First Things Friday... Diamond In The Rough Tri
Finally... since it's almost been a week since Diamond In The Rough Tri... I might as well write up my race report... so here goes nothing...
Pre Race Night...
Since the race was a little ways to travel my dad and I packed the car and headed first to Aberdeen Maryland to spend the night at a Red Roof Inn. It was lateish when we arrived in Aberdeen so we really had to get some dinner. I saw a Little Ceasars Pizza so we stopped there and also stopped at the local Shop Rite to get some breakfast for the next morning. When we got back to the Red Roof Inn... we ate our pizza... and got ready for bed.
Pre Race Morning...
The alarm was set for 4:30 a.m. and of course I woke up well before it went off. I got up... got my Team reGen Tri kit on... pigtail braided my hair... ate some oatmeal... and checked out of the hotel. By 5:45 a.m. my dad and I arrived at the race site in Perryville. Bike Check In and Packet Pickup didn't start until 6 but when we arrived I was allowed to pickup my packet... which included the most boring race shirt in the world. By 6 a.m. I was in transistion... bike racked... bike and run gear laid out... and desperately wanting to go out for a warm up run. I waited until 6:30 to take my mileish warm up run. The race director announced that the water was 81 degrees... so with that there were no wetsuits allowed... which saved me a huge amount of preperation time. Around 7:45 the National Anthem was played and the Race Director gave a brief talk and instructed us to head to the swim start.
Swim... 1 Mile...
I was the last of three waves to start... the bright green boring swim caps. As soon as the blue caps headed off... all the gal traithletes were instructed to enter the water. As I was walking down the steps and got into the water... I stopped to think about the one and only mom... the reason for racing. Even though I knew she wasn't going to be coming to this particular race... I thought about her and how proud she'd be of me for being at the start line. The water felt nice. I found my position amongst the other gals... wished them well... and waited for the countdown. The swim was a clockwise three buoy marked course. As soon the G.O. word was shouted and I started my stupid goggles started leaking... great... just what I needed for a mile swim... big time UGH! That was basically the story of the swim... leaky leaky goggles... and it was by no means fun. Even with the leaky goggle situration I found my rythm... but even with the leaky goggle situation the swim annoyed me. Boy was I ever so happy to see the steps leading out of the Susquahanna River onto dry land!
Transistion 1... Swim to Bike...
Slow... As Usual... Big Time UGH!
Bike... 27 Miles...
Just going out of the park where the swim and run take place was tough. It was a two mile curvy very narrow stretch. A few times I took the turns too tight and almost went off the road! As soon as I got out of the park and turned left... the hills started. I am going to say that this was definitely a technical and hilly course... fun... but technical and hilly! I can't remember off the top of my head the percetage grade climbs of each hill on that course... but there were many 7 to 12 percent grades... some long... some short. There were also two people down... one under a bridge... and one on a very tight turn. It was actually kind of scary to see both guys down... but they were being taken care of by race and medical staff. I don't know what to say about the bike but it was mentally exhausting. It was hill after hill and tight turn after tight turn. It got really hot really quick so I was aware of how thirsty I got and stayed hydrated... and for those of you who know me... that can be an issue.
Transition 2... Bike to Run...
Slow... Again... UGH... Again!
Run... 5 Miles...
Reminded me of Texas racing... HOT... FLAT... and UNSHADED! The run was an out and back on paved trails... neighborhood roads... and sidewalks inside and outside the park. I was very focused on staying hydrated since it was already really hot. I approached the first aide station and said "Water"... and the response was "It will be few mintues"! What the H... you think I'm gonna stand around and wait... NOPE! I'm going on. The rest of the aide staitons worked out well... even the second time I passed that first aide staiton on the way back. It was nice... I enjoyed the run... even though it was miserable! I high fived others I had met that morning... said "good job" to random fellow triathletes... and even saw a gal from MoCo Road Runners I knew! My run was actuallly a negative split... the second half being faster than the first! I was happy with it!
The Finish...
WooHoo... I survived to the finish line... not a great time for a psuedo Olympic... but I made it in one piece!
Handing Out reGen Samples...
I saw another team mate from Team reGen there... Jeff... so we both got two of our boxes of reGen and handed them out in a flash. It was fun to promote the product at a big race where people actually were needing it like crazy!
