St. Mary's Sprint Triathlon

First triathlon in almost 3 years!  Since Ironman!  Not sure how the time went by so fast. 

My "A" race for this year is Ironman Maine 70.3, so I signed up for this Olympic triathlon and Williamsburg Olympic in July.  As we got closer to the date and I realized I have not been on my bike even ONE TIME in months, I made the wise decision to switch my race to the sprint.  It was literally the best decision I've made in a long time.

My original plan was to drop the dogs at daycare on Saturday around 5pm and make my way down to Cindy's house for dinner and to spend the night since she lives much closer to the race.  It had been raining consistently for an entire week though, and the dogs had been cooped up in the house for too long.  I ended up taking them to daycare Friday morning and would let them stay until Sunday.  This meant that I could leave earlier on Saturday and make the team's scheduled practice swim.  It rained for the entire drive down to Southern Maryland but Coach Ed assured us the swim would go as scheduled.  Well, he didn't show up, but there were several other teammates who didn't get that message either and we decided to swim anyway.  There are definitely easier things in life than putting on a wetsuit in the pouring rain!  This was a brand new wetsuit though and I absolutely wanted to get in once before the race.  I only got in about 500 yards, but that was ok - loving the new wetsuit!

I got to Cindy's and took a quick shower before we headed out to dinner, watched a movie and then early bedtime.  The worst thing about racing is the early alarm clocks, and before I knew it I was packing up my stuff and on the road back to the race site.  I parked, checked-in, set up my transition and hung out at the Team Z tents.  The sprint race started about 30 min after the Olympic distance, so we had a few extra minutes to get ready before making the 1/4 mile trek down the hill to the swim start.  By the time we got there, the race had already started and the energy was strong. 

My only hesitation in switching from the Olympic distance to the sprint distance was that I wouldn't get in as much swimming - 750m vs 1500m - and I wanted the swim practice for Alcatraz.  Alas, the swim course turned out to be long and I got in 1000 yards.  Perfect.  I was at a 2:20/100yd pace which is a little slower than I was last year, but then again I was swimming a lot more last year preparing for the Chesapeake Bay swim.  Then it was back up the 1/4 mile hill into transition to get Xena for her first road ride since...... June 2016...... not kidding.

The bike was pretty much as expected for not having been on a bike in so long.  So very glad that I switched to the sprint distance.  There were a few times I had to drop to my lowest gear and felt like I was going up the side of the mountain, but the elevation chart from my garmin would disagree.  This was a pretty flat ride.  Definitely need to start up the bike training (but probably not until after Alcatraz).  I sure was happy when we made the final turn back into transition!

Off on the run.  It had rained the entire week non-stop, yet now, as I am starting on the run, the clouds parted and it was scorching!  What are the odds?!  I walked a bit but then started throwing in more run intervals.  I ran a lot more than I thought I would and am quite pleased.  It was really hot with only about half mile in the shade.  I feel that I finished strong and was happy.

I collected my stuff and started the hour and a half drive back home.  In the car I made some last minute plans with Joann and Sweeney to hit a winery to celebrate.  I realized than when I removed the stress of cut-off times, my ability to make the distance, etc, etc, I actually had fun racing!  I do love pushing myself to the bigger goals, but I think maybe after this year I may take some time and concentrate on smaller goals and improving my times.

Eagleman 70.3

Holy Hot & Long Day!!! 

I went into this race with lofty - and realistic - goals. My swim and bike training has been solid. And though I haven't been as on top of my running as I would have liked, I did have a few decent long runs under my belt, albeit maxing out at 8 miles. The forecasts were calling for warm temperatures, but I was ready!  Deb picked me up and we made an easy drive to Cambridge for check-in and bike racking.

Xena settled in for the night!

Once Xena was settled in her position for the night, Deb and I went back to the hotel to get all of our stuff together and set for the morning.  Then we found a cute restaurant on Tilghman Island, picked up some last minute groceries for breakfast, had some ice cream and lounged around.  My nutrition plan was simple:  double concentrated Infinit on the bike along with water in the aero-bottle that I would grab from each aid station.  I also had salt tabs with me and was going to take one in the last couple hours to prepare for the run. On the run I had some BASE salt that I had picked up from the expo, a couple gels, and planned to use the water and gatorade from the aid stations.  We even had a freezer in the hotel room so I could freeze all my water bottles.  Everything was ready!

We woke up at 3am to thunderstorms, and then again at 4am to the sounds of people leaving.  It was still too early for us, so we slept until about 5am, collected our things and made our way to Great Marsh Park.  I pumped air in Xena's tires and made sure everything was ready before heading over to the Team Z tent.  It was so freaking hot and humid already!  In fact, Coach Alexis asked me how the water was... it took me a minute to realize he thought I had been swimming, when in fact, I was just covered in sweat!  Ha!

Then I met Christine, who I had connected with on facebook a few days prior, also on Team Z, and we figured out we might be close to each other in speed.  I spent the rest of the time until my wave with Team Z and Deb, in the port-o-potty lines and hanging around the swim start.  I was anxious to get going!

Oddly, I was nervous about this swim, despite my swim training.  The thing is, the last time I did this Eagleman swim, I missed the cutoff and was DQ'ed.  Once again, they announced that it was not wetsuit legal, and I wasn't sure how I would fare.  We waded into the water and were able to stand (versus tread water) until the horn went off.  Finally, we were on our way.... It was actually shallow enough that I walked a bit of the way, rather than dive into the masses.  By the first buoy though, I was horizontal and finding a good stroke.  For some reason, I thought all the men had gone off in earlier waves, so I was surprised when I started getting bumped and kicked and swum over.  Annoying!  At one point, someone swimming on my left hit the back of my head with his/her arm.  And then they did it again!  Come on!  You know when you are right on top of someone!  So I started thinking about and executing the high elbow drills from swim practice... that was the last time that person hit me.

Someone in the facebook group captured this shot -- look how far out people are walking!

At the first turn buoy, I decided to look at my watch, knowing the hardest part, the part that went against the current, was over.  25 minutes.  Not bad!  I was feeling good about this, knowing that after the next turn buoy, we should have a little current in our favor.  Right as I was going around that next turn buoy, another guy knocked my goggles off of my face.  Luckily, the water was shallower there and I could stand and readjust.  That's when I noticed how much people had started walking.  I was still chest deep, so it would've been counter-productive for me to walk, so I went back to swimming, plugging away buoy after buoy.  Finally, with about one buoy left to go, I stood up for good and just walked the rest of the way back.  It was hard for me to walk at this point, but I chalked it up to the way I normally feel going from horizontal to vertical, and figured it would work itself out in a few minutes.

