Lines...A 5430 Sprint Race Report

I've raced the sprint 5 times. During the first 4 races I never waited more than 10 minutes to get my packet. But this one, I spent more time in lines than I did actually racing.

~1 hour to get checked off a list
~35 minutes to sign waivers and get the important stuff
~5 minutes for food
~20 minutes to get back into transition to get my stuff
~10 minutes to get out of transition with my stuff
plus the typical wait time to get out of the Res

But that's the pre-race report (see earlier posting)...

Leading up to the race, I was surprisingly chill about the whole thing. I guess it is a sprint. But I was totally organized hours before I went to bed. And I slept really well, waking only because Mobi required some attention (he had to be re-covered). I woke up before my alarm and was out of house right on schedule. I tried to get down a plain bagel, but it wasn't working out so well for me. I made it to the Res and parked without much waiting at all. My biggest concern was my foot. It's been bothering me for about the last 6 weeks, and is now being called sesmoiditis. Fortunately it doesn't bother me when I run, but the week before it was killing me when I walked. I was dreading walking around barefoot, which hurts the most. Due to poor planning or not paying attention, I ended up doing a lot more walking around barefoot before the race than I would have liked. My foot was incredibly tender as I was lining up for the swim start.

The Swim:
Fortunately the water was a little on the colder side and I think that helped numb my foot (it's been interesting that swimming is the one activity that I do feel the pain. Running and riding it's fine). Anyhow, it didn't bother me for the rest of the race. Phew. I started on the front line of the swim (first time), but to the outside. People were actually backing away from the line so when the gun went off, there wasn't really anyone coming up from behind and I had a straight shot. Unfortunately, it's a clockwise course and I breathe to my left, so I believe I swam a little wide. The swim was otherwise uneventful and before I knew it (it was a short swim afterall) I was back on the beach. I had managed to forget all about my foot and didn't really mind the run up to transition - but I was grateful for the carpeting they had laid out.

T1:
I ran past my rack. I sort of figured it would happen since every time I tried to find my rack, I ended up passing it. So much for quick transitions.

The Bike:
My fastest bike time on this course was set the very first year I did the race (2005) and on my old "tri" bike when I didn't really know what I was doing. Every year I don't even come close to beating it, despite a much nicer (lighter) bike and having a slightly better idea of what I'm doing. That being said, I've been trying to work on my cycling and feel like slowly, very slowly, I'm starting to improve. If there was ever a year to PR on the bike, it would be this year. I came out of the Res feeling pretty good and just started passing people. This is a big deal because I'm usually the one that gets passed and passed and passed. But I guess that's the one nice thing about having all of the guys starting first (and starting towards the end) - there weren't that many people behind me to pass me. But despite this, it felt different this time. I actually felt like I was riding well and passing a lot. I just hoped that I could keep it up. I thought I was going to get penalized on the first hill off of 36. It was right after the downhill stretch where everyone is flying, but then they get to the hill and sort of stop. Someone had just passed me, so I had to drop back, but then we were coming up on a few people that were a lot slower so both of us had to pass. I was starting to catch up with the person that had just passed me and turned to look behind me to make sure I wasn't about to cut someone else off. The ref was right there on the motorcycle, so I pulled back in - I wasn't about to throw myself in front of a motorcycle. But they didn't ride by, so I looked again and they were still there just watching. At this point I felt like I had to pass because I was getting way too close to the people in front of me. Since they weren't really moving, I pulled out. And because I thought they were watching me, I felt like I had to fly by everyone to make it look like I was trying to pass and had valid reason to. Fortunately it was towards the top of the hill so I didn't have to kill  myself for too long. I was able to power on the rest of the ride and felt pretty good coming back into the Res. If I didn't PR, I had to be pretty close.

T2:
I'm not sure why I didn't notice it on the way out on the bike - maybe because I was still catching my breath and orientation from going from horizontal to vertical. I got new cleats this past week since mine were WELL beyond their prime. And like a seasoned triathlete, I didn't bother trying them out before the race. When I got off the bike, I felt like I was running on reverse heels - they were so high and clunky. I had to slow down for fear of wiping out. Maybe it's time to start practicing leaving my shoes in my pedals. I swapped shoes, grabbed my hat, and was off.

