"The saddest thing in life is wasted talent." A Bronx Tale: A Triathlon Adventure

Sprinting towards the finish line….

Day before

Me: It’s a weird sport. How the hell did I get myself into this? Now I’m about to drive 2 hours, camp out in a park, get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow, and torture myself by swimming, biking, and running at a ridiculous pace for 2 ½ hours. WTF.

My Mommy: Pure passion, drive and insanity! And we are proud of you for it!

Yep! She’s right about that. Nothing compares to crossing the finish line, totally spent, exhausted, and 100% pleased with your performance. It’s such a painful, wonderful, euphoric feeling. In fact, I got to experience it a few times over the past ~6 months. #grateful

2015

November Virginia Running Festival Half Marathon, 1^st Female

December Dallas Marathon, 4^th Female (1^st AG)

2016

January Menchville 5K, 1^st Female

February Toano 8K, 1^st Female (Course Record)

March One City Marathon, 1^st Female (Course Record)

April 3^rd Duathlon Regional Championships, 6^th Female (1^st AG)

April 23^rd Virginia RRCA State 5K Championships, 5^th Female (1^st AG)

April 30^th Rumpus International Triathlon, 6^th Female (1^st AG)

Swim, Bike, Run

I chose to kick off my triathlon season with a VTS (Virginia Triathlon Series) race. VTS races are some of the most competitive triathlons in the mid-Atlantic Region. In fact, I’ve never placed in the top 10 at a VTS race (until Saturday).

Since the race took place at the Lake Anna Beach Marina (a very remote area), the closest hotel was at least 45 minutes away. I was lucky enough to stay in an RV near the race site with two fellow competitors. And I got a great night’s rest! Thank you AnnMarie, Bryan, Dominic and Leo for the hospitality!

The RV I stayed in. Queen size bed, full kitchen, bathroom, shower. Pretty sweet!

Race Day

Race morning was chilly (in the 50s) so I dressed in layers. I racked my bike and set everything up in transition (sneakers, helmet, race belt, fluid, etc). So far so good. AND THEN I went to turn my bike garmin/gps on and it was DEAD!! The freakin battery had died. I couldn’t believe it. When I loaded my bike in my truck the day before I must have bumped the power switch on. My brain went into overdrive… Oh noooo. Should I call my coach? Crap, I left my phone in the car. Ok, don’t panic. Breathe. You have your watch. You’ll just have to ride by feel and check your watch every five miles. Get your wetsuit on. Go warm up. Stop freaking out! I had that “OMG I forgot to bring my calculator to the math exam” feeling. Moving on….

The Swim – 1500 meters

Swim Course

Even though it was only a little less than a mile, it looked about 3 miles long!

The race started at 9 am. The men went first. They took off in groups every 4 minutes (3 waves of men).

Treading water. Waiting for the start.

Anticipation

Before the sound of the horn my heart was beating out of my chest but it was from excitement. I love that feeling. I only get to experience it right before a race. It is so fleeting and very addictive.

At 9:12 am, the ladies took off.

The plan was to swim hard for the first 300 meters and aim to get out of the chaos. If you’ve ever done an open water swim and gone out hard it is sooooo painful. It feels about as bad as the last mile of a 5K. But my coach told me to stick with the fast pace in the beginning so that I could get in a good position, then ease into the 100 meter pace I had been practicing at the pool. Oh THAT’S why she had me doing all those reps. Genius. Aha moment.

I swam strong, found myself in a perfect position, but when I lifted my head to spot the first yellow buoy I realized I couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of me – I wore tinted goggles, it was cloudy, and they began to fog up quickly. Lucky for me there was a fast swimmer directly in front of me so I decided to stick with her. My hands touched her feet a few times but we were in sync and I just followed along. I can’t explain how good this girl was at swimming in a straight line. I barely had to lift my head to sight the buoys, which saved me time and energy. #perfection

Going around the buoy.

I was able to stay on her feet for 1000 or so meters. But when we started to catch a group of men (that started before us) we got separated navigating through the male swimmers. I could tell from the rate I was passing the men and the fact that I didn’t see other women (women wore bright pink caps) I was having a great swim.

12th woman out of the water. My highest place out of the
water for an Olympic distance swim.

For comparison, before this race, my highest place out of the water for an Olympic distance swim was 31^st. This was huge. My coach is awesome.

Transition 1

Goggles off, cap off, unzip wetsuit, pull it off shoulders and down to waist…while running to bike. Bike, where you at?! Helmet on, glasses on, bike shoes on, run with bike…There’s so much “stuff” going on in triathlons. It’s chaotic. But I think that’s what I like about it.

Heading out to the bike course

The Bike – 24 miles (two loops)

I usually dread the bike. Hate the bike. Don’t want to be on a bike. I always looked at the bike leg as a necessary evil to get from the swim to the run. But for once I can say that I had a great ride. I have new wheels, a new and improved fit, and I've been riding my bike more than ever (with specific workouts).

The plan was to ride at a steady pace that I could hold for the first lap (about 80% effort), knowing that I would have to build to a faster pace on the second lap. "You want to feel the burn in your legs on the second lap at about 90% - not at the level that you think you will fail any minute." ~Coach

Bike Course (2 laps)

It was actually great that the bike plan she gave me was to ride by effort, instead of speed/miles (since my Garmin was a useless piece of...).

Bike Finish

And you know what? I’m actually glad my garmin was dead. Usually I’d be staring at the pace and distance obsessively...thinking OMG I've only gone 2 miles, it's only been 3.4 miles, 5.2 miles. Not a fun way to ride. It was nice to focus on my effort, form and position.

The Run – 10K/6.2 miles (for my runner friends...Time: 42:27; 6:50 mile pace)

I usually take off like a bat out of hell on the run. Since it's my strongest leg (of the 3 disciplines), I try to chase down as many people as possible. I normally take off at an insane pace and try to hold it until I feel like I'm going to black out. Yep, I'm nuts. And that's why I usually get asked if I need medical attention after I cross the finish line of most triathlons. Ha!

My coach gave me a different plan.

When you come off the bike, do your bike/run transition, and head out EASY!! Take the first 5 minutes to settle into the run, let the legs come around to you. If you go out too fast, your central nervous system will spike and your legs will fill with lactic acid. So, to repeat, go out easy, easy for the first 5 minutes and then assess.

Notice how she keeps repeating herself. Freakin hilarious. I'm not the best at following directions in a race so I don't mind that she drills certain concepts into my head.

Heading out for the run

Point of no return.
Haha just kidding!

The run course was no joke. It was TOUGH!! There was mud, trail, a giant ditch you had to leap over, and hills on hills on hills. But I was grateful. The tougher the run course the more of an advantage for me since the run is my strength.

"Mud Run"

I followed directions and did what I was told. I was conservative for the first 5 minutes. IT WAS NOT EASY. I was like a little kid in a car. But instead of saying "are we there yet" I kept thinking "is it time, can I take off". When I did - take off - wow, what a difference it made. Although my time doesn't necessarily reflect a speedy 10K, given the course and terrain, I feel like the time was comparable to a ~40 minute 10K.

I crossed the finish line exhausted, elated, strong. I’m usually super critical of myself. But even now, days later, there isn't a single thing I'd change.

Don’t you love when hard work pays off?