Black Bear Sprint Tri Race Report

First off, I want to say that Beltsville Lake, the site of the race, is beautiful!!!! This was my third year racing and as soon as I get there I remember exactly why I signed up. It is too nice to miss! I forgot to pack my camera, and I traveled alone, so no pictures from this year, so I am gonna throw in some pics from previous years. :)

Yesterday at packet pickup, some girl was smiling at me like she knew me. I smiled but was like...ok. Another person does the same. I get my packet and pull out a CGI brochure with this picture on it.

And start laughing.

I had some nausea yesterday, almost had to pull over and throw up on the ride there. And didn't feel like eating dinner, but forced down a salad with fruit and nuts and cheese, some strawberries, and some baked ziti. I have skipped eating before a race due to nausea and it gets ugly.

Race morning, I get up slowly, but get there with plenty of time. They actually had to delay the start because so much traffic jammed up coming into the park. Glad I got there early!

Ok so, I am totally becoming the transition rack nazi. I rack my bike, we get 6 bikes on our rack which is what it says RIGHT ON THE END OF THE ROW! I go to my warm up jog and finally find the new finish line. Good, nice to know where that is! I get back and a girl has moved my stuff, another girls stuff to put her bike in. If there were no other spots left, this wouldn't be an issue, but there were plenty. She just wanted the spot on the end. So I said, hey, you moved my bike, knocked over my stuff, she's like, no I didn't, it was down this far and there was space here (no there wasn't, trust me!!!). She had also smushed the other girl's stuff, knocked over her helmet, water bottle and such. So I told her to move. I'm a bitch sometimes. But seriously. And then I fixed the other girls transition area, because she never did end up coming back before the start.

Anyway, I made a last minute wardrobe change. My wetsuit ripped at Jerseyman. My nice newish one. And I hadn't called about getting it fixed. So I was gonna wear my old one, but brought both. I was comparing the flexibility and how nice the new one was compared to the old and said, hey, the rip isn't that bad...it will only cost a few extra seconds in transition, but it is so much nicer in the water.

I warmed up in the water. A few laps back and forth up until a few minutes before my wave. My swimming felt good! It was 68, almost perfect temp for a long sleeved wetsuit. Not too warm, but not too cold.

Swim: 1/2 mile 11:34, 41/541, 12th female
We were the 5th wave and the men's waves ahead were staggered 4 mins. We could see a guy doing elementary backstroke right off the bat. Oh...he's gonna get slaughtered by this group of women! I started off strong and was chanting "stay-in-front", then "just-swim-straight". Then I started passing lots of yellow men (the wave ahead), then some from other waves. Midway through I was right near a girl that had a loud kick. Thump-thump, thump-thump. I called her thumper. I stayed near her right to the end. I drafted a little, tried to pass, but couldn't quite. I may have passed her at the end. Not sure. I felt like my swim was great! They changed the swim from previous years so it was point to point and I liked it better.

T1: 1:31, what a disaster! I sat down in transition! Not sure I've done that before??? Transition was right at the water now. Which is nice. A little run up the hill to the bike. Wetsuit top came off fine right out of the water. Then left leg...I normally do right first but it is ripped...i struggle a little, but it comes off. Then, I just can't get my darn right leg out! The heel is caught. I don't want to yank it...could cause more damage. So I sit down. Have a conversation with the girl next to me who is also sitting. Tell her good swim. Throw my helmet on, mutter "What a disaster!" and start running up the hill with my bike. I can't believe this only took, 1:31! It felt like 10 mins.

Did I mention I didn't have my watch. So I had no clue how long anything was taking.

Bike: 17.7 miles hilly + a crap load of running on grass/sand, uphill, down hill with bike. 58:38 38/540, 6th female
I do a decent job getting my shoes on while on the bike, then start passing men--lots of them. There is also a girl right there near me. She starts out fast and gets way ahead. I keep on pushing, passing men, yelling "on your left", hoping no one swings out and hits me because they are oblivious to the fact that people are racing and that they are in fact not the fastest people on the course so even if you plan on passing people you have to move to the right until you do!!!! Anyway...pretty early, I pass my friend Leah. She is a good swimmer, so passing her this early in the bike is a good sign for my swim! I had shifting problems here and there, but overall, the bike was smooth, except for constantly having to pass people that were riding in the middle of the road.

I catch the girl from early on in the bike and I think I have left her behind. Just before 10 miles, I catch...transition girl. You know...the one I kicked out. She is blocking, riding all the way out by the yellow line, even when she is not passing. I say on your left loud and she doesn't move over. She starts pedalling faster and makes it hard to pass properly. This course was open to traffic. That was not cool and not safe. I did pass and thought I left her behind, but she caught up later and I spent the rest of the ride trying to drop her. Apparently, she did the same thing to one of the other girls in the race. And every time I saw her ahead she was riding out to the left. Not cool. And there was this 51 year old dude that kept drafting off the three of us, mostly the other girl, not the blocker, the one that I thought I left behind. She also caught back up after 10 miles. Anyway, she would pass and he would sprint to jump on her wheel and ride so close in aero. I called him pathetic and he actually said something like "I don't have any energy left in the tank" or something lame like that! Well then don't race loser. You need to draft off the women in the race? Rules are there for a reason people! So no one dies and to keep things fair! Anyway, she and the other girl pass me on the long downhill back to transition. I ease up a little. I can get these girls on the run! And I have my first ever shoe removal on the bike in a race! And then trip over my bike at the mount line...not the first time that has happened!!!!

T2: :41, ok, this one is better and less eventful

Run: Somewhere between 5K and 3.3 miles some hills, 21:25, 41/539, 5th female
So, they changed the run course from previous years. I liked the old one better with the exception of the hurdle over the ditch at the end. For the sprint, no more covered bridge, not as much shade and running through the woods, the bigger hill is gone and you don't pop out of the forest and get the great view. Still nice, just, not as nice.

I had trouble breathing right away. I caught one girl quickly, but had the blocker to catch. I should be able to catch her! My chest was tightening and I was wheezing. I had that inner struggle in my mind--you should be able to catch her, why don't you?; I can't do this, I'm not gaining ground, I will never catch her! Around the mile mark I wasn't making any ground up on her. But I remembered Beth saying from Columbia to never give up, because anything is possible. So, I kept chugging along. My breathing got better. My legs felt good. People on the course kept telling me I could catch her. At the turn around at the dam I got a little surge of energy. Then a few minutes later I saw Leah and she said something like "Go get her!" That's when I did it! I mustered up my energy and made a strong pass and didn't look back. My old high school running coach, as much of a dork as he was, used to say, when you pass someone, you steal some of their energy to use for yourself, and you say "Zapp! Got Ya!" So when I passed, I did just that (in my head of course!). Her footsteps grew quieter and I ran strong to the finish. People I knew cheered me along the way and it help boost me up! I cheered for other people too! I know how much it helps. I put one last push into the finish and felt good about how I raced.

Overall: 1:33:47, 30/539, 4th female, 1st 25-29
I am not there with my biking and running yet, but it is getting there. There is more snap back in my legs and even Nancy who I raced at Jerseyman noticed how much better I looked out on the run in comparison. Jerseyman which was a similar distance, she beat me by :57 on the swim, 3:20 on the bike, and :57 on the run. Here, it was :30 on the swim, 2:02 on the bike, and :03 on the run, so nice to see that!

And now onward to faster times and more fun!

The doggies had a good time at Mark's. They are exhausted now! Good, me too!

This is Frito after Black Bear 2007. He pretty much looks like this now. Tired doggie. And, he loves his rawhides and nylabones.