After hearing my buddy Steve talk up the Colonial Beach tri,
I decided this year to give it a go.
This race holds a sprint distance race on Saturday and on Sunday
an International distance (1500 meter swim, 40K bike and 10K run). Colonial Beach is a really nice town up along
the Potomac River in the Northern neck part of Virginia. Looking at the map it appears the Maryland boarder
is a few feet off shore. I had to laugh
thinking that during the race we could be crossing over into Maryland and back
to Virginia.
 |
| Notice the boarder |
I drove up with my training partner Steve on Friday, the lodging choice for this race was the Westmoreland State Park camp ground. Steve and his family were nice
enough to let me snag a corner of their camp site (again). Going up a day earlier provided an
opportunity to volunteer on Saturday for the sprint race, then relax the rest of the
day and preview the bike course.
This was my first time volunteering at race and I was lucky enough
to pull kayak duty. The interesting
thing here was I had not used a kayak in a really long time and it took a
while to get my balance. I took up a
position close the swim exit and sat back and watched. I was able to get a good preview of what tomorrows
swim might be like, similar to Rev3, fighting a current would be in
my future.
Let’s cut to the chase, race morning arrived with the always
favorite 4:30 AM alarm. I started the
morning by enjoyed my pre-race chocolate fudge pop-tart, loaded the truck and headed
off to the race site. It was a 30 minute
drive and luckily the drive helped keep my nerves in check. Not sure why I get so nervous before a race,
regardless of the distance.
Grabbing the bike and gear it was off to set-up transition as
well as the other pre-race activities, body marking, timing chips, etc. Once done, Steve and I headed out
for a 15 minute warm-up, I was surprised at the pace I was holding with such minimal
effort. This had me wondering if it was a sign for what was to come. Next,
I grabbed my speed suit and goggles and headed down to the beach to get a
little time in the water. After the
first 100 yards, I stopped and looked back at the beach to notice I was already
swept down a good ways. Also noticing
that on the swim back it took longer then expected and a lot more
effort.
Swim: 32:39
As with most of my races of late, I started in the third
wave. Luckily this time the start was in the water and unlike the James River it
became deep after a few feet, thankfully.
The horn sounds, the Garmin is started and I dove in. It didn't take more than a few stroke before
I got smacked right in the back of the head. (Thanks Steve, LOL!) No big deal,
until about 30 seconds later when it happen again (this time not Steve). A minute later out of nowhere I get kicked in the chest, move to avoid that from
happening again and I get kicked in the stomach. Really! OK time to get out of this mess, I
took off and basically plowed the road. I
pushed my way past a few people and finally got to some open water. A few minutes later I was already at the first turn
buoy, nice, this swim is starting off well.
I made the turn and it felt like I was flying, buoy after buoy went by.
I was navigating well and then it started to feel like time stood still, the next turn buoy was not getting any closer. Finally reaching it, there was a
short 50 yards until the next turn then the leg back to the finish. This time I expected to be swimming with
the current but it sure did not feel that
way! Just keep swimming, making sure to
roll with each stroke. By this point, I
can hear my swim coach, “be a sail boat not a tug boat”. Finally, I came upon the last turn buoy. This is where it got interesting, the next
300 yards were the hardest I fought through the entire swim. I was putting out a ton of effort and getting nowhere. By the time I finally
hit the beach I was wiped out, CRAP! As
soon as I stood up and looked at my Garmin, I was pleased with my time especially
knowing that I just had to fight over 1000 meters against the current. Not as pleased though as I tried to run up the beach
to transition, it hit me pretty quickly how tired I was. So, I walked a bit and jogged the rest of the
way while working my speed suit off.
Also, the whole time wondering, did Steve beat me out of the water?
T1 2:06
I found the rack with my bike and my first goal of this race
was meet, Steve’s bike was there. Sorry
buddy, I know you will catch me on the run so I take my victories where I can get
them. This turned out to be a slow transitions
for me. I was tired and could not balance
to get my cycling shoes on, then struggled with the clasp on my helmet. Finally it buckled and I took off towards the
mount line.
Bike: 1:02:32
Once on the bike I built up some momentum, ratcheted down
the straps on the shoes and got down to business. Right away my legs reminded me how much
effort I exerted on the swim, shut up legs! Since this was a shorter race my planned watt
range was significantly higher than it was for the Rev3 half and at first it
was a real struggle to even reach the range.
