My First Triathlon Victory

Unbelievable!

Action shot from last week's race in Western VA

No, I didn’t win an Ironman or Escape from Alcatraz or Wildflower. I won the Tidewater Sprint Triathlon. And you know what? It feels pretty freakin amazing.

This race holds a special place in my heart. When I decided to do my first triathlon back in 2013 I was at such a low point in my life. I was desperate for a distraction. This race couldn’t have been more perfect – location, distance, course – it’s ideal for a newbie triathlete. When I crossed the line in 54^th place I was beyond excited. I didn’t care how bad I was. It got me out of bed that morning, and it was the first time I had a genuine smile on my face in months. I felt on top of the world. Did I ever think I’d come back and win this race one day? No way. Did I fantasize about it? Heck yeah! I enjoyed this race so much I came back in 2015 (14^thplace) and 2016 (4^th place).

Getting out of my comfort zone….

A week before the Tidewater Tri I was supposed to do Rev 3 Williamsburg. Instead, I scratched that idea and drove out to Western Virginia for a tri training camp followed by a Sprint Duathlon. When it comes to the sport of triathlon there are so many pieces to the puzzle. It’s not all about how fast you are. Swim technique, bike handling skills, transition from the swim to bike and bike to run, nutrition… can make or break a race. I still have a lot of learning to do! But that’s what I love about this sport – there’s potential for massive improvement and I'm willing to learn.

Tri Camp

Fun times with nice people. There was a good mix. Some were training for their first tri. I recommend signing up for a camp like this (https://californiatriathlon.org/skills-camp/) if you are interested in learning the basics: sharp corner turns on the bike, bottle exchange while riding, perfecting your swim stroke, proper running form, etc.

The Race: Duathlon (Run – Bike – Run)

I actually wasn’t nervous at all. My one and only goal was to practice what I learned.

I won J

With Sam (1st Male) and Thom - Coach and founder of California Triathlon

Thank you to the Richmond’s for hosting me. I learned a lot during my time out there in the middle of nowhere ;-) Absolutely beautiful area but very hilly!

Race Week

I was TIRED! I think it was a combination of the long drive to and from camp, the camp itself, the race and the fact that it had been in the upper 90s all week. I told my coach that I was wiped out and really concerned about the upcoming race. We cut back on my training and focused on my nutrition. I kept my fingers crossed that my body would cooperate on race day. I knew I was going to have to be in the mix on the swim, average +20 mph on the bike and run under 19 minutes in the 5K if I was going to have any shot at winning.

The day before the race my body started coming around, and race morning I felt great! It’s amazing what rest and proper nutrition can do :-)

The Swim (500 meters....650?): 11:37

OK so I don’t know what was up with the swim this year. The course was a triangle and I think we swam into a current which may have shifted the buoys – it ended up being about 650 meters and everyone’s times were a few minutes slower than previous years. I can’t sight (the buoys) to save my life so I ended up drafting and following the feet in front of me.

I exited the water in 8th with the two girls I'd end up sharing the podium with. We made a mad dash to T1, put on our helmets, grabbed our bikes and we were off. 

The Bike (10.75 miles): 31:46

I got dropped IMMEDIATELY. I used to get caught up in what others were doing and get upset with myself during the bike leg, but I'm gradually learning how to tune it all out and focus on myself. I ended up averaging 20.2 mph. I've still got quite a ways to go on the bike but you know what? I'm making a lot of progress. It's all about progress!

2013: 44:17

2015: 35:19

2016: 33:24

2017: 31:46

The Run (5K): 18:25

As I was heading out on the run I saw the first place woman and she was sooooo far ahead. My heart sunk. I came there to win the race. Then I saw the second place female. She looked light years ahead as well. I kept counting women. I was in 5th. I felt fit and strong and had confidence that I could run my way into third. Plus my Coach gave me the green light to go all out on the run so I went into sprint mode. I promised myself that no matter what I was going to fight for every second.

Within the first mile I ran my way into 3rd. The second place woman was still pretty far ahead but when I want something bad enough I'm willing to suffer for it. I stopped looking at my watch. I didn't want to know my pace. I told myself to just sprint until I couldn't sprint anymore.

By mile 2 I ran my way into second place. I was desperate to find the first place woman. I kept repeating “Anything is possible, don't give up” over and over AND over again. And sure enough I spotted her. I'm going to keep it real...I thought I was going to puke all over the place. She was still quite a ways ahead but I was closing the gap..and running out of course. But I think in most races you have to ask yourself “how bad do I want this?" I wanted it REALLY bad. I didn’t care if I collapsed, puked, whatever. With about a quarter mile to go I got up on my toes and began to sprint past her. She put up a fight and began sprinting too. All I could think was "oh gosh, please no, I just want to stop". I began to feel the gap grow but I was too afraid to slow down. I ended up running an 18:25 5K and broke the run course record. I think my last mile might have actually been a mile PR for me.

