I slept surprisingly well the night before and thrashed to consciousness at the 4:45 alarm. An extra large bowl of oat meal and a few cups of coffee before loading the transition bag and bike into the car. Alicia and I left Brooklyn around 5:45am and were cruising down the LIE before we knew it. Alicia was very excited to see 'orange on the horizon' around the time we exited towards Oyster Bay. (A special thanks to Ms. Regina Spektor for the pre-race 'get pumped' music)
I was worried that we were cutting it a bit close to race start as we pulled into town but sure enough all we had to do was follow the other bike laden cars and we snagged a parking spot in down town Oyster Bay. It really is a pretty town, then again, anywhere with an average yearly income over $300k tends to be. It must have been an odd site for the locals to see all the streets and sidewalks filled with maniacs in spandex and wetsuits walking carbon fibre bikes more expensive then their cars. The race grounds were already packed by the time we got there, around 7am, and there were about 1200 racers setting up in the transition area. Much bigger then I had ever seen before! I grabbed my packed, t-shirt, timing chip and wandered off to claim my rackspace.
If you have ever seen how OCD I can get with silverware, just imagine how I am while setting up my transition area. I laid out an old shirt on the ground and then I begin my Zen arrangement. It's thus from the top, going clockwise- Gatorade, Water, sunglasses (silky cover removed, but still in the clam shell in case someone scrambles over them), GU, Right running shoe with sock on the tongue, left running shoe + sock, hand towel then my running hat. I rearrange these items relative to each other about 5 times. Then a water squeeze bottle goes in the bike holder, helmet gets hung on on the right handle bar. The bike itself gets hung just to the left on my # on the rack and the front tire is pressed flush my hat on the ground. I snap my bib onto my belt and strap it on. Anything superfluous gets placed back in the bag and shoved under my bike. This being done I grab my suit and head back out.
Alicia meets me back by the entrance and we head to race start. I'm 7th wave so I done start about half an hour after the race starts, which leaves me about 45 minutes of free time. I don my suit and jump in the water to stretch, get used to water and fiddle with my ankle timer for about 15 minutes. Then we wait on shore until my wave is called. Alicia must have thought it funny as each wave brings me closer to anxiety. By the time wave 5 is called I have to sit down and relax, think about the upcoming race and plan my routes. After a kiss and a knowing look, I excuse myself and take my place in the water and prepare.
The Swim - In this case, the usual irritating race announcer was a Theodore Roosevelt impersonator, very cool, and with a cheer of 'What a Bully day for a race! Bully!' we were off. The swim was a dead straight away, one turn and then back the way we came. It actually felt a bit like tip off in water polo where everyone is just floating there one second and the next full out sprint. I felt good and fought for my place early on, despite a few elbows to the face (I still have a bit of a fat lip) found a good pace and a coveted spot on the inside corner. I felt great, my breathing was good, I wasn't freaking out at all about the depth, drowning, etc, and before long I had caught up with the 6th wave. On the return route I began actually fighting through the thickest portion of the 6th wave and had to crawl over a few ladies (sorry!). One lady turned and said 'Oh, jeez, I thought you were fish!' to which I gasped 'Oh yeah! A big one!' followed by a terrified yelp somewhere to my 4 o'clock 'EKK! Really? WHERE?!' but by then I was already gone. I made it to the exit ramp and scrambled up and back to the corral.
T1 - I just couldn't get my act together. First I put on my hat, then put on my helmet... oops, hat comes off, then sunglasses come on, oops, helmet goes first, then glasses. Then I just can't seem to get my suit off my left leg and of course the last thing your body want to do at point is hop on one foot and tug a rubber suit, it's comical really just how unresponsive your body can be, I felt as coordinated as a walrus. Finally I get the thing off and throw it to the ground in a fit, as if it were a killer ninja midget or something, then I tug the bike off the rack and I'm off.
The Bike - I say Goddamn. The bike begins with a few hairpin turns and brief trip downtown Oyster Bay before heading up the coast. I have just enough time to admire how beautiful the late summer trees and shrubs are before I hit an effin' hill four times as steep and an order of magnitude longer than I've ever tried before. I was proll'y going 2 miles an hour up it. Suddenly in a group of 30 bikers all struggling with each turn of the crank, people had actually gotten off their bikes and were walking! It's amazing, I never would have been able to even think about biking that hill unless I were in the middle of a race and not thinking coherently. After what seemed like forever I crested the hill totally blind (sunglasses fogged up with sweat), I did however notice a lady dressed as a devil-cow playing the trumpet and cheering people on. Want to know what it's like to be hopped up on endorphins? It's like seeing that, and not thinking it's weird at all. The rest of the bike was very tough indeed but otherwise uneventful, got passed by a ton of really really sexy bikes. Note to self - get one of those water bottles that hangs off your handle bars so all you have to do is reach your lips to the straw, that's vital.
T2 - The bikes come in through the same portal as the swim start so I have to run all the way to the rear of the corral where my rack is. I put the bike back, grab my hat and down half the gatorade. The run start is all the back by where the bikes came in, I was coherent enough to realize that that was a bit unfair and messed up, but hey, all I care about at that point is running.
The Run - I can't help but to smile during the run. I feel so much more natural while running, like I'm out of my cage. I'm still doing my loopy post-bike weak legged cant as I return to the course. I remember hearing a lady comment 'My! He looks fresh!' but then again it I felt great so I'll take the complement. Within half a mile of the start we hit the first hill and I just motored up it. After the discomfort of biking up the hills this actually felt good, like stretching or scratching a really bad itch. The entire run was basically one long hill, up and back and I passed everyone, I like the look on their faces. Once my legs awoke and I found my cadence I just opened up and felt like I moved effortlessly (for the first time all morning). The last half mile or so was flat and curvy as we were funneled into a separate finishing chute. The chute itself a good 100 meters long and who can't help but sprint that? Thanks to my coach Alicia for snapping my favorite shot of the race as I cruise into my finish.
Total Time: 1:16:47, 9/41 Division, 108/1165
Swim: 20:33 181/1165
T1: 3:32 (ugh! damn wet suit!)
Bike: 32:06 367/1165
T2: 1:34 (more I likes it)
Run: 19:03 18/1165
Not too bad! Oh, and for some reason they gave me a ladies medium sized shirt... So yeah, anyone want a shirt?
1 comment:
Not too bad! ;)
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