Overall... A FUN race I'd do again!
Here we go...
Pre Race Night...
Since the race was a little ways to travel my dad and I packed the car and headed first to Aberdeen Maryland to spend the night at a Red Roof Inn. It was lateish when we arrived in Aberdeen so we really had to get some dinner. I saw a Little Ceasars Pizza so we stopped there and also stopped at the local Shop Rite to get some breakfast for the next morning. When we got back to the Red Roof Inn... we ate our pizza... and got ready for bed.
Pre Race Morning...
The alarm was set for 4:30 a.m. and of course I woke up well before it went off. I got up... got my Team reGen Tri kit on... pigtail braided my hair... ate some oatmeal... and checked out of the hotel. By 5:45 a.m. my dad and I arrived at the race site in Perryville. Bike Check In and Packet Pickup didn't start until 6 but when we arrived I was allowed to pickup my packet... which included the most boring race shirt in the world. By 6 a.m. I was in transistion... bike racked... bike and run gear laid out... and desperately wanting to go out for a warm up run. I waited until 6:30 to take my mileish warm up run. The race director announced that the water was 81 degrees... so with that there were no wetsuits allowed... which saved me a huge amount of preperation time. Around 7:45 the National Anthem was played and the Race Director gave a brief talk and instructed us to head to the swim start.
Swim... 1 Mile...
I was the last of three waves to start... the bright green boring swim caps. As soon as the blue caps headed off... all the gal traithletes were instructed to enter the water. As I was walking down the steps and got into the water... I stopped to think about the one and only mom... the reason for racing. Even though I knew she wasn't going to be coming to this particular race... I thought about her and how proud she'd be of me for being at the start line. The water felt nice. I found my position amongst the other gals... wished them well... and waited for the countdown. The swim was a clockwise three buoy marked course. As soon the G.O. word was shouted and I started my stupid goggles started leaking... great... just what I needed for a mile swim... big time UGH! That was basically the story of the swim... leaky leaky goggles... and it was by no means fun. Even with the leaky goggle situration I found my rythm... but even with the leaky goggle situation the swim annoyed me. Boy was I ever so happy to see the steps leading out of the Susquahanna River onto dry land!
Transistion 1... Swim to Bike...
Slow... As Usual... Big Time UGH!
Bike... 27 Miles...
Just going out of the park where the swim and run take place was tough. It was a two mile curvy very narrow stretch. A few times I took the turns too tight and almost went off the road! As soon as I got out of the park and turned left... the hills started. I am going to say that this was definitely a technical and hilly course... fun... but technical and hilly! I can't remember off the top of my head the percetage grade climbs of each hill on that course... but there were many 7 to 12 percent grades... some long... some short. There were also two people down... one under a bridge... and one on a very tight turn. It was actually kind of scary to see both guys down... but they were being taken care of by race and medical staff. I don't know what to say about the bike but it was mentally exhausting. It was hill after hill and tight turn after tight turn. It got really hot really quick so I was aware of how thirsty I got and stayed hydrated... and for those of you who know me... that can be an issue.
Transition 2... Bike to Run...
Slow... Again... UGH... Again!
Run... 5 Miles...
Reminded me of Texas racing... HOT... FLAT... and UNSHADED! The run was an out and back on paved trails... neighborhood roads... and sidewalks inside and outside the park. I was very focused on staying hydrated since it was already really hot. I approached the first aide station and said "Water"... and the response was "It will be few mintues"! What the H... you think I'm gonna stand around and wait... NOPE! I'm going on. The rest of the aide staitons worked out well... even the second time I passed that first aide staiton on the way back. It was nice... I enjoyed the run... even though it was miserable! I high fived others I had met that morning... said "good job" to random fellow triathletes... and even saw a gal from MoCo Road Runners I knew! My run was actuallly a negative split... the second half being faster than the first! I was happy with it!
The Finish...
WooHoo... I survived to the finish line... not a great time for a psuedo Olympic... but I made it in one piece!
Handing Out reGen Samples...
I saw another team mate from Team reGen there... Jeff... so we both got two of our boxes of reGen and handed them out in a flash. It was fun to promote the product at a big race where people actually were needing it like crazy!
Overall... A FUN race I'd do again!
Here we go...
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