Progression:

2013: 21:48

2015: 19:37

2016: 19:09

2017: 18:25

When I crossed the finish line my first thought was “oh thank God I can stop”. Second thought: “well that hurt”. Third thought: “wait, did I win?? I think I freakin won.” Unfortunately there were two waves. I had to wait a few minutes for the first place woman from the second wave to cross the finish line before they called the official winner. Those 5-10 minutes felt like an eternity. 

 Yes! I did it. I won :-)

I constantly rave about the Tidewater Sprint because I think it’s the ideal race for someone who wants to get started in the sport of triathlon. In fact, I wish there were more races out there like this one - short open water swim, optional novice division for those who want to start last, flat simple bike course, same for the run. It's PERFECT for someone new to the sport.

With Greg Hawkins, Virginia/Maryland Triathlon Series Race Director.
Thank you for the support. I love representing VTSMTS <3

Making new friends....with fellow members of the Black Triathletes Association.

Next up: The Boston Triathlon!! That's right. I'll be flying with my bike. Thank you SCICON! 

As always, a HUGE thank you to IRaceLikeAGirl for all their support.

Since my Mom was in town for the July 4th weekend and somehow I only have pics on here of my Dad and I....Introducing, my best friend, my Mom <3

Ironman 70.3 World Championship Qualifier

1,935 competitors (imbeciles) including ME

This is the last .3 miles of the race = why I look so rough! The more unattractive the picture the better. Captures the true essence of pushing yourself to the limit ;-)

I did my very first Half Ironman at this same race last year. Eagleman is notorious for its heat. Guaranteed over 90 degree temps; not a hint of shade for the entire 70.3 mile swim-bike-run course. When I crossed the finish line 5 hours, 30 minutes, and 32 seconds later I thought to myself “I won’t be doing that hot mess of a race EVER again.”

2017…I’m backkkkk

My Dad's the jokester in the family.
According to him, his shirt stands for "United States of Africa".

Pictures are funny. Here I am, all smiles. Usually the week before a big race I have epic meltdowns (i.e. crying, dread, obsessively checking the weather, humidity, dew point, wind direction….basically anything I can find on the internet, oh and daily phone calls to my parents asking what happened in my past that led me to make such poor choices). And then the day before the race a huge wave of excitement and relief comes over me. It's like someone winds me up and then I can finally go go go.

The lead up to this race went pretty smoothly.  I nailed my workouts. I was confident in my nutrition plan. I felt super fit. I even hit a max of 16 hours of training one week (in addition to working a full time job). Physically, I was ready. The only hiccup was the bike. I was still having trouble on my Scott Plasma. Don't get me wrong, it's a great bike. Unfortunately, it just wasn't the right bike for me. No matter how many fittings I had done or how much time I spent training on that thing, I was constantly in pain and maxing out at 137 FTP (no power). About 3 weeks before the race I met up with my friend Michelle (former pro triathlete) and her husband Anthony (former pro cyclist). They watched me, video taped me, picked me apart (you can see the videos on my Instagram page). Conclusion: I needed a new bike. End of story. And since I'm rich and have thousands of dollars sitting around just waiting to be spent it was an easy fix....NOT. My parents: "We support you. We'll be your bike sponsor" <3 

“The greatest gift you can give anyone is to truly believe in them”

Thank you Mom and Dad, my biggest cheerleaders, supporters, number 1 sponsors. (Dad in the pic...Mom forever taking the pictures; at bike check in with my beautiful new Specialized Shiv)

I had 2 1/2 weeks to get adjusted on a new bike. Not ideal. But boy was it worth it. Thank you Village Bicycles (Walt and Connie) for taking such good care of me. I swear I lived at that shop up until the race. Something is wrong when I'm at the bike shop more often than the running store! 

Race Day

I set a crazy goal for myself. Crack 5 hours and qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Considering I had only finished in 5 hours and 30 minutes at this race last year, it was an absurd goal. But anything can happen! Take my Marathon for example. In March, I went into the One City Marathon with a PR of 3:06:55. I had my mind dead set on breaking 3 hours. I trained hard. Went after it. And crossed the line in 3:00:06. Just a few seconds shy of what seemed like an insurmountable goal. #trainhard #believeinyourself

The Swim (1.2 miles)

Swim Start

Can you spot me???? (Hint: I'm the black one)

I actually had a great few hundred meters. Then it all began to fall apart at the first turn buoy. We swam counterclockwise this year (versus clockwise last year). I had trouble spotting and I ended up drifting farrrrrr off to the left. To be honest with you, I was expecting my watch to say 40 minutes by the time I got out of the water. 

