Let me just go on record here now and say this: I hate riding a bicycle in the rain. The water in the eyes, the greatly diminished
traction, lousy braking. I hate it
all. When I saw the forecast for the
2014 Wet Dog Triathon in Decatur, I was NOT a happy camper. But I paid the fee and I wasn’t going to let
it go to waste. The name Wet Dog has probably not been more appropriate for any race I've done to date (small set of data points though!).
Wet Dog is the first triathlon that I've done that is one I've done before (last year was my first year for triathlons). It's amazing the confidence you can get just from having experienced a particular course or venue before. I was excited about this one!
I’ve always had a hard time tapering the week before a race day and this week was no exception, except mentally.
Wet Dog is the first triathlon that I've done that is one I've done before (last year was my first year for triathlons). It's amazing the confidence you can get just from having experienced a particular course or venue before. I was excited about this one!
I’ve always had a hard time tapering the week before a race day and this week was no exception, except mentally.
- Monday - Spin at the Hogan YMCA
- Tuesday - Run and Arsenal Rid
- Wednesday - JetPlex Ride
- Thursday - Hobbs Island Swim
- Friday - REST (yeah, THAT word)
I also managed to get over to Packet Pickup Friday
afternoon with my wife and was NOT loving the Transition area. The bike entrance/exit was rather deep. Visions of photos I’d seen from Memphis in
Mud/May flashed through my head and I knew it wouldn’t be pretty. Yet, onward and upward!
I felt good all week, had been eating well, and felt relaxed
for all of the week, even with the workouts, so I felt confident.
Saturday morning, 4:00a.
Alarm goes off. Do my normal
morning routine of feeding the cats and dogs, but also loaded up the truck with
my tri gear, bike, DRY clothes for afterwards, and then proceeded to make my
breakfast, which I generally forget. NOT
TODAY!!!! Whole wheat egg sandwich with
lunch meat and a slice of cheese. Not
much but enough for a sprint and far more than usual.
Swam, err drove, over to Point Mallard Park and got there by
6:00a. Got my transition set up only to
realize I left my Infinit-filled water bottle in the fridge. Crap.
But with the temps being cooler and the sky cloudy, I wasn’t too worried
about it. I got a bottle of water for
transition and would drink between legs of the race.
6:30a – Popped a Gu chewable any my Sports Legs so they
could be in my system by race start.
6:45a or so – Got in my warm-up swim. I learned during the Hobbs Island practice
swim, where I went 1.2 miles (according to my Fenix 2), that about around
3-400m, I kinda bottom out, so I figured I’d get in about that distance before the race
so my body would cooperate on the swim today.
Swam till I felt tired, about to the turnaround buoy, then came
back. Felt great, once my body
acclimated to the water in the river, which felt a bit cooler from the
rain. I suspect some people had warmer
water directly around them as I saw quite a few with that s***-eating grin
while sitting around in the water.
I
stayed clear. LOL
7:00 – Started to lineup single file (yeah, right, whatever), until the race started. Rain started to fall on and off for a while as I waited to plunge into the water. That actually helped chill me a bit so when I finally did start, the river felt nice and warm by comparison. BONUS!
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7:00 – Started to lineup single file (yeah, right, whatever), until the race started. Rain started to fall on and off for a while as I waited to plunge into the water. That actually helped chill me a bit so when I finally did start, the river felt nice and warm by comparison. BONUS!
 |
| Well, Not a bird or a plane, but I sure felt fast! |
But I forgot to start my GPS. OOPS. About 75m in I hit the start button. This was to be a recurring theme all day for
that watch!
Anyway, felt GREAT on the swim and found my rhythm early. Actually passed people for the first time EVER and was sighting pretty well. Felt a few hit my feet as they were swimming every which way but I kept on going. I hit a couple of people and I paused to apologize (I don’t want to be THAT triathlete that just mows people down – not cool), but continued. Got to the turnaround buoy and felt like I was on a Caribbean dive – the diesel from the safety boat was pretty noxious, but since I scuba dive too, was kind of used to it. Just go faster and get outta there.
Turned around and went back to dry land (dry being a relative term today), and had a few sighting/current/wave issues and I swam into the buoy line a couple of times. I guess all the people coming/going just messed with my vision a bit and I got turned around. No major thing, just re-sight and go. Got out of the water and noticed my wife. She saw me and smiled and said that I was going fast (which again, is relative to the other racers, but it DID feel faster than usual for me). Made me feel good and gave me confidence to keep on chugging up the beach out of Point Mallard and to T1. Time from entry to the T1 mat was 8:40, so I figure my actual swim time was sub 8:00 for 400m, which thrills me! All you speed demons can stop snickering now. With swim being my most feared/worst leg of the tri, I’m proud of the progress I’ve made this year so far. And many thanks to Eric Broyles and the Swim Hobbs Island crew for putting on those training events (Eric is trying to talk me into doing at least the 2 mile swim event).
