Sunday July 13, 2008
4am: wake up
4:15am: Bill, Candy, Andy, and I are in Bill's kitchen in Jamestown. I ask Andy how he feels as he is preparing for the race. He says "What did I get myself into?"...I said I have been asking myself the samething for many days now. Candy & Andy are professional triathletes who rock the XTERRA circuit. Candy is not racing today, and is enjoying the spectatorship and support system for not only her husband, but me as her athlete whom she coaches and also Bill, who is an athlete who Candy coaches in swimming in Boston. Bill and his wife, Suzanne and their 3 sons were very kind to homestay us for the night before the race. Bill is also racing, and he could not sleep at all. I slept in 2hr intervals throughout the night....but had the ocean waves as background noise. (the real deal, not the tape player kind)
4:35am: we leave Jamestown
5:05am: we are in a traffic line waiting to park at Wheeler Beach/ The race start.
5:20am: sunglasses fall off my head, lens pops (Rx) out, get in line for the John, and try to fix my sunglasses (I can't race without them)...bit of a panic here.
5:45am: line up my cliff blocks on the bike, insert my water and accelerade sport bottles on the bike...everything else goes into the black bag. "Only one wheel and your black bag should be touching the ground in transition" the race director announces. (uhh...not use to that!)
5:55am: warm up swim in the ocean.... not too bad...actually wanted to stay out there and just keep swimming. but I would get a penalty if I don't show up in time for my wave. Besides I wanted to see Andy and Patti start (waves before mine, Bill was 15 mins after mine).
6am: there goes Andy and all the Pros
6:15am: there goes Patti and her wave...time to check in for mine.
6:30am: My race starts....in the Narragansett Ocean. Yes- there are waves (whatever), yes- its a bit choppy (whatever), yes- there is seaweed..I think plankton too (whatever), yes- I am surrounded by too many feet and arms (whatever). I am just happy I am not going against a current like I did the week prior down the Jersey Shore.
side note: I took a bay swim on 4th of July 6am. My friend Bill kayaked as I swam. We decided to do a mile roundtrip. The first half mile was against the current (felt like I was on a water treadmill) and it took me over 40 mins, but when I turned around and headed back to complete the mile... it only took about 10mins! Its a good workout for me... but poor Bill didn't get much of one on the kayak waiting around for me.
During the swim, I am thinking.. maybe I should've counted the buoys, my form is soo off, the wetsuit feels much heavy on the arms, but I like wearing the wetsuit in the ocean, did I put enough glide on my neck so I won't get the chafing?, and then all of a sudden...this image came into my mind of Bruce Lee (!!??!)...I saw a very brief clip on him last week on TV as I surfed thru the channels one night. So it was Bruce Lee in an interview stating "...to become the water, the water becomes the tea pot, the water becomes the shape of the cup, you must be fluent like water and become it.." and then at the end of his depth interview he gave a big smile. Now I am not saying I became the water .... but I felt pretty good out there until I was coming back and the sunrise was right in my eyes, and then I came up on a guy from the previous wave so fast I didn't see him, until he kicked me right in the face!" that whole Bruce Lee philosphy went out to sea... I didn't kick him back.. I just flew by him. I am not a fast swimmer.... I consider myself a patient one, who still needs a bit of tweaking on my form and speed work...and maybe I need to "become the water".
7:20am: out of the water and into T1. I am hobbling across the sand b/c my ankle is still not completely healed. I took advantage of the wetsuit strippers. I got into T1 to my bike fast, but as I open my bag... I see there is something I forgot to put on my bike (the air pump). So I fiddled with that...and that took me a long time. I soo much wanted to ditch it, but I knew Murphy's Law would be issued if I left it behind.
7:26am: start my way onto the bike ride for 56 miles. The first 5-10 miles of the bike was absolutely beautiful! We rode along the beaches of RI, and I could see the coves and Newport bridge in the background. We biked through many different terrains and scenery throughout the 56miles. From Beaches, Pastures, Farms, Pine Forrests, Hometown USA, we even rolled through the hoodie of Providence near the end of the course!
side note: now many of you, are probably like: Shouldn't you be racing and focused? nope, people this is a "C" race for me...just something I wanted to try this year, something to take me onto the road, and a place and town I really never visited before. I am all about the adventure...and if I don't take the moment (and thats what it is a 3 second moment) to glance at what is around me... I would not be able to enjoy myself...besides at mile 25 the bike seat was really getting to me and distractions were good :)
I did notice how many people looked "comfortable" on their bike and was a bit jealous. I kept hearing Patti's voice from the day before: "Are you comfortable in that seat?" I responded I am not really sure, considering this will be my 3rd time on this bike. I am not used to the tri bike. I am used to my yeti. I am used to getting out of the seat for downhills, some climbs, and having my hands placed outside on grips. The tri bike is foreign and learning process for me (again "C" race).
The race number is on my lower back during the race... it also has my name on it... so to me it was really funny that people who did not know you, read your name and shouted out to you like they know you. I LOVED THAT! Almost makes you feel like "you're a pretty big deal"! One guy came up on me on the bike and he was superfast (must have been from the 30-34M wave that started after us)...and he shouts out to me as if he really knew me...I shouted back to him as if I really knew him ....and as he takes off I think "who the hell was that?" lol!
really thought there was going to be a lot of ego out there in this race.... and there wasn't. Spectators were cheering, the volunteers were incredible, and the athletes were all very professional, except those men taking leaks on the side of the road. I saw the Marshall checking me out for 4 bike lengths rule...in fact, I was behind a guy on a mountain bike (ironic) at this moment, I stayed way back until the marshall left, and then I decided to pass mtb'r...of course I shouted to the mtb'r, "You really need to do an XTERRA".
10:25am: Bike into T2. A marshall shouts to all of us "these are the only bathrooms in transition", I really think I heard "You better go to the bathroom now before you head out on your trip, you just drank 100 oz of fluids". So I took advantage of the civility of a porta pottie... About 5lbs lighter I transitioned into the run shoes and headed out to "the bitch". "The bitch" is a hill climb in the first mile of the run: elevation of 200ft. Intervals baby, intervals. The run was 2 -6.5 mile loops...so I dealt with "the bitch" twice. To sum up the run: "MenTal games"...I thought about everything, everyone, and of course I am never racing again. I gave myself games, "Ok if you run to the sign, I will let you stop at the next aid station." The whole run was intervals for me, and the only sprint was at the last stretch.... I saw that I could possibly make it under 6hrs...
12:28pm: I ran hard to the finish line..5:59:50 was my official end time. Candy was there cheering me on to the finish & trying to take a pic!
Overall: A very cool experience. A very good weekend. And so glad I did it.
Andy Noble's first IM event, also raced on a bad ankle, and finished among the pros with a time of 4:20!
Patti had blisters on her feet during the run, she said she felt like she was running on razor blades (ouch!). She finished with a time of 5:46...very impressive.
Bill enter the race as a Clydesdale and was very happy with his swim (and contributes it to Candy's coaching). He finished with a time of 5:54 and met his "sub 6" goal.
3:30pm: Jumped into the ocean cool temps in Jamestown, RI for recovery. Dried off on the rocks by the water with a Summer Ale in hand.
4pm: Showered, dressed, packed the car up, said goodbyes.
5pm: Started out for the drive home back to the Mawr.
11:30pm: Touched down into the driveway.
midnight: Touched down into bed.