I exited the Choptank River and walked over the timing mats.  Official time for the swim was 50:50.  I will take it!  It's my best non-wetsuit swim, and I had just been hoping for under and hour.  I grabbed some water and walked to where Xena was, put on all of my bike gear, and headed out for what I hoped would be a great bike.  3:45 was my goal.  It always takes a few minutes for me to settle down after the swim, so I just took it easy for the first mile or so.  But.. I never caught my breath! 

This just wasn't my day for biking.  In the first few miles, we went around a sharp turn and my aero-bottle flew off.  Now I had no way of taking in water, other than grabbing the water bottle at the aid station and drinking as much as I could before discarding it before I exited the aid station.  My shoulders hurt, inexplicably, in a way that my shoulders have never hurt biking.  There was not a single position that was comfortable, not to mention, I still couldn't breathe!  Riding in the aero position is probably the worst way to try to catch your breath, but my shoulders hurt if I sat up a little straighter.  Then, about 20 miles in, I got hot spots on both my feet to the point of unbearable.  And then I got stung or bitten by something... hard... on my right calf and then my butt... the third time, I glanced down at my left calf and saw that whatever it was had drawn blood!  If something could've gone wrong on that bike ride, it did.

Finally, when I got to the third aid station around mile 30, I stopped.  I took my shoes off, took a gatorade and drank the entire thing while just standing there.  I thought that maybe by standing up for a bit, I would be able to catch my breath and breathe normal, though that never happened.  I have no idea how much time I wasted at that aid station, but it was probably a lot.  Reluctantly, I climbed back on the bike and proceeded on.  From that point, I stopped every 4-5 miles.  There were times that I had to push myself a little further than I would've liked to because somebody else was stopped in the only shady spot available.  It was getting really, really hot by this point.  There were several times that ambulances raced down the street.  That's something you never like to see during the race.  I realized that I wasn't having a great bike, that I was super slow and way beyond my goal, but I was safe.  I was thankful for that, at least.  But... I have never had to stop on a flat course like that.  Ridiculous.

It was also around mile 30 that Christine passed me for the first time.  We leap-frogged each other from that point on, and I am so grateful that she was out there with me, also struggling with her own issues on this damned bike ride.   For my last stop, around mile 52-ish, I pulled up right behind Christine and we exchanged a few words that would probably not be deemed safe to repeat.  We both just wanted to be off that bike course!  I really could not believe how crappy this bike was going. I basically did the entire 56 miles with a consistent asthma attack, and I have zero explanation for it.  This has never happened before.  4:27:19 was the official time for the bike.  Pathetic.  Checking my data, I did have a couple legs that were over 15mph, which was my goal, but all the stopping and breathing issues really killed it.

Finally into transition.  Christine was a minute or two ahead of me, but I met up with her at our transition spot, which were actually right next to each other!  We both sat down, flat on the ground.  I don't normally sit in transition, but it was all I could do.  I put on my visor, running shoes and race belt all whilst sitting.  The idea of doing a half marathon at this point was mind blowing.  Once I was ready, I stood up and Christine and I made our way to the run course.  It was hot, hot HOT by this point.  I knew that there was just no way that I was going to make the cut off time at this point unless I really pushed it, and I just didn't have it in me to really push it at this point, in this heat.  So I walked.  Christine went ahead to do some intervals and power walking, and I also tried to run for small bits of time, about 100 meters feet here and there.  But not much.  It just wasn't worth it.

Z'er, Kris captured this shot... the first part of my death march...
passing the finish line in the wrong direction...

The first couple miles went through neighborhoods and the residents were all outside cheering with music and sprinklers.  The town of Cambridge really embraced the event which was great!  I was so thankful for those sprinklers, even though it completely soaked my shoes leading to some fairly significant blisters.  Someone on facebook had posted that we had over a mile to the first aid station, and recommended carrying a disposable water bottle for the first part of the run.  I took this advice with a frozen water bottle at transition, only now it was very hot water.  It burned my throat as I tried to wash down some salt.  This quickly turned into a death march.  I was so happy when I got to that first aid station and found oranges.  I had basically abandoned my nutrition on the bike, and oranges sounded like the best thing ever at that point.  I think I ate about 5 orange slices.

Other than those first couple miles there was no shade.  Zip, zero, zilch.  It was hot, my feet hurt and I was still getting bitten by those dang horse flies(?).  Then I remembered that I had packed a bug repellant wipe in my race pouch.  I got that out and started applying it to my arms and shoulders.  That's when I first found the chaffing.  Ouch!  I was miserable.  I am so thankful to all the friendly athletes going the other direction who were cheering me on.  I'm pretty sure my resting face at work is bitch-face, but my resting face during a race must be a smile because everybody was so freaking nice, not only Team Z, but everyone!  And it seemed it was more so with me than people in front of or behind me.  I can't remember the last time I high-fived and fist-bumped so many people, many of them saying "keep smiling" -- ugh, I was not meaning to smile!!

Christine found this weather data for the day -- OUCH!
...note the "feels like" temperature of 123.. ONE-TWENTY-THREE!!!

I knew that I probably needed some additional nutrition, so I picked up some bonk breaker chews at one of the aid stations and forced some of those down.  The volunteers were so wonderful, dumping ice water on you, handing you as much water and gatorade as you could take.  Not all of the stations had food options, but for the most part they stayed fully stocked - and at least always had ice, water and gatorade - even for the back of the pack.  I have never been so hot in my entire life.  The crowds were thinning out at this point, with only us stragglers left behind.  And I wasn't even halfway yet.  I just had no idea how I was going to manage to make it back to Great Marsh Park.  I thought about giving up.  I mean, would anybody really blame me?  It was ridiculously hot, I'd had a terrible bike, I wasn't going to make the cutoff... but damnit, I came out there to do 70.3 miles, and as long as I was standing upright on my own, I was going to do 70.3 miles!

