Luray Race Weekend Report

Another weekend, another Oly race under my belt...

Thursday
For me, team activities officially started Thursday night. Since it was a recovery week, that meant that there was a team happy hour. This time around two things were different: 1) new location @ The Continental in Rossyln ("a modern pool bar"); 2) happy hour was serving as an IMFL/beach to Battleship/IMAZ meet and greet.

Happy hour was a really good time. Although very few of my fellow future Iron-people turned up, about 30 or so teammates were present and accounted for. Around 10:30 - way late for this girl - I began to turn into a pumpkin and headed home. Fortunately I was taking off Friday to pack and head out to Luray.

Friday
The plan was to sleep in. Not just in…but late. Late like I haven’t in I don’t know how long. Well, that was the plan at least.

I think it would have worked better if I hadn’t stayed out so late the night before. Yes, I said late. For someone who is usually in bed between 8:00 and 9:00, staying out until 10:30 – and then getting in bed around 11:30 is practically the wee hours of the morning.

I woke up at 7:30 am. While it was nice wake up without an alarm, I really wanted to get a ridiculous amount of wonderfully restful sleep. It just didn’t happen.

Nevertheless, I woke up rested, vowing to take a nap before leaving for Luray in the afternoon. Yeah. That didn’t happen, either.

I spent way more time than I should have packing (I was packing for a race, 2 nights of being away from home and sleeping in a tent). There is a lot of stuff involved with all of that. Sigh. I never did get that nap.

I drove around 2 hours to downtown Luray to pick up my race packet, then straight to the park to set up camp.

All by myself I set up a tent and got everything ready to go. That night there was a team dinner at the park (pasta/sauce/chicken, salad, bread). I had a nice time with teammates socializing before the early bed time.

Saturday
It was so great waking up in the park, just steps away from the transition area. It really took a lot of the pressure off.

It was also nice having everything I needed (except Ms. Piggy) within arms reach of where I was sleeping.

I began getting dressed and realized I made a huge packing error. Instead of grabbing my black and grey tri shorts (which have a very thin, non-absorbent chamois) I accidentally brought my black and grey bike shorts, which have a nice comfy, cushy chamois which would feel like a big, wet diaper after a dip in the lake. Doh!

What to do…what to do…. I asked many people and no one brought an extra pair or tri shorts. Then my teammate, Talia, had a brilliant suggestion. She asked if I brought a swimsuit and suggested that I wear the swimsuit with the tri top for the swim, and then put the bike shorts on over my swimsuit before the bike. Brilliant!

I can’t say I was thrilled about the idea about running around (literally) with nothing more than a bathing suit on my bottom half, but I sucked it up and did it. And I lived.

Pre-race
Last week I noticed that I was more preoccupied with packing and the idea of putting up the tent than I was about the race itself. And I continued to be quite nonchalant about the race itself up until the time I got to the lake right before starting the swim. Then the butterflies began.

The biggest source of anxiety at this point was the swim course. Apparently last year the swim course for the Olympic distance was a 2-loop course that resulted in a lot of chaos. In an effort to solve this, the race directors created what they were calling a “pac-man” shaped course. No, I’m not kidding – that is what they called it. It doesn’t sound easy, does it?





Picture about 700 athletes standing around waiting to swim. The race director is on the megaphone trying to explain the race course. A volunteer is standing about 10 feet from him holding up a diagram that really doesn't help much.

[I can't figure out how to post the swim course map. If you're at all interested, click here and it is on the second page.]

Most people were just plain confused – me included. To make matters worse, you couldn’t see one of the buoys from the shore. Fortunately for me, I knew I’d have plenty of people to follow.

The good news is that the hysteria (only a slight exaggeration) gave me something to focus on before the race, and was a created a bonding opportunity for us racers. Do you like how I focus on the positive?

Swim (1500 m)


44:39 (503/532 overall; 170/183 female)

I’m not going to lie. I still don’t like swimming. But this swim was less bad than others have been. The whole course thing wound up working out just fine.

My swim started off a little rocky because I wasn’t sighting very often (read: not really at all) and when I looked up around the 5-minute mark I had somehow gotten way off course. The sun was in my eyes big time, and my goggles were really fogged up. I couldn’t see anything!

I spent some effort getting back on course, and wound up having a little chat with a fellow green-capper who was also not enjoying the swim. I started to get in a groove and felt kind of bad about leaving her behind, but the show must go on.

The bad thing about this swim was my worst sighting ever. For some reason I just couldn’t sight while swimming freestyle. I wound up swimming 5-8 strokes freestyle, and then doing a few breast strokes to allow me to look up and figure out where to go. Since I couldn’t see, I relied on the swimmers around (and on top of) me. Fortunately, this is something I can work on and I know I can improve. I didn’t used to be so bad at this.

The good thing about the swim was that it didn’t wear me out. Maybe it was all the breast stroke I did, but I didn’t have my usual “get me the heck out of this water because I'm exhausted” feeling. I was calm, and I felt that my form was pretty good (when I wasn’t trying to sight). I felt like my endurance was good (which bodes well for almost tripling this distance in less than 3 months).

The time on my watch was a little over 43 minutes (the official time above included getting out of the water and across the sand – I say that doesn’t really count). While I would have loved to break 40 minutes (as Jeanne would say, I would have loved a swim time that began with a “3”) I am happy with this.

This swim was not wetsuit legal, since the water was around 80 degrees. Thinking back to last summer, at my only other Olympic-distance (1500m) open water swim, this is a big improvement. That time was 50:50.

This is also pretty good in comparison to the 41-minute wetsuit swim I was so excited about at Columbia. Only 2 minutes more without a wetsuit!