Anyway, felt GREAT on the swim and found my rhythm early. Actually passed people for the first time EVER and was sighting pretty well. Felt a few hit my feet as they were swimming every which way but I kept on going. I hit a couple of people and I paused to apologize (I don’t want to be THAT triathlete that just mows people down – not cool), but continued. Got to the turnaround buoy and felt like I was on a Caribbean dive – the diesel from the safety boat was pretty noxious, but since I scuba dive too, was kind of used to it. Just go faster and get outta there.
Turned around and went back to dry land (dry being a relative term today), and had a few sighting/current/wave issues and I swam into the buoy line a couple of times. I guess all the people coming/going just messed with my vision a bit and I got turned around. No major thing, just re-sight and go. Got out of the water and noticed my wife. She saw me and smiled and said that I was going fast (which again, is relative to the other racers, but it DID feel faster than usual for me). Made me feel good and gave me confidence to keep on chugging up the beach out of Point Mallard and to T1. Time from entry to the T1 mat was 8:40, so I figure my actual swim time was sub 8:00 for 400m, which thrills me! All you speed demons can stop snickering now. With swim being my most feared/worst leg of the tri, I’m proud of the progress I’ve made this year so far. And many thanks to Eric Broyles and the Swim Hobbs Island crew for putting on those training events (Eric is trying to talk me into doing at least the 2 mile swim event).
Back into T1, I try to dry my feet a bit and slip on my
baby-powder filled socks. No real
problem, but grass and sand are going along for the ride. My shoes somehow STILL got wet in the rain
despite being covered, so it was a sloppy mess any way I look at it. Gregg Gelmis comes by and has
me look up for a photo. Only later do I
realize I still have river water/muck on my face still. And all this time I thought it was a great
tan! LOL
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| Smiling in T1, just before realizing my helmet strap/clip had problems... |
I get on my helmet and hook it ... wait, where
is the other half of my strap clip?
Crap, it fell off and was hiding almost under my towel. Took it off to fix it knowing I would NOT
ride a wet road in a race w/o a helmet.
Just stupid. Got the clip fixed,
but I took at least a 30 second hit in T1.. Time: 2:22. OUCH.
Got on the bike and got my bike legs by the time I got to
the entrance to the park. Last year I
averaged 19.8 for the race. Not bad
considering I had just started riding seriously in March of that year. But with more training, a proper bike
fitting, and a really cool aero helmet I won at the Fleet Feet Tri Expo this
Spring, I was zipping along.
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| Leaving T1 with helmet strap repaired. |
2 more Gu
to chew and I was cruising comfortably in aero at about 23 to 24 mph on the way
out. Got to the turnaround, unclipped
the inside shoe just in case, and started heading back. Hey, where’d that wind come from? A breeze on the way back had me working a bit
more, but I still managed a 20+ pace.
YAY! My goal was to be faster on
the bike than last year and so far I’m on pace.
I was sure to call out ‘Passing on the Left/Right’ to ensure people knew
I was coming was just some added insurance to ensure I didn’t spill it on the
road in the wet/slick conditions. I
avoided all the paint lines too.
As I
passed people, I tried to give encouragement as all the riders were looking
great whether they were on road bikes, tri bikes, or hybrid/mountain
bikes. Finally, on the way back to the
transition area, I noticed my GPS was on RESUME. I never clicked out of T1. LOL Lost cause, but I continued pressing the Lap
button until I got to the ‘bike’ portion.
Slow stop to T2 to avoid skidding.
No flying dismounts like I know I can do. I just don’t want to scratch myself or my
bike on this wet road. Bike time: 26:05 with a 21.4 mph pace. Happy there too.
Again saw my wife on the side of the road, still smiling and cheering me on. It’s amazing how a loving face and smile can drive you forward! My ride stats:
Into T2 and I change fairly quickly. Debate changing socks to avoid blisters, but I am wearing my Swiftwick socks and realize the trail portion of the run is going to be wet and muddy so I keep them on.
Grabbed my hat, appropriated water bottle, bib, and the Gu from my bike bento box and head out. Pop two more Gu and drink some of the water. ¼ mile into the ride and I check my pace. OOPS. Still showing ride. Couple of presses of the Lap button and I’m now on the run. I’ll use the times from the results to update my data as needed.
Felt good on the run overall, but that water bottle was bugging me. So I poured it on my head, drank some and then looked for a trash can on route. I then had Rebecca Reynolds from Team Fleet Feet Tri join me for a bit, but I couldn’t keep up with her. So I paced with some other runners to help give me some inspiration and motivation to keep going. I had fun on the run by dodging the puddles and branches and focusing on not tripping on anything. The race crew did an incredible job marking tree roots with bright orange paint to help minimize this!!!!