Finally, the turnaround point.  This was where I noticed that there were people behind me.  At least 8 people behind me and I cheered on every single one of them as I passed them.  I seriously had to force myself to put one foot in front of the other.  I wanted to stop and stand still for a little bit.  Or even better, sit or lie down.  This was excruciating.  A couple of the people behind me caught up and passed me.  I didn't mind because it was getting lonely out there, and them passing meant that I had a couple minutes of conversation.  Then I saw some of the people who were behind me pass me on the golf carts, abandoning their race.  I didn't blame them.

As I was approaching mile 10 (only a 5K left!) I saw someone from Team Z out there cheering for us final athletes.  Mike joined me and decided to walk with me for that final few miles.  At the aid stations, he grabbed extra gatorade, oranges and ice-soaked sponges for me.  Then, about a mile later, we found Deb who joined the death march.  Two miles still seemed like a really, really long way to go.  At the final aid station, we collected Patty and Marti, also from Team Z who had been out cheering, and the group of us did that final mile together.  I am so very thankful to all of them for keeping me company!!  We were finally coming back to the park and we could see the Team Z tents.  After that, it was just a matter of turning the corner and going down the finisher's chute.  I decided to run from that point on.  Mike ran ahead of me with his camera to make sure I got a finish line shot, and I was delighted to see that they had kept the finish line open with the clock still going and everything.  I made it!!  It was a technical DNF because I didn't make the cutoff, but I didn't care.  I did 70.3 miles.

My fantastic, impromptu sherpa, Mike -- THANK YOU!!

I was wobbly as the volunteer unpinned and took my timing chip from my ankle.  Mike and Deb collected some food and water for me as I made the long (not really) walk over to the Team Z tents.  Christine was there and I found out she finished only 7 minutes after the cut off.  7 minutes!!  I am so proud of her though, she really powered through for that entire "run".  I sat down and would've probably stayed in that chair forever if I could have.  Thank you Mike for helping me collect all of my stuff from transition and to Deb for going to get the car so I didn't have to walk any more.  As we were waiting for Deb to get back with the car, we saw the final athlete come in.  I was so glad that he made it!

Look at Deb sporting a Team Z jersey :-)  She did awesome, coming in under 7 hours!

Then came the long drive home.  I was definitely dehydrated.  I'd peed before the swim and not again until after we crossed the bay bridge (after sitting in a good amount of traffic).  A quick shower and then my friends met up with me for a late (9:30pm!) celebratory dinner (and Joann brought cake!!).  It was a long day.  Of course I started having thoughts about whether I can handle Ironman or not given that performance, but I have to think that bike was an anomaly.  I did the aquabike at Kinetic about a month ago with no issues.  I'm just going to try to shake it off and move forward.

Nations Triathlon [and a new bike PR!]

Nailed it.

I specifically wanted to start out with that phrase after my last race report that started with "bust".  This is the first time in a long time that I am really, really happy with my race.

Racked and ready to go!! (photo credit: Tommy)

But let's back up... On Saturday, I met Tommy and we went over to the Expo and down to transition to rack bikes before a long lunch with Paula, Andrea and Nancy.  Then it was home to put some stuff together and get ready for my final triathlon of the season.  The storms started moving in and we all started wondering about our poor bikes getting wet, but it soon dried up and brought in cooler weather, a good change from the 90+ temperatures.

After a fairly sleepless night (thanks, dogs), I woke up at 4am on Sunday to a text from Andrea referring me to a post on the Nations Triathlon facebook page.  Son of a bitch!!  Swim canceled?!!  Phooey, phooey, phooey!!!  Swimming is my best event, and given that all the team pools have been closed for the last few weeks, this was one of my few opportunities to get in the water.  I even considered just skipping the whole thing, why even bother?  But, alas, my bike was already racked, so I'd have to trek into DC at some point anyway to retrieve that.  Besides, I was meeting friends for a post-race brunch, so I got out of bed, put on my race suit, and was on my way into the city.

I set up transition and found fellow Zer, Rachel and then Andrea.  Even though there was no swim, we still had to set up for our swim to bike transition, as we would be starting at the swim exit (no helmets or shoes allowed), and would run into transition to start the race, as though we just got out of the water.  Compared to the other Team Z races I've done, our presence was considerably smaller here, maybe 30 teammates out of 2500 athletes.  Race logistics prevented the normal team setup (tents, grills, chairs, etc), but we were provided a small tent, and so I spent the long time waiting for wave 27 with my teammates.  At about 8:00 I walked over to the starting area to try to find Andrea and get ready to go.  Finally, my wave started lining up around 8:30.  They started us in groups of 9 every 20 seconds(ish), and with the blow of a whistle, I was off.

Getting ready to line up in my wave start! (photo credit: my teammate, Catherine)

It was actually a long run into transition, and then my bike was at the far end.  I'd say it was about quarter mile from the start to my bike, which I ran most of because everyone else was running and I didn't want to be the one fool left behind!  I was already wearing my sunglasses and gloves, threw on my helmet and bike shoes and I was ready to go.  Official T1 time = 3:24.  There were a TON of people all around me for the entire duration of this bike course.  Seriously, people riding 5 bikes across, passing on the left, passing on the right, cutting in front of you.  There were just that many people.  For the first mile or so, I wondered how bad the hills were going to be, with Rock Creek parkway being the first test.  It wasn't bad!  I was even passing some people!  And I kept passing people -- I never pass people! 

This was a really complicated bike course with so many turns -
here's the full version of the course!

My watch is set to lap every 5 miles, and when it alerted me on the first lap, I checked my pace: 15.8 mph.  Could that be right??  My goal was 14.5 mph.  OK, that was a fluke, but I knew I needed to keep working at it so that it didn't drop down too much.  Second lap?  16.1 mph.  Holy crap, is this for real??  Now I was determined to see if I could keep this up for the entire 25 miles.  My mind said no way, but I kept pedaling and taking in nutrition [and determined that my body does NOT like eating solid foods on the bike... my stomach can handle it fine, but I just have no appetite for it].  I saw Andrea a couple times as she flew by me on her new bike, and then Rachel passed me also.  It's always great seeing familiar faces on the course!  Actually, a lot of people passed me... but I'm OK with that, I was going a fantastic pace for myself, and that's what counts.  I really couldn't believe it as I kept checking my watch.  I was getting tired, but really pushed myself to see if I could maintain this pace until the end.  I did drop a little on the last 5 mile segment, the long out and back stretch over the 14th St bridge, but finished 15.6 mph overall, a new bike personal record for me -- YIPPEE!!!  Official bike time: 1:35:42 (Garmin was spot-on).

