RR: 2010 B&A Half Marathon

Half Marathon #41 done! (But who's counting?) I think this is my 5th or 6th run in this particular event.

Perfect weather and great swag (embroidered and silk-screened canvas luggage, attractive navy-blue LS tech shirt, nice medal) at the B&A marathon and half marathon today in Severna Park, Maryland.

My training buddy Dave and I had been signed up for the full marathon, but with the crazy record-beating snowy winter we had, neither of us got in enough mileage to survive a full marathon in good shape. Fortunately this race allows last-minute transfers to the half.

The race runs mostly on a fairly level, straight asphalted rail-trail with the exception of a mile or two on concrete roads at the hilly turnarounds. The weather was perfect - 40s, full sun, and no wind.

My course PR was set about 3 years ago when Dave and Chuck paced me and pushed me the whole way, with a 2:26:38 finish. This time Dave ran with me at much slower pace until about mile 10, which was very helpful in keeping my pace consistent and steady. Then he ran off to finish up a faster 25-minute final 5k. I still maintained the pace for another mile when *TWANG!* suddenly my 2nd toenail of my left foot ripped and consequently hurt like a mofo. I had to stop to retie my shoelaces so the toes wouldn't hit the end of the shoe, and walked a short ways, and said many cusswords.

Still, I managed to limp-jog a couple more miles even more slowly and make it to the finish line by 2:34:56 by my watch.

Well, 8 minutes off my course PR for 13.1 miles is certainly not super-speedy even by my standards, but I still handily beat my goal for today of a 12 min/mile pace. I don't think I lost as much fitness over the winter as I had feared, and I think I'm in reasonable shape to start the season again.

Here we go....

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Whoops. I just found my old blog post where I ran this same course in 2:24, unpaced, in 2008. I've got some serious work to do. Or else I'm aging very quickly. Or that silly toenail slowed me down more than I thought. Oh well, it is what it is....

B2B Half Ironman race report

This was something like my 100th race since I got back off the couch in 2000. Not exactly, I've lost count, but that's close enough.

I had a fabulous weekend spending time with friends in Wilmington, NC, and sharing time with them and marveling at their fabulous performances (particularly Iron Holly's first Ironman finish and Training Buddy Dave's massive 12:57 iron PR and Shawn's first half iron finish) was the real highlight of the weekend. I'll only tell my own race story here for brevity, and let them tell their own stories - and just put this one in writing so that I can refer to it in the future.

Setup: Most of the day before was spent on getting ready for the race - a practice swim, checking out the two swim start areas, attending the expo, racking bikes, etc. Very time-consuming, difficult logistics for this particular race without any sherpas along.

Summary: Post-race I'm ambivalent about my performance - it was originally supposed to be the full iron distance, but fortunately (much to my relief) I was able to drop down to the half Ironman since my training wasn't going well. The swim and the first half of the bike were fantastic, but I lost a lot of steam on the second half of the bike and never found my stride during the run.

SWIM 1.2 miles

We were concerned about the cold water temps but that turned out NOT to be a factor with a long-sleeved wetsuit. Got up too early - about 4:00 AM for an 8:50 race start - so that took a little energy out of me to start.

The swim was fantastically current-aided and as soon as we started this weak swimmer felt like Dara Freaking Torres. I felt amazingly comfortable the entire way. I'd sight for a buoy 200 yards away, put my head down and in a few strokes I was there and sighting for the next. Local resident Ron Steve had given superb advice and I stayed completely out of the fray and in the center of the channel in the strongest current. Sighted on the tall building at the exit, I climbed up the ladder with some assistance, stopped my watch, and trotted toward transition.

Watch time at water exit: 32:56* (1:33/100 yards) (faster time than my Olympic swim PR!)
Chip swim time (after showering and ~100 yard run): 34:25* (136/163 women)


T1

I trotted the whole way through this very long transition - kind of fun at the time going between two rows of applauding fans like I was in the Tour de France! The T1 bags were located by the bikes and NOT by the changing tents for the half Ironman triathletes, so it didn't really work for us unless we wanted to add considerable distance and effort on our transition. And I didn't. So I pulled on bike shorts over my thin wet running shorts (and got considerable chafing from later, unfortunately). Had to take a little extra time to stuff wetsuits into the bag, too, and a very long trot out on bike cleats to the exit.

Watch T1: 10:11 (swim exit to bike exit)
Calc T1: 8:42 (estimated from timing mat to timing mat)

BIKE 56 miles

Once we got through some tricky roads exiting T1 and through town (lots of cars going in and out of business entrances at unmonitored intersections) we got out onto nice flat roads. A 12-mile section down the Interstate was delightful - fast and easy (speed often well into the 20s) on smooth straight concrete. Then off on a 4-lane highway. Turning off of that onto a rural road I took a wrong turn when the volunteers didn't direct us, but they yelled at me and I stopped and turned around. By that time I was getting chafed and achy and irritable. Down some rural roads for an out-and-back, and then a very long sluggish stretch straight into the wind on the homeward leg. That was slow, particularly on the final two huge bridges going into transition.

My hydration and electrolyte intake was pretty normal for training rides - 3 to 4 bottles with Motor Tabs, 2 Poptarts, a bag of margarita Clif Bloks, and a couple electrolyte capsules. I overdressed a bit with a windbreaker jacket, which I ended up tying around my waist the 2nd half of the bike. Should have just worn armwarmers with my tri-top.

Chip bike + T1: 3:36:24 (122/160)
Calc bike: 3:28:42
Odometer average speed: 16.1 mph
Calc average speed: 16.1 mph

T2

Fairly uneventful. My rack spot was all the way at the end of transition so I had my 2nd long run with bike cleats on. The transition bags were at the rack spot in loose dirt and gravel, and the changing tents were back about 100 yards, so it made no sense to go back to use them. Quickly put on a dry clean shirt and stuffed my bike gear in the bag. I forgot to take off my bike shorts and had to take them off outside of transition and throw them over the fence.

T2 Chip time 4:54 (114/157)

RUN 13.1 miles

Coming out of T2 I was 9:11 into a PR (compared to Eagleman 2007). But that all went away extremely quickly. My first 3 miles up and over the huge bridges were shuffling and slow, and I never was able to pick up my stride. Then at Mile 4 suddenly my left quad locked up quickly enough to make me stumble, so I quickly switched to Damage Control Mode and took some more electrolytes. My muscles remained twitchy and uncomfortable-to-painful for the rest of the run, so I just hung on and completed it the best way I knew how, alternating running and walking, grazing on grapes and oranges and getting Coke at the frequent aid stations. I think this was my 40th half marathon run in a race. It's always a great thing to see friendly familiar faces out on the course, and with the full Ironman going on at the same time I had lots of fun opportunities to greet friends on the way back to the finish.

Run: Chip time 3:17:54 (148/156)

TOTAL

My 5th half Ironman, 2nd fastest (for events with a full swim)
Finish: 7:33:36
13/16 women 50-54 who finished swim, 13/15 finishers
142/163 women who finished swim

Fun day. But I can do better. Onward.

2009 National Half Marathon

Short report: 2:35:48, about 6 minutes slower than I had hoped.
11:54 mile/min pace
Age group: 64/71 (90.1%)
Overall: 2177/2281 (95.4%)
(Note: Yes, it's a pretty fast bunch compared to most races, but the qualifying standard for entry in the half marathon is a prior sub-2:30 performance or equivalent).

Longer report: perfect "no excuses" running weather, cool and clear and windless. The course was a bit hilly for this flatlander. I started the coughing at Mile 6 and couldn't stop. Sheesh, I was on a solid pace for about a 2:27 finish before that! They also ran out of cups after mile 4 (for 2:15 finishing pace onwards) so I probably didn't hydrate well swilling from jugs. That's really lame for a race with no race-day registration! I tried not to think about the AIDS runners drinking from the same jug as I did, and hoped I didn't give away my germs, but did it anyway. The last couple miles were way tougher than I wanted.

