Podium at Pinchot! (Race report)

So, I needed a tune-up. It’s been a long time since I’ve raced, and racing hard takes practice.   By the time I got around to committing to a race, the ones closest to Brooklyn were all full.  So that meant only one thing:  ROAD TRIP!  My idol and Citycoach teammate Jeannine also wanted more late season racing, so she was in, and I managed to snag another Brooklynite, BTC club member Nitro, to join me as copilot. 

(our little Brooklyn ambassadorial expedition, post race.  What I would do for Jeannine's abs...). 

This was a longish sprint:  .75 mile lake swim, 18.2 mile bike, 3.3 mile run, in Gifford Pinchot State Park, outside Harrisburg, PA.  Weird distances, and I am sure the run was short, and the swim too.  It was a small race – last year 70 or so people.  As I told Nitro, I like small races because then there’s a chance I might win something — I have no shame.  The race was really well organized, especially for a small race, and that plus the beautiful location (rolling hills, tidy farms, lots of green) made it worth the three hour drive.  Nitro and I drove up Saturday evening, and the other JB met us at the Super 8 motel.  Note to self:  when leaving our great metropolis, plan on eating dinner before 9pm.  Although there were plenty of dining options near the motel, the doors were locked at the diner and the only open place nearby with food was a bar whose Italian restaurant, was closed but they did pizza and “anything fried.”  Uh, pizza it was.  Then back to the motel to be inspired by the 400m relays and off to bed.

In the morning we got to the race early.  In addition to the usual (registering, getting a good rack spot) we wanted to drive the bike course, a two looper, so we’d know what we were in for since the course elevation map looked a bit daunting. Driving the course was pretty -- a bit hilly, but nothing too bad.  Huh.  Little did we know.  Got back with plenty of time to set up the transition and obsess about whether or not to wetsuit – with water 82 degrees, JB and I decided to go without.

The swim was a triangle, and two loops – you had to get out of the water and run around a pole which was pretty annoying. My swim strategy was to try to hang on to JB’s feet for dear life and draft, if I could manage it.  Hah.  The horn went off and JB was gone.  I got caught up in the melee pretty quick.  Bad for me, because it’s so distracting – the mosh pit is the only part of tri swimming that I like.  The clobbering and kicking lasted me all the way around to the third leg of the triangle before I finally got down to business and found some clear water to swim.  Rounding the pole I could see that there were a lot of people in front of me.  I managed to pass some on my second loop, but not so many.  The swim, well, it just sucked.  Time was 17’56 by my watch, 18’20 officially, although that probably includes the run up to transition since that’s where the guy was taking caps and times.  I was 34th out of the water.  Pretty sucky in a field of 85.  (pic is Jeannine, sporting brand new goggles).

I got out of transition fast and on the bike.  I had my heart rate monitor on and was making sure to keep it well in the anaerobic range, since I fear that I don’t push myself hard enough.  Passed a couple people early and not many women, but there weren’t that many out there, and very few cyclists in sight.  And then, there was the volunteer, waving us to turn.  What?  We hadn’t done that on our preview.  And boy, of the turns to miss, that was the doozy.  It was a humongous hill.  Straight up.  Out of the saddle the whole way steep.  Ugh!  Got up it, cursing.  Afterwards, the hills weren’t over, although the others paled in comparison.  But there weren’t that many people in sight, and I don’t remember passing many.  I think it had started earlier, but my head by then was a seething diatribe of negativity.  “There’s nothing fun about this, You suck at swimming and what’s the point, just do duathlons, what makes you think you’re a decent cyclist,”  -- pretty  much everything the negativity demons could throw out there.  I tried to ignore it best I could and just hammer my little legs away and keep my heart rate up. Finally I saw a bathing suit ahead of me --  another woman and slowly, and it seemed to be oh so slowly, reeled her in. 

Just after coming loop one, there were two cyclists and after I passed the first, I realized the second was Jeannine.  I was gaining on her towards the turnoff, and almost had her on the mongo hill, but she crested first and was gonesville, and by the time I got over she wasn’t even in sight.  Caught up to her again on the back half of that loop.  I passed her with what I hope were coherent encouraging words, and then she promptly passed me back on the next biggie hill.  Ok.  Teammate or no teammate, I wasn’t going to let THAT happen – I know from the track workouts that Jeannine can eke me out on the run so I needed to get in front of her.  But my words were clearly a little bit too encouraging and I found it hard to reel her back in until the end.  There was a big screaming downhill and I took full advantage of the opportunity – I have no fear – and finally passed her for good.  My bike split: 55’03 officially (but that includes T1), 54’06 by my watch.  That was good enough for 12th overall (2nd woman).  I have the feeling that I passed most a bunch of those 22 people in transition. 

Came into T2 first and knew I better get out of there fast.  Put on my new bright red shoes (I know, it’s the biggest “don’t” there is – brand new shoes at a race, and sockless at that, but I’d lubed them up pretty well) and new red hat and started out.  My watch for T2: ’33. 

The run was mostly flat but on gravel trails that snaked around the park. Shady, which was welcome.  Jeannine was right on my tail, but I led for the first half or so.  On the out, a woman passed us looking crazy strong.  My head was still such a bleeding ball of negativity from not passing many women on the bike that I wasn’t even convinced she was first woman, and thought that JB and I were way at the back of the pack somehow (“what were you thinking podium finish, you’ll be lucky for an age group award” alongside the usual “this hurts and you aren’t even moving your legs” physical business, and of course the “why the hell isn’t Jeannine passing me, dammit”).  Apparently the volunteers shouted out our place to us, but I didn’t hear.  Sometime before the “mile 2” marker (in 11’21 – did I mention that this run course was WAY short?) I could feel myself fading and Jeannine took the lead (what went through my head at the time was “it’s about time”).   I was happy to have her to chase and hung close for a while but she pulled away.  At some point nearing the finish it occurred to me that I might be fourth.  I really don’t like fourth.  So I tried to kick it in to pass her, but couldn’t do it.  Came in seven seconds behind her, with a run split of 19’17 (my watch), 19’48 (official – includes T2).   20th overall on the run (3rd woman).

And it wasn’t fourth – it was 3rd  (15th OA)!   Podium finish!  I was thrilled, and immediately all the negativity was gone, my love for triathlon returned, and I was happy.  Funny that.  We hung out, took a dip in the lake and got chatty with #4 woman and missed Nitro’s finish, and had pizza and cookies and Gatorade and hung out to wait for our trophies.  Nitro won a heart rate monitor in the raffle, so everyone came home with a prize.  Again, I can’t say enough about how nice this race was – beautiful, well organized.  If you have a chance to do it, it’s worth the trip, even for a sprint.  And I’d do any race organized by these guys:  Trimax Endurance Sports.  Especially if they were a bit closer.

I’m  happy about this race. Yes, the negative voices were there, but I didn’t let them get to me, just pretended they were in a different language.  And I know it will give me the confidence in my next race to just go out hard and be positive instead of negative.  Or at least that’s the plan. 

Oh, and the question you all want to know – who was the first place woman, who had me and the other JB beat by minutes on every split (she finished 5th overall)?  Looked her up and she’s pretty competitive in the bigger races too, and plus, she’s local.  Total home court advantage.

Comments

[Lauri]

Love the race report! Sounds like fun. Wish I could have joined you. I also appreciate your frankness. It is nice to know that someone who I think has no weakness actually struggles sometimes!

[Mordy]

congrats on your podium. despite all the challenges you've faced, you have clearly had a great season. Its wonderful to see you wring out every last opportunity before the summer is gone. Oh, and the blogs are excellent!