Look at those bike splits!!!  Never in my entire life have I done splits like that, even on
the flattest of courses... maybe the training is starting to pay off???

I walked my bike through transition, took off my bike equipment, threw on my running shoes and off I went.  Except, it was so hard to run.  My calf was starting to cramp and I felt a shin splint coming on.  I really struggled for that first mile, thinking there was no way in hell I was going to meet my 14:30/mile pace goal (thanks to my lack of appetite for solid foods, I was thinking I was under-nutritioned from the bike).  Sure enough, mile one came in close to 15:30 and I thought to myself, ah who cares, I rocked the bike, it's not the end of the world if I don't hit my run goal also.

Terrible quality, but I refuse to fork over $25 for a digital print when they couldn't
even get ONE photo of me on the bike (and there were a TON of photographers)

As I turned into Haines Point, I started a run/walk routine, switching up at every light post.  I think it probably equated to less than 30s of each, but it was consistent.  Mile two came in at 14:20, and I started thinking hmm, OK, maybe we forget that first mile and just see if I can come in around my goal for the rest.  Then mile 4 came in at 14:15 and I got the idea that perhaps I could make up for that first mile in the long run.  I kept trudging along, light post to light post.  I was getting tired and at one point thought abut giving myself permission to just walk a little and take it easy.  Then reality set in, you are in a RACE, you don't get to take it easy!!!  So I didn't.  Run, walk, run, walk, and suddenly I'm at mile 6 and am almost finished.  Doing some quick calculations, I'm realizing that my overall pace is right around my goal, maybe just a few seconds more.  I ran over the finish line and collected my well-earned medal and realized that yes, I did meet my goal.  14:19/mile overall!!!  Official T2 time, 3:02.  Official run time, 1:29:19.

Look at how I got faster and faster during this run - this isn't my best 10K time (even in a tri),
but I think I've never pushed myself this hard before.

I met up with Andrea and Nancy, grabbed some water from the Team Z tent and then headed over to transition where Joann was waiting for me.  I collected all of my things, saw Rachel and took a finisher picture, and then started the long walk back to my car.  Seriously, the mile back to my car was the hardest part of the morning!!  And then, when we got there, they weren't letting any cars out of the lots yet because the roads had not yet opened up to traffic.  Luckily, because the swim was canceled, the time line was moved up a bit and we didn't have to wait too long to get out.  Off to the Hamilton for brunch with Sweeney, Joann, Heidi, Andrea, Nancy, Paula and Tommy!

My teammate, Rachel, and me post-race (photo credit: Joann)
Not sure why I never thought to get a picture with Andrea and Tommy, d'oh!

I am now so bummed that the swim was canceled.  Even with an average swim for me, I would have totally PR'ed the Olympic distance!!  Logistically, this race was obnoxious, and I swore that I'd never do it again, but now I kind of want to go back to see what I can do with all three events.  The hot shower and quick nap were a bad idea when I got home, as I started to get really sore.  Luckily I had the good sense to pop some Advil, put ice on my back and use my foam roller extensively, and was already feeling better by bedtime.  It's been awhile since I've been able to say I really gave it 100% in a race, and pushed myself this hard... and I got the results to show for it!  I went to bed feeling very pleased with myself.  This was a win.

Luray Triathlon and farewell Jeep

Bust.

The hard top hasn't been on the jeep since the day I drove it home back in 2008!
Thanks to Jon and Sweeney for helping me with this task :-)

I packed up the Jeep for one last road trip together and set out for Luray on Friday afternoon.  I arrived at the site and set up the tent with no issues, but then I could not open my cot!  The cot was a requirement thanks to my back issues and knowing that the small camping mattress I have wouldn't have worked.  Sadly, I noticed that one of the bars of the cot was bent and it was indeed broken and unusable.  Uh oh.  The tent was set up on grass so I was hoping that it would be OK, but no such luck...back hurt.  On top of that, the temperatures dipped into the 40's that night and I was woefully unprepared, especially since I was sleeping directly on the ground which made it even colder.  By morning, I was a frozen brick that couldn't move and made the decision to head home that day and forgo the pint glass that I would've gotten for completing both races of the weekend.

Thanks Sweeney for letting me borrow the tent!!

I was lying there trying to decide whether or not I was going to push myself to do the Olympic race anyway when I realized that I'd forgotten to pack a sports bra.  Seriously?!  Who forgets that?!! At that point, it was obvious that running, and probably biking, were out of the question.  Then, I stepped out of the tent and realized it was only 50 degrees.  Everyone knows that three makes a fact, and the chilly air temperature sealed the deal that I was not going to race.  I made the decision to do the swim, and then join my mom in the Team Z tents to cheer on the other racers.

I enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the Team Z tents and took my time putting on my wetsuit and heading down to the lake.  The water initially felt cold, but I quickly adjusted to it.  It was a weird pac-man shaped course and we literally swam the entire perimeter of the lake and then a smaller inside triangle.  The waves were started only 2 minutes apart and I never really got any separation from anyone.  Other than the constant swimming on top of people (and being swum over), I felt pretty strong on the swim.  It was easy to push it a little when I knew I wasn't going to have to get on a bike afterward. 

When I stood up on the beach and ran over what I thought was the timing mat, I stopped my watch at 34:55 and started walking.  But then I crossed over another timing mat, and wasn't sure which one was officially the swim finish, so my time might be a few seconds more than that.  I checked the official results, but they don't have me listed anywhere.  Oh well. I wasn't sure if I should go into transition or not, but there really wasn't any kind of escape route.  There was this weird staircase with the tiniest stairs I've ever seen, and I ran up those and into transition area.  As I stopped and talked to the volunteer about what to do with my timing chip, I found myself wheezing.. and I remember that this happened after the Lake Anna relay when I just did the swim.  I wonder if I pushed myself to the point that I really should've used my inhaler first?  Normally I only have breathing issues on the bike, but it must be that I pace myself different when it's just the swim? Though I didn't have any issues in the Save the Bay swim.  I dunno, maybe next time I'll try using my inhaler before the race. 