5 minutes faster than last year on the same course with bronchitis. 5 minutes faster than Disney 2 weeks ago. Better a little faster than slower I suppose.

Crossed another finish line for my 38th half marathon and a medal.

On to the next half in 3 weeks! Hopefully fully healthy!

Race report: Disney 5k and Princess Half

I. HAD. A. BLAST! I've posted tons of photos on Facebook and some on Flickr, q.v. Lots of fun spending time with my good friends Holly, Linae, and Shawn!

I've done several of the races in years past at Walt Disney World (half plus triathlon plus
Dopey) and this is the FIRST time the race management really got it right. Finally I felt like a valued participant instead of a money dispenser shoehorned in around their visitor schedule! They always have VERY early shuttle pickups and a lot of dead time at the staging area, so sleep deprivation becomes part of the experience, but I've gotten accustomed to that.

Expo: Best race expo I've been to in dozens of big races. Lots of vendors with attractive products, princess makeovers on site, elaborate princess costumes on display, character greetings and photo-ops, t-shirt size exchange. I would have stayed and shopped longer if I hadn't been in a hurry to visit the parks. For the first time in my experience they had prompt shuttle transportation from the hotel directly to the expo and back.


Royal Family 5k: Belle and Beast at the start, and Snow White, Aurora, Minnie and Mickey, and Cinderella on the course. Probably 1/3 or more of the runners were wearing some type of costume, some quite elaborate (I just ran in my daughter's Ariel tiara). They had semi-effective pace seeding and after the first few hundred yards it was relatively uncrowded running. I stopped and sometimes stood in line at all the characters, then sprinted to regain my former place with the flow of runners. Nice rubber medals which included WEAPONS in the design, I assume as a token gesture to make the boys feel included!


Afterwards we watched the kids' races, which are very fun and well-managed, and attended the Princess Breakfast where we had some more character encounters and plenty of photo ops. It was a nice add-on and very fun way to start the day of park-going.

Princess half marathon: Took the familiar course that they use for the half marathon in January - 5.5 miles to the Magic Kingdom on highways, less than a mile of really fun stuff through the Magic Kingdom, then highways back for a quick loop through Epcot to finish. I dressed as Snow White, and lots of people were in costume too but a much smaller percentage than in the 5k the previous day. About 3% of the ~6000 runners were men, many in great costumes such as Fiona, Belle, and Minnie. The time change had taken effect the previous night, so the first half-hour of the race was in darkness. The mile markers were elaborate princess designs, but no characters on the course until entering the Magic Kingdom. The characters were in abundance at the castle and beyond, however, with fast and furious opportunities for photos and not terribly long lines at any of the characters. I stopped at least 10 times on course to take photos, and since I'm not acclimatized to Florida temperatures I got overheated in my Snow White costume, but I expected that and adjusted my pace accordingly.


One really fun part of the race for me was the Snow White photo-op, where I cracked up the Prince by asking him, "How about a Snow sandwich!?"


The medals were gorgeous! Unfortunately the hotel checkout time is still 11:00 AM so I had a sprint back to the hotel and quick shower before I had to dash for the plane.

Yes, I'm already working on a plan to perhaps return with one of my daughters next year for the 5k. I'm sure she will enjoy it even more than I did!

Quiet Waters Anniversary 15k Race Report

I ran my HILLY HILLY 15k race today on NARROW WINDY PATHS in an Annapolis, Maryland park in 1:40:22, or a 10:47 min/mile pace.

I'm very pleased with that result! It's 11 1/2 minutes off my EXTREMELY soft 15k PR from the Gasparilla Distance Classic in 2005. I don't think I've run any other 15km races - my attempt at this race last year ended up in an ignominious DNF due to a severe cramp.

I ran faster at the distance ONCE - for my half marathon PR on a perfect-weather day on a perfect-weather course with no walking at all. This pace is faster than my best 10 miler pace (10:59), though.

AND this was a very hilly course that required quite a number of walk breaks from me - at least 3 for water and 4-5 to get up steep hills and catch my breath!

I really struggled through those last couple of miles - glad I had my training buddy Pace-Guy Dave to keep me moving!! (We missed Janice out there, who was silly enough to choose to run the Honolulu Marathon instead.) But doing well on a hilly course today means that my fitness levels aren't quite as bad as I thought. All this bronchitis this year had me thinking I was going to be much slower!

It's my last race for the year and the last race in the Annapolis Striders Championship 8-race series for the year. It's possible that I moved up a notch or so from my 8th place in the AG standings, but I'm happy with just finishing the series!

Nations Triathlon Race Report

Prerace:

The Expo and packet pickup was, to me (as an experienced triathlete and 18-year area resident), a big annoyance. I went over to it when the Expo opened on Saturday morning. Located two miles across the busy District of Columbia from the transition area, and no nearby parking to be found except the parking garage underneath the hotel for $15. There was a "mandatory" pre-race briefing every hour at which we were required to complete an additional CYA swim waiver and get our hand stamped on exit as proof of attendance. The briefing didn't contain any information, as far as I could tell, that wasn't on the website or part of normal triathlon rules. Plus there was at least one egregious falsehood told to briefing attendees that there would be "plenty" of parking close by the transition area. (The nearest public parking lot to the transition area is usually full and it's 3/4 of a mile away).

Later at packet pickup lots of people were getting in line that clearly hadn't attended the briefing and no one ever seemed to check for hand stamps, but after the briefing it went quickly and I was out of there.

I drove over to the transition area, managed to squeeze into one on-street parking site, got my bike all set up to put in the fully-assembled bike racking area, only to be told that transition was closed for another hour. So I had to hang around and waste another hour for no apparent reason. Finally got my bike racked and the entire check-in procedure had taken well over three hours. (It would have taken much longer if I hadn't lived in the area for so long and wasn't completely familiar with DC streets).

Race morning:

Up at 4AM and over to the East Potomac Park parking area by 5AM to make sure I got a parking spot, even though my swim wave wasn't scheduled to start until 8:36AM. Ate some breakfast in my car and went over to set up my transition area and was ready to go by about 6:15, with 2.5 hours now to kill.

There were about 35 portapotties for 3400 registered triathletes. There were quickly hundreds of people in an enormous line.

At 7AM we were supposed to be finished setting up transition and to have cleared the area, but there were still a couple dozen triathletes and family members in there any time that I looked.

All of the athletes were supposed to wait for their swim wave in a huge fenced-in pen with the very limited portapotties (now out of toilet paper but supplied with industrial wipes), but no available water or food, nor garbage receptacles. So Jeanne and I and Greg and my other few thousand triathlete friends complied and sat around in the corral doing nothing and unable to watch the start. Fortunately I had brought some supplies with me but I felt badly for those who hadn't.

Swim (41:47):

Finally it was time for our wave, the last, to enter the water. They had floating docks with ladders set up that worked well for entry. I jumped in the water, made sure my cap and goggles were set, and waited for the start. There was some confusion at the start, with no clear signal, but the women in the front line started swimming so I followed in afterwards.

The Potomac River water was better quality than I expected, very murky but not smelly. The water temperature was a very comfortable 77*F in my sleeveless wetsuit. On the outbound leg against the slow current I swam along fairly easily spotting off the bank to my right and heading for the second arch of Memorial Bridge. I swam comfortably under the bridge and spotted the yellow turn buoy still fairly far off, but made it out around two yellow turn buoys without incident.

