GOAL RACE- Washington DC Tri, 6/19/11: PART 2 race day action! or, moral victories all around

Some of the initial excitement of the race has worn out and been replaced with a more realistic view of what I had done and where I can go from here. But I'm still pretty darn excited!

So last post I left you all with me in the water. So yes, the yellow-capped F25-29 age group had filed their way down the dock and jumped into the water. I guess you could say I got a prime start position on the far end of the dock closest to the course- 'at the pole' as they would say in car racing. They gave you no time to think, just walk, jump, swim. First mistake- forgot to put a finger or two on my goggles, so I got water in them on the way down. A quick adjust was all I could manage before the next group jumped in behind me. So the course was a counter clockwise loop, with a small maybe 25m distance to go perpendicular to the shore to meet up with the start of the course. Instead of staying with the pack on the diagonal, I took a hard approach to the left to give myself some more room to get settled in a rhythm. When I caught up with the course, it dropped me off right on the buoy line, right in the thick of things. I surprised myself when I found I was okay with being the aggressor in the water- I was going to hold my line no matter what, and if slower people were in my way then I had no problems with doing what I had to do. (sorry...) The 6'x6' buoys were so easy and fun to see, so I started out trying to keep as tight a line as I could. And at the first turn buoy- we are talking about 150m here people- there were already about 5 people clutching onto the buoy as though their lives depended on it. I've never seen such fear. After the second turn buoy and dealing with all the congestion again, I said forget this, and took a wider approach on the back side straightaway. I was able to find a rhythm much better without so many variables and people in the way, though looking back I wish I had stuck with the more aggressive approach. On the final turn I made a beeline for the exit ramp and found the crowds again. Luckily for me, the chaos on the exit ramp was not a deterrent. Even when that dude in front of me didn't listen to the volunteers, ran full speed up the ramp, and wiped out into the railing face first. Sorry dude. Frankly, I was surprised to be done as quickly as it seemed, and felt energized going into the bike. I may not have been the fastest out there, but I reached my goals of maintaining control of my breathing and keeping a consistent pace in good form- I did not have to go into my recovery stroke once!

Although, let's take a step back and talk about the Potomac. I had heard rumors about all sorts of things from swimming among debris to emerging from the water with a certain layer of slime coating. Neither turned out to be true thank goodness (although apparently some Olympic distance swimmers had a run-in with a fishing line and attached dead fish under the bridge... eeewww). Though between the overall murkiness of the water, people in black wetsuits, and the overcast conditions, it was definitely the worst visibility out of any of my open water swim practices. I could hardly see my own arm as it went into the water in front of my face! So, needless to say, there was alot of inadvertent bumping. I'm fairly certain that I made some full-on open-palm butt grabs. I mean, if I can't see myself, how am I supposed to see someone along side or just in front of me?? Craziness. Apologies to all those out there I may have grabbed inappropriately. I promise I didn't enjoy it too much. :-P

Swim time: 17:00 (it says Rate: 1:57, but this does not make sense as a 100m split time. Help?)

I had a sub-optimal location at the bike racks in transition- closer to the swim entry, so I had a long way to push my bike. But I was on the far right side of the rack, closest to where my family had been watching the swim. So I waved hello to them, and got to the task of exiting T1 smoothly. My triple coating of body glide, combined with cutting the bottom 4" of the wetsuit off, so it fit just below my calves, made for an absolutely smooth removal of the wetsuit. (That in itself is a victory.) Took a GU, popped on the helmet, and headed out for the looooong push of the bike out of transition onto the course. I am NOT graceful at all when pushing a bike and running in road bike shoes.