I didn't take any people pictures, so I'm doing this throwback style from the camping trip to
Niagra Falls that Allison, Mom and I took the summer before my senior year of high school

I got my wetsuit off and sat down to catch my breath.  Then it was time for a hot shower. Finally, warmth. The air temperature was still super cold and I was more than relieved that I was not jumping on a bike to face the wind. That and the fact that I had been super nervous about the hilly bike course and was happy I didn't have to face that either. Next year.  After I was warm and dry, I made my way over to the Team Z tents for lunch, beverages and to spend time with my mom, cheering on the other racers.  I am so consistently at the end of the pack that it's always a nice change when I am able to watch and cheer others along.  One nice surprise was seeing Allison Medina, one of my best friends growing up who had just driven down to watch some friends and was doing the sprint race on Sunday.  Part of me wished I was staying and could race with her, but I knew it was best for me to head home.

One last drive on the open roads in the Jeep

It shouldn't be too shocking that I ended up with a bad cold for the rest of the weekend.  Luckily, since I was supposed to be at Luray, I didn't have any other plans and was able to spend a day and a half on the couch in my sweats with NyQuil and ice cream.  The only thing I had to do was drive out to Carmax to say goodbye to the Jeep. Time for the next vehicle chapter...

Colonial Beach Sprint Tri

You know that saying, never try anything new on race day?  Well I defied that like a champ!  I went to the Bike Lane on Thursday for a bike fit -- I have had my bike for a number of years now, and I've never been super uncomfortable, but who knows, maybe I could enjoy it more.  And sure enough, I walked out of there with new shoes, new cleats, adjusted seat and adjusted aerobars... and no time to get in a ride to try it all out before the race.  oops!  And then, a coworker gave me a homemade sports drink to try, which I promised to do, and I threw that on the bike without trying first... more on that mistake later.

I haven't had specific time goals for a race in awhile, but I decided to make some for this race:

Swim ~ 17 min  (that would be slightly faster than my Kinetic relay time)
Bike ~ 1 hour (14mph is doable!)
Run ~ 40-45 min (ugh.. the dreaded run)

OK, so I made my way down to Cindy's house at the most inconvenient traffic hour of 5pm on a Friday afternoon.  An hour and a half later, I arrived and it was great to catch up.  I hadn't seen Cindy for months, so we chatted over dinner and wine and then went to bed early(ish) in anticipation of my 4:45 alarm.

The morning at Cindy's was uneventful as I got my race outfit on, put ice in my water bottle and headed out for the race.  I decided to ignore the light that kept flashing at me on my dashboard as my GPS sent me through the back roads of La Plata, MD (interesting that it had me turn off 301 only to get right back on it about 20 min later).  Taking the back roads at that hour of the morning meant several close encounters with wildlife, and soon I was worried that all the braking would cause me to be late for check-in; I hadn't planned on an hour drive from Cindy's house that morning.  Luckily though, as soon as I crossed over the bridge back into Virginia's Northern Neck, I began seeing more bikes on cars.  A good sign!

I grabbed my race packet with plenty of time to spare and proceeded into transition to set up my area.  It took me a few minutes to figure out the numbering system and where to rack my bike [cause numeric is often difficult to figure out], carefully set up my gear and went to the body marking station.  Simple as pie, and I start making my way over to the Team Z tent as I hear the announcer over the loud speakers, "transition will close at 6:30 ... race will begin in 30 minutes ... you will need to have your bib number in order to receive your timing chip ... blah blah blah" -- oh crap!  timing chip!  how oh how did I forget that I might need a timing chip?!  Back into transition for my race bib, over to the timing chip table, and return the bib to its place in my helmet resting on my bike.  Phew.  That would've been a terrible mistake!

Finally over at the Team Z area, I found Annette.  Annette is one of the reasons I signed up for the race.  We were in the same starting class for Team Z back in March, and is the first person that I met on the team when we showed up at Providence for our first swim practice.  This was to be her first ever triathlon, so it was nice to be there to support her.

Then I met Trish.  I have a feeling Trish and I will get to know each other pretty well over the next 18 months, as we are both scheduled to attend the team training weekend at Ironman Maryland this year, will be staying in the same house, volunteering at the race and << gasp >> perhaps signing up for next year's event?!?!?!

weird that they write your number on both thigh in addition to the usual arm/calf

A few of us head down to the beach - and of course we are the jackasses not paying attention, chatting, and suddenly realize they have started playing the national anthem.  Time for the main event!  With a quick "good luck" cheer to Annette, I made my way into the water with Trish, and before we knew it we were off.  We had watched the wave before us swim and get carried by the current to the right (were supposed to go on the left of the buoys), and knew we had to aim left.  It was a rough first leg, and once again, I think that first turn buoy was moving!  In the opposite direction!  I got around it and settled into my stroke.  I was feeling good, but had no idea of my pace in relation to my 17 minute goal.  As I'm passing the next sighting buoy, I realize I am significantly wide of it.  I tried to correct that, but still passed that next turn buoy with plenty of room to spare, and continued to drift wider and was even further away from the next sighting buoy [the sighting buoys are placed midway between each turn buoy].  Oh well, just focus on the finish area and I'll be fine.  The beach was really rocky which was tough to walk on with bare feet.  I looked at my watch and saw it had been 20 minutes.  Oh well, so much for that.  Official time 20:30, which did not make my goal, but is similar to my time at Kinetic sprint which was a much calmer - and wetsuit friendly - swim, so I can't really be too disappointed that I actually improved!

yeah, so.. that should be a triangle.. with straight lines.. whoops.

In transition, I decided that since my bike shoes were brand new, I should put socks on, so I took an extra minute there, but still got out with a decent-enough time under 4 minutes, especially considering the loooong walk from the bikes to the road and mount line.  As I'm making the trek, I'm thinking back to the interesting sound my bike was making that morning as I walked it into the race.  I'm wondering how this is gonna go... got on the bike and clipped the new shoes and cleats in with no problem.  Off I go!  I really wanted to do 14 mph for this ride, and was relieved that it was a pretty flat course.  Unfortunately, the only nutrition I had on the bike was the sports drink my coworker made for me - my coworker, that is, who is not an endurance athlete.  I took one sip and didn't care for it at all.  I do have a fairly strong stomach, so I could *tolerate* it, but I just did not like it.  I forced myself to drink most of it, but didn't get though the bottle, so not great.  There were a few sections that we passed where I got super cold, like goose bumps cold.  I wondered if that was a sign of my lack of nutrition or even heat exhaustion?  I pressed on though, and other than one long section of rough road, the course was nice.  Not completely flat, and there was one downhill with a turn at the bottom.  It was here that I realized my right brake wasn't working.  Wonderful.  That, combined with the horrid noise that sounded when I was in certain gears just reiterates the fact that I should've tested it out after the bike fit.  Next time.  I was off to the finish, and knew that I was coming in under an hour!  Woot!  56:30 was the official time, for 14.8 miles per hour.

look at that final push on the last lap which was even a slight uphill at the end!