My swim cap kept riding up and pulling my goggles off, however, and after tugging at them several times I had to finally stop by a kayak to fix the problem, which cost some time. Also the return leg headed directly into the rising sun and I couldn't see the yellow buoys at all. I spotted off some boats off to the right but I think that I swam the long way around doing that. On the last part of the swim I was hitting some seaweed which made me wish I had worn my long-sleeved wetsuit, but it didn't slow me down.

Finally I was able to turn for the swim exit, very well marked with tall banners, and I climbed up the ladders. A quick glance at my watch said 39:xx, several minutes slower than I had hoped but not a big surprise.

T1 (5:28):

The lane to the transition area was long and full of slippery mud by the time I went through, but I trotted as quickly as I was able. I tried to ignore the many people already heading out on the run leg. I also had one of the longest distances to the bike start, so I finished the transition in my typically slow time despite all efforts to be prompt and efficient.

Bike (1:25:27, 17.4 mph):

Mounted up and headed out on Independence Avenue, feeling nice and strong. This was MUCH more fun! I hit the first few miles pretty hard and was enjoying myself greatly. Swooping through the curves around the Washington Monument, onto Constitution Avenue heading towards the Capitol. Swing easily through a U-turn 6 lanes wide and I'm having a blast! Up standing on the pedals to pick up some speed again, and I'm passing everyone in sight. "Stay right! On your left!" was my continual refrain through the ride. A quick glance over my right shoulder to spot the White House, then swoop again through another U-turn and tear on out of there as fast as I could pedal. Hammering my bike down a wide-open Constitution Avenue in our nation's capital, with cheering spectators on both sides, was well worth the price of admission!

Back down towards the Potomac, climbing up the Whitehurst Freeway towards Georgetown in what seemed like the biggest effort on the bike course. Then we had a long ride out and back along Canal Road and the Clara Barton Parkway into Maryland with lovely views of the canal. Another sharp turnaround at the end (glad that I've been practicing those bike-handling skills) and back towards the District.

About this time I realized that I hadn't been passed yet by ANYONE on the bike course! That was a big first for me, and encouraged me to keep going hard until the finish. Actually being in the last wave of the day, it just meant that the faster cyclists were all faster swimmers than me too, but the thought was still enough to keep my motivation high and pedals turning hard.

Another little leg up into Rock Creek Park and under the Kennedy Center overhang and past the Lincoln Monument and back into transition. Hurrah! Not passed by a single person on the bike leg! That's certainly never happened to me before! I was very stoked!

T2 (3:19):

Another long, long trot on bike shoes back to my rack spot. Dropped my helmet and swapped my shoes as quickly as I could, but it was still my typically slow time.

Run (1:27:45, 14:09 min/mile):

As soon as I headed out on the run I knew it was going to be a very slow finish time. It was now about 11 AM and there was full sun and little shade on the concrete roads leading out towards Hains Point. The official temperature for the day eventually got up to 92*F, which with a dew point of 72*F yields a 100*F heat index. I'm not sure what the temperatures were exactly at the time of my run, but they were certainly sufficient to beat me to a pulp and force me to do a lot of walking after the first mile. I dumped ice down my front and back at every opportunity, and forced myself to run between every other lightpost, but just 100 yards of jogging would be enough to send my heart rate up to about 174. I kept up the alternating sequence and jogged as much as I was able, but it was a long slow countdown from one mile marker to the next (excellently marked with very tall banners, I might note).

Finally with the Capitol in the background I tried to look as peppy and happy as I could for my finish photos, but I was feeling the heat and as soon as I crossed the finish line (at 3:43:45) I sat down and rubbed ice on my overheated neck and arms.

Post-race:

There was abundant pizza and some other food items at the finish line area. I took one piece and slowly started my walk back to the transition area. There were shuttle buses heading back, but there were long lines that I didn't want to stand in. 1.7 miles of very slow hobbling brought me back to the transition area to pick up my gear. I suddenly remembered on the way (not to make excuses for my time) that I had a nasty head cold, which returned with a vengeance.

They were already breaking down the fences by the time I arrived and there didn't appear to be much perimeter security for the bikes, though the numbers of those of us who walked out the main gates were checked. Another 0.8 miles very slowly walking the bike, and I was back to my car and loading up to head for home.

Followup:

I was glad to see that they posted results very promptly, and quite amazed to see that I had finished 48/84 (57%) in my category, Athenas of all ages. In my age group I would have finished 26/41 (63%). I was extremely surprised to see that I ended up placing higher than I usually to, with a solid back-of-the-midpack finish instead of way way back in the pack as I had expected!

Steelhead half Ironman race report

Short results:
NANCY TOBY
BIB AGE STATE/COUNTRY PROFESSION
153 51 ST. MICHAELS MD USA RUN1 BIKE RUN2 OVERALL RANK DIV. POS.
23:13 3:11:01 3:11:51 6:54:13 1846 4
LEG DISTANCE PACE RANK DIV.POS.
RUN1 2.? mi. (23:13) 1:13/100m 1967 4
TOTAL BIKE 56 mi. (actually 54.x?) (3:11:01) 17.59 mph 1866 4
TOTAL RUN2 13.1 mi. (3:11:51) 14:38/mile 1846 4
TRANSITION TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE 4:18
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 3:50

Long grueling story:
Swim involved a 1.2-mile walk through powder sand to the start. I had brought a pair of throwaway running shoes but my feet are lousy (2 surgeries, etc.) and my feet got tired from walking without my orthotics in the deep sand and abraded from sand in my shoes. Surf was big (4-5 feet and quite rough, unforecast ~25 kt winds) and hardly anyone (out of ~2700 entries waiting to start) went in to warm up. They wouldn't have been able to support it - the kayaks never went in the water. I had resolved to attempt to round the first buoy but if it was too difficult (and it looked like it definitely would be) to DNS. Too dangerous for a not-very-strong swimmer like me.

They announced the cancellation of the swim (hurrah!) and we all walked back to the start (another 1.2 miles in deep sand, after which my feet were pretty messed up) and somehow through the huge clogs of people we rearranged our transition areas and walked to the start of a ~2 mile run leg and lined up in waves, about an hour after the scheduled start.

Run1: About 2 miles up and down a hill - I took it easy for a warmup. Somehow I got a bug embedded in my eye and took most of T1 trying to get it out.

Bike: The course is rolling hills throughout but none terribly long, and I just tried to stay focused, work hard, and keep my heart rate between about 150-160. I had been in the first wave and it was a bit discouraging to be passed the whole time - the course was full the whole ride but well-supported! I tried some different nutrition (Nuun) but still got nauseous about halfway through - I think I'm going to cut out the longer stuff because it's just a big battle with my weak stomach the whole way (and that's what it was the rest of the day, trying to figure out what to do for my stomach to stave off nausea). Came back to transition in I think a PR for the distance but the course was almost 2 miles short - have to check my Garmin data when I get home.

T2 was a bit slow due to extended portapotty break.

Run: Started the run at a jog and felt okay for the first couple of miles but then my feet started getting quite painful (they're in pretty bad shape today, the day after). I ended up walking more in this half marathon than I have in years, and battling stomach issues - but (after my DNF at Eagleman) I was determined to stick it out and get the medal.

They took us back through the deep sand on the finishing straight for one final difficult patch, then finally the finish line.

Got the medal. At least I finally got a sub-7 half, which is what I wanted, but not exactly this way!!! I guess I got 4th in the over-40 Athenas, same as I did here 2 years ago, but I think it was (again) out of only 4 finishers in the category.

Hitting the road today to head for home!

