It's been 8 days now since my first triathlon, so I can now call myself a triathlete! It was a crazy busy week leading up to the event, and I apologise for a lack of pre-race blogging to tell you how I was feeling going into the event. I mentioned earlier that the weather was looking awesome for the event. Well that was a HUGE FAT LIE! It might of been accurate at the time, but with every passing day closing in on the race, the weather conditions were looking worse and worse. I tried not to worry too much about it, after all, weatherman are usually wrong anyways. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times. Being an optimistic person, I thought that it wouldn't be as bad as they were forecasting, but in reality it was worse. I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, so let me back up a bit.
I was feeling pretty good with the week leading into the race. I wish I could have gotten a little bit more last minute easy work outs in, another light run and ride, but it just didn't work out that way. I decided to try and get to bed early instead of pushing myself with some late night work outs. I made one last stop to Tritown to get some new laces for my shoes and a new mount for my computer. The aero tray that Torhans sells for their bottles is great, but not so much for the computer, at least not for me. On the bright and sunny days, I could barely read the screen because of the position behind the bottle. So I bought a new mount that puts the computer in front of the bottle and now I barely have to look down to see how fast I'm going and my cadence. It's soo much nicer!
Check in for the race started Thursday night, but I had only planned to check in sometime on Friday and hit up one of the athlete pre-race briefings at the same time. Shawna had the better idea of checking in on Thursday night and doing dinner with my mom afterwards. Which was awesome, but it was so last minute that I missed the briefing.
On Friday, we decided to take the kids up to the reservoir where the swim would be held. Because of the limited parking area, everyone was having to park below the dam and hike up to the transition area in the morning, unless you took the shuttle. The shuttle was not going to work for us with the kids on the day of the event, so we decided to give the hike a try and see how it might be the next day. It's only 0.6miles up, and really isn't too terribly bad yo do it by yourself. The problems start mounting when you include the kids, the stroller, the snacks, drinks and other misc stuff that is always needed. It took us just over 20 min to get to the top, and it was apparent that this wasn't going to be a good race day decision. Somehow we were going to have to break it to the kids, especially the oldest, that they wouldn't be there to watch me start the race. They were actually very understanding, and it was very fortunate that they weren't there. After leaving the reservoir, I went to the briefing. Shawna dropped me off at my mom's so I could grab my car and hit the meeting before heading home. During the meeting I found out 2 very important things.
#1) I needed to bring my bike to T1 today or I'd have to hoof it up the hill the morning of the race
#2) The race course had changed. The second one wasn't that big of a deal except that it now had me running right past my parents apartment on the greenbelt. So there was the option for the kids to just watch me run, instead of possibly seeing the transition at T2 and the finish.
After the briefing, I raced home. I had to get my bike to T1 NOW!!! The problem was that I hadn't cleaned my bike or numbered my bike like I had planned to do later that evening. It also meant that I would have to bring some bags to cover anything that I didn't want to get rained on, and remove anything that wasn't bolted to the bike. So I quickly cleaned and lubed my chain and derailleur's. Slapped the stickers on the side of my bike, and stripped off my water bottles, the aerobottle, my computer, my electrolyte tabs. I loaded the bike into the Honda and Shawna and I were off for the reservoir again. It's a 30min drive one way to get out there, and it was just one more thing that I wasn't planning on doing that day. It pushed my dinner back by an hour +, and was just a little frustrating.
The weather forecast for the day was morning rain with temps in the low 50's and windy. Awesome. Like I was telling myself, and other people, I can't control the weather, so I can't worry about it. It's going to suck as bad for me as it is for everyone else on the course. None of us are immune to it, so we need to just suck it up and race. The morning of the race, it was overcast, chilly and just barely sprinkling at my house. Not too horrible I thought. If it stayed like that it wouldn't be to bad. Unfortunately it got worse, and worse. When Shawna and I stopped downtown to drop off my run bag at T2 it was raining and cold. In the parking lot below the dam it was just the same. Up in T1, it was the same only worse. Worse because it continued to rain, and wind, and rain. It was cold, and there was really no cover to get out of it. People were huddled together under the few trees that were in the transition area. T1 is nothing more than a parking lot for the truck/trailer parking for those out on the water that day. Some people were hanging out inside the big Budget moving trucks that were scattered about from bringing equipment up for the event.
