D.C. Tri Weekend

The weekend began well with a safe drive down, a successful apartment search, and a smooth race check-in on Saturday.  After dropping off the bike at the transition area, we were all set for some fuel and fun with friends. 

The Good Stuff Eatery (of Top Chef Spike fame) was our choice, and the burger, salad, and specialty fries could not have been better.  Unfortunately, it was off to bed early for me with the alarm set for 3:50 a.m. 
I’ll spare you the details, well some at least, but we arrived at the start as the sun was rising beyond the Washington Monument.  I set-up my transition area and then had Lauren help me with my wetsuit, in hopes of avoiding the awful neck chaffing it gave me at Black Bear.  The start was minorly delayed, but after a rousing Star Spangled Banner, accompanied by the local fire department,…
we were all set to go!

To say I struggled on the swim is putting it nicely.  Between strokes, kicks, and breaths, I mixed in quite a few zigs and zags.  A better understanding of the course before I started would have been smart!  Despite my navigation problems (further hindered by swimming into the sun’s glare on the second half), I was finally out of the water in 25:26.  That was good enough for 6th in my age group and 73rd in the entire Olympic field.

My first transition went really smoothly (2nd in my age group) and I jumped onto the bike for a little 40km ride.  The first lap was solid, but I struggled to loosen up and find a rhythm.  However, on the second loop, with a bit more course knowledge in tow, I was able to really find an amazing comfort zone and pacing.  It was definitely the best and fastest I’ve ever felt on the bike.  It showed up in my results as well with a 1:08:48 time, equaling a 21.6 mph pace.  I’m excited to check out the data from my Garmin for even more detail.

However, this was a REALLY strong field, and my personal best bike was only good enough for 126th in the field.  Time to reel them all in on the run…

My second transition was smooth and effortless and the fastest in my age group (and 13th fastest of the entire event).  Heck, I gotta make up time anywhere I can!

For me, an Olympic distance run (10k) is pretty much a suffer fest.  I split it into 3 parts: first 2 miles (settle in), next 2 miles (hold on), final 2.2 miles (hammer it).  I don’t know my exact splits, as my watch kept losing signal in the tunnels, but I opened around 6:40 and 6:44 if my memory serves me right.  After that, a light rain, which turned a good bit heavier, began to fall.  The extra turns added for the longer Olympic race were in a few tunnels that kept it pretty dry for most of the run.

After an uneventful few miles of telling myself to keep pushing it, I finally saw the flag for mile 5 and upped my leg turnover as best I could.  Running right at the Capital building, I made a turn at the final cone and was on the final stretch.  The spacing of racers left me pretty much all alone, that or my incredibly fast running!  I crossed the line with a 40:41 (6:34s) time for the run.  That was good enough for 3rd in my age group and 39 in the whole field.

It’s funny, somehow running has become my strength in these events.  No matter, my final time was 2:17:16, good enough for a PR by 15 minutes, a 5th place finish in my age group and 55th overall.  I even managed to beat the D.C. Mayor, who was racing as an Elite athlete.  I cooled down with a run to and fro the White House and then was off to collect my gear, a rain soaked photographer Lauren, and a milkshake!

This coming Sunday will be the Philly Tri, again at the Olympic distance.  We’ll see if the home turf will yield a new PR and goal of sub 2:15 or if my body just says “enough!”

Pictures will be coming soon!