The Run:
I drank a little too much on the ride and immediately had cramps on the run. They were severe enough that I couldn't run hard. So I plodded through the first mile until they eventually subsided. I was able to pick up the pace at this point and just tried to focus on getting faster over the last 2 miles. I'd like to this that I got faster each mile, but I can't say for sure. I certainly felt better each mile, and maybe that's more important. I finished strong despite being 3 minutes slower than my goal time.

swim: 14:06
t1: 2:01
bike: 51:01 (20.2 mph)
t2: 1:20
run: 25:22 (8:11 min/mile)
total: 1:33:48

age: 15/97
female: 79/553
overall: 395/1277

I did PR on the bike by 1 second. I'm still trying to figure that one out. I went from 20.1 to 20.2 but that only yielded a second faster. But oh well, I'll take it. And considering I was coming off of working 12 days straight, I'd say that overall, it was a pretty good race.

What? Another Line? A Pre-race Report

I have never stood in so many lines for anything in my life. Here's a recap of packet pickup - an event in itself.

Line 1: The Big Black X

I got a call from Adam around 10:30a telling me I should get to the Res soon because the lines were already insane and there were only 2 people checking people in. So I got up from the couch and decided to go. Only I couldn't find my USAT card, which I just recently renewed. I know I put it in a good place, but that's my problem with my superb organizational system - it's such a good place that I can never find it. And usually when I do find it, I suddenly remember why I thought it was in such a good place the first time. I had no problem finding last years card - both the card and that keychain thing they give you as well. Maybe it's a hint that I should actually put it on my keychain. So after going through everything imaginable, I decided I just needed to print out a temporary card. I always have problems logging into the site - for some reason it just never recognizes my username and password and I have to find some backdoor approach. Well, I couldn't get in and I couldn't find the backdoor until I realized I was on some US Tennis site. After spending way too much time on this (I also had to hook up the printer), I finally had my temporary card. I got to the Res and the end of the line started at the finish line, then wrapped around the fencing, around the audience area of the stage, along a row of expo booths, and then around the corner. Thankfully I had sunscreen with me - I put it on immediately. Exactly what you want to do the day before a race: stand around in the hot sun. We were moving very slowly. As we got closer, we realized there was a second line. But for something else. We weren't allowed into the second line without first getting to the end of Line 1. It probably took an hour to get to the front of the line where a guy asked me my name, looked at my IDs, checked my name off of a list, asked where Adam was (since his name was right before mine), and then put a big X on my hand and told me to go to the other line. Seriously?

Line 2a: Waivers

Line 2 at least looked a lot shorter when we first discovered it. However, by the time we got in it, it had grown. By a lot. Everyone was complaining. The guy behind me had his two kids with him. The younger one was maybe 3. He did great. Right up until we were about to enter the tent (the end is near) and then just lost it. I really couldn't blame him. As I entered the tent, I was asked for my number. How the hell was I supposed to know that? I just got a X on my hand. Well, apparently we were supposed to look that up prior to entering the tent, only no one was communicating this. I found my number (1017) and got to the table. I gave them my number, showed them my ID again, and they gave me 2 pieces of paper. The first one was mostly pre-filled in and I was told to make sure it was accurate and to fill in the missing pieces. The second had my name and number printed on it, but was otherwise a standard waiver that had to be signed. I can guarantee you that almost everyone in the lines would have foregone the pre-filled forms and would have been happy to fill out all pieces of information, while standing in line, thereby reducing the number of stations for which we had to stand in line.

Line 2b: Filing

Papers were signed and delivered to the next station. Apparently at one point, you were not permitted to move to the next station until after they filed your papers (hence the pre-numbers???). Fortunately they realized that we'd still be standing in line well beyond the end of the race if they kept that up.

Line 2c: I must be a moron

The next stage was the big one. This was where I got what I had been waiting for all along - bib, stickers, swimcap. I was first asked for my ID. Really? It would have been nice if they had at least warned you to keep your ID out and available. I kept putting my back in my wallet and then my wallet back in the bottom of my bag. And then had to dig around for it later. I turned to the woman next to me, who was also very close to a meltdown, and sighed that we had to show our IDs. Again. She turned to her volunteer and asked if she needed her ID. When she said yes, she just threw her ID at her. She was done. Anyhow, after confirming that once I again I was me, I was handed a bag and swimcap and I started to turn to leave. I was stopped. I was told that I must listen to this woman who would go over instructions quickly. Before she started, she held up a piece of paper and said that if I forgot anything she said, I could refer to this piece of paper that had the SAME EXACT INFORMATION that she was about to go over. Do I really need to listen to you if 1) I've done this before and 2) I can read it for myself in the comfort of my own home where I'm out of the heat and off of my feet? The answer was yes. And she was anything but quick. You have two bibs, one for the bike and one for the run. Do you have a race belt? Oh you do, well, then you'll have an extra bib. Okay now, this number is going to go on your helmet. And this number is going to blah, blah, blah. Got it. Can I go now? Finally I was excused to...