Swim Exit

According to my parents I did not look happy. I wasn't! I glanced at my watch: 36:24 (versus 35 minutes last year). I had swam an extra .12 miles. What can I say? I have a ton of things I need to work on (i.e. rotating my hips, not taking 24 strokes every 25 yards, so on and so forth). I told myself stay positive. It's a long race. You still have 69 more miles to make up the deficit. Plus, for the first time EVER I was really looking forward to the bike leg. In the past I always looked at it as a necessary evil. Just something I had to endure to get from the swim to the run. This time I was a lot more confident and excited to see how things would unfold.

The Bike (56 miles)

I hopped on my bike and I immediately felt that same weird leg-burn thing that I experienced on my old bike. I glanced at my watch. I was only averaging in the high 17 mph range. I felt ....depressed. I started getting angry. I'm going back to running. Forget this cycling crap. If I have to be on this bike for 3 plus hours I'm never doing another one of these things. The bike course at Eagleman is very windy so that wasn't helping matters. But then something strange happened. I started loosening up. The leg burn became more manageable and I started passing people. My splits kept getting faster and faster. I was actually...dare I say...enjoying myself. 

My Splits

 

I ended up averaging 19.73 mph for 56 miles (versus 17.6 mph in 2016). I biked 17 minutes faster than last year!! While I'm still super slow and no where near competitive on a bike, this was a huge breakthrough for me. I'm super grateful :-) All those hours doing my TrainerRoad workouts, as well as getting up early every Sunday to meet Connie and her crew out in Smithfield, paid off. Oh and a big thank you to Anthony and Michelle for helping me find the right bike.

Next up: My baby, the run ;-)

The Run (13.1 miles/half marathon)

I was so pumped to get out on the run course. In fact, I was so confident in myself that I thought I could run around 1:31. Umm yeah no. It was bad. Very very bad. It was around 11:45 am at this point. The sun was out in all it's glory. It was over 90 degrees and I was tired. 

Heading out on the Half Marathon run course

I knew within the very first mile that it was going to be a sufferfest and I was going to have to dig really deep in order to keep going. By mile 5 I was toast. I looked at my watch and realized that I wasn't going to finish anywhere near 5 hours. And at the rate I was heading I wasn't even going to PR. By the time I got to the aid station I just wanted to crawl under the table and hide from the sun (and take a nap). Instead I grabbed as many cups of water as I could and dumped them on my head and soldiered onward. I also remembered something my coach said: "The key thing I want you to remember is that no matter what happens, good or bad, you keep moving with the belief that anything can happen over that distance. Talk to yourself as positively as you can and keep going."

I kept repeating over and over again "anything can happen, keep going." And truth be told, even though I was in a world of pain and felt slowwwww I was actually passing people. A TON of people. So I focused on that....the fact that no matter how bad I felt I was still moving forward. I ended up running a 1:38 half marathon. Not nearly as fast as I envisioned, but you know what .. it was 4 minutes faster than last year so I'll take it!

Heading down the red carpet towards the finish line

I did it!! I crossed the finish line in 5:12:19. Huge PR. I collapsed on the grass and began mumbling to my parents....don't EVER let me do anything like that to myself again......wait where did I place?? Did I qualify for the World Championships hahahhaa. Gotta love it. 

Happy as a clam

 

Yes! I qualified. Congrats to Adam Otstot for his 4th place finish AND for talking me into waiting around to see if I qualified! I didn't think my place/time was going to be enough. But it was :-)

On to the next one...

I’m not any good at it yet, but I absolutely LOVE this distance! It’s where I think I have the most potential. It might sound cocky, but I still think sub 5-hours is well within reach. I just have to keep working at it.

Up next...Camp/Clinic followed by the Jefferson Sprint, Tidewater Sprint (my favorite), and then the Boston Triathlon.

Shout out and a huge thank you to IRaceLikeAGirl, Virginia / Maryland Triathlon Series, Point 2 Running Company, TrainerRoad, and Mr. Slowtwitch. As well as Triathlon Business International for letting me write about something I'm truly passionate about: http://triathlonbusinessintl.com/changing-the-color-of-triathlon.html