T1 time: 4:53

So the bike. Oh, the bike. Throw all that paying attention to the rules during clinics out the window, because on this course, there was no room for rules. They advertise the course as a 'fast, flat, grand-prix style' course. And by that I mean hairpin turns. Lots of them. And sections of the course that transition from 4 lane highways to one lane exit ramps, with little to no notice. As a decidedly middle-of-the-road biker, I spent most of the time trying to courteously get around the hybrid-riders (who may or may not have been in the literal middle-of-the-road) without getting in the way of the speedy guys to my outside. Everyone was already 3-4 abreast in the road, and drafting all over, as there was no room to go otherwise. It was pretty stressful, because I felt like I could have wrecked at any time, but also exhilaratingly fun for the same reason. I was happy with my speed throughout though- keeping my eye on my bike computer, I was going upward of 17-20mph (much more than that on the downhills). Which is why I was sort of disappointed with my listed average speed (17.0). I'm going to blame that on my inability to efficiently run with the bike before and after.

The guy who made that video above finished 3rd overall in the Sprint. 3rd. He also has a pretty incredible blog, check it out.

Bike time: 43:43 (17.0 pace)

I got into transition again, and granted, it was overcast and almost raining, but still really humid at this point. I realized I only drank 1/3 to 1/2 of my electrolyte mix and none of my regular water (hydration fail). I took a huge gulp and moved my way towards the run. I don't really know how to explain why this T2 was so long. I am going to blame it again on pushing my bike. I guess. I don't have any better reason.

T2 time: 3:35

The run was easily the most fun, and the most frustrating, part of the course. I love running down near the Mall- I just have to stop and remember sometimes where I am while I am doing these things, and how much history there is around me. The course zigzagged across the Mall near the Washington Monument, where I got several chances to high five my fans - thanks for the signs girls!! - which was definitely the pick-me-up I needed.



Nayan, Annie, Jen, and Katie- best cheering section!


Then, the cruel part of the day- at mile 3 or so the course goes right by the finish line- where I saw everyone already done, the DC Tri tent with NTP coleaders cheering us on- but then you criss-cross and cirle around the Capitol building for another 1.5 mi, before finally crossing the finish line yourself. Kind of like torture. I was admittedly kind of failing at this point, despite the shot blocks I was consuming. I didn't have as much kick left for the finish line as I would have liked. But, the run was decidedly average for me even on a good road race day, so for that I was happy. But I finally have decided to do something about the 10min/mi doldrums. At the end of a sprint race, that extra 1-2min/mi can make a huge difference. Track workout today...

Run time: 46:22 (9:59 pace)

Afterwards was such a blur. I stopped by and said hello to the NTP coleaders at the DC Tri tent, got my finishers medal, congratulated my fellow NTPers and found my family and friends. The post-race athlete food was from QDOBA ('Actually, I did drown in the Potomac. I died and went to Qdoba heaven!' Oh Steph, you were delirious) but my stomach was sort of upset after so I couldn't really eat right away. I also made a point of waiting around for my turn for a massage. Hip flexors were the worst of it! Gotta work on that. But it was soo nice having friends and family around for after the race. We had a nice brunch at Gordon Biersch (when I was finally hungry again) and then it took me the rest of the day to wind down, though I was exhausted!



Final time was 1:55:31, 824/1321 overall, 95/179 F25-29, 306/619 females, 115/284 newbies. Basically, I am all-around average :)

I can't wait for the next one. I am not sure I am ready for an Olympic-distance yet, ideally I would like to get a better fitness base in all 3 disciplines, plus there's the factor of dedicating enough time to training for a longer race. But there are plenty of opportunities for other sprint races in the area. Stay tuned!

GOAL RACE- Washington DC Tri, 6/19/11: PART 1 pre-race, or, I am my own worst enemy

This was it. It was all leading up to this day.

I spent the week prior to the race with a new worry- I hadn't slept very well on the cruise, and I had developed some weakness and ROM issues in my right shoulder towards the end of the trip. I can't ever go into one of these things completely 100%, can I? My ortho surgeon coworker took one look at me and said, mmhmm, rotator cuff. Go do some pendulums. And so I did. And I am happy to report that during race I was pain free! And have been since.