There's not really much to say about the "run" portion.  I pretty much walked the whole thing.  Sure, I could whine about the heat (and yes, it was HOT), or how much my foot hurt (which it did, but anyone who knows me knows that I can push through pain.. it's how I managed to run Ragnar Relay the night before surgery), but the fact is, I need to run more.  I need for the weather to cool down so I can get out and run (treadmill is out of the question b/c it's too hard on my foot).  I was absolutely craving water by this point and I knew that meant I was probably dehydrated.  Luckily they had a few water stops on the course.  I was thankful this was only a 5K and not a 10K and just kept inching my way forward until it was finally time to cross the finish line and have my timing chip removed.  Happy to be done, I grabbed a powerade and made my way back to the Team Z tents.  I didn't have any kind appetite for any food, but I stayed and socialized for awhile until it was time to make the drive back home.

I forgot to get a photo at the race site, but did take a post-race selfie as I stopped for gas on my way home.  Disappointed that I was too late for Chick-Fil-A breakfast, I made it home in about an hour and a half [without that dashboard light yelling at me again] and quickly showered and got myself ready for my family reunion.  It was awesome to see so many family (about 100 Stewarts and Masons!!), and we enjoyed a long [hot] game of kickball, some cornhole, and good food... though I still didn't have much of an any appetite and only ate a small plate to accompany my 4 ciders.  Not great nutrition choices for someone who was already pretty dehydrated.  I did force myself to eat some pasta salad when I got home, because I knew there was no way I was going to get through my scheduled bike ride the next morning without something in my stomach.

I sported compression socks at my family reunion picnic in prep for my next day ride

Andrea and I met at 7 Sunday morning for a 30 mile ride in Gainesville.  Definitely dehydrated and sore from the day before, I did much better than I thought.  My legs did decide to quit on my on the last set of rollers, so I sent Andrea ahead since she was planning to do a small brick run, and took a much needed break.  I did find a way to finish strong and was pleased with my effort for the most part.

After a quick nap, it was off to Sunday Funday with Sweeney and to watch the world cup final, and then rush home to join Jon for an evening concert at Wolf Trap to see Jennifer Nettles.  A super jam packed weekend all around, leaving me absolutely exhausted, but so great catching up with friends and family, good workouts, good music.  Now for some sleep....

Rev3 Olympic AquaBike

1500m Swim ~ 25mi Bike

First, let's recap how wonderful the Rev3 organization is for letting me switch my registration for a second time to the Olympic AquaBike event.  Not having to ride 56 miles, and not having to run made for a relatively stress-free race.  At the Team Z pre-race dinner on Saturday night, people were saying the water temperatures were too warm for a wetsuit.  This is great news for me as I am so much more comfortable without the wetsuit, even though I know it's faster and more buoyant with one.  This eliminated the need to make the decision on whether or not to wear mine.  Jon and I had a good dinner with my swim lane-mates, Linda and Chris, and met Debbie, another fellow Z'er, before calling it an early night ready for the 4:30 wake up call.

This race was point to point, meaning there was a different location for T1 (swim to bike) and T2 (bike to run, finish line).  Most people had to go to T2 first to set up their gear, and then take the shuttle to T1.  Since I wasn't doing the run, and had nothing to set up, and since I had Jon to drive me, I was able to go directly to the swim start.  I was also able to take my bike pump which was crucial since we had to set up our bikes the day before.  As I'm pumping air into my tires, the lever on my front tube broke.  Uhh.. what now?  I already filled it with air, so it should be fine.. right?  I asked the girl next to me what she thought and she also thought I should be OK.  Just to be sure, I checked with the bike mechanics they had on staff... yeah, you should be fine..  All this use of the word "should" is making me nervous, but nothing I can do about it at this point.  Time to make the half mile trek down to the water.

Jon and I stood around waiting for the start of the race, trying to determine which were my turn buoys (versus the half distance turn buoys).  The national anthem played and soon I found myself wading into the water.  It was very warm and comfortable, and no current at all.

If you look closely, you can actually see me in both of these photos Jon captured (I think)

 As the horn sounded, most of the people just walked through the water, it was that shallow.  I tried swimming, but eventually it got hard to navigate through all the vertical people, so I stood up and walked a bit.  People walked almost the first third of the course, but by the time we got to the first turn, everyone was vertical.  There was one girl that I was side by side with for much of that first and second segment, but then somehow she got ahead of me.. humph.  As we neared the second turn buoy, we noticed that the buoy was moving!  No fair!!  I thought it was just me, but swimmers behind me were shouting at the kayakers (in a fun-loving way), "do you see this, is it just us?  The buoy is MOVING!!".  I finally made it past that turn and found myself side by side with another swimmer, until she, too, got ahead of me.  What the hell is happening?!  So I put my mind to it and started swimming harder until I caught up and passed that girl.. take that b!tch [err.. I mean very likely a really nice lady who just happened to be swimming her own race at a slightly faster pace than me].  I swam hard from that point on and felt really good in the water.  My watch said 34 min as I walked out of the water which was over 5 minutes better than my time at Rock Hall, but my official time for the swim was 31:50.. OK, even better :-)

Remember that half mile trek to the swim I mentioned?  Well, we had to retrace that path back to transition.  I walked every last step of it, and don't feel guilty at all.  7.5 minutes for T1?  Fine.  When I get better in all the other areas, I will start caring more about my transitions.

There I am on the left, off in the distance.. WALKING!! :-)

I got to my bike, put my shoes on - first time without socks, not because it would save me a second or two, but it was just one less thing to have to worry about.  As I headed out on the route, I was nervous about that front tire.  Luckily, the first part of the course was pretty flat and I had time to settle down from the swim, and drink some of my nutrition.  This is only 25 miles versus last weekend's 50 miler, so bring it!

