| New Half-Ironman Course | New Sprint Course |
|---|---|
| Old Half-Ironman Course | Old Sprint Course |
I signed up for this a long time ago thinking I'll get on the bike. Months passed. Every opportunity was either raining or cold. We are here now, a week before the race, and I'm gonna be undertrained.
They always tell you that it's better to be undertrained then overtrained. Let's hope. The swim and run should not be a problem. The problem is the bike. I did ride 51ish mile one time. One time! Longest ride in a few years. Yikes. I felt good tho so let's hope.
Now, let's do this for real...
I found this race. I don't know that I wanna do anymore 70.3s anymore. Certainly, I think I'm done with 140.6 or greater. So why this? I always kinda wanted to do SOS. Finally, decided to do it. You need to qualify with an IM or a HIM but mine are done too far away. I reached out and they won't accept my double IM which is silly. Hoping this one will do it.
My goals:
Stressed as always. Then, I procrastinated with getting a hotel. Looked up things yesterday and race website specifically says to "BOOK EARLY AS THINGS GET FULL!". Let me tell you that that is a true statement. I wasn't able to find anything... Nada. Zilch.
Every place that told me that it's full, I would ask if they have a suggestion. I finally found a place that's full but they have an Annex 1/2 mile away that is available. I'll take it!
Plan is this: Friday, September 29th, drive to Maryland, get settled, packet pickup and meeting. Saturday, September 30th, do the Half-Ironman. Sunday, October 01st, do the Sprint Triathlon, perhaps shower and head home.
Did I mention that I'm doing the "challenge"? That's me...
The swim is supposed to be very beginner friendly in that we are in a harbor. The middle of the harbor is only about 2 feet deep, so if you get scared, go to the middle. The bike is rolling for the HIM and flat for the sprint. I'll put some description from the website here later.
Did I mention that I got injured sometime in May during the trail race? Apparently, I have a Plantar Plate Injury. No more OTC orthotics. I need to personal ones. The $595.0 ones. Waiting for them. Walking barefoot hurts a lot. MD MacGyvered something for me but I think I pretty much destroyed it and it smells terrible. Not sure what I will do for run from Swim to Bike but whatever...
Thursday, September 28th, I got an email from the RD. I could not decide if it was good news or bad news really.
We have some good news and some bad news about the Waterman's Triathlon Bike Course... The good news is that the first 6 miles of the course is going to be freshly paved for the 2024 Rock Hall Triathlon! The bad news is that the work started last week (facepalm) and we had to modify the bike courses for this weekend. There is a lot of great riding out here and Rock Hall and Kent County are great partners, so we have come up with a great new course. Lot's of farmland views and a headwind in most directions. Please take a moment to click on the links below to review the updated bike courses. Turns are marked with yellow duck tape arrows, yellow signs with our logo and volunteers. Per the usual, if you have the time we recommend a quick pre-drive of the course on your way to the race site.
Friday night, at the hotel, I actually looked and it seems like there is even less elevation on the bike then before but I did not like the whole headwind thing... At the top of this page, I have both the old and the new bike course maps for comparison.
2-2-3. That's the key... Two loops on the swim. Two loops on the bike. Three loops on the run. Remember that...
Friday, September 29th, we had a tropical storm hit NYC. I'm sick of hearing about Hurricane Ophelia, the remnants of Ophelia and the name Ophelia in general. That being said, we got the remnants of her as a tropical storm. My 3.5 expected drive eventually became 5.5 hours. Waze took me through so many detours just to get out of NYC. The last straw was that it took 30 minutes to do 1/2 a mile to get on the Cross Bronx Expressway real close to the George Washington Bridge. Not joking! Once I went over the GWB, it was smooth sailing so there's that at least.
I settled into the Annex, actually less than 1/4 mile from the hotel and realized that it was on the run course which is cool. Went to packet pickup and the informal meeting. Stuff's getting real now.
Went to sleep early and woke up early to get stuff together. The Annex was beautiful by the way, I had the "Port" room which had a great view and a nice balcony. Only thing that sucked is that it was on the 2nd floor and I had to carry the bike up and down those stairs along with my stuff. Still, those 2 lazy boys chairs... The hotel also put in breakfast in my fridge since hey knew I would miss it the next day. Cool...Thanks guys.
I went to the water and I realized that I need to leave shoes at swim start/finish because there was no way that with my injury, I would be able to run barefoot. Sucks!!!
The swim was Time Trial start with 2 people at a time. Donald wanted to go last and I didn't yet somehow, we went almost last. I'm not sure if there was really a timing mat there as our swim seemed long. In any case, the swim is 2 loops and starts and finished at the same location. The Olympic distance people would start 30 minutes later and would start elsewhere but finish with us. They only need to do 1 lap.
