Finally, this race is behind me!
Time results:
Swim: 43:04
T1: 4:36
Bike: 1:43:24
T2: 1:40
Run: 1:19:06
Overall: 4:01:50
I woke up at 3:30 (not planned) and so since I couldn't go back to sleep I decided to go with it. I went into the hotel bathroom and made a double dose of coffee. I got dressed and went down to the lobby and got some milk and more coffee after that, as well made toast with butter and jelly. Heated up my oatmeal, that I had brought with me that was already seasoned with apple and cinnamon, and I added a banana. Oatmeal is my usual breakfast so I wanted to make sure that I had what I usually eat.
The weather was perfect - in the 60's and overcast.
We got to the race area around 6am. Had to get body marked before going into the transition area. I was pretty pumped up; not anxious, but ready. I was happy to be able to get some practice swims in to get used to the water. The water was actually warmer than the air temperature so it felt pretty good. I was the only one, as far as I saw, wearing the neoprene booties. They are used for cold water, and it certainly wasn't cold, but I have been swimming with them all this time, and so did not want to get distracted by new feelings in my feet. Also, I had seen the beach front the day before, and there appeared to be rocks under the water, so I did not want to subject myself to having to walk on that.
The other part that was new for me was wearing the race chip on my ankle. Under the wetsuit, the edges of the chip were cutting into my skin. A few times during the race, I had to reach down and adjust that chip so that it wouldn't cut my skin. In terms of the swim, I also knew that I would have to take it off and put it back on after taking off my wet suit, so that was another stressful bit, since I did not know how I would be feeling.
SWIM
My wave was the last wave, composed of women over the age of 35. Everyone was really friendly. There was one woman there who was more focused on the wave before us (women 34 and under) where her 16 yo daughter was competing in her first triathlon. I counted the buoys that were in the water 4 orange, one yellow (where the Sprint distance made a right turn) then 3 more orange buoys and another yellow, where the Olympic distance made a right turn, then another right and finally back to the swim exit, where we made a left turn at the last yellow buoy.
You had to swim out to the start and tread water until they counted down and said 'go!'. I had decided that I was not going to 'hold back' in the swim, and would just start swimming with all the others. I realized it was not necessary to hold back, as the faster swimmers will just be faster. I suppose holding back works better during a mass start or something like that.
During the swim, I had no issues with the dark water and the water temperature was nice and there was no wind, which was GREAT. I basically focused on getting to the first buoy, and counted the buoys as I passed them. In between this, I focused only on my breathing and stroke, taking care not to lose my breath. 1-2-3 stroke, 1- stroke 1- stroke, and then over again, facing the other side.
In terms of problems, I did have a few small ones. They were small because I refused to let them get the best of me, but they were potentially more stressfull issues. One, my goggle strap came loose. The goggles had two straps going around my head, and while swimming, I realized that one of the straps was brushing against my mouth as I turned to breathe! First I didn't really know what was going on, but when I realized it, I thought I could stop and put the flapping strap under my swim cap, but I didn't want to risk it. The second issue was that I couldn't see out of my goggles. I had been so worried about them fogging up, that I had put defogger, I had spit in them, I had done this several times and in the end, they didn't fog up, but there were these droplets inside my goggles that blocked a clear view. Again, I thought about stopping to clear them out, but I was not going to risk it either. I saw enough to know where the buoys were. Then the third issue that was stressful was that each of my calves cramped up at different times. I assumed it was because I was bending my knees too much, so when I felt the cramp I more consciously kicked 'scissor' style, which helped the cramp go away. I am glad I was able to not panic over any of these things.
I swam the whole way. I only stopped to make sure I was going in the right direction and I was relaxed enough that I could even think about my stroke and was not just flailing as I do when I'm stressed out or tired while swimming.
When I made the second right turn into the home stretch, I started feeling emotional and got a lump in my throat, but then put those thoughts aside, because it is very hard to breath while you are crying! I was so happy that I could finish this swim!
T1
My transition out of my wetsuit was not as expected, mostly because I was so unbalanced after the swim. In practice, I can take it off while standing, but during this race I had to sit down and I couldn't stay balanced! I fell back as if I was going to do a backwards summersault! So, it was slow going for a bit. I put my shoes on and ran on the grass to the mount/dismount area. In my rush to get started I fell over my bike and killed my shin. I got up and kept on going.