I made a left turn onto one of those small, narrow streets.. the kind where civil engineers like to hide hills.  Seriously, every small winding street that goes through the woods has them, even in the flattest of towns... and this was no different.  The nice part about this section was it was completely shaded.  There's a few curves and then some caution signs indicating a large downhill section... and at the bottom of that section are some really rough patches of road, requiring you to brake to maneuver around pot holes and such.  It's really too bad we had to brake so much because what followed was the only real significant uphill of the course.  Don't get me wrong, there were a few other parts that I had to drop into my granny gear, but this was the biggest, and essentially, you had to start from a speed of zero. 

As I'm climbing that hill, there are cyclists passing me... like, there are a LOT of cyclists passing me.  I'm confused, not because there are faster cyclists than me, but because I was in the last wave (and the longer distance race had an entirely different bike course), and while I had a good swim, I knew there weren't *that* many people behind me, and certainly not those with the high performance disc wheels and aero helmets (aka, men under 40).  I could not figure out what was going on.. had I made a wrong turn and cut off part of the course?  No.. cause the volunteers definitely flagged me down this road.  What is going on?!  Then.. ooooohhh... we must be doing 2 loops.  OK, that must be it.  Wait.. FCUK!!  We have to do this winding, hilly section again?!!  Yuck!

I passed the 10 mile marker - seriously?!  only 10 miles done?! - and eventually got to the turnoff for the 2nd loop, which wasn't really a loop since there was only one small section we had to do twice.  I was dreading that section though.  I kept telling myself it was only a 5 mile section, and to go as fast as I could before that point since the hills would likely slow me down.  There were other people doing their 2nd loop also, so I wasn't alone, and at one point I even passed someone!!  It was a nice ride, but then finally I was back to that narrow, winding road.. except, it wasn't so bad the second time around!  Maybe it was because I knew I was nearing the end of the bike, or because I'd convinced myself somehow that it was worse than it was, but I got up the hills no problem, didn't even have to go into my granny gear as much as that first loop.  Go me!  Passed the 20 mile marker and I was on the home stretch.  As I was turning into the last mile or so, it occurred to me that I was done as soon as I got off my bike.. no transition and no run.  Awesome!

See my spot, #797.. right there in that first corner next to the Run Out!

I dismounted and crossed the timing mat, but forgot to look at my watch for my time.  I took my time walking my bike to it's spot in the transition area, and wouldn't you know, I had the best spot ever, right next to the run out exit.  If I were doing the whole triathlon, it would have been fantastic.. but the official clock had stopped for my event and I didn't care how long it took me to rack my bike and take off my helmet and accessories.  I took a minute to bask in the fact that I was finished with my race, and confirmed with a volunteer what I was supposed to do next.  I walked out of transition and about 20 yards to the finishers chute which I jogged down barefoot.  They announced my name as a finisher, and I hoped people didn't get me confused with the rock stars that were finishing their run.. one of the volunteers asked me if I'd done the whole run barefoot as she handed me my medal and finisher's hat.. Yep, I told her.. I ran the entire 50 yards from transition barefoot :-)

Barefoot finish... bad-ass!!

Jon met me at the end of the finisher chute and I finally looked at my watch.  2:32.. hmm.. my goal was 2.5 hours.. but wait, my time officially stopped once I finished the bike, so maybe?  And the official results confirmed, my finish time was 2:26:45 - woot!  We made our way to the Team Z tent for some post-race food and beverage and cheered on the rest of the finishers.  Then, after a quick stop in the Rev3 store, I picked up my bike and we made the long walk to the jeep.  The afternoon was spent at a local winery and a visit to Colonial Williamsburg, followed by a full day at Busch Gardens on Monday.  Luckily, the ride home on Tuesday was significantly faster than the drive down, and we had the afternoon and evening to rest up for the 3-day work week.

Swim	T1	Bike	Total
31.50	7:28	1:47:28	2:26:45

Rock Hall International Tri

1500m Swim ~ 24.5mi Bike ~ 10K Run

It has been years - literally years - since I have completed a triathlon.  Last one was Florida 70.3 back in May of 2011 with Deb, and even that had an asterisk accompanying it!! Before that there was the fiasco called Nations Triathlon... so the last completed triathlon I have done was in early summer of 2010, the Charlottesville Sprint Tri.  Geez.

Holy crap, I don't even know how I call myself a triathlete anymore.  And with all my injuries that I've had in the past year, is it even realistic to think that this would be a complete triathlon?  [The plan is to walk the run portion]

I did all of my race prep in the week leading up to this event, including learning how to change a flat tire!  Finally!  During that exercise, I realized my front tire was starting to shred, so I also replaced both tires and had the bike shop put my clip pedals back on [I'd had to switch to cage pedals post-surgery b/c my foot was too swollen for my cycling shoes].  Then, I hopped into the kitchen and made myself some Apple Pie Bites for my nutrition during the bike.  DELICIOUS.

OK, so Friday night arrives and I set my alarm for 3:30am in preparation for my 4:15am pick up.  Holy crap that is early!  I'd looked for hotels at the race site, but there was really nothing around.  Luckily, someone else who also lives in Fairfax sent an email to the Team Z yahoo group looking to carpool - perfect!  Wake up, pump up my tires, make iced tea and grab a banana, I was ready.  Matthew, arrived promptly at 4:15 and we were off to pick up another Z'er, Tamara, and then headed out to Rock Hall, MD. 

This might be the earliest I've ever had to get up for a race?

The race site and transition area were small-ish.  We did packet pickup, visited the port-o-johns [sidebar: I was wearing my new one-piece Team Z tri-suit which, btw, makes using the port-o-johns an entirely different experience], and set up transition area.  It had been so long, I was seriously afraid I was forgetting something major.. bike on the rack, helmet resting on aerobars with gloves, sunglasses and race belt inside.. cycling shoes laid out with socks individually in each, running shoes by themselves.. what else?  That can't be it?  I remember my first few races when I had everything including the kitchen sink in transition..

One of the nice things about being part of the team is the big team area that is set up.  I left my transition spot and was able to store my tri-bag in the Team Z "villiage", where I could also apply sunblock, put on the wetsuit (it fit better this time!), and hang out with fellow racers.  We even had someone collect all our flip flops after the walk to the swim start... otherwise I would've had to walk the 1/4 mile barefoot or else just abandon them. 