2008 Philadelphia Triathlon race report

I'm still waiting for the race photos to be posted. Until then, I'll just report on my pre-race goals:

• Top ten age group: NOPE, finished 27th/34. Entries in my age group more than doubled from last year!
• Sub-3:31:54 finish time (PR): NOPE, finished in 3:37:46, although it was still encouraging since 13:19 of that was devoted to flat-changing. I'm hoping to be ready to go sub-3:20 at my next Olympic-distance (The Nation's Triathlon on September 14).
• Sub-7:30 total transition time: YES! Officially 4:12 + 2:23 = 6:35. Unofficially (from when I exited the water) 5:10 + 2:23 = 7:33. Close enough.
• Sub-33:00 swim: NOPE. 36:34 (watch time 35:13), although it felt faster than that. Too much time wasted wandering around trying to sight and getting caught in traffic.
• Sub-1:10 run: YES! I mentally stayed in the race, walked only at the water stops, and finished the (fortunately flat) run with a blazing (for me) time of 1:09:34.

So, a mixed bag of results, but it's all good! I enjoyed the race, particularly the lovely river swim and the challenging bike course that kept me on my toes every second: working on the flats, climbing and cussing, avoiding crazy riders, swooping around turns, and screaming down the descents just as fast as I dared. Then doing it again for a second loop! Fun! Plus I briefly got to see Brian and Bob and DC Rainmaker and Jeanne!

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Update: I should make a special mention that a member of the management team for the race emailed me afterwards and asked me if I had any reactions or comments, so I sent along a few recommendations for improvements for next year. That's the sign of a management team that's on its toes and doesn't rest on its laurels! Bravo! The Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon race is highly recommended and I think it will get better every year.

Columbia 2008: Always a surprise

My fourth journey through the Columbia Triathlon course - I went in (after 6 weeks of pneumonia and coughing) expecting it to be a horrible day and end with an ignominous DNF, and instead I had a fantastic fun time!

I may not go into a lot of detail here about the race - if you're a prospective entrant for another year looking for information, you may want to look at my three previous years' reports.

It started in the usual way with the 90-minute drive to Columbia, checking in at the Expo, and racking the newly lean and mean (note no behind-the-seat bottle rack), with compact cranks and red accents for speed, Buttercup:

The terrain of the transition area is as challenging as the rest of the course, with steep entrances and exits. My rack this year was right by the swim entrance near those white tents, which meant a long slow run out with the bike up the hill in the background. This is only a fraction of the ~2200 bikes that would be there on race day.

Then dinner was a lovely gathering at the Tomato Palace again with my training buddies Jim and Dave and many of the crowd from Mid-Maryland Triathlon. Great folks!

On race day I kept telling everyone I was likely to pull out after the swim or bike and just go hang around the finish line and see my buddies cross it. That plan was firmly in my mind.

Then I unexpectedly had a great swim (I think I'm finally learning how to draft!) and saw a 33:xx time when I came out of the water. I laughed and grinned broadly and woo-hooed to the spectators all the way up the chute from the water to the bike rack. Hey, this was FUN!! 2:02 per 100 yard pace the whole way. PR swim, where the heck did THAT come from!??

OK, do the transition in a leisurely fashion, turn on the Garmin, spray on some SPF 50 sunblock in Holly's honor, and give Buttercup a pat. "Here we go, girl!"

The satellite map makes the bike course look deceptively simple.

As the new course record-holder Chris Lieto said: "The bike course is nothing but ups and downs and rights and lefts. There was not even a stretch of road that was straight or flat. You are either climbing a hill, descending, or winding your way through a wooded countryside. Beautiful but challenging."

I watched my heart rate fairly closely on the bike course and tried to keep from spiking it into the Red Zone, and stay under 170, and was largely successful. I stayed seated and spun up every hill, which was made much easier with the new range of lower gears on my compact cranks.

I also ate 5 Clif Bloks, 2 salt caps, and one gel, which seemed about right finishing up with a good amount of energy.

You'll see my speed and heart rates are inversely correlated - work hard on the slow uphills, and recover on the screaming downhills. Other than those fast downhills, my heart rate stayed mostly above 150, so I was working relatively hard, though certainly not pushing it to my maximum. My top recorded speed was 36.8 mph, which is quite fast enough for me, thanks, I get too nervous at the squirrely tri-bike behavior at those speeds.

Strangely enough, I rolled into T2 and saw something like 1:45 on my watch, and was still feeling happy and elated! Hey, this is a fun day! I'm liking this! So I went through the transition again, took the time to reset my Garmin, and came out the other side at a jog feeling pretty good about life.

Between 1-2 miles of the run Jim and Dave passed me, in succession, and I yelled and joked with them. I told Dave, "I'm having a great day!" and he waved and shouted as he ran out of sight ahead. I kept jogging along and just walked the steep uphills (of which there are several on the course) and paid attention to try to keep my heart rate below 175 for the first 4 miles. I doused myself frequently with water to try to keep myself from gaining heat, but only had a couple small cups of Gatorade and lots of water since I had forgotten my salt caps and gels back at transition. Still, that worked fine, and I retained enough energy to pick up the pace on the downhills again approaching the finish when I felt safe to start to ignore my heart rate.

I did start coughing now and then, so there are still a few reminders that I'm not completely recovered from my lung ailments, but I could still jog relatively okay.

Came over the line in my 2nd fastest Columbia time (3:45) by only a minute - all of which I spent taking my sweet time in transition. 17/25 in my age group.

And it was sweet. One of the most unexpectedly fun days I've had doing a triathlon!

I did pay the price with some increased coughing for a day or so after the event, but now it's subsided again and I'm fully back on the road to Optimum Health. Though I am still carrying around a few pounds of reminders of not being able to do my workouts for the last six weeks, but let's not stress about it. I feel good.

Why, I think I may just do this triathlon thing again some time! Like, perhaps, in 3 weeks at Eaglemen half Ironman! See you there!

Eastern Shore Senior Games quick report

They need a better marketing person. Very small attendance at an otherwise good event!

40 km bike race, 9AM: 3rd place overall, 2nd place woman - out of 5 total riders, 2 of which flatted. And 1st female 50-54, of course. Average speed only 16.2 mph, mainly because I rode with a 70-year-old the first half to keep her company (she was going to withdraw from the race because she felt 'out of her league', but we all insisted that she do it) and the second half it rained hard. Yes, I brought home a cycling medal in my first real bike race! So I hit my Goal #2. And Goal #3!

5 km running race. 1PM: 1st place woman, out of 1 female entrants. (Well, there was a 70-year-old female entrant who didn't show up for the start). And 1st female 50-54, of course. Smallest official race field that I've ever done! About 6 runners total (with me finishing DFL behind all the guys). I was skeptical about the course distance (2 laps around the Salisbury University campus) but I checked it against the satellite maps (forgot my Garmin at home, oh no!) and got a distance of 3.09 miles. Close enough. Time 29:19 on course, which would make it my 2nd fastest 5k ever! (Hello to Peter who ran today and learned about the event on my blog!). I got a 1st place medal! Felt good at the finish, though I ran hard, and so I hit goals #2, #3, and #4.

Had a great day, did NOT race like a dipsh!t, kept the rubber side down and feel like I can run a reasonable (I said reasonable, not necessarily fast - my butt muscles were cramping!) ten miler at Cherry Pit tomorrow.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Valentine's Day 5K

Heading off soon for my first race of the season in our 8-race local Championship Series. Time to declare my intentions:

• Dream goal: Under 28:26 (9:10 min/mile pace)


• Goal #2: 5k PR under 30:00 (9:40 min/mile pace)


• Goal #3: 5k PR (under 30:26, 9:49 min/mile pace)

I usually add a default "finish upright and smiling" goal, but in this case if I'm smiling before I reach the finish line I probably didn't run it hard enough. I'll save the smiles for after the finish line.

---

WOOO HOOO! I wasn't smiling immediately after the finish line (I was huffing and puffing and trying to breathe), but I certainly am now!!

Watch time: 28:02
Pace: 9:02 min/mile
5K PR reduced by 2 minutes 24 seconds

It's possible that the official time may be a second or two faster when it's posted.