I spent the better part of 2 hours wet and shivering before the event. I finally put my neoprene swim cap on to try and keep myself just a little bit more warm. I had my cap on, my Zoot long sleeve running top on with my arm warmers on under that, my tri suit and then my skins calf tights just to try and stay warm. I tried to keep to my original nutrition plan and had some Gu gel at the predetermined times before the race, but I failed to take into account the amount of shivering I had done and the energy that I had used during that shivering. I finally got into my wet suit and prepared to get the race started. Before heading down to toward the water, there was an announcement. The bike portion was being cut back because of the weather.
My buddy Todd who joined Shawna up at T1 had informed me when I said hi to him that the winds along the course were at 25mph and that it was going to be a long and slow day. "Just stay in your small chain ring out there on the course," he said. Those winds were going to suck, and really slow me down. My projected sub 6 hour finish was now out the window completely with the weather. Now, I just wanted to finish, no matter what the time and conditions. The announcer was soon to announce that the bike course was being cut down drastically. We were supposed to head out from T1 and go on a course that was south of the airport, out into no man's land before turning around heading back toward T1. Around mile 45 we would then veer off to the left and head back into town toward T2. Now we were heading straight into town, with about 15 miles of riding. The swim distance, as well as the run distance would stay the same, but the bike was being shortened because of fears that with the ambient temps and the continued rain/hail that people would start getting hypothermic out on the course. At the time, and still today, I was bummed; but I think that they made the correct call. It's all in the interest of safety.
Finally it was time to start this race! Of course the pro's went out first, and then a few other waves before my wave was finally allowed to enter the water. We were told earlier that day that the water temp was somewhere between 57-59*, but with how cold it was outside getting into the water actually felt warm. My plan for the swim was to start toward the back of the pack and avoid the fists and kicks to the head as much as possible and then make my way through the crowd. Jeff said that he was going to do the same thing, but when it was time to start he was in the middle of our wave. It's funny, there was really no pre race nerves or jitters or diarrhea or anything for me. Maybe it was the weather that was distracting me, or just the fact that I tried to visualize soo much of the event before hand, but there weren't any nerves while in T1 waiting or even when I was treading water waiting for the start. I was just focused and motivated.
The swim finally started and everyone in front of me took off. I started off slowly, actually swimming with my head above the water, just watching how the pack was going and looking for any gaps that opened up to clear the way for my swim. The buoys were to my right, which helped since I breath to my right, and they were 100yds apart. I figured that during the swim so long as I could see other splashes and people I was probably doing ok, and in with the group. That thought only worked for so long, as a group of us did veer off to the right and started passing buoys on our left. Woops! After several corrections I was back on track, and had actually managed to get onto the outside on the left. Which was actually nice because I could then see everyone and the buoys without having to do much other than swim. I rounded the first turn buoy on the outside, and noticed Jeff on the inside of the turn group so we were still together, sort of. A couple of times I tried to draft off of someone, but most of the people that I chose were actually swimming slower than me, so I'd have to go around them. At one point I had some one pass me who was cruising along pretty good. "Perfect," I thought and lowered my head to get behind him and draft. Yeah, that didn't work out so well either as he was way faster than me and I never saw him after I dropped back down just to catch him. So I just kept swimming my race. I'd have to stop every so often to not run over someone, and took a mouth full of water on more than one occasion because of being nice and not swimming on top of someone.
After making the second, and last, turn buoy, I had some serious problems. My right calf decided that it had had enough and locked up on me. I immediately stopped and tried to workout the cramp while treading water. Nothing was working and people were passing me. I figured that I had to finish the swim so off I started with being able to only kick with one foot. The one foot kick didn't last too long as it was just throwing off what little rhythm I have. So I had to swim the last 500-600yds (there were 5 buoys that I counted between me and the shore) without a kick. It sucked, but I got it done. Once I was out of the water and started walking it started to ease up and feel better.
Walking out of the water and into T1. Feeling good, except for the cramp to my calf.
T1 was a little bit longer than I wanted, but it doesn't really matter. I found my rack easily and was greeted with Shawna yelling and Todd ringing the cow bell for me. It was nice to see a familiar face, even if they weren't racing. I tried to dry off a little bit, and put my wet Zoot top back on. I left the arm warmers in the transition bag as I was already hot from the wet suit with the swim. I went with the non-matching aero helmet that I got off of Craigslist, and tried to stretch my calf out before grabbing my bike. While I was struggling to get my Zoot top on, I looked up and saw Jeff running with his bike out of T1. I quickly grabbed the rest of my stuff, tore open the Gu pack that I had sitting on my bike and started to suck it down as I left T1.
Leaving T1. Notice that I'm barefoot and my shoes are clipped in? Yeah, I'd been practicing that set up and it worked nicely even in the crappy weather conditions.
