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| Pocono Mountains |
I am actually writing this race report just a few days
after my race…new record! Well, I tried…I wrote half of this report a few days
after my race but it is now over a week and I’m just finishing. I had good
intentions!
I haven’t been a very good blogger since I started my
blog for several reasons: 1) It just takes time and I don’t take time out to
write a whole lot 2) Sometimes it’s hard to put your personal experiences out
there for everyone to read. Blogging is a great way to reflect on your
experiences and to keep friends and family up-to-date and hopefully a little
entertained. I write in hopes that I can keep friends and family inspired
and/or motivated in their own healthy endeavors and to give others an idea of
what a certain course is like in case they are looking to do that same race in
years to come. This is how I’ve learned about many races I’ve done in the past!
I have learned over the years that you can continue to
do well in this sport with great determination, dedication, a good life balance
and most importantly a humble approach! I have had many humbling experiences
over the years and continue to learn, grow and be inspired by the many great
athletes I meet, from the new triathlete to the elite. We all have good and bad
days or even good and bad seasons. This season I feel like I personally had
more down’s than up’s and I’m truly thankful to have had the race I had at
Poconos 70.3. It reminded me of why I do this sport and the importance of
keeping things in perspective and to not lose site of the most important thing….have
fun while doing something you love and leading a healthy life!
Well, I had signed up for the National Harbor 70.3
which was to be held the beginning of August in the swamplands of DC. I have to
say, I am happy this got canceled because I really could not have suffered
through another HOT race this year. I had to figure out another 70.3 race to do
that was within driving distance. So, I
went to the Poconos 70.3 website to read through the course information. Last
year the swim had been canceled because of water contamination and I had heard
horror stories about the bike course. This year, the swim and bike course had
been completely revamped. The swim was in the spring fed-lake at the former
Tamiment Resort and Golf Club, the bike course didn’t have as many crazy steep
climbs and was mapped out on better roads, and the run course remained the
same. Plus, I had never been to the Pocono Mountains and heard it was beautiful!
Pre Race
Ron and I left for PA Saturday morning and decided to
take the more scenic route rather than going 95 most the way. This is one of
those races that you need to read through the entire athlete guide and figure
out logistics ahead of time because T1 and T2 were in different places which
required a lot of driving around the day before the race. I got my bike checked
out at check-in to be sure my wheels were on properly. I borrowed a sweet set
of Zip 808’s from my good friend, TrevorAlbert. Thanks again Trevor! It made me want a set of race wheels ever more
but not sure that’s happening anytime soon. While I was running around one of
the vendors asked Ron what my bento box on my bike was for. He said, “Oh you
know it’s to store food in….like peanut butter sandwiches, ham and cheese,
maybe even some beef brisket.” The guy didn’t know how to take Ron and of
course Ron being in his jokester mood held a complete straight face the whole
time. Then I show up and the guy is looking at me like I’m crazy or something.
When we walked away Ron told me the story. Ha! No wonder the guy was confused.
He thought I was going to have this big ol feast on the bike!
After dropping my bike off, Ron and I drove the course.
I like to do this now for any of the longer distances I race so I’m mentally
prepared the next day. We had been in the car for quite some time that day so
when we drove by a bakery with about 15 miles of driving to go, Ron wasted no
time at all to pull over and get some apple pie! He deserved it spending his
Saturday doing my boring race prep with me. Next stop was T2 where I dropped
off my running bag and then it was time to meet up with our friend, Melanie, to
eat a delicious pasta dinner.
Race Day
Rather than messing with the shuttle to the start line,
Ron told us that he would drive Melanie and me to the lake. There were only 100
parking spots and by time we got there all the spots were taken. So, Ron drove
out to the bike course to find a spot to cheer us on. It’s a good thing he
drove us because the race ended up getting delayed a few minutes because a few
of the shuttles had gotten delayed. One pre-race stressor avoided! The delay
was much appreciated since there were only 20 bathrooms for over 1000 people! I
was standing in line and still had to pump my tires, put on my wetsuit and drop
off my morning clothes bag!