Again, taking time to thank the water volunteers, I paused to drink some water because I cannot drink and run without choking most of the time. Finally hit the turnaround and was on the homestretch. Kept a solid 8:40 pace most of the time, with spurts of faster times in there where I felt I could handle it. The sun had started peeking out a bit so the humidity went to a nice 1500% it seemed but I knew I was almost done!
Rounded the long curve to the straightaway before the final turn to the finish and picked up the pace. People I had been pacing off of were getting further away and I didn’t want that, so with about 200m left to go, I used what I had left and hit the gas. Passed them all and drove to the finish line. Final time for the run: 27:02 for an 8:42 pace.
Overall results:
119th place overall (was 206th last year)
Again saw my wife on the side of the road, still smiling and cheering me on. It’s amazing how a loving face and smile can drive you forward! My ride stats:
Into T2 and I change fairly quickly. Debate changing socks to avoid blisters, but I am wearing my Swiftwick socks and realize the trail portion of the run is going to be wet and muddy so I keep them on.
Grabbed my hat, appropriated water bottle, bib, and the Gu from my bike bento box and head out. Pop two more Gu and drink some of the water. ¼ mile into the ride and I check my pace. OOPS. Still showing ride. Couple of presses of the Lap button and I’m now on the run. I’ll use the times from the results to update my data as needed.
Felt good on the run overall, but that water bottle was bugging me. So I poured it on my head, drank some and then looked for a trash can on route. I then had Rebecca Reynolds from Team Fleet Feet Tri join me for a bit, but I couldn’t keep up with her. So I paced with some other runners to help give me some inspiration and motivation to keep going. I had fun on the run by dodging the puddles and branches and focusing on not tripping on anything. The race crew did an incredible job marking tree roots with bright orange paint to help minimize this!!!!
Again, taking time to thank the water volunteers, I paused to drink some water because I cannot drink and run without choking most of the time. Finally hit the turnaround and was on the homestretch. Kept a solid 8:40 pace most of the time, with spurts of faster times in there where I felt I could handle it. The sun had started peeking out a bit so the humidity went to a nice 1500% it seemed but I knew I was almost done!
Rounded the long curve to the straightaway before the final turn to the finish and picked up the pace. People I had been pacing off of were getting further away and I didn’t want that, so with about 200m left to go, I used what I had left and hit the gas. Passed them all and drove to the finish line. Final time for the run: 27:02 for an 8:42 pace.
Overall results:
119th place overall (was 206th last year)
12th in age group (out of 29, was 24th
of 36 last year)
Final time: 1:05:14 (time was 1:08:59 last year)
So I improved in placement, time, and splits despite the wet
weather. I may not have stood on the
podium, but I got to watch a lot of our team and my friends stand up there and
receive their awards (while downing a hamburger and chips!). A good day for me personally, and a great day
for the team and my friends as a whole.
I get it. I’m in a very
tough age group around here. But I’m
improving regularly and pushing myself and doing more each time I get out
there. So truly a win for me in my
performance and my attitude. I had FUN
yet again. From seeing my wife’s
beautiful smile while racing to missing high-fives with Rick on the run course
because I was looking for a trash can to cheering on the fellow racers, I truly
enjoyed the experience. I’m not racing
to get hardware, though that would be a nice bonus. I’m racing to improve myself physically and
mentally. I think emotionally too to
some extent.
What did I learn from this? The rain and fear of what may happen distracted me a bit. Forgot my water bottle and had issues with the Garmin because I was focused elsewhere. I need a better way to keep my transition stuff (shoes and socks mainly) drier when it is wet. I have a plan for that! But perhaps I’m learning to have more faith in my abilities that my friends and teammates say they see in me. I sell myself short – frequently. But Saturday showed me that I can do more than I give myself credit for and that I enjoy it a lot more when I focus on just doing my best, but having FUN while doing it.
It wasn’t the perfect day.
It wasn’t the perfect race.
What did I learn from this? The rain and fear of what may happen distracted me a bit. Forgot my water bottle and had issues with the Garmin because I was focused elsewhere. I need a better way to keep my transition stuff (shoes and socks mainly) drier when it is wet. I have a plan for that! But perhaps I’m learning to have more faith in my abilities that my friends and teammates say they see in me. I sell myself short – frequently. But Saturday showed me that I can do more than I give myself credit for and that I enjoy it a lot more when I focus on just doing my best, but having FUN while doing it.
It wasn’t the perfect day.
It wasn’t the perfect race.
But for me, it was the perfect experience.
I had my wife cheering me on. I had my friends and teammates doing well. And I had FUN the entire time. What could be better than that?
I had my wife cheering me on. I had my friends and teammates doing well. And I had FUN the entire time. What could be better than that?