This whole potential injury thing definitely fed into the anxiety I had during the week. I was spending so much time reading blogs and official websites, weather reports and water temperatures, trying to learn as much as I could before the race. So I stayed longer at work. So I didn't get to bed on time. So I didn't get enough sleep. Vicious cycle. Gotta work on that.

I missed the last few mornings of Master's because I didn't think it wise to force the issue with the shoulder, and spent the time in the morning doing the exercises instead. My last long swim was in Bermuda, my last long run was on the treadmill on the boat on the way home, and my last long bike was on Beach Drive the Monday before the race. When I got back I took the shoulder issue pretty seriously and didn't do any crazy workouts the week before. The NTP coleaders suggested we do a mini-tri in the day or so before the race, so I did 15 mins in the pool on Friday, then 15 mins on the bike and 15 min run Saturday morning. And everything went smoothly. I felt physically ready. I was not happy that the humidity decided to shoot up to about 95%. It was going to be a very humid weekend.

At around 11a I started making my way downtown for the packet pickup, expo, and bike racking. (Insert here my only major FAIL for the weekend, I forgot to turn on my crock pot before I left for packet pickup, so my wonderfully bland and hearty chicken stew did not get cooked. :( Oh well.)


All my stuff laid out pre-packet pickup, from top: packing list, bike pump, tri top and shorts, wetsuit, body glide, goggles, and bag of extra swim gear, bike shoes, socks, and gloves, running shoes, hat, race belt, tissues, nutrition, and sunscreen!

I do not understand WMATA sometimes. Why, when there is a 3000-participant race in town AND a major golf tournament, do you have track maintenance on all lines? Regardless, I was not expecting a packed metro car on the way down to the convention center. Poor Ruby and I were packed into a corner of the front car, and I gave the evil eye to anyone who looked like they were about to bump into us. I would not have technical difficulties now! I did meet another athlete (ironically accompanied by one of Ruby's long lost twins from the clearance bin) who was also doing his first sprint tri. This was finally when I started relaxing and enjoying the experience!

Alot of NTPers were also volunteering at packet pickup (why didn't I think of that?) so I had a great time chatting with them and the other DC Tri folks at the expo tent. I went to the pre-race talk and a 'newbie tri' talk as well. HOLY CRAP did I feel prepared compared to these other people. THANK YOU NTP! After that we headed out on the police escorted ride from the convention center to the transition area, on Ohio Drive in West Potomac Park (between the Lincoln Memorial and the ballfields, for those of you like me who have that frame of reference). It was wild being in this pack of bikers behind the police escort, ignoring traffic signals and getting cheered on by tourists who didn't know any better. :)


Ruby officially parked in spot 3104!


Bike racking was simple and painless. Directing my family to where I was downtown, with neither of us having GPS or a map, was not. But, eventually, they found me, we parked, and I gave them an escorted tour of the swim exit and transition area, easily the most complicated part of the race for spectators! Then, due to my lack of ability to flip a switch, instead of enjoying my delightfully flavorless chicken and rice stew, we went to a much more palatable meal at Noodles & Co. I'm going to go ahead and say the smoothie at Robek's afterward may have been my secret weapon! (or not.)

Let me take a moment to say THANK YOU DAD AND HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! He took time out of his schedule to be with me on HIS day. He's always been one of my biggest supporters, and though the whole triathlon ordeal was a bit over his head and overwhelming, he did his best to make the day easier for me! Including parking my car in and around downtown after the race, which I did NOT have the coordination to do. Love you Dad!



