I was fairly relaxed on the morning of the race. The race didn’t start until 10am and the site was only 15 minutes from my house. Kate got the kids ready while I gathered my gear and installed my new cycle computer that I bought the night before. My trusty wireless computer decided it didn’t want to race with me and stopped working so I had to run out and buy a backup at the last minute. I mixed up one bottle of Perpetuem and one bottle of Nuun. I usually only use Heed for short races but I ran out, I also didn’t have my usual Hammer gels (orange) so I had to rely on what they gave us in our goodie bags… time to re-order!
We arrived at Demarest Lloyd State Park and I was amazed to see how organized everything was. There were people there directing you where to park and everything was well marked. I can’t say enough about Max Performance and the volunteers they put on a great event. While my family headed to the “Inspiration” tent to make posters I took my gear and went to setup my transition area. Kate and the kids came down to the transition and we headed to the beach to check out the water.
It was windy at the beach and the water was a little choppy, but the sun was out so I wasn’t worried about not having a wetsuit! We took a walk around and waited for the pre-race meeting.
It was time to head to the transition area so I gave Kate and the kids a kiss and headed out. I was rechecking my gear when I looked up and one rack over from me was Robin. It was great to see a familiar face. She introduced me to her friends that were also racing. After the pre-race meeting it was time to walk to the swim start.
The swim:
I’d only been in the water once since I broke my rib at Bayside so I was a little nervous. We were told that it was going to be a water start so we had to walk/swim out about 50 yards and then tread water. There were two waves three minutes apart in front of mine and I was starting to get cold waiting to go. Finally it was our time to enter the water and head out to the start buoys. The water was cold and I felt an instant chill…. Burr! The guy next to me looked at me and said “Your brave” I replied “no… just stupid” I’m definitely buying a wetsuit for next year! As we treaded water waiting for the start we all wished each other “good luck”! The horn sounded and we were off and swimming!
I was cold and I never really warmed up but swimming in the Bay was great. I exited the water in 13:25.
T1 2:03 Took one gel and some Nuun, put on my shirt and I was off! I’m not sure what took so long.
The Bike:
The bike course was great! I left the transition area and followed the long driveway up to the entrance where I hit the first hill. It wasn’t a long hill, but I had to get out of the saddle to maintain my speed. My plan was to maintain around 20+ Mph on the bike. I had done this bike course before so I felt that it was possible. After the small climb out of the park I hit the flat roads. I could feel my heart rate was much too high and I was sucking wind after that climb. I needed to calm it down if I was going to maintain my goal pace. It took a couple minutes but I finally calmed down and got into a good cadence. I didn’t see many people during the bike. I passed a few people in he beginning of the ride but for most of the ride I was alone. It wasn’t until the last few miles that I was passed by a couple people who were flying! Biking through farm land and along the ocean was beautiful. I had a great ride and I was happy with my time.
I entered the park and checked my computer, 20 miles! I thought it was supposed to be 18! After the race we met up with Robin who made the same observation… the bike course was 20 miles.
I entered transition 20.something miles 1:00:45
The Run:
Heading out on the run I was feeling surprisingly good. I didn’t have the usual heavy legs thing going on. Then I hit that hill, it was bad enough on the bike and now I had to run up it. I’m not a big fan of running up hills… something to work on in the off season. At about mile one of the run I saw a guy lying on the ground holding his hamstring. He looked like he was in some serious pain and cramping up. I asked him if he was okay as he got to his feet. He didn’t say anything… I don’t think he heard me. Volunteers were heading towards him so I continued passed him. I felt real bad for the guy he was so close to the turnaround of the run. At the turnaround I grabbed two waters, one to drink and one went over my head. I was still feeling good and tried to pick up the pace a little. I made the turn into the park and headed towards the finish. There’s something about heading towards the finish of a race and hearing the music getting louder and the crowd cheering that really carries you through the finish.
As I entered the finish I heard the announcer read my name and number… that was cool!
Final time 1:41:45
This was my final race of the season. It’s been a great year and I’ve learned so much about myself and the sport. My family has been so supportive of me by going to me events and putting up with my training schedule… Thank you so much Kate!
To my Tri-Blogger friends: Thank you for your advice and words of encouragement, they are very much appreciated. It’s been fun reading all your adventures and I’m looking forward to next season!