Line 2d: I paid for what?

All this money. All this time in line. And I get a crappy cotton t-shirt.

Welcome to corporate racing. I'm bringing a chair for the Peak.

Something Good in Between Rain Drops

I have never seen so much rain!!! My backyard is a sponge. You sink into about an inch of water stepping into the grass. Needless to say Mobi won't go anywhere near it and his been walking along the edges of the yard (Mobi really needs to have his own post one day). I had to work all weekend, which kind of sucked, but I have to say that I couldn't have picked a better weekend to be stuck at work. If I hadn't been working, I probably would have been sitting on my ass, watching the World Cup, and eating my way through the weekend. So maybe it was a good thing - we really did get through a lot.

I tried to squeeze my workouts in between working a full day and the rain. I figured that I might have a shot of getting out a little early on Sunday, so I saved my brick for then. Which meant that I headed over to the pool around 5:30 pm for a Saturday night swim. I know, lame. There were a few other people there, but after about 15 minutes, I was alone and in the rain. I left work with a headache and wasn't expecting to make it through my swim. But there was something about being in the pool by myself on such a dreary day that made me want to swim. Besides, what else was I going to do being that I have such an exciting social life (Matt and I ended up watching a movie, which is probably what we would have done had I not had to work). My headache went away and I had a really good swim.

Sunday was much of the same. Work. Rain. Rain. More rain. Work. And so on...I didn't get to leave as early as I thought and ended up getting home around 4:30 or so. Technically my workout should have been something like a 2.5 hr ride and then an hour run. Technically the timing of that would have worked out. But I move a little slower through "transitions" when I'm at home. It took me a while to get set up on the trainer - I never thought I'd be on the trainer in June! I got stuck in the storm on Thursday (really bad idea!) and had to clean my bike off before it came back into the house. I had to get a movie set up, get water, get food, etc. So I didn't start riding until around 5. The movie ended after 90 minutes. I decided to call it good and try and get in part of my run. With two races around the corner, the brick seemed more important than a long ride. Surprisingly it was still raining. And it was 6:30. Anyone in their right mind would have been jumping at the opportunity to go out for a run. You can sense my lack of motivation here, but you probably can't blame me, especially if you were in town this weekend and lived through The Weekend of Sogginess. I dragged myself out the door. I realized once I was outside that I had forgotten my iPod, but I had a feeling if I went back inside to get it, I wouldn't be coming back outside, especially having felt the conditions. I also had to keep my Garmin under my sleeve because I was worried about that water (I've had to send a Garmin back before because of water getting in under the glass). My sleeve was kind of tight and it would be difficult to keep checking the time. So I decided, well, I have no music, I might as well have no watch either. I decided to try and do the run in what I thought was a mid-Z3 pace and would see how well I did when I finished. I took off and by the time I got to the end of the block (about 6 houses), I realized that I felt pretty good (possibly due to being cooped up all weekend at work). I settled into what I felt was my desired pace and just ran. Even the hills didn't seem that bad. 5.2 miles later I was back. And soaking wet. When I finally checked my watch I saw that I was right where I thought I was, averaging 149 bpm, and just slightly slower than my BB pace (more proof that I had a crappy BB). I sort of surprised myself with this and it turned the weekend around. Though I didn't get to do much over the weekend, I still managed to end it on a really strong note. I'm actually starting to feel prepared for racing the next two weekends (note that I said starting to feel prepared...not there just yet).

I Think It's A Carrot

Okay, I'm not really sure what it is, but it's sprouting up roughly from where I planted carrots. Of course, it could be a weed. I'll let you know in a few weeks.

But the garden is coming along. Everything is officially planted and the sprinkler system is all hooked up. I still think I have a few more weeks of adjusting the sprinklers and times to make sure everything is getting enough water, but so far, so good. And if I must say, my tomatoes are looking a lot better than my neighbors.

I have my first pepper, which was not planted from seed...

And my first green beans poking through, which were planted from seed...These guys are really determined. Four of them worked their way up through the dirt yesterday while I was out riding.