So after dinner was an early bedtime. I made the mistake of completely under- then over-hydrating during the course of the day, so I had to wake up to pee every hour on the hour. Not exactly restful sleep! Then my 3:30a wake up call was definitely NOT early enough. It took longer than anticipated to drive as close to transition as I could get with the roads closed and walk to transition to set up the rest of my stuff. I jogged from the American History Museum, and only had 10 minutes before transition closed at 5:55! Holy &%$#@! Luckily I had learned from my PeasantMan experience and had a very minimalist approach to transition. But I will NOT be doing that again. I am just grateful that (1) the jog served as a good warm up, though if I do that again I WONT be wearing flip-flops and (2)the Sprint race started at 7:00, because if I had to be ready to start for the International distance race at 6:00, well, I would have been so freaked out, I'm certain the rest of the race would not have gone as well as it did. The only thing I really had left to think about at that point in the day was whether or not to wear the wetsuit. The official water temperature was announced at 77deg, just one degree below the wetsuit-legal cutoff. I was worried about overheating. The hour break was just long enough for me to rehydrate, find my parents and some NTPers, take a potty break, decide to put on the wetsuit, and go find my swim wave. I was feeling pretty relaxed and ready to go by then!


a pre-dawn washington monument and transition area

From where we were lined up in our waves, we couldn't see the swim start. Earlier in the morning they had apparently a nice orderly system of 8 racers going every 10 seconds off the dock. But by the time my wave came up, we were more like lemmings going off a cliff. Or maybe Paratroopers. 'Go Go GO!!' And before I knew it, I was in the water and off.

Clearly this post is already too long. Stay tuned for Part 2! :)

And my pictures would be oh-so-helpful right now. Anyone want to contribute to the 'get steph a new computer fund'?

DC Tri- first impressions

I will obviously have more on this later, once I'm done internally processing the experience. But some first impressions:

- It ALWAYS takes longer than you think to walk anywhere downtown.
- Are there stats to keep track of the number of butt grabs in completely opaque, 100% murky water?
- When they say a 'grand prix' style bike course, really what they mean is 'insanity'.
- My 10:00/mi purgatory comes back to kick me in the a$$

I am feeling so completely grateful for the experience, and empowered to go out an do anything. I hope everyone gets to experience this at some point in your life. Go out and find something that scares you, and do it. Really, just go do it. You will be glad you did.

a change would do you good

I'm back and have so much to write about, including my Bermuda workouts, delicious food, sunrise horseback rides, and sea glass beaches.







But for now, I've had just enough time to check my email and catch up on the latest DC Tri news I missed while I was away. Seems some major race-day changes have occurred:

1. RUN COURSE: The sprint run course has been lengthened from 6.7k to 7.5k (about 0.5mi). Apparently this was necessary due to permits being/not being granted by the surrounding government agencies. While the length is longer, it sounds like one of the major 'hills' in the course has been eliminated. Not a big deal for me, but for a sprint course which is normally 5k, this seems unusual.

2. SWIM START: The swim start has been changed from an in water 'wave' start, to a TT or time trial start. Instead of jumping in with 50+ new age-group best friends, having some time to get acclimated to the water, and then all starting together, we get to jump (or dive) off the dock in smaller groups of 5 and immediately start swimming. I am not sure what to think of this. We never practiced this way! Nor do I remember the last time I dove anywhere. While I appreciate not getting run down by a mob of swimmers at the start, I also learned in all my OWS practices that I need some time to get acclimated to the water. Hmm. Will have to ask about strategies at Masters this week.

Bib #3104. Here we go.

News Flash!

I swam 800m straight last night!

This is a HUGE milestone, especially considering where I was 3.5 months ago.

I'm a little bummed that with my a/c being off since at least Sunday of last week, the heat has taken a bit of an edge off my training. I've been doing my best to stay hydrated and electrolyt-ed, but it still does not undo a few days of sweltering heat and iffy nights of sleep. I really wanted to do an 800m/5k brick last night at MAC, but I got off the treadmill at 1.5mi and almost fell over from dizzyness. Not exactly ideal. But, the a/c is back on, and the focus is now on the practice tri at Haines Point on Saturday. 400m pool swim, 16.5mi bike, 5k run. Should be a good indicator of where I am for the 19th. Then 7 days of training in and around the blue waters of Bermuda!

Over and out.