Leading up to the race I honestly was feeling a bit of
triathlon burn out. This season has been a long one for me with my training
starting back March. After the Long Distance Triathlon camp (end of July) I
pretty much switched over to mainly running and just tried to squeeze in at
least one bike ride a week. I did not
even swim at all since the end of July. The good thing is that it kind of took
some of the race pressure off of me.
The morning of the race started early for me. I was up at
4:20am to eat my breakfast (cheerios and banana and blueberries) and drink my
coffee. Before I realized it 5am had snuck up on me and I hustled out the door.
I met my good friend and local Arabian training partner Ricky Morrow on the
way. He followed me so he could go through gate 8 which is closer for us. On
the drive I realize that I had left my watch at home. I usually just wear my
regular timex watch for triathlons to grab my splits. Oh well I thought.
Honestly not a big deal. It isn’t like a look at it while I swim, I use my
computer on my bike for pacing, and I just run on effort anyways.
I get down to the river and park in the field. Already there
is a full row of vehicles here. I get all my stuff and head to pickup my packet
and then body marking. I grab my timing chip and head to transition to get
everything setup. I lay everything out and realized I probably brought too much
stuff to transition with me (sorry David Rawlings)!! With all that done I hurried back to help
with body marking. Lots of fun marking people up!
With about 10 minutes to race start I head back over to
transition to grab my swim cap and goggles and to look back over
everything. I was so happy to see that I
was sandwiched between David Rawlings (the man, the myth, the legend), and
another training partner Matt Groves!! It really was awesome having those guys
next to me in transition and knowing they were going to be starting close with
me.
The time before the race start is always so much fun for
me!! I am a cut up and joking around and having fun with your friends helps
ease race nerves. The biggest topic at the race start was how far that first
buoy looked. No big deal for me. I swim slow and steady no matter if the course
is short or long, haha!!
SWIM
I lined up just behind Matt Groves, who is an incredible
fast swimmer, and we move down the platform and off into the water. I knew the
first leg of the swim would be against the current, so I really focused on
staying in swim position and just staying steady. That first leg took a really
long time to get to the first turn, but it went without any problems. The short
leg out into the channel was by far the worst part of the whole swim. It was
very choppy because of the wind I drank a lot of water. On the long stretch
back to the swim exit I really tried to push it. It felt great but by the end
my arms were dead!!
T1
I always feel so disoriented coming out of the swim in a
race. I made a few comments to the spectators about how swimming was stupid and
got a few laughs! I headed straight to my bike. Lucky for me someone had marked
our row with some purple tape before the race and I had taken a mental note of
that, so it was easy to find my bike. I quickly get distracted as I hear a
crowd of people (Rob and Kathy Youngren and a few others) yelling my name and
cheering me on!! That really gets me pumped up!! I hustle to get my gear on and
head out on the bike!
BIKE
Well very quickly I realize that my bike computer isn’t
working. Ugh. I must have bumped the sensor or something. So, I am rolling
along going about 0.0mph, haha!! This was actually a bit frustrating for me.
The bike is so much harder to judge pace and effort on. I just tried to keep a
hard effort hoping I am not pushing too hard. I only got passed by a few
people, one of those being Dink Taylor!! Holy cow he was moving!! The wind was
pretty tough out there on the East bound sections of the course. I just focused
on staying down in my aero bars and keep my legs pedaling. I like this bike
course. I enjoy seeing other bikers ahead and behind me. It was great seeing
other Fleet Feet race members out there and cheering them on!! Keeps me
motivated! I took some Honey Stinger blocks early on the bike and took a Honey
Stinger Ginseng gel towards the end. I tried to empty my bottle of Gatorade and
sipped some of my water. I was feeling good as I pulled my feet out of my shoes
and got ready to dismount the bike.
T2 & RUN
I ran into T2 put my
bike up on the rack, pulled my shoes and visor on and headed out for the run. This run course is tough. Hills, gravel, sun, out and backs,
everything you can imagine that would slow it down against your will. I just
tried to relax and find a good rhythm. The first aid station just past the
first mile and at the top of the first hill is manned by fellow Arabian and
epic runner Ruth Vandzandt, her husband Lynn, and the Grissom JROTC kids! Ruth
is an inspiration. She is one of the toughest old school runners I know. I knew
heading up that hill I had to put on my game face, which is a smile of course!!
They cheer me on and I am already looking forward to seeing them again on the
way back! I again see lots of fellow team members out on the run course giving
it all they had!! We always exchange encouraging words and keep pressing.
Seeing that last aid station again was great! I ran over and gave Lynn a high
ten and he cheered me on!! You talk about being fired up to finish hard, Lynn
is an awesome motivator!! I pushed it hard all the way to the finish line
feeling pretty happy!
I had a great race and enjoyed all the stories that
followed!! Thanks to everyone who was out there supporting, racing, and
cheering everyone on!! Let’s do it again next year!