It was a fairly large 5K race for this area and even though we arrived nearly an hour ahead of the start, we snagged one of the last spaces in the close-in parking area. Remember to arrive early for this club's races, they're well-run and popular!

The course was fully within a small park which was evidently once a working farm. I warmed up along the last mile of the course, which was helpful because it gave me a preview of what the finishing stretch would look like.

The course was intelligently planned, with the first mile along a 2-lane road which gave us runners a chance to spread out before we entered the paved trail which constituted the final two miles of the race.

It was moderately rolling terrain but no terrible steep hills. I started out running hard and I did everything I knew how to keep running as hard as I could the whole way.

I only looked at my watch once during the race, at the one-mile marker. It confirmed my impression of the pace: 8:55, which is a one-mile PR for me. Whew. OK, that means I have to keep running as hard as I can for 2.1 more miles.

I heard Joe Bator in my head: "Use your arms to pull yourself up the hills." I pulled.

I heard Debi Bernardes in my head: "Pick up your cadence." I picked it up.

I heard my training buddy Dave in my head: "Stop dragging your feet." I picked them up too.

I heard Bob Mina in my head: "You learned how to run in pain." I felt pain and ignored it.

I heard Kurt Egli in my head: "JFR." I just friggin' ran.

I left nothing on the course. I don't think I could have run it a single second faster today.

Interestingly, my heart rate (blue line) and pace (bottom red line) all rose and fell in lock-step with the grade (top red line). I tried to come over the top of each rise running strong, pick up the pace on the crest of the hill and then use the downhills to let gravity give me some free speed.

The result at the finish line was the fastest running I've done since my twenties (and I no longer have those finish times, so I may even be faster now). It was by far my best age-graded result (60%).

The good news is that a solid running PR sets off my 2008 with a bang!

The bad news is that my time predicts that I may be able to take off ten more minutes from my half marathon PR next month. I've still got a lot of miles of hard running yet ahead of me.

Bring it on.

The PR that almost got away

First of all, I wasn't sure I was even well enough to start this race. I went to Acute Care yesterday but they were closed! I didn't think two weeks of a sore throat (and a severe one for a couple of days) was bad enough to go to the emergency room for (and I didn't want to sit around there for four hours on Thanksgiving just to get a prescription) so I went home and continued with my own signature home remedies. I guess they worked because I finally woke up this morning able to swallow without pain! Hurrah! So it was Go Time for the 10k.

Old PRs:
Track mile, unofficial, 2006: 9:23
5K PR from November 2005: 30:26 (have only done a couple 5Ks since then and not for time)
10K PR going into today's race: 1:00:41 from 28 April 2007 in Oxford, Maryland
10K record on this course from 2006: 1:03:24

This race, the YMCA Run for Hospice, is a fairly casual small-town race that goes out of my own Y, so I try to do it every year. I was really hoping to finally break the one hour barrier on a 10K, and solicited some advice from my favorite triathlon email list, TRI-DRS.

Coach Joe Bator gave me some great advice: "Come Friday run 2 miles as a warm-up by running the first mile of the course and back again. You said there were alot of turns. When you are warming up look at the turns. Figure out the line that is straightest. Plan ahead move to the inside before the turn in anticipation of taking the shortest line. Just because there are turns it is no reason for you to run slower. Heck if done right a course with turns can be faster as long as they are not turnarounds that force you to stop. Finish your warm-up with a couple of short 10 step sprints. The goal of all the speed is to let your body know that your starting pace is not all out. It should feel slow after the quick sprints. Now - line up closer to the start than you are comfortable. Not all the way at the front, maybe the middle but closer than you are used to. Leave the watch, the water bottle, the extra jacket in case you get cold, the ipod, the gu or anything else that is not ABSOLUTELY needed, in the car."

I tried to follow most of this, but ended up with perhaps a 1.5-mile warmup because I was a little nervous about missing the start - they're kind of casual about starting times at this event.

We gathered, I moved up to the middle behind some skinny girls that were in the row right behind all the fast guys. The horn sounded and we all headed off around a series of turns in a residential neighborhood. I felt good at the start, sufficiently warmed up to run comfortably in the mid-pack and hugging the insides on all the curves. That worked!

Joe advised: "Run the first mile hard but not as fast as the earlier sprints. After the first mile settle in with those around you, if you see someone who seems to be breathing hard then you pass them. If someone seems to be not working hard and having a good time, pass them clearly you want it more than they do."

PR 1 mile split from Garmin: 8:59 - 24 seconds faster than my previous track mile PR!

I caught a glance of this and knew it was an unusually fast start for me, but I just tried to hold the pace steady and stay right there. Down the highway shoulder - I passed one younger girl and about half a mile later she passed me back, but for most of the rest of the race I was running mostly by myself with the other runners a couple hundred yards up the road ahead - which seemed too far to try to catch. Using other people to push myself forward wasn't going to work at this small race. I was running alone.

Off the highway and into a semi-rural residential area that I've run in often. The roads are rutted and uneven and that slowed me down slightly. Mile 2 in 9:30, Mile 3 in 9:39. I was running at a high effort level, heart rate well in the mid-170s.

Quick time check at the halfway mark:

Time at 3.1 miles on Garmin: 29:10 on my watch (or 29:05, below). The good news is that was a huge 5k PR and I'd finally broken 30 minutes for a 5K decisively! The bad news is that it was an unofficial time, and the even worse news was that I would have to keep running just as hard as I had up to that point to have a chance of breaking an hour for the 10k.

In the second half it started to get difficult to hold the pace. I worked hard to keep my head in the game and retain my focus. I kept reminding myself to use my arms, pull myself along, keep my cadence high by keeping my arm movements high.

I was promising myself all kinds of crazy stuff too. I reminded myself this was probably my last event of the year - finish this one well for the year and I had a long break with no events. I told myself that if made a PR I wouldn't have to run at all until NEXT YEAR. Heh. I lied.

Joe said: "If you mouth is pasty take a sip of water to wet it otherwise skip the water stops. You don't need it for 6 miles and it will just slow you down. Once you get to mile 4 pick up the pace. This is the mile we tend to slow down on, it is to far from the finish to get the pull and easy to lose focus. So FOCUS."

Mile 4 marker arrived with the one and only water stop. My mouth was indeed pasty, my throat was dry, and my breath was getting a bit ragged. I allowed myself the luxury of slowing down to get one Dixie cup, took one sip and swished my mouth out with the rest and kept running. Maybe five or ten seconds lost. Back to running hard. Glance down to check my pace - a little too slow. Pick up the effort level now. Keep the turnover high. Dig deep for the final miles.

Back out on the highway towards the finish line. Mile 5 seems to take forever. I pass one guy who has stopped to fix his shoe but he trots easily past me when he starts again. I feel resentful of the people jogging along easily at this pace when I'm averaging 177 bpm heart rate just to maintain it. But I keep the effort going nevertheless. I did my best to remember what Joe said for the final stretch: "Once you hit mile 5 you only have 1.2 to go and the .2 doesn't count, anyone can run that. Use your arms and pull."

Hmm, in the last 3/4 mile we had to re-cross the highway we had been directed to cross earlier which now put us on the wrong side. I'm puzzled. I'm still running hard and preparing to kick it into a sprint for the final half mile. But then we enter the stream of walkers and strollers in the 5K event, which forces me out into the roadway against oncoming traffic to get around them.

Then I get to the final intersection. The policeman is slow in stopping the traffic and I proceed a few steps into the intersection to wait for the cars to fully stop rolling. Then the cop YELLS at me to get back behind the line and WAIT for him to tell me when I can cross the road. W. T. F.!?!? I've NEVER been yelled at by a hired cop for attempting to cross the road when I'm in a race! I'm standing by the roadside with the time ticking away and swearing under my breath.

