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| the "real world triathlete" house |
What a weekend! I went from having nowhere to stay to being part of the inaugural season of The Real World: Triathlete -Choptank Edition. (And for anyone reading this with the means, it really would make a great TV show.) There's nothing better than showing up for a race and staying with a bunch of chill people who are all on the same schedule with the same goal.
The Accommodations:
A bed, a bathroom, a kitchen, a great roommate, and fun, friendly housemates with this playground:
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| The Pool |
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| The Choptank |
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| Pool table, Foosball, ping pong |
I mean, seriously. Does it get better than that?
Arrival:
It took about 4.5 hours with rush hour traffic but I left with my errands done, the freezer stocked with ice (for an ice bath as soon as I got home), and my apartment clean. Knowing that I had nothing to do when I got home took a lot off my mind. I arrived at the house around 8:30pm and was starving. Unpacked and heading to get dinner. Found it a little more challenging in Cambridge to find gluten-
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| I was so excited when I spotted this guy about an hour and a half from Cambridge! I love that his car and bike are color-coordinated. ;) |
free restaurant options than in New Orleans... was a little surprised by that. Went for Shrimp and Grits with the shrimp sauteed instead of fried, and a grilled ceasar salad minus the croutons at High Spot... Really tasty! Felt a little awkward ordering a meal sized salad AFTER finishing my entree but omgtriathletehunger!! #thestruggleisreal Hung out and watched the soccer game for a bit with some other guys in town for the race, then headed to the only open grocery store in the area (it was already 10pm), Walmart, to pick up a gallon of water, fresh produce, and breakfast supplies. I was surprised to find that Cambridge was a little shady... when my credit card was declined due to a fraud alert based on my travel, the cashier was shocked that I returned with a working card. "90% of the time they don't come back!" Also got run over by a guy stocking shelves. There's a first for everything! At least I didn't get seriously hurt. Next time, I'll just pack a cooler with groceries before I leave. It was hard to find decent supplies.
The Day Before:
I awoke at 5:55am. I was hoping for a little more than 4
hours of sleep, but the temperature control left something to be desired and my hip flexors were cranky. If I stay in this house again, I'm bringing my own sheets/blankets. There was only a comforter to sleep under so I was constantly
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| Baby's First night away from home alone! |
wrestling with being too hot/too cold. It all worked out though... Got a nice 25 mile bike in on the run course with Ed, Doug,
Jeremy, and Cindi and got to check out transition. After that, Cindi and I headed to Athlete Check-in. I didn't realize until that day that the expo and check-in were at different locations. Probably should have read the Athlete Guide after all.
Jeremy, and Cindi and got to check out transition. After that, Cindi and I headed to Athlete Check-in. I didn't realize until that day that the expo and check-in were at different locations. Probably should have read the Athlete Guide after all.
After Cindi took care of some bike maintenance issues and we were all checked in, we grabbed a late lunch at Cranium's at the Beach and ended up with this pile of goodness...
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| Carb and bacon loading?? |
Did I mention it was really hard to find good gluten-free options in Cambridge? After that heap of tots, I wasn't hungry, so I saved my salmon and roasted brussels sprouts for dinner.
One more trip to the grocery store (I forgot my coconut butter packets!!!) and we headed back to the house to chill for the rest of the evening. Lounged by the pool (finally met the elusive Tobias Fehlhaber!), packed for the race, and played a brief game of Apples to Apples. I foam-rolled before bed. Tried to sleep by 9:30. Eventually fell asleep around midnight, I think. I was too excited!
The Morning of:
I can't believe I woke up as alert as I was! 4am has never been easier with so many others on the
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| Thass alotta bikes |
same schedule. I ate 3 hard-boiled eggs and a banana and headed to transition. Forgot my pre-race tunes back in Jersey.
I set up transition and headed down to the water with Cindi for a practice swim and briefly said hi to Gappy, then went to wait at the swim start. Heads up: the cannon blast at the start of the pro waves is LOUD. Especially when standing right next to it. Ate my espresso love Gu 15 minutes before the swim start. Maintained my calm.
The Swim:
Apparently we were getting into the water as the tide was going out. Everyone was complaining about the swim. I didn't notice a problem aside from the strong fish odor at the turnaround. You could feel the current standing at the start, but the water was calm and clear of jellies (YAY!). In a tidal river, I'd say, as someone who has never experienced this course, conditions were ideal with the exception that it was not wetsuit legal as the water temp was 78 degrees (F) at the start.