We started. Water was fine. Maybe a little chilly. My ears actually hurt. First loop was uneventful. Second loop was ok but we started encountering Olympic folks and the water got real choppy and crowded. I sight well and soon sighted for the finish while others were all over the place.
Small side note: Donald was very thankful to me. He said that instead of race sighting, he used me instead because he knew that I would. He kept me on his left. If he got too close to me, then he would adjust right. If he got too far, then he would adjust left. That being said, it was the first time ever that I beat Donald in an OWS race. Small victories...
Started transitioning. It's cold. I put on my long sleeve shirt. Not easy when you're wet. Finally got it on, only to realize that it's choking me. Stupid stupid stupid. I put it on backwards. Had to take it off, turn it back inside out and then get it on correctly. Waste of time truly.
Finally on the bike. The course was definitly not flat but it didn't have crazy elevations either. Still, the headwinds sucked.
We had to go 15 miles. The Oly's continueed back. Their bike trip would be a little shorter because of the road paving. They would end with 23ish miles instead of 26. The HIMs needed to remember to turn right at 15 and 33 while at 51 go straight to the bike finish.
The bike course itself, was well marked I thought. I was never worried about getting lost. The bottle exchange/aid station was there on that extra loop but I didn't need anything from them. I was fine.
As I was riding, I was thinking that it would be good if Donald and I would not see each other. My thought process: If I saw Donald, meaning I caught him, it would mean that he was having a bad day either physically (stomach, legs) or mechanically (crash, flat, some bike issue). If he saw me, it would mean that I was having a bad day either physically or mechanically. I still looked...
Almost at the end... Real close to Transition and the the volunteer and the Sherrif were holding traffic and I mistook it to make a left. If only the sherrif would have stood more to the left... Still, I made the left but heard "wrong turn" and I was ready to shoot myself. Made a U-Turn and came back. Stupid stupid stupid... Whatever. Move on with life.
I stopped to pee really quick and went on. Saw Donald. He was doing the aquabike so his day was done. He was loading the bike. He was really surprised that I was there. He thought I was doing real well. Nice.
The run for us was 3 loops preceeded by a small out and back section. As I was doing the out and back, I started talking to Marija (pronouced Maria). We started talking and just continueed from there. She was feeling weird about the out and back but I assured her it was right. She was a little upset at herself as she was coming back from an injury so basically 25lbs over weight and undertrained. We stayed together. I "may" have been mean to her. Not letting her rest too much. She also dreamed of a sub 7. We continueed. We joked. We talked. I was mean. It's ok. First loop done. Second loop done. At this point, some specators named me the "talking guy" as they kept seeing me talk to my friend and I was always trying to make her laugh. We started our 3rd loop, when I noticed a dude videoing us and I pointed him to her saying "husband?". She was so out of it, it took a few seconds to process that it was her husband and daughter. She was happy. Loop 3 is done and we are on the way to the finish. It's done. Hug it out and I go get food. Yummy pasta and salad. On the way to the food, I hear her name called out for an award. Nice. After eating, I went to get my stuff and she's there and I congratulate her. She's beside herself. Thank you and this award is yours etc. Nah... It's all her. I'm nobody. She said that she was gonna post something to the sort of "the good news about being fat"... Oy. Still, she won the Athena division. Good for her... I load the car up and head back to the hotel for a shower.
Did I mention that I was really mean to her? So, we both wanted a sub 7 finish. We both enjoyed the each others company (I think). As much as I was mean to her, I was also making her laugh. Somewhere on the 3rd loop, she actually said to me, "By the way, F**K YOU! And I really am grateful for you". I thought that was hillarious. It's all good...
Later, I came back for packet pickup for tomorrows race.
Still, I was happy. I finished the race. I think I made a good effort. I qualified for SOS. Today was going to be "just a sprint". Perhaps I was worried about the drive home. I don't know.
Still, did my thing. Got there and set up. Deja Vu.
Yesterday the magic code was 2-2-3 as in 2 loops swim - 2 loops bike - 3 loops run. Today, it was much simpler. One loop for everything.
I did have 1 logistical issue tho. With my foot injury, I can no longer walk barefoot. Usually, I run barefoot from the swim to T1 but now that is not possible. The day before, the swim started and ended at the same place. Here, the swim did not start and finish at the same place. I set up my shoes at the finish and attempted to walk to the swim start but I was in major pain. I quickly, thankfully I brought it, put on my macgyvered bandage on and it helped. It still hurt but it was mangeable.