Finally he lets us go, but I've lost my momentum and just do my best to run hard to the finish line over the last half mile, around the walkers filling the sidewalk. I get to the finish line and there is one guy standing there tearing off the strips on our bib numbers, but there was no finish clock and they never compile the race results anyway, so I'm not sure why he was doing that. I was spitting nails and swearing my head off to my training buddy who was waiting for me there - but then I caught myself and thanked the finish line guy nicely. The last mile (including the traffic stop) was my slowest by 24 seconds - and the last 0.2 miles was fully 27 seconds slower than last year.

PR watch time at finish line (6.19 miles on Garmin): 1:00:23 (or 1:00:31 at 6:20 miles, which may have included some walking after the finish line, below). 10 seconds faster than my best 10K since my 20s, and almost 3 minutes faster than my best time on this course.

I'm pleased with my effort level during this race and reviewing my heart rates tells me that I succeeded in keeping my focus high - after the first 3/4 mile my heart rate remained steadily between 175 and 178 except for a dip to 173 at the water stop and an increase on the final home stretch.

Now I think I need to find another 10K before the end of the year to lay that sub-1:00 goal to rest, finally. Of course, losing some more weight to make that running pace easier would always help, too!

I learned later that the Evil Cop had stopped just about everyone in the race at that intersection, including one of my triathlete buddies Jim Crowley who won the race. *shaking head*

2007 Marine Corps Marathon Race Report

First of all, Marine Corps Marathon has a reputation of being a flat race. The elevation chart for the current course supplied by the race organizers is a damnable lie. Let us disabuse anyone of that "flat" notion now:

Here's the race satellite map:


Official weather for the day - temperatures close to perfect but strong winds!

Temperature:
Mean Temperature 53 °F / 11 °C
Max Temperature 61 °F / 16 °C
Min Temperature 45 °F / 7 °C

Moisture:
Dew Point 36 °F / 2 °C
Average Humidity 54%
Maximum Humidity 77%
Minimum Humidity 30%

Wind:
Wind Speed 12 mph / 19 km/h (NW)
Max Wind Speed 26 mph / 42 km/h
Max Gust Speed 30 mph / 48 km/h

Here's my summary chart below. Take note of the distance measured by my Garmin. 26.7 miles is a full half mile long! I always try to run the tangents, but in a course that crowded (and it was crowded with walkers three and four abreast the whole entire freaking way, and in many places the course was squeezed down to only one lane by spectators or at water stops) I'm sure I ran an extra half mile to get around their roadblocks. Which is enough for me to resolve to stick with smaller races in the future if I'm running for time! Especially when Garmin tells me my time for 26.2 miles was 5:17:01, nowhere close to my official race finish time of 5:23:51.

Here are some of the gory pace and heart rate details for you data geeks (and for my personal reference in the future):

Notice the around Mile 21.5 (just after the bridge) there was a long stop followed by a series of meltdown events? Next race I've decided that I'm just going to leave my digestive tract at home. It's really an annoying hassle to deal with its issues in the middle of a marathon, you know?

Finishing rank:
16577/20667 Total Finishers = 80.2%
5901/8057 Females = 73.2%
261/439 Women 50-54 = 59.4%

PR Reduction 27:47
Previous: 2004 Richmond Marathon, 5:51:38, 13:43 min/mile pace
Current: 2007 Marine Corps Marathon, 5:23:51, 12:21 min/mile pace

Disney Triathlon race report

This year's race was managed better than I expected. Of course, I didn't expect much, since the reports from last year made it sound like a regular Charlie-Foxtrot. And Disney events (in my experience) have a lot of flaws that often more than balance out the fun of having them at Walt Disney World.

I enjoyed the race. That said, I wouldn't advise anyone to do it who wasn't staying at the WDW Fort Wilderness Campground. Staying on site made the day much much easier - while staying off-site probably made pre-race set-up and getting to the site on race day a colossal pain. Riding the bike to rack it, and walking to the start the next morning in 5 minutes from our campsite (instead of dealing with endless shuttle buses) was a great way to start the day.

Lessons learned: Yes, it's three different activities. Plus transitions. Hang in there and keep racing until you cross the finish line. Work on those bike cornering skills. Stay cool.

Swim 1500m/1640 yards: 44:01 (2:41/100 yards)
6/10 Athenas over 40
15/21 Women 50-54

I felt pretty calm before the start. Some of the women racked around me in transition were going absolutely insane over the tight conditions. I just set up my stuff quietly and got away from them as soon as I possibly could and found a quiet place to sit before the start - which isn't easy when they have crazy loud announcing going on all morning since well before dawn.

I was happy to be in the first wave and get going first thing. I wore a noseclip for the first time in a triathlon swim since there was some possibility of toxic amoebas in the 84-degree water. It was also my first non-wetsuit swim in a triathlon.

I started off in the back on the right and it was a big wave - men 50 and over and women 45 and over. There was a very shallow, casually slow wade-out and it took a long time to start swimming.

Then the nose clip (and perhaps also the very warm water) started making me feel short of breath. I left the nose clip on and kept swimming, but I slowed down a bit to get my breathing regulated.

When I tried to move up again I was still in a mass of swimmers. Lots and lots of them, the most crowded swim that I've been in yet. Lots and lots of breaststrokers, too, who take up lots of room in the water. I caught a hard kick to the chest from one Clydesdale. After that I was a bit more cautious about other swimmers and probably spent too much time trying to avoid them rather than just swim faster.

I found it difficult to sight most of the way, too. The horizon was just a featureless treeline, and the lake was still fairly dark. The only time we had a really good object to sight off of was when we crossed the end of the swim course and swam straight for the tall Contemporary Resort.

I stayed in my comfortable zone for most of the swim, treating it as a warmup. There was no wind, no waves, and no current. Perhaps I was a bit too casual and lackadaisical about the swim, because I finished over 7 minutes slower than I had swum the same distance at Annapolis (although in a wetsuit) just two weeks earlier.

I was slightly disappointed to see a 43-something on the clock when I came out of the water, but I shrugged it off, since I really was just there to have fun. Forget it and trot through the very long, convoluted transition and try not to lose too much time.

Here's an approximate map of the swim course - I wish my Garmin were waterproof so that I could wear it and see where we really went, and what parts of the course really slowed me down.


T1: 6:25
6/10 Athenas over 40
16/21 Women 50-54

Again, I was fairly casual about T2, though I trotted through the whole transition zone and didn't have to deal with wetsuit removal. I took time to turn on my Garmin, strap it on, put on a bike jersey and bike gloves, and set out. Then despite my fantastic rack position right at the bike exit I learned to my dismay we still had a super-long run before we got to the mounting zone.

By the way, the only officials that I saw during the race at any time were in the transition zone. If there were any out on the bike course or the run course, I sure didn't see them.

Bike 36 miles: 2:04:10
Garmin: 2:03:28 for 36.17 miles or 17.57 mph (PR pace for triathlons!)
Average heart rate 159 bpm
2/10 Athenas over 40
7/21 Women 50-54

Once I got on the bike I felt great! The first mile or two was a "no passing" zone. This didn't hinder every jerk who had an aero helmet from the 3 or 4 waves after me from heading out at top speed and zooming past anyone who might be a hair slower than them. There seemed to be no enforcement of the "no passing" zone other than the roadside signs. I took it fairly easy starting out and then picked up my pace once we were out on the open highway.

Most of the course was fairly flat roads with good pavement, but there were a few peculiarities.

Bike course elevation map from my Garmin (I have no idea why I lost all that elevation on the bike! I think the starting readings are a bit spurious).