I know I said this in my Kinetic race report, but everyone is just so nice!  Mostly Team Z, but other triathletes as well..  at the swim start, I stuck up conversations with a girl who seemed super nervous about the race (it was her first tri!) -- how does the course work, where do we turn, are the buoys on our left or right.. so we talked for a bit and then it was time to jump into the water.  A cold shock at first, but then realized just how nice the water temperature was.  Before we knew it, the horn sounded and we were off.  I always get that initial panic of "oh crap, what have I just gotten myself into?!" as we set off toward the first buoy.

The swim course was 2 loops, which I kind of hate.  Immediately my goggles started fogging up and I stopped to rinse them up.  Then I got to a stretch and thought they were fogging up again, but it turned out the sun was so bright and in my eyes that I just couldn't see anything.  I had no idea if I was swimming toward the next buoy or in a completely opposite direction.  That was the worst segment and unfortunately with the loops, I'd have to do it again.  After that though, I finally started settling into my stroke.  I'd made it to the 2nd loop without being lapped by the one wave that went in before me, so that's a plus.  Soon I was on that final stretch and heading into the finish.  42:14 for the swim, which is slow for me; need to work on that.  Time to start thinking about the bike.

It was a rather long walk from the water to transition.. I managed to get my wetsuit half off, pulled off the goggles and cap and stated running.. ouch!  My foot hurt a lot, more than it had in a long time.. but there were cameras, including Val from Team Z, taking team shots, so I had to suck it up and run on the bad foot for the photos!  Transition was a long 5:47 minutes trying to get that dang wetsuit off and putting on all my bike accessories.  Whatever, it's not like I'm in the running for a podium spot!

Heading out of transition, ready to get it done!

In the car ride, Matthew and Tamera both described this bike course as flat with a few false flats.  Well, the only word they had correct was "false" -- no way this course was flat!  There were hills.. plenty of hills (grant you, my definition of what a hill is may differ from most).  At one point as I'm descending down a slight hill (let's call this a false downhill) there's a lady with an orange flag directing us into a sharp right turn.  As I make the turn she yells "this way and hail!!"  Uhh.. what?  Sky looks clear to me, what the hell is she talking about?  Though hailing a cab at this point doesn't sound like such a bad idea, especially as I'm lowing my gears for the steep hill I was going up.  Who puts the biggest hill of the course right after a sharp turn?!  They should've warned us with a sign or something.  Oh wait.. "turn here and HILL!!!"  D'oh.. that makes better sense.

OK, fine.. it's only 113 feet of gain.. for me, that's hilly!! :-)

Luckily, that hill was the worst of it and after that the course was indeed, fairly flat.  I had one of my apple pie bites, but just wasn't feeling it with the nutrition, though I'd been drinking my Gu Brew pretty steadily.  My performance on the bike wasn't great, and I have only my considerable lack of training to blame for that.  The bike is where I need to focus my energy.  It's where I can make the most gains, especially since my run will never be great.  This ride was really slow for me at 13.8mph.  I didn't have time to be disappointed though, as it was now time to "run" a 10K!

Now, before the race, I'd applied body glide everywhere.. and I do mean everywhere.  Yet, as I'm exiting transition with another woman, who I'd played leap frog with for the last part of the bike, I noticed my arms were really quite chaffed.  She actually asked me if I wanted to turn back and she would lend me some more body glide.  Turn back?  Are you kidding?!  No backwards progress!!!  (though super nice of her to offer that!!)  I hobbled along, noticing about half mile in that blisters were forming on my feet.. ugh.  I walked pretty much the whole first loop.  The first 2 parts of the course were long straight shots, which was the worst parts.  On the first loop there were tons of people yelling "we're almost there!" -- um, no, sorry, I'm only on my first lap..

The reason it looks like I'm running is b/c they had a sign warning us of the photographer :-)

The turn off for the finish or second lap was coming up and every single person was making the right for the last 0.2 miles.  Literally every. single. person.  I was going to be the only person making a left.. do I just go right?  Will anyone notice or even care?  Everyone thinks I'm "almost done" anyway, right?  But my body wouldn't allow it.. if I'm going to do this thing, I'm going to do it right.  I turned left and started my 2nd loop.  Nobody was in front of me.  I glanced around and luckily one other woman had turned left also.  Thank goodness!  She was about 50 feet behind me, where she stayed most of that lap.  Walking was taking forever so I started running(!!).. walk to a cone, run to the next cone, walk to a cone, run to the next cone, slowly making my way down those long stretches.  Then came a small out-and-back where I saw that there were actually a few people behind me, including another Team Z person.  Granted, most of these people passed me, but it felt good knowing that even if I was last, I wasn't last by *too* much. 

2nd loop -- YAY!!

The woman who had been behind me finally caught up to me in the final half mile or so, and we gutted out the rest together, pushing each other to run when we could, knowing the finish line was approaching.  We finally made the turn for that last 0.2 miles, saw Team Z still sitting there and cheering for every single person, and with a high five to Coach Alexis, we ran across that finish line together.  First triathlon in over 3 years completed!!  I collected my medal and a cold towel as they removed my timing chip.  I chatted with my teammate, Maureen, for a minute before Matthew came and told me it was time to go.  I knew he was on a tight schedule and felt bad for making him wait longer for me to finish, so I made my way back to transition to collect my things and it was time for the looooong 2.5 hour drive home.

Oh, and I mentioned my conversation with the first-timer triathlete before the swim start.  Well, she tracked me down in transition area after the race and gave me a big hug, thanking me for being her swim buddy and helping her get over her nerves.  She'd had a great race and was so thankful.. it kinda made my day.  Again, triathletes are just so nice!

I have never been so happy to get home.  I ordered a large pizza (I was starving at this point), jumped in the shower (thank goodness that shower seat is still there!) and settled in on the couch.. then I spent a good evening at Jessie and Pete's house for a BBQ, got a good night sleep (12 hours!!) and spent the next day at a wine festival with Sweeney.  I'd say it was a pretty good weekend!

And now that the weekend is over, it's time to focus on that weak bike...  next up is a 50 mile bike to get ready for Williamsburg.  And interestingly enough, my back doesn't feel terrible after the running.

Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Total
42:14	5:47	1:46:20	2:40	1:37:51	4:14:51