After hearing multiple times that I should write a blog about my racing and training experiences, I'm giving it a go. Here's a race report from the Kinetic Sprint, 13 May 2012.
It was a bit more challenging than I thought it would be; but I did it in 2:12:24. It was a 750 meter swim, 18 mile bike ride, and a 5K run. The bike was hilly; and there was a hill straight up and out of transition. It took place at beautiful Lake Anna, which has a special place in my tri heart. After the horrible first OWS, I was determined not to give up and looked for life-guarded beaches close by, and found Lake Anna. It is a great place to play around and get comfortable in open water.
We left the house at 5:30 am; I packed up all my stuff the night before and did a quick run-through before we left. I remembered the miraculous medal that my mother asks me to wear at every triathlon I do, but I forgot Romeo, my Garmin 310XT watch (I call it Romeo because it always wants to hook up with everyone else's sensors but my own). Fortunately we were only two miles from the house so we turned around and got Romeo.
This was a small race - about 600 racers or so; but very well organized. Packet pick-up, body marking, transition setup and chip pick-up were all a breeze. At each Tri, Mark and I arrange for a hearing aid transfer between him and me at the swim exit, and that means talking with the race and/or volunteer director, and sometimes with a USAT official to make sure they know what the hearing aids are for. I don't know if I'll ever feel comfortable leaving $5,000 hearing aids (amongst $10K bikes, yes I know) somewhere in my transition area spot, knowing how stuff - however unintentionally - gets kicked around. My hearing aids are literally a lifeline on the bike (imagine being so focused on getting ahead, not looking and not hearing "on your left!" and swinging out to pass someone... recipe for disaster!) Until we have a better solution, this is what works for us. The race personnel here were just awesome. The arrangement was that Mark would be by the medical tent, which was just to the left of the swim exit.
I pulled my long-sleeve wetsuit on and went to test the water. I had worn it at the cold Haymarket swim, but had not worn it in a race before. I also had never gone into the water to warm up before; it really is a good idea(duh). Normally I stand off to the side and just visualize my swim. Now I need to do both. The announcers said the water temperature was 68.2 degrees, but honestly, it felt much warmer than that. I know there's warm water discharging from the power plant - I've felt warm "streams" when swimming in that lake. Since I can't wear my hearing aids in the water, I kept looking around to make sure my wave group didn't go without me. My "situational awareness" is normally pretty sharp, and having fellow FeXY teammates in my wave - Christina and Zoya - helped a lot.
I had never done a running wave start where people just run into the water and start splashing around, churning up the water like a car wash; so I just kept myself off to the left with a direct line of sight to the first turn buoy. The wind had picked up just a little bit, but enough that it was pushing small waves towards us; since I only breathe on my left side, I was taking in a little bit of water, which then makes me swallow more air - not good. I really must learn to breathe on my right side. Then I took in a gallon of water when a swimmer from the wave after mine elbowed me in the head. The guy looked at me and I could read his lips, saying sorry and waving at me. I know it's not intentional, but when it happens, it knocks you off your rhythym. I pulled up, treaded water and got my bearings back on track. I felt more and more constricted by my wetsuit, and had to pull it up/let more water in and keep moving forward. My mind started playing games, and I had thoughts creeping in about going for the kayaks. I was a little pissed that my mind would even start with the negative thoughts. Those who know me know that when I get mad, I get REALLY mad - and swear a lot. I swore (insert favorite bad words here) NO, I will not go for the kayaks. Go for the next orange buoy. Then the next one. The race organizers put up a wiggly man - a huge air-filled yellow plastic "balloon" that would whip back and forth at the swim exit. It worked great for sighting and told myself to go for the airy fairy man and knock him down. I was getting very warm and regretting wearing a long-sleeve wetsuit. Stroke by stroke, with a few breaks to adjust the wetsuit and get my breathing back under control, I got to the airy fairy man. I did it in 21:54; my goal time was 22-23 minutes so I am quite pleased by my time. I could've broken 20 minutes if I hadn't had to deal with all the other factors, which I'm really excited by and will aim for that goal (<20 min) at the next sprint race.
My T1 time was 4:25, which is a long time. I was pretty shaky after the swim and was trying to get my breathing rhythym under control; I could feel a little bit of wheezing in my lungs. It also took a while to get the wetsuit off and put my bike gear on with shaking hands. All the water I took in, plus lake detrius and congestion from my lungs, came up and out all over the bike ride. My throat was getting very sore from upchucking and kept drinking the EFS to soothe it; it just made my throat more goopy. I made myself drink it anyway, because I knew all the upchucking would dehydrate me, and fast. Whatever; I settled in my seat and enjoyed the ride amongst the hacking sessions. It is a very pretty albeit hilly ride; there were a couple of good steep uphills and a few long gradual climbs, but it didn't seem that bad, probably because the beauty of the ride tempered my perceptions. It was a beautiful day, clear blue skies, lots of trees (shade!) and beautiful farmland with Lake Anna glittering in the sunlight in the distance. Also, my coach had me do hill repeats about 2 weeks ago and it helped! I need to add more hill repeats - both biking and running. They're painful but worth the payoff. My legs were a bit achy towards the end, and I was looking forward to getting on with the run.
T2 was only 1:44 - better! However, once I got off the bike, my stomach started to rebel. Lake detrius? Something I ate yesterday (or even this morning - I had a piece of whole-grain toast with peanut butter, and am learning I just cannot handle solid food before a race)? Too many powerbar gels (1 before swim, 2 on the bike)? Who knows, but I felt totally nauseated as I started the run. Normally, I love running off the bike because my legs always feel so good. In my brick workouts, I actually have to work to keep myself at E pace and not go out too fast. Not so at this race - the stomach cramps made me almost double over coming out of transition. My body was begging me to quit. No. Hell. NO. Seeing Mark and Herk, and other FeXY members cheering me on, helped tremendously. Never, ever underestimate seeing loved ones, friends and teammates cheering you on - it is such a great boost knowing others know you can do it, too. I walked a short ways up the hill, then just focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and started jogging. I felt better by the end of the run. The first mile was 12:04, then second mile at 10:48, third mile 10:27, and flew down the rest of the way at 9:50 minute miles.
Just because it was a shorter race doesn't mean it's going to be easier. Every race course is different; plan ahead and keep all kinds of Plan B's, C's, D's - whatever it takes - in the back of the mind. There were a few lessons learned here that I'll apply to my training and future races. It was a little harder than expected, but I had a decent race anyway; it was fun, and a beautiful course. The race personnel did a great job of putting the race on. I would definitely do it again!
