As I have mentioned many times recently, I was completing my first Olympic triathlon this past weekend (Sunday). Good news and bad news. Bad news: the swim was canceled due to a sewage spill in the Potomac (grossss). Good news: The “triathlon” was still amazing and I did extremely well, especially on my nemesis the bike! Here is the full recap:
I was staying with my awesome friend Carmen (who has completed a Half Ironman and is doing another one in October- pretty much amazing!)and at 4:30am on race day, we found out the swim was canceled. A lot of friends asked if I was angry, disappointed, relieved… and honestly I was just disappointed… I had trained for the swim (I’m not a swimmer but trying) so I wanted to do it! But there may be another chance… more on this later.
So race morning we still arrived early because transition was still set to close at 6:55am. Unfortunately I was in one of the last corrals (31 out of 34) so this meant a lot of waiting around. The elites went off at 7:00, I don’t think I started until close to 8:30. Luckily Pat was there to keep me company along with Carmen and her crew. Note: In the ten minutes before we walked over to line up I think I went to pee at least 4 times, can you say nervous bladder!?
We simulated coming out of the water in groups of 10 and ran to transition… I started getting super nervous as soon as I started running… would my bike hold up? Would it take me two hours? Would I wreck!? I took my time getting my gloves on and bike together and set off for the bike start! Note: I was one of probably few people not clipping in for an Olympic triathlon… goal for next season though! The bike included a double loop and was mostly flat… the course became very crowded at parts and the keeping to the right unless you are passing rule was definitely not enforced. I hate when slow riders are in the middle of the road, please move over!!!!!!!!!! Grr! There was also a no passing section which is frustrating because you get stuck behind slow bikers but I followed the rules and did not pass (unlike some people). I didn’t see Pat on the bike at all which was weird because I had told him my projected time and we figured out a couple good spots for him to sight me.
I felt pretty good on the bike but had no clue about my time, so I headed on the run feeling pretty good. I began slowly picking off and passing a lot of girls in my age group that had passed me on the bike (yay me!). I get passed on the bike A LOT, but did most of the passing on the run. Felt good on the run but got a little bored sans headphones and tunes. Also Nation’s Tri boasted of a scenic DC course, a majority of the run was through a parking lot, not the scenes I was looking forward to it. I had taken two gels on the bike and shot blocks to start the run so I fueled with water and some sort of sports drink that was offered along the course. Note: I had those sports drinks, they taste super sugary and I don’t like them, but since my blood sugar tends to drops easily while exercising, I try to take a sip or two.
Coming into the finish I was able to sight Pat and waved and he snapped a couple pics. I finished strong and felt great afterwards… great energy not tired or dehydrated! Yay for figuring out the nutrition I need during an intense workout. I have no idea how some people take zero nutrition during a 2-3 hour workout, your body needs fuel so give it some!
Results:
40km (25 mile) bike ride: 1:28:04
10k (6 mile) run: 55:20
I absolutely killed it on the bike. I had predicted it would take me closer to 1:45:00 which is why I had missed Pat on the bike course. The run was basically what I had expected since the first mile off the bike is usually a challenging one until your legs stabilize. I felt good during it and know I could’ve pushed myself a little harder so hopefully next time will be better.
Very proud of myself and how I did Sunday at Nation’s Tri but definitely curious as to how I would’ve done with the swim included. I predict the swim would’ve taken me 35-40 minutes. But why guess how I would’ve done when I can find a small local tri to do in two weeks!? That’s right I’m signing up for another Olympic triathlon to finish off the season. This is a very small tri run out of New Jersey… more info soon! And thanks for all the well wishes Sunday!