The race was supposed to started at 9am but in reality that wasn't exactly true. At 9am, the female collegiate members started. It was 4 or 5 schools who brought teams of 3-5 girls to compete. They had a mass water start. It was kinda exciting to see. We, the masses, started 10 minutes later, in a time trial start with 2 people at a time starting.
It was kinda cool to see these swimmers go off. They stayed together for the most part until a breakaway occured.
At 9:10am exactly, we started getting in. The swim loop was a little shorter than yesterday and so it was over before I knew it. I climbed out, got my shoes on and ran to T1. This time, no long sleeve. I went out on the bike. The bike was 14 miles long and pretty much a 7 mile out and 7 mile back. There was some climbing and the damn headwind was still there but that's ok. I kinda wanted to see if I can average faster on the bike than yesterday.
By the way, I get on the bike and try to ride only to see that the chain fell off. Not a great start. I get off and get my hands all black.
At my mile 3, I saw the first female collegiate athlete come in. Let that sink in. She was at her mile 11!!! She started a little more than 10 minutes before me and probably had a better T1 than me but still, she must have been hammering the bike... Not too long after 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th came in flying as well. The even bigger surprise for me was that before 6th female, 1st male came in. Think about that... He started 10 minutes after the girls. How fast was this dude flying on the bike?!?
I'm climbing and riding. Keep my eye on the prize. Gotta finish. As I'm stil heading to the turn around, I see a young girl on the bike. I don't think she started the swim before me, yet she's ahead of me now... Probably a fast T1 too...
I turn around and start heading back. I get to the young girl. I see her age on her calf. She's 10 yeards old! Tiny girl with no muscles and yet, she's here. I pass her yelling that she's doing great dna she'll kill it on the run. Little did I know... Anyway, I get to the intersection I screwed up with yesterday and almost did the same thing again. Oy.
T2 and I head out after a quick pee. Only one loop. I start. I go a little and who do I see about 50 yards in front of me??? The 10 year old is there. Seriously?!? Her T2 must have been so much faster than my T2 + Pee. I run up to her and we run together while talking. She's moving. I know she will either drop me or that I will have to let her go. Still, she's pacing me currently and I'm deterined to try to stay with her as best I can.
Get to Mile 1. Get to Mile 2. The ladies recognize "talking guy". I make sure people cheer for the 10 year old whenever I can. We get to mile 2.7 when I see a boy talking on the phone (watch actually) and he says outloud. "I see her. I'm gonna run with her.". She tells me that it's her older brother. He's probably 11 or 12 is my guess.
And then the damn boy (OK OK... He's not an evil boy or anything but at the moment...) says, "I'm gonna race you...".
No surprise but her response was "No way!" and she takes off. She completly drops me. It's as if, I was just strolling along. A male athlete gets to me and says that his wish is that one day his kids will race with him. I think everyone thought that she was my daughter. I tell him not my kid. Someone else says something (I don't remember what they said) and my response was "I have no problem getting chicked and I have no problem getting chicked by a 10 year old".
I continue running. I'm on the grass. I catch up to someone. Someone is chasing me. It's a 14 year old boy, I discover later. I tried but he got me.
It's over. I'm happy. I eat 2 plates of Pasta salad and green salad and a plate of watermellon. I'm happy. I load up the car and go back to the Annex. Someone didn't tell someone else that I have a late checkout. Not happy about this. Fortunatly, I moved everything to the car in the morning before the race except for a change of clothes. I go in and find an extra towel and shower. Back to the car and drive home.
While eating, I start talking to a guy from Finland. We shared stories. He had an experience. Both a bad and a good. He got a flat tire (front) and crashed. Landed in the grass and it took him about 30 seconds of laying there before he was able to get up. He was upset because not only did her crash but because someone just flew by him without asking if he was ok. On the good side, a pick up truck stopped right behind him and who was it? The bike mechanic and within 60 seconds, he was right back on the bike. How awesome is that. I said to him that if you have to get a heart attack, always best to do in a hospital... Same kind of thing. My annoyance was that some riders would pass you with only an inch to spare without letting you know that they are there. How stupid is that??
I'm on the phone with Elizabeth when I suddenly get very tired. I know the signs. I need to pull over. Made a decision to get off the highway and hope for the best. Right away I find a Wendy's and I take a 30 minute nap. Then, since I'm there anyway, I get on the drive through line and get something small. It took way too long at the drive through (10 minutes). They apologized. I was good. Stlil apprently 30 min nap and 10 min wait equalled 60 minutes of change in my home arrival. It is what it is...
Last quick note: Happily, I did discover that I did in fact go faster on Sunday than on Saturday. Yes, it was shorter but there was still a headwind and I did race on Saturday so there's that.