Tri Rock Annapolis!

I survived! Despite the fact that I did a lot more worrying than training, I finished TriRock Annapolis and I even had fun. Here's a quick recap.

The Night Before

Flexing with my race numbers. 

The night before the race, I spent a little bit of time packing my gear, and a lot of time worrying. I had been out early (aka: at race time) every morning that week, and it was pretty chilly. The idea of jumping in a cold river in my only-tested-once wetsuit was both unappealing and terrifying. I actually woke up a couple times during the night and thought "Maybe I just won't do this."

Race Morning


When the alarm went off, I didn't let myself think about whether or not to go through with the race. I just got up and started getting dressed. My lovely fiance/equipment manager Andrew lives less than half a mile from the race start, so we just pushed my bike and carried my bags. We arrived at the transition area to find a line about half a block long. The transition entrance was narrow and it took a long time to get everyone in.

Transition on a lovely morning. 

Almost immediately, I started running into people I know. The nice thing about doing races in Annapolis is that I see people from the gym, the Striders, and my tri-training group. It felt like the whole neighborhood had just decided to do a tri that morning. Seeing so many friends made me feel more excited.

After about 20 minutes, I got to my transition spot and realized that I lucked out again. I had a spot on the end of a row (the inside end, but still the end) right up against a little building. Bingo: extra space AND a landmark! The race started at 7am, but my swim wave wasn't scheduled until 8:15, so I had a lot of time to chat with the other people in my row. It turned out that my whole section/swim wave was made up of 30-35 year-old women, and none of us felt particularly confident in the water. Many of the ladies were first-timers. One was 7 months pregnant! By the time our swim wave was called, we were all best friends.

The Swim

Go Team Pink! 

My swim wave was second-to-last: #12 out of 13. I wasn't thrilled with the long wait, but I was very happy to be in a group with other slow-ish swimmers and not too many other people in the water. I was worried enough about swimming in a cold river without also worrying about people swimming over me. At about 8:10am, my group walked down to the floating pier, where we faced the worst part of the whole race: jumping in.

Talking myself into taking the plunge.

I did it! 

The initial shock of the water was about as bad as I expected. Fortunately, I got used to it pretty quickly and didn't have to wait too long to start swimming. The water was cold and choppy- unlike any of my previous open-water swims. I tried putting my head under a couple times and found it too hard. So, I wound up alternating between a totally inefficient head-up freestyle and my trusty backstroke. This combo kept me moving, but it made the swim way more exhausting than it should have been. By the time I reached the ladder to exit the water, my whole body was like Jello.

Not an easy climb. 

T1 and the Bike


Once I finally got up the ladder, I started stripping off my wetsuit and heading for the bike. I realized too late that my wetsuit is too big. This didn't help me in the water, but it made transition a breeze! While other people around me were struggling to get out of their wetsuits, I had mine off in about 10 seconds. I grabbed my bike gear and headed for the mount line.

Feeling good... for the moment. 

All was going well for a couple minutes. I even managed to jog a little with the bike. Andrew met me at the mounting spot and snapped a picture as I got on. Thus, he captured the lovely moment when both my calves simultaneously cramped up.

AGONY!

The pain was fairly astonishing. I generally refrain from swearing in public, but I shouted a couple choice words as I waited for the pain to pass. Poor Andrew looked terrified. Fortunately, after a few seconds it died away and I was able to head out.

On my way! 

My number 1 fear going into this event was drowning in the swim. #2 was that I wouldn't be able to handle the hilly 12-mile bike ride. I find biking pretty challenging and I also find that training on a spin bike does not prepare me at all for riding on the road. And where did I do all of my training for this race? You guessed it- on a spin bike. Yet, for reasons I can't explain, the bike actually went fairly well. I never felt like I couldn't handle it and I wound up improving just a little over my speed from IronGirl.

Coming around the final turn. 

T2 and the Run


T2 was rough. Because TriRock was a short race and the swim waves were so staggered, some of the first racers had finished by the time I entered the water. By the time I finished the bike, far more people were finished than still on the course. For reasons beyond my comprehension, the organizers re-opened transition fairly early. This meant that I had to do my bike-to-run transition while others were hanging out post-race and packing to go home. I tried to run my bike in, but got held up repeatedly by people standing in the middle of transition, leaning on their bikes and having conversations. This was VERY frustrating and resulted in a way slower transition time.

Heading out on the run was also a challenge. No matter how many bike-to-run workouts I do, I never seem quite prepared for how tired I am going into the run portion of a tri. Fortunately, it was late enough by that point that tourists and finished racers had lined the streets, cheering on the runners. I wanted to walk out of transition, but I just couldn't do it with all those people cheering. I picked it up and kept running, even though the first half-mile was a cruel uphill.

By the first water stop, I had found my rhythm, but I still let myself take a brief walk break. I did the same when I came through the water stop again (it was an out-and-back course). After the second water stop, I got to the best part of the race. We repeated the first part of the course- Main Street- only this time, we were headed straight downhill to the finish. I spotted an older runner walking and said "This is downhill- let's run!" He smiled and picked it up.

As I approached the finish, I spotted Andrew with the camera and managed a smile and a mini-sprint.

Trying to look strong for the camera. 

Seconds later, I crossed the line and got my (very nice) medal. I felt awesome.

Another very heavy Rock 'n' Roll medal. 

I finished just in time to catch part of the awards ceremony, in which my Wonder Women trainer Michelle came in second, my boot camp teacher Kate won her age group, and my boot camp buddy Nate won his age group! I turned to Andrew and said "We may not be the best, but we get to train with the best!"

Kate and Nate show off their trophies/beer mugs. 

Andrew and I spent a bit more time swapping race stories with friends, and then we headed back to his place. On our way home, we saw a ton of racers riding their bikes home (including Kate and her husband and our friends Jen and Tracey) as well as the usual Saturday runners. Andrew commented "This is a really fit town," and I felt a lot of hometown pride.

Once I got home, I had no time to rest, as I had a family event to attend at a swanky hotel in DC. When I took my post-race shower, I learned that the race numbers had been designed to stay on- a good 5 minutes of scrubbing didn't make a dent. So, off I went to one of the fanciest hotels in DC sporting my classiest look:

The number was on my other arm and thigh too, making for head-to-toe class. 

All in all, a great race and a great day! My results were as follows:

Swim (500M): 17:09 (my weakest part of the day)

T1: 4:38

Bike (12mi): 57:22 (not great, but faster than IronGirl!)

T2: 3:20 (stupid open transition area!)

Run: 31:44 (my strongest part of the day)

Overall: 1:54:15

Considering I barely trained and was expecting to finish in 2:15, I was very happy with this outcome. Now, its time to get ready for IronGirl!