Bolder Boulder Race Report

The year is 1999. It's my first BB. My bib number is J233. I was coming from sea level - Washington DC. And yes, I had to go look all of this up. My goal was to beat Adam. I was young and not really sure what I was thinking being that he lived here at 5400 ft. and thus had much better odds of beating me. But again, I was young. 3 age groups ago in triathlon years. But this was before my triathlon years. It would be the year of my first marathon though. I believe I ran a solid BB considering it was my second 10K since the Great Race in Pittsburgh, which I believe I last ran in 3rd grade and am not even sure if I really "ran" it. I finished in 50:54, about 5 minutes after Adam. (I made up for it the following year by narrowing the losing gap to 40 seconds.)

Flash forward 11 years (wow!). My bib number is C036. And let's just say that this was my worst BB since that first one. And being that I now live here and am actually acclimated to altitude, you could so far as to say that this was my worst BB ever. I'm not really sure what happened. It could have been that I didn't feel all that prepared. But I had a great 7 mile run a few days before which made me almost reconsider. It could have been the 2 glasses of wine the night before (why ruin a good dinner when I already wasn't feeling prepared?). It could have been the complete incompetence of the bag drop people who couldn't figure out how to manage the single-file line of thousands of people waiting to drop off their bag, thus causing me to have to cut the line so that I could make my start time, and thus making me feel horribly guilty for having just cut in front of thousands of people, and thus making me have to run to the start and push through hoards of people that had the good sense to get to their wave with plenty of time to spare, and thus making me get to the C wave just as it was moving to the starting line, thus making me completely out of breath when the gun went off.

But these are just excuses. I haven't felt well rested for a while. Work is insane. Training is coming second if it comes at all. I have been skipping workouts right and left and September is right around the corner. Let's face it, I was screwed before I even got in line for the bag drop. I don't want to say that I gave up somewhere around Mile 3, but I did slow down and ask myself why I'm trying to kill myself somewhere around Mile 3. I noticeably slowed down and guess I just hoped for the best.

Things didn't get much better at the finish. The completely incompetent bag drop people hadn't gotten any better on the other side. I went to the Truck 4, whose numbers corresponded to the numbers they pasted on my bib - 2398. You'd think with the amount of waiting that people did to drop their bags off that they were doing something useful like putting the bags on the truck in numerical order. But no, that would have been too logical. 2391, nope. 2393, nope. 2400, nope. Well, maybe your bag is on another truck - it happens sometimes I was told. They told me to check Truck 5. This seemed pointless being that Truck 5 wasn't even opened when I cut the line to drop off my bag. They were only serving Truck 3 and 4 at this time. But I went to Truck 5, who took a look at my number and kindly told me that my bag would be on a different truck and to check the numbers. Yes I realize that my bag SHOULD be on Truck 4, but it doesn't appear to be. So I went to Truck 3. Again, they told me to go to a different truck. And again I tried to inform them that I wasn't a moron but could they maybe check to see if they had other bags accidentally on their truck. I must have started getting a little irate because Someone Of Importance came over to reassure me that they'd find my bag and that it's probably just on another truck. I started to ask, so what am I supposed to do, just hang out and wait for them to try and unload 20 trucks and see if mine is accidentally on one of them. But she walked away because she was Someone Of Importance and had Important Business to attend to elsewhere. Truck 6 or 7 pulls up and suddenly bags start coming off of that one and are brought to other (correct) trucks. Aha! This could be the magic group of bags that made it on the wrong truck. I went over to check and AGAIN was told that I need to go to a different truck. YES I KNOW WHICH TRUCK MY BAG SHOULD BE ON BUT NO ONE CAN FIND IT!!! Another Person Of Importance comes over to try and assuage me, asking if I had a phone in the bag. I really had to struggle to refrain myself from saying why on earth would I actually put something valuable in a bag that clearly can be so easily misplaced. But she actually said it as though a light bulb went off in her head with this brilliant idea that she seemed convinced would find me my bag. No such luck - we couldn't try and call my bag. Finally the guy that I had originally asked on Truck 4 pulls out a bag from way in the back from amount the 2200s or something and calls out my number. This process seemed to take as much time as it took me to finish the race. Beware of bag drop.

On the plus side, I had to do a 30 mile ride later in the day and for whatever reason, it turned out to be a really good ride. Don't get me wrong - it hurt like hell and my legs were on fire for most of it. But I rode pretty well despite this and was even able to charge up the hills almost as though I hadn't run a 10K that morning. Of course, now that I'm writing this I realize that I barely ran a 10K that morning and the fact that I was able to ride so well just further confirmed the fact. Oh well, so much for being a plus.

Oh, and just like in 1999, Adam beat me again by about 5 minutes. If history really does repeat itself, I'll be ready to almost crush him next year.