The Good - my swim
The Bad - my Garmin lost its satellite signal
The Ugly - the "Powder Hill Challenge" coming out of the swim and the weather
I was excited and sad about this race all at the same time. This was my last race of the season and I've had such a great time that I wasn't looking forward to it being over. As Saturday got closer I started to feel more excited and nervous so I knew I ready. I took Friday off so I could get my stuff together and have my favorite pre-race breakfast - pancakes. My friend Jerome had the day off as well so we had breakfast together and talked about logistics for the weekend - my race was Saturday and his was on Sunday. Our friend Beth was coming up with me to spectate for both races - YAY!
What a difference a couple of weeks makes - when I got up Saturday morning to get ready leave (mind you - it was 3:45 am) it was pitch black out. Beth got to my house at 4:30 and we headed off for So. Berwick, ME. It was dark almost the entire ride with the sun just starting to rise as we arrived at Spring Hill. The packet pick up was really easy - and I headed off for transition to set up my 'stuff'.
Unlike Cranberry where they tried to put club members together, this race puts you together by age group - I still haven't decided if I like this way or not. There was a woman doing her first tri and a little unsure how to set stuff up so it was nice to be able to help her out. Once I got my things organized I still had a lot of time to kill so I grabbed my Beet-It and went to check out "Powder Hill" and the swim.
Swim - 3 Dolphin dives and 2 Buoy turns - This was the first time that my wave wasn't next to last - I was pretty much in the middle. It had me a little concerned because the young, fast guys were behind me so I got myself more towards the middle of my wave. When the "Go" shout came the women at the front were quickley off. The women near me and in front of me were kinda just standing there - I assume - planning their entry- I decided that I wasn't going to wait around and promptly did 3 dolphin dives and was on my way. They only had 2 buoys for the swim and the first one was directly into the sun - it was very difficult to spot and I think I pulled my head up more than I would've liked. I lined myself up for the buoy, refused to give up my space (the women who hesitated at the start had caught up to me) and boom buoy turn #1 done and on my way to the next one. I had a little more trouble with this turn - one of the people in the kayak had a bright orange life vest on and I mistakenly started sighting on him. Fortunately he was on the way to the buoy but I swam and little zig-zag once I figured it out. By now the faster folks were starting to catch up to me so I had more competition for the buoy but I'm stubborn so I wasn't going to give up my line - buoy turn #2 done and I headed for the finish. Before I got to the finish however I got tangled up in the lily pads. I didn't realize how quickly those things can wrap themselves around your arms and legs - while it was frustrating trying to get them off it turned out to be beneficial - it made me pick up my kick cadence so my legs were ready to get out of the water.
T1
To get to where your bikes are you have to run - or as in my case walk - up the big ass hill. I had walked it before the race so I knew what I was in for and had made the decision not to run but to use the time to get my wet suit off as much as possible. I finally made it to my bike, got my wet suit off the rest of the way had a drink of Coke while I put my socks, shoes and helmet on and headed out of transition. I changed my routine a little and didn't have my GU until I was on my bike - trying to save a couple of minutes.
Bike
As I headed out of T1 and mounted my bike there seemed to be a traffic jam of riders - I need to get more confident so I can just 'push' my way thru and not wait for 'my turn'. I finally headed off and noticed that my Garmin wasn't working. I tried turning it off and back on and it just didn't seem to want to sync. It was really frustrating because I really depend on it to make sure I don't push too
hard. I did still have the HR monitor so I tried to used that as my guide. I settled in, took a GU and got to the business of getting my ride in. I passed a few people and got passed by others. I felt really comfortable albeit a little blind because I didn't know my speed or how long I'd been riding - I'll admit it was a bit frustrating. As I came up on another rider someone came up behind me and started to pass me - as she started to go by me she told me that I'd probably catch her soon but then she just rode beside me. I was a bit pissed for 2 reasons 1 -its against the rules and 2 - because we had started down a hill and had a snotty, short steep (think the middle part of Eastern Ave.) in front of us. I had no way to gain any momentum so I had to go with what I had and try to power my way up the hill. There were more than a couple of people walking up the hill - including the one that blocked me in (karma) but I was resolute that the only way I was getting off my bike was if I was pedaling so slow and I fell over.
Success - I was up that damned hill!!! Now I just had to finish the ride and made my way back to transition. Getting into transition posed it's own challenge - it was at the top of a little hill- I am not great at stopping going up hill so I went a bit further than they wanted but at least I did better than a rider I saw the next day - she kept riding right into transition!
T2 - Once into transition I racked my bike, drank some Coke, fidgeted with my watch again - just in case it had decided to work. By now it was getting really hot so I wanted to make sure I hydrated well. I put on my sneakers, grabbed my red water bottle and headed out for my run.
Run
It was hot and the beginning of the run was in full sun. I don't usually do well in the heat and today was no different. I was about 5 mins into my run when I realized that I had grabbed the bottle of Coke and not my red water bottle. In the first mile there was a woman handing out bottles of water but she didn't have anything on that identified her as a race official and I remembered that according to the rules you can't have assistance or take anything from anyone so I stuck with my bottle of Coke until I got to the first water stop. I grabbed some water, one over my head, one down my bra and one I actually drank. I also threw away my Coke bottle. Little did I realize that throwing away that bottle was going to be a huge mistake - despite the 90 degree temperature there was not another water stop on the run course. I struggled thru the run and had to walk at times but pulled it together by the time I got close to the finish line. Pumpkinman's finish line is at the bottom of hill that was the down hill version of the one that I had to go up to get to T1.
I was happy to finish but sad at the same time - it meant that my first tri season was over.
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