race report - Nations Tri

Nation’s Triathlon
Sept 14, 2008
Race Report

I can’t lie – I did not enjoy this race. From the start, it was not a lot of fun. The highlight for me came a full two hours before race time walking down to the mall before the sun was up. I enjoyed a wonderful view including a full, orange moon setting over the Lincoln Memorial, a crisply lit Washington Monument against a DC skyline background, and a shadowy WWII memorial lit from below. These were wonderful things to see. But I should have turned around and gone back home for the rest of the day was a grind em out, slog experience I hope to soon forget.

First was the weather. It was almost 80 at 7:00am. I was sweating through my race kit setting up my transition area. It was almost impossible to put on sunscreen, because it wouldn’t stick to me through all the sweat. My glasses were fogging up, and I hadn’t even tried to warm up first. Moreover, then my bike number came unstuck and I had to scramble to find a USAT person to advise me on how to reattach it. I found some tape, got it back on by lost time and got stressed by this last minute snafu.

As start time approached, I managed to get my wet suit on no problem (one good thing about being slick) and hit my swim wave group. Getting into the Potomac was an interesting experience, and I was glad for the wet suit since it helped us float for the 3 or 4 minutes we had to tread water. I felt like a bottle hitting the water, bobbing up and down. I noticed the current pushing us backwards, amping my stress level. As I started, I realized I had never cleared the last workout from my watch, so I had to try and re-set while treading water. A good example of how I did not get my act together before the race started.

The swim was actually not too bad. Water temp was fine (78), the wetsuit was a help with speed and buoyancy. But the first 5 minutes, I did not think I could make it. It was a long way – the bridge seemed WAY out there, but I managed to get into a groove, and thank goodness my wave was not too crowded. Not too many collisions with other swimmers. By the time I approached the Memorial Bridge (yes, that is right, we swam under the Memorial Bridge), I was starting to think I could make it. But then I gulped a bit of water and it didn’t taste too good. I was hoping it would end soon. Then a wave crest came through the course and made staying on course even harder. I was pissed about things I could not control and was not relaxed.

After the turn (by the way, the course map lied – there is a long bit past the bridge they did not show, screwing with my mental target of where I had to go), I was hoping to have the current with me. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a cross current and it was hard to line up the buoys. Plus we were swimming into the sun, making it hard to sight the buoy at all. To top it off, one of the spotters in a Kayak was indicating direction and I used him as a sighting target, but he kept moving, so I swam quite a bit further than the 1.5 KM.

I had to breast stroke a bit to stay on target, but got it done and thankfully climbed out of the water at 37 minutes – three minutes longer than my first race in NJ.

The transition from swim to bike was not too bad, although I could not remember if I needed my race belt and number for the bike so I ran back to put in on just in case – 4 minutes total – not too bad.

The bike was a mechanical nightmare. Immediately my bike computer would not work. I stopped, tried to move the sensor, but nothing so screw it, got back on and tried to not think about pace. Then at mile 3 or so, my back tire was almost dead flat. Not totally, so maybe just an inflation issue. I used a CO2 cartridge, thinking if it was a full flat, I’d know soon enough and could then stop and change it. The charge held for most of the race, but as it slowly deflated, I was losing time and working too hard. My overall pace was just under 18MPH, about 2 MPH slower than NJ. The ride was pleasant enough – a nice course (except for the dead deer at Chain Bridge). I kept drinking as I know it would be hot and I was losing fluid. I also had two GUs to keep up my energy level, but my stomach started to feel heavy (I think my sports drink and do not get along) and my back was cramping whenever I was in Aerobar position. As a result, I was only down about ½ of the time, and had to sit up a lot to stretch it out.

Finished OK of the bike, albeit with a severely depressed back tire and a very tight back. Overall time, 1:24 – about 17.8 MPH

T2 was no problem – 2:00 minutes.

The run was horrible. In the first mile, I had to lay out on the grass to stretch out my back. On the long out to Haines point, it was like I was standing still and my stomach was bloated and heavy. The sports drink I was using was not for me but I had already drunk it so nothing I could do. I had negative thoughts – maybe I should just stop, etc. I ran into another DC tri person breathing very heavily, and I stopped with her, helped talk her into a slower pace and helped her relax, but really I was looking for an excuse to walk. I had sworn I would not walk – I had run the entire NJ Tri without having to walk, and here I was, in mile 1, walking. I was pissed, dejected, ugh.

I managed to get it going but had to walk again before mile 3, before mile 4 I stopped to stretch, I walked a bit at the end of Haines point, I walked into the aid station by the Mint – you get the picture. I walked a lot. Maybe 7-8 times, I had to walk for 2 minutes. I was so ready to just quit. It was hot, my stomach hurt, I was making bad time, what was the point. But I wasn’t having heat stroke, I was drinking a lot of water so what the hell – I had to get to the finish line any way, right, so I kept going. What else was I going to do?

The final time for the run was 1:13 – 12 minute miles. 12?! 12. My worst performance ever for a run of any kind. I sucked. I was hot, tired, bloated, heavy and unhappy.

I managed a little push to the finish, but it was all for show. I was a beaten man. But I found my wife at the finish, and after about 5 minutes of just breathing and thankfully not running anymore, I started to resemble a human being again.

Why had it gone so wrong? I had gone on vacation for 2 weeks in August and had a week long business trip between NJ and Nations. I skipped a lot of swims, a few runs and a lot of biking. I ate too much, did not lose the weight I needed to lose, and assumed that since I had done one Tri I could do another. I was brash, I took conditioning for granted and I was not prepared for this race. As a result, I suffered the consequences. Yes, I finished – I owed that to everyone who supported me – most of all my wife, my friends, my fellow Tri team members, and all the people who contributed money to House of Ruth. But I did not enjoy it and while I take some satisfaction for having finished two Olympic triathlons this year, I take no joy in my performance. I did poorly. I hope I never have another race like this again.

I was 203 out of 237 men 40-44.
I was 1182 out of 1437 men overall.
I was 1675 out of 2388 finishers.
I was 13 minutes over the average time.