Swim
I think one of
the most painful parts of the race was walking on rocks, barefoot to get to the
swim start! Here’s a tip for those of you doing this race next year: buy cheap
flip flops to wear to the start and then toss. It will save you from some very
cold, sharp pain on the bottom of your feet! Once I got to the start, I ran
into Caroline, whom I had
met at book club where fellow Snapple DC Tri teammate, Mindy Ko had introduced
us. Nerves are high before any race start and it was nice to bump into her, chat
and try to forget about being nervous for a bit.
The water temperature was a chilly 64 degrees so I
opted for my long sleeved Xterra wetsuit. We started in the water so had a few
minutes to adjust to the temperature. Once we were off and I put my head in the
water, I was relieved to find that you see could far enough ahead to pick out
feet to draft off of. All my swims this year have been in dark, murky water
which I think tends to mess with me mentally. I got into my groove quickly, was
surprised the cold water didn’t really affect me and noticed that I was fairly
calm. Right away I found feet to draft off of. I lost her for a bit and could
tell someone was actually drafting off of me. What?! That never happens! I
think this same girl sped up a bit after the turn around so then I started to
draft off of her until the last 100 meters when she sped up. This felt amazing
and I actually enjoyed the swim! I had the fastest 1.2 mile swim ever! I looked
at my watch and couldn’t believe that it read 33 minutes. That’s about 5
minutes faster than my last half Ironman swim. I do think the swim was a bit short because
I’ve read some of my other friend’s race reports and they also had their
fastest swim ever. But, hey I’ll take it! I know being able to see feet to
draft and the long sleeved wetsuit definitely played into my time as well. I
usually can’t keep up with the fast swimmers to draft and lose them right away.
I’m not going to be so timid at the start of the swim from now on so I can find
those feet right away!!
My swim set the tone for the rest of the race. I had a
huge smile on my face when I exited the water and was ready to get on the bike.
It was a decent distance from the swim exit to T1 and before leaving transition
you had to make sure that all of your swim gear was in your bike gear bag or it
would not be brought back to the finish line. Everyone was in the same boat, so
the T1 times were slower.
Swim Time – 33:50
Bike
The bike leg started with a long, fast four mile decent.
Weeeee! This is a great way to start and gives the heart rate a chance to go
down a bit from the swim and rush onto the bike. Speaking of heart rate….my
heart rate monitor did not work correctly the entire race! I have had some major problems with the ‘new
and improved’ Garmin heart rate strap. I do not get the need for companies to
continuously feel they have to change and upgrade their products all the time
when they work perfectly fine the way they are. I had NO issues last season
when I was using the hard strap that came with my Garmin when I purchased it.
After awhile, it’s just inevitable that straps get nasty, smelly and rinsing
them out just doesn’t work anymore. So, I was forced to buy the new strap.
Anyway, it was just really weird because during the bike, my HR was reading at
a resting state the whole time and then on the run it was reading like I was
maxing out. Of course, neither one of the readings were true. Luckily, I’ve
done several half Ironman races and know my body well enough to keep from
racing too hard. I went strictly on how I felt this race!
Back to the bike…after the long decent, you go out nine
miles and then come back in for ten before the rolling hills start to greet
you. During this time, you get rolling hills until the end. There were a few
short steep climbs where I had to get out of the saddle and a few times where I
did not think I needed to gear down and it ended up being steeper than I
thought so had to stand up. During this portion of the course, I saw the
beautiful foliage and mountains, deer running along the side the road in a
field (luckily they stayed there and did not venture out to the road!) and a
sinkhole in the road. A grumpy woman had informed Ron and I the day before when
we drove the course that the sink hole was there. She went on and on about how
she could not believe they would make part of the race course on that road. I
was starting to get a bit worried that there would be tacks in the road the
next day. No tacks luckily! I also saw this same woman sitting in her front
yard watching the race so guess she got over her anger about the course.