I stayed to the back of the pack but this was actually to my detriment... it turns out I was actually faster than some of the others in my wave and a wall of them
were in my way for a while. I finally circled around them and got into my groove. I still find it incredibly irritating when people try to mow me down while swimming. Once you touch me once, buddy, you know I'm there. Go. Around. And if you think I'm swimming erratically to the right and left, take a second look at the people I'm trying to get around in front of me. Weak swimmers, please stay to the side and back of your wave. It makes it much easier for the faster folks to get around. Once I got through the pack of guppies, the swim was smooth sailing. I stayed long as much as possible and swam until my fingers dragged the bottom. There were about 200 yds of that. I couldn't decide whether to walk and tire my legs or not. Eventually with about 50 yds to go, I went with high knee walking. It was the most anti-climactic swim finish ever with all these people plodding slowly through knee-deep water. "I'm al. most. there. I'm getting there. I can see you..." I think you get the point. Overall, though, I accomplished my swim goals: I passed people, made the cut-off, and none of lifeguards had to ask if I was ok (that last one was a first!). Swim time: 56:56, 2:56/100m Div Rank: 75
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| The most anticlimactic swim finish ever. (photo courtesy of Zachary Rose) |
T1: I FORGOT I WANTED TO TAPE MY BIKE TOOLS TO MY FRAME!! So I took a few minutes to do it in T1. I only took a patch kit, two cartridges, drive head, and tire levers, hoping for the best on this sunny, flat course. Thanks, Ed, for the electrical tape! Couldn't have done it without that! Next time, I need to remember a cycling jersey. Even if it's hot, the pockets are so useful. Ate a beet ginger squeeze pack, sprayed on more sunscreen. Pretty sure I ate something else (probably a Gu) but race amnesia has kicked in already. Forgot a towel to wipe down with (especially my feet... grass and sand clung for dear life). 7:02
The Bike:
I started my endurolytes and dessicated adrenal on the bike. Two of each every hour. It was great to hear Douglas Eichhorn shout my name on the bike out! I look forward to meeting him in Lake Placid!
Around mile 30 is when the horsefly from hell decided to hitch a ride on my back. (WHAT KIND OF HORSE FLY TRAVELS AT 18MPH???) After five vicious, hungry bites (and the marks to prove it) he moved on to munch on someone else. This was probably when my right hip flexor decided to have a temper tantrum (the burning! oh, god, the burning). I babied it as much as I could. I made it through the aid stations grabbing water at every one, determined to stay hydrated. I had two sport bottles on the rear of my bike, one with berry UCAN, one with Endura. My Aero bottle was filled with water. As I finished it, I refilled it with the rear bottles. Everything was great until I switched to the UCAN. Cramping upper GI within 10 minutes of the first swallow. I thought maybe it was a fluke and tried a couple more times. Every sip made it exponentially worse. So I decided to sacrifice my fluids and do my best to load up as I rode by the aid stations. (I guess I'll stick to Lemonade flavor) For the rest of the ride, my upper GI system protested. I had Gus and Honey Almond butter packets on my bike which worked great. I had also tucked perpetuem solids in my sports bra (orange flavor) and had two on my ride. Ate at least two Gus. Did not want to get hungry because I knew if I did, I would bonk on the run. I felt like I did a much better job than Princeton at keeping up on my hydration and nutrition on the bike. Side note: my aero bottle started to lean forward, as I rode, making it difficult to get to the fluid when it was getting to the last third of the bottle. Need to check on solutions for this. I was concerned it would fall off completely.
I watched the first two ambulances cruise by with sirens wailing around mile 31, shortly after almost getting hit by a car turning onto the course, and then having said car cruise in front of me, blocking the road going 10 mph. Finally, she pulled over and let us pass. There was another ambulance a few miles later, and yet another a few miles after that. I sincerely hope everyone was ok. Sadly, there was no saving my triathlon spirit animal, the turtle... he was crushed on the course about halfway through. Perhaps that implies that I have leveled up. Perhaps my new spirit animal is the Horsefly... a pesky little bugger that refuses to give up.
At mile 40, not only did my saddle become intolerable (the burning. oh god, the burning), but I watched a woman flip her bike into a cornfield. She was ok... I think she just got distracted for a moment. She got up and kept riding. The pavement got rough around mile 50 or so, and I used any opportunity to stand on my bike, but with such a flat course, those opportunities really didn't come. I was so happy to see transition and be able to give my crotch a rest!! And I just realized I never peed for over three hours...
