This Independence Day weekend was one to remember. On Friday, I was a spectator for the first time at a race.
Melissa and
Chris ran in the Miles For Marines 15K. My feet were certainly itching to run, but I didn’t want it to interfere with my performance at the triathlon the next day. So I sat that one out and cheered them on with Mia, who played on the playground the whole time they were running.
Melissa & Chris Before Start
Melissa & Chris Start
Melissa & Chris
Melissa & Chris Finish
Melissa & Chris Finish
That afternoon, I went to Omega Sports to pick up my triathlon race packet and spoke to the event organizers who told me they were going to have a race briefing that evening and that I could come. I figured since I was camping at the site anyway, it would be great to see what they had to say. They went over all race logistics and gave us some good info and pointers for the course.
That night, Jeff, Melissa, Chris and I camped out and I slept in my bivy sack for the second time. The night was fairly uneventful, with only one critter that decided to visit us around 3AM. It rummaged through the trash and woke us up and Jeff made some noise and it ran off.
bivy sack!
That's right, # 13!
That's right, # 13!
morning lake
morning lake
- morning lake
morning lake
calm before the storm?
At around 6:30AM I woke up, took a shower to warm the muscles, stretched some and went to set up my transition area. It was nice to have a 2 minute walk to the race site. I was early enough to get the second best spot on the bike racks. It helps to get a spot that is close to where you exit and enter on the bike. That way you don’t have to run very far with your bike.
After that was all set up, I went and got body marked. They draw your race number on each arm, and your age on the back of your leg. The numbers are the only identifier you have in the water and the age tells other competitors if you are in their age group or not. If you are, they will be more inclined to try and pass you as you are categorized within your age group for awards.
I went back to the campsite and sat and went through the bike course in my head. I know the trails well and I put visual images in my head of the turns and spots to be careful. I have suffered some falls a couple of times and I remember those areas all too well!
After that, I stretched some more and went to the water for a warm up swim. The first thing I noticed about the open water lake swim as opposed to the pool is dirt. The lakes smell and taste (yes taste, I tried not to get any in my mouth, but it is impossible) like dirt. I assume that is because it is full of dirt!
The Swim
I got out of the water and with less than 10 minutes until race start, I consumed some Hammer Gel and took a few sips of water. I walked back to the lake and most everyone was in the water at this time. It was an “in-water” start, meaning that everyone got in the water before the start siren went off. They announced a few last minute directions and then said “swimmers on your mark” and the siren went off.
I knew from reading about triathlons that when a bunch of racers are standing in the water in relatively close proximity to each other, that when they start swimming and go from a standing position in which they are taking up about a square foot of water surface area and go to a horizontal position taking up 6 feet in length and a foot or 2 in width that people are all over each other. I tried to avoid that by starting about 5 feet behind the mass. That still wasn’t enough. After the start legs and arms were hitting mine and I was doing the same. There were just too many people around to be able to do a normal stride. I made my way to the outside of the pack and got a little more room. The other issue with an open-water swim is that the people are creating waves in the water which will splash you. This makes breathing difficult to say the least. I choked a few times during the swim because of that. I spent a lot of the swim doing a backstroke so that I could breathe more easily, but this slowed me down considerably. I exited the swim at 11:29, good enough for 33rd place out of 39 finishers.
About to start!
People everywhere!
The Bike
After exiting the water, we had a ¼ mile run up a grassy hill to the transition area. I got on my bike and had a fast transition so I passed a few of the people that had beaten me on the swim. I figured my best chance to get a decent time was on the bike. I passed a few more people when I decided to ride through Steele Creek instead of walking my bike across the bridge. Once we entered the woods, on a narrow trail, it made it quite difficult to pass people. I did pass several people and had a respectable pace going.
It all started to fall apart when I realized I missed a turn and did an extra mile or so that apparently no one else had. Like I said earlier, I knew these trails well and had studied the maps they provided. I did what was mapped out. Apparently they decided to cut the trail short and cut off an entire section. That was fine, but they marked the turn with two small arrows off the side of the trail, which I missed until I came back through the area and saw that people had made tracks in the grass between the two sections of the trail. At that point it was a mental struggle. I was mad at the race directors for not disclosing the accurate maps and for not being more obvious with the trail markings. Then I was mad at myself for not paying enough attention to see the arrows. I tried to push a little harder to make up the time. I did pass some of the people that I had already passed, which was frustrating too. It was like doing the work twice! I finished the bike with a bike split time of 1:34:45, which includes the two transition times. That was good enough for 26th out of the 39 finishers.
The Run
After pushing myself a bit too hard on the bike, I was exhausted for the run. I knew this was bad. I have read that having a slow bike and a strong run is much better than having a strong bike and a slow run. I had made that mistake. The mental game was on again. I was still mad at myself and it was hard to push myself when I am fairly confident I am not going to have a good time anyway because of my mistakes.
My calves cramped up a little bit, but not as bad as my first triathlon and I simply stopped and stretched them a bit. I walked too much on the hilly 3-mile trail run and I finished with a time of 38:47, good enough for 32nd place on the run.
Even though I was disappointed with my time, it was still a very fun race and will do it again next year. As always, the best moment comes when I see the finish line and I hear Mia yell “GO DADDY!” and I see her waving her pom-poms that she always remembers to bring.
You can see the official results here. I wore the Garmin for the bike and the run.
Starting the run, about to realize that isn't water that is going to get in my eyes...
Just starting the run
Almost there!
On the way to the finish line!
Post Race Fun
After they gave out the awards, they decided to have some more competition. They had 6 $50 TrySports gift certificates to give out. 3 to female winners and 3 to males. The first contest was a pushup contest. Needless to say, I lost out to a Special Forces Marine who could probably do 200 push ups without breaking a sweat. The second contest was a Gatorade chugging contest and I didn’t even finish half of mine before two others were finished. The last contest was where I shined. The director called out, “Okay, for our last contest, whoever is the first female and first male to get back here after completely submerging themselves in the lake wins. Go!” I took off down the hill towards the lake about ¼ mile away. I got about ¾ of the way down and looked back as I could hear people behind me. To my surprise there were two girls and no other guys! I win! I dunked myself and jogged back to the top of the hill to collect my prize!
Melissa and her dog, Chris and I chillin after the race
I am done already!
After dunking in the lake going to get my prize!