Transition 1


3:56



The trip to the transition area was not an easy one. There was an actual flight of stairs leading there. Lots of people were jogging up, but I chose to save my energy – and keep my heart rate low - and just walk – 2 steps at a time.

It was awesome seeing lots of my teammates at the top of the stairs, cheering and creating a ruckus. Cowbells, horns, crazy hula skirts, hats! We are a festive team! I love being cheered for, especially by name. I feel like a rock star.

My time here was pretty slow and I hope that someone had the pleasure of watching this crrazy show. Remember that I had to put a pair of bike shorts on my wet body. I sat down to wriggle them on. Then I stood up to pull them up. Then I decided to sit down again to put on my socks. Oh wait, my feet are dirty….let me rinse them off…la-la-la.

Bike (25 miles)


1:56 (506/528 overall; 170/183 female)



For some reason the difficulty of this bike course came as a big surprise to me. Everyone talks about how difficult Columbia is, and I expected that. However, I didn’t really hear much buzz about this course so I wasn’t concerned.

Afterwards several people told me they thought this course was *as* difficult, if not more so, than Columbia. Great. Now you tell me. I guess it is good that I didn’t know so that I couldn’t worry about it ahead of time.



To add to the fun, at race time it was 86 degrees and humid. Joy!

Perhaps the “best” part was what I learned afterwards were the “false flats.” I kid you not, within the first few miles I thought to myself, “there is something wrong with me.” I am in zone 3, pushing hard, and only going around 9 mph. Then I thought, “there must be something wrong with my bike.” I decided to keep going and just do my best. It turns out that these were hills that looked flat but really had enough of an incline to really mess with your head.

This was not a fun ride. In hindsight, though, I see nothing I could have done differently. I knew I was going slowly. I just couldn’t do anything about it. I tried to go faster, but I just didn’t have it in me.

The last couple of miles were the least fun of all. I knew there was a big hill at the end. With about 3 miles to go, I climbed and I climbed and was elated to get to the top of that hill.

Then I was on the flat, coasting along elated to be almost done with this madness. That was when I saw it. The REAL big hill at the end. Holy steepness, Batman! So that is why I flew down the hill on the way out at 36 mph (SO fun, BTW). The way up was around 4 mph. I guess that averages out okay.

I grinded it out and then flew into the park and was greeted by mass confusion. There were runners going every which way, but no bikers ahead of me and no one directing me where to go.

I called out to some of my wonderful cheering teammates, and they yelled “go back to transition.” Well, thanks….. I’ve been working my butt off for close to 2 hours – how the heck do I remember where transition is. Ha! Anyhow, I found it and was a happy camper to be done with that. My bike time was actually slower than Columbia. Ugh!

Transition 2


1:18

If there is one thing about triathlon I am good at, it is transition 2. I do have a secret strategy, but I don’t feel like sharing it. I know that’s greedy, but if I tell you, well, then you’ll do it and I won’t have ONE thing that I rock every time.

Okay, I’ll tell you, but you have to ask me in person. Cool?

A funny moment was when I was running in and a nice kid was roaming around (a volunteer?) and when he saw me he politely stopped where he was to yield to me. Coincidentally, he happened to stop directly in front of my transition spot. Ooops. I nicely called out “thanks, but you’re exactly where I need to be.” He moved aside with a smile and all was well.

Run (10k; 6.2 miles)


1:04 (410/510 overall; 129/173 female)

Next to transition 2, this is my second best part of a tri. As I mentioned in my last report, I am glad this is the final part of a triathlon. I think part of it is experience (as Coach Ed pointed out, I’ve been running way longer than I’ve been swimming or biking) and part of it is my mental attitude. I know I can run. I know I can keep going through the pain (I think I wrote about this before) and I choose to LOVE the run and make the most of it

This run was almost as brutal as the ride. A two-loop course that was hot and hilly. Wonderful! The volunteers at the water stations were great.

My plan here was to stay in high zone 3/zone 4. And that I did. I just went for it. I ran the first mile in about 9 minutes and then walked a minute. From that point on, with the exception of some brief stops for water, I stuck with the one mile/one minute plan which I plan to use for Ironman.

I know I felt bad out there, but I don’t remember the pain. I just remember the fun of seeing teammates and joking around, the excitement of passing folks (sorry, it is true), and the true joy of sprinting to the finish line and being finished.

Final Time: 3:50:55 (486/537 overall; 162/183 female)

Not my best race, but not my worst. I’m kind of surprised that this is a full 14 minutes slower than Columbia, but it was 86 degrees and not wetsuit legal.

I really need to start researching races before I pick them. This was a team race so I just went for it. I had a choice between the Olympic and Sprint (roughly half the distance) and I remember thinking that I wanted to do the Oly so I could see how I would do on an easy course [as compared to Columbia]. Ummmm, right.

The good news is that both upcoming races - the Bassman Half (Oct. 4) and IM Florida (Nov. 7) - are pancake flat. In preparation, all of the long training rides/runs between now and then are flat. Although this means I won’t get to enjoy flying down hills, that also means I won’t have to contend with climbing up them either. I’ll let you know how it goes.

The Rest of the Weekend
It was so great being done with the hard part and able to relax for the rest of the weekend. I camped with the team again Saturday night, and stuck around Sunday to watch the Sprint race. It was a fun time all around. I love my team and love my teammates!

On the way home I stopped at two different farm stands (I had to get my fresh produce fix) and at Carousel in Warrenton for an awesome soft-serve ice cream cone. Then I stopped at Wegman’s in Gainesville for the weekly groceries. All in all, a fabulous weekend!