3:12:52, 1st split 18.18/h, 2nd 16.65/h, total 17.42mph, Div Rank: 61
T2: Right hip flexor was threatening to buckle under my weight. I was as gentle with it as I could be, knowing that if I kept my running form solid, it would be ok. Getting up and down in transition was rough. Sprayed more sunblock and chugged water on the way out of T2. 4:07
The Run:
By the time I hit the run, it was over 90 degrees with 99% humidity. By the time I finished, the heat index would be over 100. I could see them shuffling along as I was returning on my bike, "The Zombie Apocalypse" as a fellow competitor described it. But now I had joined the shuffling masses. It was one of the most unenthusiastic group of competitors I have ever encountered. I tried to lighten the mood as we passed the cremation center. "Hey, everyone! I guarantee it's hotter in there!" And some grumpypuss mumbled back, "But at least they're dead." If you'd rather be dead than running a race, I pity you, but stay out of my way because you are NOT going to rain on my slow-moving, stinky, sweaty parade! I stopped and chatted with people along the way when I needed a break. It was great to find some other people who were happy to be out there. Like the guy who blew his back out a couple weeks ago and decided to do the race anyway and walk the run because he didn't want to miss out. And the 85 year old, Bob, who wouldn't accept it when I told him what a celebrity he was and how much he inspired us all. And Steve from Chicago, who I chased telephone poles with for the last five miles or so. I shared my endurolytes with a guy from the Phillipines who was having a lot of cramping and trouble with the heat. I was glad when I passed him later and he said he was feeling better. There were so many more, I can't remember their names. They agreed that we were racing with a rather surly crew and were relieved to find someone light-hearted to talk to. It was awesome to hear Jeremy call my name and tell me not to give up at mile 3. And at some point, Tobias said hi. I saw Gappy and Cindi, too. And as I ran, I found myself overcome by gratitude for this new tribe I have become a part of. I feel like I have an extended family in the triathlete community, and the more races I do, the more family I discover.
I upped my endurolytes to two every half hour or so and chugged water and stuck ice down my shirt at every rest stop. I have never chugged so much during a race. And I never felt that I overdid it. The heat was intense, and the sun was relentless. I started drinking coke around mile 6 and it was like nectar of the GODS. It also made me belch like a truck driver which helped with the upper GI distress from the UCAN. By the last half of the run, my tummy was back to normal, and random strangers were applauding my burps. #talent
At mile 9 or 10, a naked 4 year old boy gave me a high five. I felt awkward about it, but are you going to be the one to refuse a 4 year old when they try to high five you?
Folks had sprinklers running for us to go through and I couldn't help but wonder if that was race legal. What happened to not accepting assistance? But by that point, I didn't care enough to think about it too much. My feet were soggy for most of the run. I have the blisters to prove it.
At the last mile, I rallied those around me. "OK, GUYS. WE HAVE ONE MILE LEFT! WE CAN
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| You can see the sun blazing on my freshly earned medal |
2:52:39, 1st split 12:43/mi, 2nd 13:38/mi, total 13:10/mi Div Rank: 59
Post Race Wrap-up:
I got to my phone and found my daily Bible verse:
I laughed at how fitting it was, as I felt like I just ran through Death Valley and survived with a smile.
It blows me away that God chose one of the seemingly most solitary sports to show me that we are never truly alone. We are, in fact, supported everywhere we go if we only open our eyes, hearts, and minds to see it.
Total:
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| The Double Rainbow I spotted after dinner after the race |
Div Rank: 59
Gen Rank: 411
Overall Rank: 1539
Time: 7:13:36
Later that evening:
I stopped back at Cranium's to grab a burger to go and ended up chatting with the bartender who was inspired to do her very first triathlon! I look forward to hearing about her first race! A little while later, the Real World crew and I headed to Ocean Odyssey for some seafood. Raw oysters for me is becoming a post-race tradition. After dinner, as if adding beautiful punctuation to a perfect weekend, the skies opened up, the rain poured down, and I was greeted by a gorgeous double rainbow arching over my head and visible from horizon to horizon. I also spotted a herd of deer grazing on my way back to the house with a very unique member. (photo below)
The Days After:
Ice bath was great Monday morning. Ice pick through the brain hit with nausea at about 2pm Monday. A gallon of water, Endura, Eggdrop soup, pork fried rice, and 11 hours of sleep took care of it. Massage Tuesday morning was perfectly timed. On to Ironman Maryland!
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| The mostly white deer I snapped a pic of as it was crossing in front of my car post-rainbow. Seriously... is this real life? |
