant hanging around for another 2 hours when the slotting took place. We gathered our belongings and made our way to the car and hit the road.

In Review

Overall, I’m very happy w/ my performance, but i know i could have gone faster in ALL 3 disciplines. i was close to making my ultimate goal (5:30) and I honestly do think i can get there.

Things I did well

• Pacing myself. Didn’t go out too hard.
• Staying on course in the swim. Good spotting.

Things I could do better

• Dialing in nutrition (still)
• Push myself harder on bike