Off on the bike I went. With the still rainy and wet conditions, the first 1-2 miles were down hill and I was looking forward to bombing down the hill, but it wasn't meant to be. Instead, I took it fast, but nothing too fast. I was never uncomfortable with my speed going down hill. The ride was cold, but not unbearable. My quads started to cramp and ache when I started the ride, so I started to suck down the electrolyte water out of my Torhans. Overall, the ride went pretty well, I passed a few people and got passed by some people as well. I felt comfortable on the bike, but was really unsure of pacing myself now that it was more of a 15 mile time trial rather than a 56 mile ride. I knew that my electrolytes were off and decided to not really push it too hard, instead just keeping a steady pace and trying to suck down my water.
I got to T2 a little unexpectedly. I didn't notice that it was coming up and didn't have time to get out of the saddle and stretch out my legs or anything before I was practically on top of T2. I quickly had to unstrap my feet from my shoes before the dismount line and run into T2 looking for my spot. I found the spot and heard the crowd. It was my mom, step-dad, mother-in-laws- and kids all waiting for me and cheering me on. It was awesome to see the boy's face filled with excitement as I ran into T2. I quickly racked my bike, after having to move the other bikes to make room for mine, threw some socks on, slipped my feet into my shoes, grabbed my visor and a Roctane off my bike and off I went. T2 went fairly smooth. The only real hiccup was having to stop and move the other bikes out of the way so I could rack my bike.
The run was now on. I feel that the run is my strong point because it's the one discipline that I have the most experience in. I know that I can put down a decent pace, but today was not the day. First off, I couldn't feel my feet for the first 4+ miles of the run. My feet were just cold and numb. Secondly, the cramps were still hit/miss and I knew it would be dicey for the run unless I did something drastic. The first aid station that I came to I got some Gu Chomps, they are electrolyte gummy chews. During the run, I would slow down for every aid station, coming to a walk/ slow jog. I'd grab a water as needed, but I would make sure to grab the Ironman Perform drink (their version of Pweraid/Gatorade) at every aid station. I'd eat a chomp every mile or so, and around mile 5 or 6 I took another Gu energy gel. I did manage to see Jeff on the run during the first lap after he had already done the turn around. I tried to mark the spot and figured that I was around 6-8 min behind him. At this point, the GPS said I was putting out an ave pace of 8:30-8:45. For me, that's slow, I easily should of been able to be at a 7:30 or less pace, but with how I was felling, I'd take the pace I had. I just tried to stay positive, run my race, and remember my nutrition; which at this point, was all about the electrolytes.
During the run, I would thank every volunteer that handed me a drink, and high five any little kid that had his hand out. It wasn't until the second lap that I started to feel better. While I was making the turn for the second lap, I saw a sign that said "you trained longer than a Kardasian marriage for this," which I thought was hilarious. By this time, the sun had broken through the clouds and the rain had stopped. I had peeled my Zoot top off around mile 5 and carried it until the turn for lap 2 when I tossed it into the corner. I started to enjoy the simple things on the run, like when I tossed a water cup into the can and made the shot while running and 10 feet out. One of the volunteers saw the shot and cheered me on for the basket. On the first lap of the run, I saw a deer trying to cross the green belt, wondering what all these runners were doing in his back yard. On the second lap, around the same area, I saw a doe and her fawn in the bushes by the river, but only 12 feet from me. I pointed her out to the other runners around me and we just kept on trucking.
I would see Jeff a second time on the run in near the same spot that I saw him earlier, but this time the distance was closing. I yelled at him to not slow down as we high fived each other on the pass. It wouldn't be another 2 miles or so and I had some how caught up to him and passed him. I'm not sure how I was able to do that, but by that time I was feeling good and was putting out something that was closer to a 7:30 pace. I was still stopping at every aid station for the Perform drink and I also got another pack of Chomps along the route as well. I also ran into Antonio and Harold from Tritown who were out on the course cheering people on. As I was feeling better, my speed picked up. It felt really good to finish strong on the run, especially with how I was feeling from the swim, through the bike and into the run.
Here I am getting ready to finish, high fiving my family as I noticed them right before the finish.
The big finish!
It wasn't a full 70.3 like originally planned, but it was still a triathlon, and it was fun. I had a blast, and learned a ton. I can't wait to be able to do it again. I have 2 more olympic distances this season, and am stoked to get out there and be able to do it again. I still want to complete a full 70.3, but that will probably have to wait until next season.
