Thursday, October 6, 2011

Poconos HIM Race Report - Bike Segment

I have to say that I'm proud of myself.  I hoped to do a 4 hour bike ride, but thought it would be highly unlikely given the extent of the hills - but I did it!  Here is the race report, Pt 1.

Pre Race
I had put the alarm for 3:15am but I was up around 2:30am, fully rested.  The day before I had napped in the afternoon, and the previous night I had gotten a good night's sleep.  For 2-3 days prior, I drank either Gatorade or used Nuun electrolyte tablets to keep me 'topped off' in my hydration.  In terms of food, I generally ate what I usually eat - oatmeal in the morning with fruit;  lunch - salad or turkey sandwich; and the night before this race, my friend Jennifer made a delicious vegetable lasagna for my carbo loading.

So, I was feeling relaxed in the morning.  Took my time with breakfast; had several cups of coffee; water and another Nuun tablet ( in the water ).  It was raining pretty hard, and at some point there was a very loud, deep thunderclap.  I wondered if the race organizers would cancel the race if there was a lightening storm.  Theresa and Jennifer dropped me off at T2 where the shuttle buses would take the participants to the race start at Smithfield Beach.  It was not until arriving at T2 that I started to get nervous.  I was worried about missing the shuttle bus.  Seeing everyone walking towards the buses made my upcoming endeavor very real and I was now nervous.  The shuttle ride was uneventful, people were all chatting about their tri experiences.  I met Will from Westchester who sat next to me and we shared what we knew.  I saw him 6 hours later on the run and actually remembered his name which is not my forte. 

My number was 129.  Due to the swim being cancelled; the race was starting in a 'time trial' format.  Essentially, the racers were going to start one-by-one in numerical order.  First the professional triathletes and then the rest of us.  Most triathlons set up their wave starts with the oldest, slowest people going first, so in this case it was women over 45.  Our bicycle racks were right next to the pros.  It was amazing to see them and their bikes.  After they started their race, we all lined up in numerical order and started about 3 seconds apart.  Due to flooding from the recent rains, the bike course was changed somewhat, so I was not sure exactly how it would be different.  I had the previous bike course practically memorized.  My race strategy for the bike segment was to focus on my average speed.  In the Black Bear tri, which was also  hilly, I averaged between 12 -13 mph.  Although my ideal goal was to finish the bike leg in less than 4 hours, I felt a more realistic goal was to get above 13 mph average speed.  I figured I would ultimately work that out as I saw what my average was.  I knew I was not going to be able to go fast up the hills, so the only way to get a better average speed was to work the flat parts of the course as well as the downhills.  This is what I did and it worked.  I was so grateful to my local bike shop, Ride Brooklyn, that did a last minute chain and cog wheel change this past week.  It was in perfect working order and my chain did not fall off as it had in each of my course rides these past few weeks.  I shifted back and forth taking advantage of all the downhills.  Pretty scary at times, but fun as well.  One of the higher speeds I reached was 32mph.

Right after the start, we came up on one of the steeper hills, but fortunately, due to the course change, instead of heading right into it (as it was in the original course map), we went a few miles out and back in the other direction, and so had a few miles to warm up.   As I headed towards it, I saw up ahead that someone had fallen.  As I pushed my way up the hill, they cleared out but then I heard someone behind me fall.  There were several people already walking and some others wobbling up the hill, which was disconcerting for me as I was barely hanging on myself.  (I found out later that either the first or the second person that fell was my new group ride friend, Linda, who ended up breaking her wrist - I feel really bad about that and it highlights how although these races are great, there really is a risk of injury).  I was basically very methodical during the uphill climbs.  Ususally, my heart rate goes way up during these climbs; which is also exacerbated by my anxiety. Today, I remained calm and did not feel my heart beating faster due to the anxiety.  I don't know if others feel a difference, but I can feel two distinct feelings at the same time when my heart is beating fast due to fear/anxiety versus due to exertion. 

So overall the ride was very beautiful with scenic vistas, enhanced by the wetness and clouds in the sky.  The whole ride was spent pushing the flats and downhills and enjoying the view, seeing the familiar spots that I had previously taken pictures of.  There was one area, that was unfamiliar - I so wanted to stop and take a picture of a beautiful horse on some farm that we passed.  During the ride also, a few people that I know passed me and said hello.  Fellow Brooklyn Tri club member - Scott and another new group ride friend - Rob.  This was very heartening and re-energizing to keep pushing. 

Turkey Hill.  There were lots of hills that people were walking up instead of riding.  I was able to go up all the earlier ones and successfully avoid all the wobbly bicyclists in front of me.  Then came Turkey Hill at around mile 40 or 45.  I was hoping to be able to go up the hill as I had done the last time I had tried, but I also knew my legs were shot.  My thighs had cramped up at different points as had my calf at another point when I was trying to pass someone uphill.  Anyway, I approached Turkey Hill and all I saw was a road full of people walking/wobbling and it was not single file, they were all over the road.  So I got into my slow, methodical, uphill push behind others that were doing the same.  At some point, the guy in front of me wobbled and stopped, and so in order to avoid running into him, I veared to the right as I tried to unclip my right foot.  I went to the right onto a gravel road, that unfortunately was going downhill; instead of unclipping my right shoe, I pulled out my foot from the shoe.  My hands were not on the brakes, so I used my foot to brake.  Mistake.  I put my foot down several times as I felt myself increasingly out of control, trying to stay away from the ravine to my right, digging my foot in the gravel.  Finally, I was able to adjust myself and put my hands on the brakes and I was able to stop.  My foot was killing me.  I looked at my sock, there was no hole and no blood which surprised me due to how it felt.  I put my shoe on, and I could feel my foot swollen inside.  I could barely walk, the pain was so intense.  I could only figure one thing, and that was that I had broken my toe.  I could not walk.  I had gone so far down this gravel road, that no one would have seen me had I fallen into the ravine.  Anyway, I pulled myself back onto the course and walked up the hill.  I could not put hardly any pressure on my right foot, and was not sure what I was going to do.  I got to the top of the hill and texted Theresa: "Hurt my foot, probably won't run, have 14 miles to go".  My whole right leg was quite out of sorts so I had to walk until I had no incline at all.  I passed an ambulance, but did not think this was ambulance level of injury.  Then I figured that I wanted to finish the bike, and then possibly get seen in a med tent to see if I could continue or not.  The rest of the ride was uneventful.  I went from disappointed /scared that this happened, to relieved that I had a legitimate excuse to not do the run.  My legs were totally spent.  I started visualizing going to work on crutches and talking about my war story on Turkey Hill.  As I rode, although I could feel my foot swollen in the shoe, but fortunately no pain. 

I finished those last 14 miles fairly uneventfully.  I was nervous about putting pressure on my foot, but as time passed, my foot hurt less and less and was starting getting excited about finishing the bike segment in less than 4 hours, which was definitely beyond my wildest expectation.

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