They had made a wooden pass through over the sinkhole
where we had to go single file. It was not crowded so it did not slow me down
too much. Then late on, at the top of one of the climbs, I saw a creepy Criminal
Minds unsub type of man. He had on some big safety goggles, held a leaf blower
and stared out at the riders with a killer look on his face. Seriously, it was
scary looking but actually made me crack up after I had passed. The theme song
to Criminal Minds got in my head ‘do do doooo do’. Ok so if you do not watch
Criminal Minds you probably have no idea what I am talking about but it gave me
a nice chuckle. I was just having a blast and taking it all in! Luckily, all
that man had in his hands was a leaf blower!
I did not see many women until about mile 40. I had
finally caught up to the faster swimmers and started to see several women in my
age group around mile 50. I saw Caroline and she was looking strong. Over a
mile from the finish, I had to swerve around a 19 year-old who was trying to
clip out of his shoes too early and was weaving around the road. This is why you practice this technique
before you race!
In T2 I struggled just a bit to get my long sleeved
jersey off over my Garmin, but that was the only delay. I was anxious to see how
my legs would feel on the run.
Bike Time – 2:42:33
Run
I’m
including my run from my Garmin because the Garmin shows the true run course. I
was warned about this run but the race website didn’t really explain that there
were several hills that were about a mile long! Don’t pay attention to the
heart rate. It was way off and not working most the time! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/229228431#.UHhEquRW76w.email
Throughout the entire run I was running with mainly men
from the 40 and up age groups since they were in the swim wave ahead of me.
When I got to the first hill, I got a feel for how my run would go and
luckily…my legs showed up for a good run! The first half I passed a few more
women in my age group along with some women in the two age groups up from mine.
Several times women said to me as I passed, “Oh good you’re not in my age
group!” I gave them a thumbs up and encouraged each woman I passed. This course
is an out and back so I kept watching for anyone in my age group coming back on
the other side of the road. I saw all the pro women including Beth Schutt, who
was looking strong and raced to 3rd! Once I got to the turn-around I was pretty
stoked….I didn’t think I saw anyone in my AG ahead of me and I was actually
first in my AG! That has never happened in a half Iron distance race so I
didn’t want to get too excited and jynx myself. After about a mile or so I started to see a few
girls in my AG. I knew they were most likely too far back to catch me, but I
didn’t want to let myself think I didn’t need to keep up with my pace. You
never know when there’s some sub 7 minute mile runner trying to reel you in. On
the way back in I also so several DC Tri and Snapple Club members and cheered
them on. It was nice to see some people from DC! I saw Melanie on her way to
the finish, and she told me to go get that championship slot. Thanks for the
encouragement Mel! I just couldn’t believe that I was feeling so good on this
run! Even the long hills did not bother
me. Sure they slowed me down a little but didn’t seem to bother my legs much.
With about three miles to go I passed a 60 year old man who said to me with a
chuckle, “You know this isn’t a 5k right?” I just smiled and told him I just
want to see that finish line!
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| How I felt the whole race! |
There was one shorter steep hill before mile 11 and
then it was pretty flat the last two miles. I could hear the announcer as I got
closer and just started to kick it in. I heard Ron cheer me on and I had a huge
smile on my face as I ran down that last block. Wow, had I really won my age
group?! Ron ran up to me, confirmed my place and gave me a big hug. I cried
tears of joy and was just in awe! We later found out that I was the 3rd
amateur woman.
Run Time – 1:36:51
Total – 4:58:45
After the race I got to hang out with Mel, Caroline and
Ron. The line to claim the Worlds slot was long and the beer tent was
conveniently located right by the line. Hmmmm….So, I enjoyed a nice beverage to
celebrate while I waited (maybe followed by a few more while waiting for the
awards ceremony ;)
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| Caroline, me and Mel |
Caroline got 2nd in our age group so she got
a championship slot. Mel also had a great race placing 5th in
her AG and got a slot as well. We are all excited to be heading to Vegas next
September!
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| I never thought I'd get one of these cool awards! Very nice finisher medal too! |
And now, let the off season begin!! Also, time to get some new bike shoes! Yes, I raced with these hoping the clips would clip in for one more ride. Thankfully, they held out. Ha!
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| Waterfall on our hike at BushKill Falls |
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