Fashion Report
Club tri-shorts and top, Promotion wetsuit in complimentary red.
A well-worn pair of Adrenaline GTS 8’s.
LIT visor.
Breakfast Report
Cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin en route. Half a wheat bagel one hour prior to start.
Result Summary
0.93m Swim: 35:12 (37:51/mi, 2:09/100y, 626/884)
T1 – 3:15
27.25 mile Bike: 1:23:42 (19.5 mph avg, 207/884)
T2 – 2:33
6.2 mile Run: 54:53 (8:51/mi, 450/884)
Total: 2:59:33 (32/60 M45-49, 385/884)
In-race Nutrition
T1 - Bit of Gatorade.
Bike – 1-1/2 bottles of Gatorade
T2 - Bit of Gatorade.
Run - Alternated water and Gatorade at aid stations.
Previously posted goals:
I had three goals and one secret goal: 1) Stay awake on the drive up, 2) have fun, and 3) stay awake on the drive home. And secretly I wanted to be under three hours.
Evaluation
When the alarm went off at 3:00 AM I briefly considered rolling over. Then got up and at it. Stomach was bubbly. Significant bathroom time twice before rolling out of the garage at 3:30.
Not much traffic at 3:30 AM. Couldn’t find an open Dunky’s. Eventually settled for an Irving and got coffee and a blueberry muffin. Rolled into Wellington State Park at 5:30 AM, beating the crowd and scoring prime parking.
Got my number packet and talked them into giving me Shawn’s goodie bag even though she wasn’t gonna race. Did the porta potties and got set up. Had some fun finding JulieB, KSurp, KBurnell, and Mountain Girl – all imaginary friends from KickRunners, as well as lots of TriFury pals. Good to have lots of friendly faces around!
Munched a half a bagel maybe 45 minutes prior to the start and then it was time to go and we headed to the beach. One last stop in the plastic castles to try to calm the innards (I think it was my fourth) and all would prove OK during the race. I get in the water for a good ten minutes prior to the start to try get over the shock of the chilly temperature. They announced 63F but I think it was below 60. It was cold. Once we got the go, it still took me a good ten minutes to get into a rhythm and catch my breath. But I finally found a groove and plugged on. Caught a few of the slower swimmers from the waves ahead, got caught by a few from the waves behind, but generally stayed in stroke and cruised along. It was easy sighting off of the morning sun and I found myself actually… ahem… enjoying the scenery and the swim.
Swam until my hands hit sand and stood. Then fell. Then stood again. A bit wobbly, I got to the wetsuit strippers still fully zipped. Fixed that and zoop! I’m out. Sat on my bucket for socks and shoes and then jogged through transition.
Hopped on the bike, clipped in, and immediately my left calf cramped. Almost got off again but was was finally able to get it to stop cramping and once I got spinning all was good. Gorgeous bike course along the lake. Slow swim left me with a target-rich environment and I was knocking them down. Found the devil-woman on a tough but doable hill and kept plugging away. (Everyone was skeered of this hill – I think the one at Timberman is worse.) Chatted with club friends, followed female lycra, and generally had fun on the bike!
Back to my bucket for the run shoes and off we go. Lit out on a slow but steady pace and managed to hold it just about the whole way! Power-walked two hills but otherwise maintained a slow but steady run. Realized about two miles out I actually had a shot at the three hours and tried to push a bit. There’s a beach segment a few hundred yards from the finish that just plain hurt and then a final sprint down a dirt road to the line. I gave it what I had and managed to bring it home with 27 seconds to spare!
Found a few clubmates and hung with them a bit but then relatively quickly bugged out and sped home to catch the second half of the kid’s soccer game. And stayed awake for the ride home!
Summary
I was kinda dreading this race with the long drive and feeling kinda undertrained. But, I had a lot of fun. The weather was perfect, I had a steady performance, I got to see a number of friends, and I enjoyed it all!
By the way, this race, like Timberman, is EXTREMELY well run. I highly recommend any of the Endorfun events – they do an awesome job!
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