BIKE
I was pretty out of breath at this point from the running, but I got on my bike and set off on the 24 mile course. For the first 8 miles or so, I thought there was something wrong with my bike. I could not go fast at all. I briefly stopped to see if my brakes were rubbing, but was too anxious to really stop and look. I was worried about this because I hadn't even started the hills and already I was close to using the easiest gear. I decided to just keep going and not entertain the thoughts of subterfuge. Some time later, I felt completely different, and was able to go at faster speeds. At that point I realized that it had been me, not the bike, that was not well oiled! Also, although people always talk about doing bike/run bricks - I have recently seen that what really gets to me is the swim to bike transition. My legs are STIFF and I rarely have seen too much talk about that.
The hills were killer hills. I was happy that I have trained on hills in the Poconos. I'm not fast, I go at 4.5 to 5mph on those hills. At the stage that I am in fitness, all I do when going up the hills is 'not stop'. The hills are so steep that one seconds' hesitation is all you need to lose that last bit of momentum and have to end up walking up the hill. Around mile 20, they had forwarned us of a steep incline and had we not had the heads up on it, and had I not practiced - I would have definitely walked. You can't even use your prior momentum because at that point, you have to slow down to make a right turn.
Then there are the downhills. The race coordinator said that a person could reach 50mph on the downhill. I could not imagine that, nor even letting myself get to that point. But when I got to the first downhill, I could see all the way down to the bottom, and then it starts back uphill. So, I let it all hang out, and went down without putting on the brakes. I went at 30-33mph; and my max was 37mph. This was all without pedaling. Maybe I was high on the adrenaline, but I loved it. I've been afraid in the past on training rides, and it was actually something that I was working towards: being able to go downhill withough putting on the brakes. This is where I would make up for lost time on the uphills. I don't know how faster people do it - the wind is tremendous at that speed!
Then on the final stretch back to transition, we were on the main road. Heading back to the dismount area, I did half of my new skill that I learned in my brick class - I got out of my shoes before the dismount. I didn't do the second half, which is putting my leg over the seat and riding with one foot on one pedal and jumping off. It's still too new a trick for me. I had already fallen once clumsily, I was not going to do it again!
Eating on the bike: I had two Cliff bars in my bento box, that I had divided into quarters. As I rode, I ate the pieces. I also had two Gatorade bottles. In training, I had only used one bottle, and when setting myself up with the second bottle - I realized that I was not going to be able to reach the second bottle very comfortably while riding, especially since it was very stiff, and it's length barely fit in my bicycle - this is another great example of the need to go through every detail prior to race day. So I did another new thing while riding on the bike. On a flat part, I took my empty water bottle out, held it in one hand, while I pulled the other bottle out and switched the bottle locations. Just as I was in the middle of this, I saw that I was heading towards a downhill - I basically thought to myself, that if it came down to it and I was not done with the switch, I would just ditch the bottle left in my hand. But, I was able to complete the switch successfully. hooray!
T2. As I got into the second transition, I heard the awards ceremonies for the winners. It wasn't a surprise, because I knew that the winners take a little over 2 hours to finish this distance, and here I was in T2 3 hours after the start. At the second transition, I really had to pee so I decided not to take any water or my planned cliff shots bloks. I felt so full from the urge to pee, that I couldn't think of anything else. Next time, I will take my planned nutrition.
RUN: The run was a trail run; two 5k loops. I was pretty slow and in major discomfort with my extremely full bladder. If I had come across a port-a-potty, I would have definitely used it, but there were none. I contemplated heading into the forest, but there would have been too many witnesses. I also contemplated asking the ambulance drivers that were at an intersection, if I could pee behind their ambulance, but I didn't do that either. Eventually, the pressure subsided, but then I also, was starting to feel thirstier. I got some water, and tried their HEED drink, which was quite disgusting. It tasted like salt water. I knew it was a bad idea to try something new, but I also knew that I had very little energy. So, I ran the 2 loops. I focused on not psyching myself out while I saw people finishing their second loop while I was starting my first.
Then I was done! I had thought I was second to last, but it turns out that I was 4th from last overall, and last in my age group. I am proud of having done this, and also relieved that it's over! It was a great race, very well organized with great people - tri it, you'll like it!
