Saturday was a beautiful day for a race. I woke up at 4:30 AM in Southern New Jersey to clear skies and temps in the low 50's. Checked out of the very smelly Comfort Inn that I stayed at (think stale cigarette smoke smell in lobby and elevator, sour odor on my floor), and made it to the race site by just after 5:30. There was no decent coffee to be had anywhere that I passed, at least not at that time of the morning, so I decided to skip my morning cup of Joe. (Note to self: next race, pack the damn French press! Morning coffee is a seriously wonderful thing!)
Turns out that I was one of the first people there, which suits me just fine. I hate feeling rushed, and would much rather have time to triple check that transition is properly set up than forget something.
After picking up my new Terrier uniform (nice!) and getting some air in my tires, I went to set up my station, chat with some of the other racers, warm up, etc. Before long, it was time for the race to start.
My goals for this race were to get used to swimming with a wetsuit, deal with my first in-water swim start, ride my Cervelo and get comfortable on that, and try to finish in under 4 hours. That would require me to have a smooth swim, average 20mph or so on the bike, and do my run in about 9:00/mile. There was some wiggle room, but not too much. Still, what is a race without goals, right?
The Swim
The half lite swim (.8 miles) was broken up into 3 waves- I was in the third. Once the second wave was off, the third walked down the pier, off the stairs, and swam to the start point. Only thing was that it was single file, so very slow going. I hadn't made it to the start when it was our group's turn to go.
You know, though I'm relatively inexperienced in open water, I've done a handful of other lake and pond swim in addition to the few ocean swims I've done. The water at the Devilman was by far and away the most disgusting I ever experienced. Forget not being able to see the bottom- I couldn't even see a foot in front of my face! Between the lack of visibility and dealing with the new sensation of a snug wetsuit, claustrophobia set in, and I had some pretty ugly moments of panic. After a bunch of pauses, where I breaststroked or did the lifeguard stroke, after one lap I needed to flip over onto my back and backstroke for a bit to contain my panic and center myself. Although a monumental waste of time, it seemed to have helped, because I was then able to turn over and finally focus on my breathing and stretching out my strokes. As long as the first lap took, the second was much quicker. Instead of being completely behind, I started passing a few people - not just from my wave, but even from the wave before mine.
On the 1/4 mile run back to transition, I was able to easily unzip my wetsuit, pull it down to my hips, then take off my swim cap and goggles. When I reached my station, I easily peeled the wetsuit off my legs, thanks to coach's trick of using conditioner, got my helmet, sunglasses and shoes on pretty quickly and was off.
The Bike (40.3 miles)
Still haven't figured out the flying mount. One of these days I'll practice so I won't look like a complete jackass when trying in a race. Though I had to pee pretty badly when I got on the bike, I made sure to take in plenty of fluids once I first got on, drinking both water and Cytomax. I learned my lesson from South Beach, and did not freeze my liquids the night before. The bike course consisted of two flat out and back laps. The bike leg felt strong and I was passing more than getting passed, which is always a good thing. I even passed a couple of Terriers at the beginning of the second loop. It may have made me a bit cocky, though. At the turnaround of the second loop, I tried curring a corner to close, and after slamming my ribs into the aerobars, lost the bike from under me, and landed on my right buttcheek. Ouch!
A cop, who was directing traffic came over to make sure I was okay. Yes, I was. Mostly shaken, but not wanting to waste more time than I had to. Got the chain back on my chainring, had some fluid and tried to get rid of the shaking. All told, I lost about 3 minutes. Could have been worse. Back on the bike, and trying to make up time. I had been passed by the 2 terriers who I had passed earlier, and wanted to pass them again. Eventually I did, and started counting the people who I was passing, and who I saw had not yet made it to the turn-around. At 2 miles to go, I switched to to a smaller gear, trying to flush out my legs to get ready for the run as we were instructed. They felt pretty fresh, and really, all I was thinking about was my over-full bladder! At transition, it was all I could do to get my running shoes on and keep going - I took a couple of Recoverye21 capsules with some water, and started my jog out of transition. While the volunteers were directing me to stay to my right, I said nuh-uh, and made a bee line to the port-o-potties. Finally - relief!
The Run (8.8 miles)
I started out at a nice jog feeling my legs, letting my body transition from bike to run, and about a half mile in or so, saw coach Spencer, who seemed to be cheering every leg of the race, and he shouted out some encouragement, and reminded me to lean forward. I did, and saw an immediate increase in my run times, with no added effort. Granted, we're talking about switching from running a 9:52 mile to a 9:15 mile, but still, while it wouldn't set any records, it's surprising what a minor correction can do. Let me tell you, I wasn't passing anyone on the run. I was S L O W. I just wanted to survive it without having to walk. But I felt good. My legs didn't ache and my lungs didn't burn. At each aid station, I picked up a couple of cups of water and threw them on myself, drinking a little, but not really needing to since I had my Accelerade with me. I got to the turnaround without suffering too much, and then it was about heading back to the finish and being done. I gave myself goals - the farthest house I could see, then check my watch, or the third electric pole, etc. Before too long, I turned onto the final stretch, and apparently I still had plenty of juice in me, because I found a burst of energy that I didn't think I had. While a strong finish is certainly not the most important part of a race, it certainly feels good!
Finish Time:4:08:35
Overall Placement:200 / 294
Gender: 56/108
Division:F35-39: 12/18
Rate Swim: 0.80 Mile: 0:21:55 138
T1 0:01:56 88
Bike40.3 Mile 2:15:27 195
T2 0:03:30 255
Run 8.8 Mile 1:25:46 214
While I didn't make it under 4:00, like I would have liked, now I know that I can handle a Half Ironman, and I had a little more wetsuit experience, plus my first in-water swim. Beyond that, I had a blast!
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