It took almost 5 miles before my legs finally came around, on the up
side I was averaging over 22 mph and passing a lot of people. The next 5 miles brought an elevation gain of
over 200 feet and I would swear it was all at once, my speed dropped
significantly and my legs started to hurt again (SHUT UP LEGS!).
Shortly after the 10 mile mark came the
U-turn and for some reason as soon as I made that turn my second wind kicked
in. My speed jumped back up and I was
cranking out enough watts to light my house.
After a few miles came the steepest climb of the course. It was the second climb of the day but the
first was longer and drawn out. Since Steve and
I rode most of the course the day before and I was ready. Dropped into the small ring before the right turn onto the hill and kept an eye on my cadence. Once it fell below 85, I changed gears, the easier gear brought the cadence
back up. I flew up that hill or at least
it felt that way and once I hit the top I had energy to spare. Jumping right back into the big ring I feed
my need for speed. The next 12+ miles literally
flew by, after the turn onto Ridge Road I was on the home stretch. Soon came the last turn that lead back to
transition. Just as I was coming up to the turn, the
timer on my Garmin goes off, as it does every 15 minutes reminding me it is
time to hydrate. Out of instinct I took
a big swig of my EFS drink and realized I just made a huge mistake. In less than three minutes I would be off the
bike and I just gulped down fluids. I
knew right then that this would come back to haunt me.
T2 1:21
Dismounting went perfect and the run back to transition was over
carpet strips that were covering rocks, fun!
I got to the rack to find some @$$ racked his bike in my spot. I was pissed, using my handle bars to move
his bike so I could rack mine I made sure to leave enough room for Steve whose
spot was to the left of me. I threw
on my shoes (no socks), hat and I was off.
Still mad, I didn't realizing I was making mistake #2. This will be explained shortly.
Run 47:16
Coming out of transition a few things became apparent quickly.
In my little fit of anger, I forgot to grab my flask of EFS liquid shot and the
salt pills from the bike, great! (Mistake #2) Also, that big gulp of EFS drink I had a few
moments earlier was now sitting in my stomach like a rock (Mistake #1).
The first two miles went well, I was feeling a few side
stitches but nothing too bad. The only issue was I had not run in these shoes without socks before and I could feel a few spots where there soon would be blisters. (Mistake #3)
Going into
mile 3 those side stitches became full on cramps. I tried to control my
breathing, put my hands on top of my head but nothing was helping. Damn, I am going to have to walk, I hate
walking in a race! Hoping a short 30
seconds walk would help, I slowed but immediately noticed an aid station right
ahead. New plan, walk aid stations
until the cramps backed off. I grabbed a cup of water hoping that maybe it would help my stomach relax (Mistake #4), could
I of been more wrong. Suck it up! Fighting on the turnaround point
came into view. Making the turn brought
some energy, I was halfway home. After
about a quarter mile, I saw Steve flying the other way, he would be passing me soon. Shortly the next aid station came up, I grabbed
an ice soaked towel, put under my hat and grabbed a cup of water to dump down
my back. Wow! That was cold and just
what I needed. Knowing that Steve would be coming up on me soon I speed up
hoping I could hold on until about mile 4. As it turned out I made it to mile 3.87 when he caught me. Props to Steve, I had about a three minute lead on him
off the bike, he is having an amazing run.
As the next aid station came up I grabbed another towel but was cautious to try to drink any
water as the cramps were finally backing off.
My pace was slowly working its way up as I came to the 5th
aid station, this time I grabbed a water to sip. As I
took that sip of what I was told was water I almost vomited, turns out it was
Hammer drink. That stuff is SO FREAKING
NASTY! I had to step across the road to a
volunteers on the other side to get a cup of water to wash my mouth out. This actually had a good side effect as I got
a bit pissed off and it motivated me. My
pace was getting faster. Soon, I realized the final turn was coming up. Something
about getting close to the finish line always has the same effect on me, I am
able to find that last gear and was in the finishing chute before I knew
it.
Turns out after looking at the data that after mile 3, I was
able to negative split each mile and finish with a decent time. A bit slow for that distance for me but I was proud for
fighting through the cramps and using what I have learned to minimize the damage.
Overall 2:25:54
After it was all said and done I took second in my age group
with Steve taking first. This was the
first time we shared a podium and the Snapple tri club owned the 40-44 age
group.
This day brought a tough swim, a great bike ride and a tortuous
run, as well as some of my slowest transitions.
That being said and as with my last race, with a little time to think,
reflect and review the race data (since I LOVE numbers) it was a good day.
Next race, Ironman Louisville, welcome to the big show!