At about 5 miles into the course we rode along the rightmost lane on a highway and then did a sharp reverse onto a ramp going the "wrong" way. Well, most people did. I managed to run my poor bike off the side of the road and into the sand and gravel and had to just ride it out until I could unclip and stop. Fortunately I was able to keep my balance and just pick up my bike and walk it over to the pavement and start again, but I felt more than a little foolish doing it. Then I recalled seeing Alberto Contador do a similar maneuver on his way to winning the 2007 Tour de France, and felt better.

I worked on keeping my heart rate steady in the 150-160 range and it ended up averaging 159, so I was putting forth a reasonably strong effort on the bike the whole way.

At one point a guy passing said to me "Fifty and over rocks!" which gave me a boost. I said, "That's right!"

Later about halfway in the course there was a sweeping left-hand downhill curve and I saw at least one speed demon had ridden it too fast and earned himself some painful road rash on his face and probably a trip in the ambulance.

For about ten miles of the ride I was leapfrogging with Mr. Macho Hair Shirt who had gold charms dangling from his neck and curly thick hair sprouting from his arms. Every time I passed him he would pick up his pace and pass me back, never saying a word, and then plant himself on the left side of the lane. At least twice cars that got stuck on the course amid the cyclists got blocked behind him, and then I got blocked behind the cars. He should have been awarded several blocking time penalties. I just used my annoyance to push faster and finally dropped him toward the end of the bike.

At the one water stop the volunteers handed out peculiar flip-top bottles of water that only held about 16 ounces and didn't fit in bottle cages. I filled my aerobottle with it and tossed it.

I worked on staying on top of my hydration (~70 ounces water), electrolytes, and energy (Clif Bloks) and did a pretty good job of it, I believe. I saw some people coming in to T2 carrying three full bottles of fluid on their bikes and knew they would regret it later.

T2: 3:20
3/10 Athenas over 40
12/21 Women 50-54

I was fairly casual about T2 also, taking the time to reset my Garmin for running.

Run: 82:00
Garmin: 1:22:03 for 6.29 miles or 13:02 min/mile
Average heart rate 171 bpm
2/10 Athenas over 40
17/21 Women 50-54

It was starting to get pretty warm on the run - the day's high was 86*F and the average humidity was 87%. Plus the run was held along paths in a wooded area which effectively blocked any wind from reaching us, and about 3/4 of it was in full sun.

It was a two-loop course with four out-and-back legs, which I thought would be horrible, but actually once I began it I liked the format. I was able to watch all the other runners on the out-and-back legs and see that they were jogging and walking with their mouths hanging open and with deadpan expressions on their face just as I undoubtably was. Yes, there was an armadillo roadkill along the course, which amused me in a sick kind of way.

I ran until my heart rate stayed at 175-176, and then walked until it dropped to 165. Then ran again. This process eventually resulted in more walking than running, but it kept me moving. It ended up averaging 171, so I kept the effort reasonably high.

I was also able to watch for other Athena-types who might be in my group. I didn't see too many on the first lap, but saw more on the second lap. I couldn't really be sure which lap they were on, though, but I kept my eye on them and I knew I'd be annoyed if I allowed any of them to pass me.

It was hot. Most people were doing a lot of walking. I saw one 30-ish guy down on the pavement with his eyes closed, being tended by 3 or 4 medics. At the water stops I was a bit annoyed to see the volunteers weren't handing out ice, but rather kept it behind the tables in a baby pool (keeping their own drinks cold?). I went around behind the tables and filled up cups of ice and dumped them down my shirt. I also kept drinking as much as I could and taking my electrolytes and Clif Bloks, which helped a lot.

Part of the course ran out along a grassy path that had been mown, but only to about 8 inches. It was quite uncomfortable to try to run on with tired legs. Simple attention to detail can make all the difference to the participant. Also that water stop was positioned at the end of the out-and-back leg, whereas if it had been at the start or middle of the leg we would have had two opportunities for water. The water stop volunteers seemed a little overwhelmed and understaffed.

At last I survived the run course and was able to turn left towards the finishing chute instead of back out on course for another deadly lap!

I was delighted to see Linae and Shawn cheering us along again as I approached the finish line! I looked around for them as soon as I crossed the line and collected my medal. I quickly found them as the skies opened up in a cloudburst. We headed under shelter and heard a few thunderclaps - I heard that the race was stopped but there were still much later finishers, so maybe that was a false report.

We hung out and chatted and caught up on things at the awards ceremony, where I was surprised and delighted to get a 3rd place award! That was great!! I was thinking there probably were only 3 or 4 finishers in my division as usual, but then when I saw the results later I was delighted to see it was out of 10 women in my division! Wow! That amazed me!!

All in all, a very fun day with a very surprising finish.

Overall: 4:19:55
3rd/10 Athenas over 40 (Hardware! Yeah!)
12th/21 Women 50-54 (A solid mid-pack finish for a nice change!)

Hmm, and 4th place was just 23 seconds behind me - good thing I stayed strong at the end! And 2nd place was only one minute ahead!! I can do better...!!!

Race Report: Inaugural Annapolis Triathlon

SUMMARY: Extremely well-managed inaugural event in a fantastic venue which should become a popular destination Olympic-distance triathlon. Highly recommended. I'll be back next year!

Official results:
Swim 1500m/1690 yd: 36:51 291st/377
T1: 4:47 310th/377
Bike 37 km/23.0 miles (race site says 38 km): 1:30:26 15.7? or 15.2 mph 325th/377
T2: 2:52 258th/377
Run 10 km/6.2 miles: 1:17:00 12:24 min/mile 337th/377
Total: 3:31:54.00
Overall gender place: 337th/370 female finishers (would have been 12/15 W50-54 AG)
Overall place: 1151/1223 finishers

LONG VERSION:

They couldn't have found a better small-town venue for a triathlon: Annapolis, Maryland, known as the sailing capital of the world: http://www.visitannapolis.org/ See local photos at the race website:
http://www.tricolumbia.org/annapolis.asp
and
http://nancytoby.blogspot.com/2007/09/preparing-for-annapolis-triathlon.html

PRERACE:

The logistics for this event were a bit daunting. T1 was at the City Docks in downtown Annapolis, adjacent to the US Naval Academy. As an old colonial town with narrow streets, a condition of the race permit was that participants would not park in town. Bike dropoff had to be done on Saturday via a ~1-mile bike ride into town. I heard there were return shuttles, but I walked back to the parking and T2 area at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial stadium.

Race morning came very early - I had a 3AM alarm at my house about an hour drive away from the stadium.I was glad to arrive early by 5AM since there was a traffic backup for entering and parking. (There was also a $5 daily fee for parking at the stadium, which slowed down entry, but unavoidable since the lots are operated by a commercial concern). I remembered to bring a flashlight, but my setup was delayed by the one management glitch of the day - organizers had not finished labeling the racks and I had to wait about 15 minutes for them to finish to set up my run gear. I boarded the shuttles on time before 6AM and we arrived just before dawn at the Town Dock.

I finished double-checking my bike and setting up my T1 gear. I got into my wetsuit - there was some question up until the last minute whether it would be wetsuit-legal, but water temperatures were finally reported at 77*F and all wetsuits were permitted. I also slathered exposed skin with Sea Safe anti-sea nettle lotion, just in case of running into nasty jellyfish tentacles in the water.

I was in the second-to-last swim wave and had a long time to hang out at the dock area, but it was so crowded with spectators that I had difficulty getting a good view of the course and the swim entrance and exit. Eventually it was our turn to start - the 40-45-year-old women and Athenas.

SWIM:

We walked over the timing mats and down onto a floating dock at water level and I jumped off into the water. There was zero wind and the water was completely calm. Surprisingly to me, no sea nettles were to be seen either. It felt warm but not overly warm - I was immediately comfortable and my pre-race anxiety melted away. The other women in the water were cheerful and excited and the race director joked that we were talking so much we wouldn't hear the start! But soon we set off. I had a few bumps with other swimmers but mostly stayed on the outside of the course. I felt very comfortable during the entire swim and used it as a relaxing warm up for the day. I enjoyed seeing all the yachts anchored nearby during the swim, and didn't have any difficulty with boat exhausts nor with jellyfish as I had feared. I swam smoothly and felt too warm a couple of times in my sleeveless wetsuit, but just stopped kicking and soon cooled off.

