July 12, 2014 was the date I completed my first sprint tri with an open water swim. That swim was miserable! If you want to read about it & compare to a year later, you can find that post here. Fast forward to 2015 and my first international distance tri. Where better to do it than Colonial Beach since the swim was such a challenge last year! The race was my longest so far - 1500 meter swim (in the Potomac), 27 mile bike, 10k run. Heading up to the race this week, I wasn't really sure what to expect so I came up with some time goals based on my Augusta goals. As with previous races this season, I wasn't experiencing a lot of nerves. There were some, but I was trying my best to ignore them. Night before the race, I had trouble sleeping. I started thinking about the swim - not really worried because I know I can swim it, but concerned about the current because of last year's experience. We arrived at the race & the water was calm (on the surface at least!) I set up my transition & went for a quick warm up on the bike. Before I knew it, I was on the beach ready for the race to start. After a practice swim, I wished my teammates good luck & that is when I almost lost it. I was on the verge of tears & told myself to hold it together - it was just a swim. After a few minutes, it was time for my wave. The horn sounded & I started swimming. The current was still there - pulling left to right, but it didn't seem as strong as last year. 1500 meters in the water is a long way. I wanted to look at my watch to check the time while I was swimming, but decided not to in the event I was not going to be happy with what I saw. I felt like I was doing a decent job, so I told myself to keep moving & focused on my breathing. I had set a goal of 40 minutes to complete it & ended up doing it in just over 38. The bike was a two loop course & my first loop was right where I needed it to be. On the second loop, I'm not quite sure what happened. I ended up dropping my speed & by the time I realized it, I wasn't able to recover from it. I'm guessing I wasn't as focused as I went over the same pavement & let my mind wander. Hell, I remember looking at the field to my left & saw all these yellow flowers & thought they were buttercups, so I told myself to suck it up & get moving (turns out they were dandelions, oops!) When I looked back at my goals I had written before the race, I was only 52 seconds over the time, but I had a different speed written down which would have resulted in a faster time. It was a good effort, but it could have been better. Aside from some hip soreness on the bike, I felt okay heading off to the run. It was flat & sunny out & back course. I wouldn't have complained if there was more shade. Last year, I had been told to not stop at the water stations for the 5k & I didn't. Today, I needed fluids. My nutrition was not great on the bike & I knew that was going to mean water stops. The first one I got to, I tried to continue running & drink at the same time. That didn't work out so well and I slowed to a walk to drink. That is always my downfall. I try to go as long as I can without walking because I know that I will continue to take breaks once I take the first one. Fail. There was way too much walking on the run course. Then I stopped to stretch out my leg. I know better, but today my mind won the battle. Finally I had less than a half mile to go & I knew my teammates would be up ahead cheering for me and I gathered what energy I had left & picked up the pace. My shoulders hurt, I was thirsty & felt like I wanted to get sick. I couldn't make eye contact with any of them but was so happy they were there. I tried to pick up the pace a bit more to get it done. As I came down the finisher's chute, they announced my name & I was done. I stopped to have them take the timing chip & was handed my medal. Even with all the walking, the run was only 3 minutes longer than my goal. Overall, I'm happy - I get a personal best since it was my first race of this distance. It was a fun, challenging day. I'm one step closer to Augusta. I learned a lot - about racing & myself. There was a brief moment during the run when I said to myself why am I doing this? What was I thinking? Then as soon as it appeared, it was gone. I reminded myself how lucky I am to be alive & able to do this. I thought of mom, Karen & Joe. I said a few prayers & knew they were with me cheering me on each step of the way. As I said in my previous post, do something epic - you won't regret it.
Official results:
Swim: 38:18
T1 2:29
Bike 1:27:52
T2 2:21
Run 1:03:08
Total 3:14:07
9th in my age group (out of 18) - I wanted top 10, so I am happy.
Lessons learned:
Come up with a solid nutrition plan & follow it
Hydrate more
Need to either train more using Ucan on the bike or get another bottle holder for more water
Pay attention to the here & now - don't let the mind wander
Do not walk
Stretch as soon as you are done (I hope I can move in the morning)
Nutrition:
Pre-race: 2 tbsp peanut butter & a banana (forgot my usual PB&J)
Before swim: honeystinger gel, salt caps
Bike: Chocolate waffle, chews, 1/2 bottle ucan, 1 bottle water (not enough water), salt caps
Run: gel about 1/2 way through
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