The sun was up high enough I didn't have difficulty sighting for most of the swim, except for the final leg where I had trouble seeing the swim exit against the clutter of buildings and masts in the background. Finally I realized I could see a mass of yellow volunteer tshirts and headed for that. There was a submerged stairway and expert volunteers helped us out of the water and I was on my way. Checked my watch - 36:xx was a couple of minutes slower than I had hoped but in the results it was actually my fastest leg of the day compared to the other competitors - now THAT is a brand new occurence for me, having a midpack swim finish, and my best leg! Plus despite some considerable pre-race anxiety it was probably my best swim ever in terms of confidence and control once I got in the water.

T2:

A fairly long jog through the entire transition area in my wetsuit, and I had many items on my "to do list". Finish removing wetsuit vest. Turn on Garmin. Sit down. Pull off wetsuit legs. Wipe off feet. Put on socks. Put on bike shoes. Stand up. Strap on Garmin. Put on bike jersey, bike gloves, sunglasses and helmet. Bag up wetsuit and all supplies and deposit labeled bag in box at end of rack for transport by volunteers to T2. Unrack bike, walk over timing mats, hit watch and Garmin buttons, mount up, and go! Surprisingly, all that only took 4:47, though it seemed much longer.

BIKE:

The first mile out of transition was a twisty route through the narrow streets of Annapolis. I felt great heading out and started out fairly fast for me. I had to yell out at a couple pedestrians wandering into the roadway (as did the volunteers). I had been concerned about the cobblestone streets, but actually they're flat interlocked brick which was no problem at all.

The course headed out of town on a broad highway for a couple of miles, past a big shopping mall, and then headed out on a rural highway for several miles to a loop and then back. (The bike course was not nearly as scenic as the swim and run.) Most of the way cyclists had a full lane coned off to ride in, or a wide shoulder, and the course was very well-staffed with volunteers, so despite the roads getting crowded with cars approaching 9AM they were kept well clear of the bikes on course.

The route seemed relentlessly hilly to me and I never seemed to get into a good rhythm. Most of the hills were short climbs and short descents so gaining speed on the downhill never seemed to help me much on the next uphill. My pace was up and down all over the place - my maximum speed was over 40 mph but that was balanced with many grueling turtle-like climbs. About halfway there was one particularly brutal incline with a short false flat followed quickly by another difficult uphill. My lack of hill training really showed and I burned up my quads on that sequence, plus I was having some unusual right knee pain (possibly from replacing my cleats recently).

I was happy to be heading back! It seemed strange to cycle into a different location for T2, and there was one nasty little uphill right at the end for a final send-off. I got my money's worth on that cycling workout!

T2:

Into a new transition area next to the stadium and a long long jog all the way through to the last rack on uneven grass was difficult! I was uncertain that I would be able to find my spot quickly since I had never seen it in daylight, but I scanned the ground for my hot pink towel and found it fast. There was plenty of space to rack my bike, and then I quickly swapped my bike shoes for running shoes, grabbed my visor and waistpack (containing my Clif Bloks and electrolyte capsules) and headed out.

RUN:

They had changed the run course which fortunately eliminated two of the worst hill climbs, but it still was fairly demanding in full sun and high humidity with no evaporation to help cool us. The new course looped several times around the stadium and would have been great for spectators. At first heading out on the uneven grass I stumbled and nearly fell but caught myself and carried on. Tried to stay on top of my fluids and energy and electrolytes early on and just keep up a steady jogging pace. I hadn't properly re-started my Garmin, and unfortunately there were no mile markers on the course, so I wasn't able to check my pace very well other than keeping an eye on my heart rate. There were numerous opportunities to see other runners along the looping course, and it would have made it more fun if I had known more people doing the race this year! I just tried to keep moving steadily until I had to walk on a couple of the steep uphills on the bridge and the approach. Coming into the stadium, approaching the Blue Angel plane, I was nipped at about 500 yards to go by a woman with a "41" on her calf, but then I saw a racewalker approaching the chute with a "40" on her calf and so I sprinted past her to maintain my position with a strong finish on the Navy 50-yard-line inside the stadium.

POST RACE:

They had great big shiny gold medals for finishers - very nice!

http://nancytoby.blogspot.com/2007/09/inaugural-annapolis-triathlon.html has a picture as well as the satellite image plots of the bike and run courses.

Watch time ended up at 3:32:00, so I missed the sub-3:30 finish that I had aimed for, but it was still a big 12 1/2-minute PR for me on an Olympic course. (Later I figured out that the bike leg was about 4 km shorter than the Columbia course, so that accounts for something like 10 minutes of that PR).

My average heart rate on the bike course was 157, and on the run course it was 165. I probably shouldn't bike harder than that in an Olympic-distance, but I can probably run a little harder in cooler temperatures.

I found my T1 gear bag easily, especially since I had marked it with colored tape.

I had to leave quickly to go home to relieve my husband of child-care duties, so I wasn't able to stay for the awards. I also found out later that I was the ONLY Athena 40+ finisher out of 1223 people who finished the full triathlon, so I took FIRST PLACE and I have some hardware waiting for me! Yahoo! Of course, I would have come in about 13/15 in my 50-54 age group, or 12/13 in the under-40 Athenas... But in 5 more years I would have been SECOND in the next (55-59) age group!! I just have to stick with it! You have to enter, show up, and finish the course to win!!

Note to self: 7 Clif Bloks on the bike and 4 on the run isn't enough, even for an Olympic distance. Plan and follow a better schedule for intake!

Note 2 to self: Swimming in the jogbra is fine (no chafing!), but buy a new one piece trisuit next year!

Inaugural Annapolis Triathlon

Just back from the Annapolis Triathlon, which was GREAT!

Too tired to write much of a race report right now. I'll update this post as I have energy to fill in the details.

Watch times:
Swim 1500m/1690 yd: 36:54 (2:15/100 yd)
T1: 4:56 (seemed longer! but the bike run-out was very short)
Bike 37 km/23.0 miles: 1:30:17 (15.28 mph)
T2: 2:50 (huge run with the bike to the very last rack).
Run 10km/6.2 miles: 1:17:01 (12:25 min/mile)
Total: 3:32:00

Official results of 377 female starters:

337 NANCY TOBY 50 SAINT MICHAELS MD 3:31:54.00 291 36:51 310 4:47 325 1:30:26 15.7 316 2:12:03 258 2:52 337 1:17:00 12:24

And FIRST PLACE ATHENA 40+!!! (and only Athena finisher over 40 - but hey, you have to enter, show up, and finish, to WIN!). Wow, guess I should have stuck around for the awards ceremony!

That's a PR for me for Olympic courses by 12:23! But the only other Olympic course I've done is Columbia, and the 4 km longer bike course there accounts for about 10 minutes of the difference. But I'd say the bike courses are comparable in how relentlessly hilly they both are!

My bike satellite view (I have no idea why click-to-enlarge isn't working right. Hey, we're talking Blogger here):


Bike course elevations from my Garmin:

My heart rate and pace on the combined bike and run courses:

The satellite view of my run:

A close-up of the convoluted run course around the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (obviously the satellite photos were taken on a different day, or you would be able to see the bike-run transition area!).

Race day weather: No wind at all for the swim, hurrah! Wind picked up on the bike course so that we had a headwind on the return leg. Then nearly full sun and negligible evaporation on the run equals a hot slog.

Beautiful gold medals!