HOT. That is the one word I would use to describe this race. I was told many times by multiple people how hot this race is, but it did not prepare me for what I encountered. Also, it shouldn't be called Eagleman. I did not see one Eagle during the sufferfest. They should rename it to Horseflyman. Then again, I wasn't looking in the air a whole lot, mostly down at the road trying not to hit bumps to avoid projectile water bottles. They were very necessary and needed.
Over Memorial Day weekend, a few of us took the trip down to Cambridge, MD to preview the course. We started by swimming in the river for half an hour then prepped the bikes for the 56 mile loop through the hot swamp lands of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Then we threw on the running shoes and went for a quick jog on part of the course. This weekend seemed much easier in comparison to this past weekend's race.
So race weekend has finally arrived. We woke up early Saturday morning to finish our packing and loading of the car to head down to Cambridge. It's amazing the amount of crap you have to take for a long race weekend away from home: wetsuits, bodyglide, goggles (two pair), bike shoes, chamois cream for the crotch, helmet, water bottles, race belt, running shoes, hat, watch, sunglasses, sunscreen, gels, powerbars, gatorade mix, 24 pack of water, cooler, any munchie food you want for before/after, breakfast for the morning of....just to name a few things :) We got down there around 11:30am for packet pickup and the expo. I picked up a finisher tee...so that meant I HAD to finish if I wanted to wear the $30 shirt I just bought, haha. We then drove over to the transition/race site to do the mandatory pre-racking of the bikes. You weren't allowed to drive into the park, so we had to park on side streets and ride our bikes into the park. Hard to do in flip flops - will remember to throw sneakers on for next time. But, found our spots in transition to rack our bikes then walked around transition to see where the swim in, bike out/in, run out areas were located. Then we drove back over to the expo area to see the Pro forum and listen to a Q&A session with some of the best triathletes in the world that were racing Eagleman. It is incredible to be able to see and compete on the same platform against the world's best. It's like being able to line up on the track with Usain Bolt, race a car against Jimmy Johnson, or enter a swim meet and race against Michael Phelps. There are very few sports where you can do this, but triathlon is one of them. After the pro forum, we drove back over to the race site to test out the water and Joe's new goggles (he was having leaking issues with his over the past few weeks). Then we met some fellow EnMu's at the local host hotel for a minute before driving to our hotel 40 minutes away in Salisbury. Ugh. Bedtime was 8:30pm.
Race morning came and the clock read 3:45 when the alarm went off. Of course I was awake before then in anticipation. I never sleep well (especially the night before a race). We woke up and got our stuff together, checked out, then hit the road at 4:15 to arrive at the shuttle area by 5:00. I had to force down some yogurt and granola, then drank a fruit smoothie the rest of the morning as my silly nerves don't allow much solid food to go down. We parked and carted all of our stuff onto a school bus that drove us to the race site - we didn't want to attempt to find parking on the side streets close to the race site. After body marking (I'll be 29 by the end of this year?!), we started to set up our transition areas. This took me longer than normal for some reason. I wanted to make sure I had enough nutrition on my bike to make it through a hot 56 miles even though there were bottle exchanges along the way. I was somewhat scatter brained this morning and had a hard time focusing on the task at hand. We had to be out of transition by 6:45am when the pro's started the swim. I made my way over to the porta pots around 6:15 then came back for my wetsuit and make a final run through to make sure I had everything I needed. My wave, which was second to last, didn't go off until 8:25. So, I had a solid hour and a half to get really nervous for this thing to go off.
Finally, we swim our way out to the start buoy - thank god I was wearing a wetsuit, otherwise, I would have been exhausted trying to tread water before we even started the race! So, the gun went off and it felt like eternity swimming to the first buoy. I got to the first one, and looked for the next one. That seemed to be the trend of this race - make it to the next one. There wasn't too much bumping, kicking, elbowing that happened, although I almost got kicked in the face once, and someone almost tore my timing chip off my ankle. Thankfully it was safety pinned on good. I then started thinking about what I would do it if did get ripped off - stop and swim back to the start? Continue on and tell them when I got out of the swim? That got me to the next buoy. At the first turn buoy, I thought about good swimming form and trying to employ this to the next turn buoy...which I had a hard time sighting. During this leg, I was thinking about other swimmers around me and trying to find their "kick bubbles" and get in their draft. My shoulders started to burn. Then I thought about what other racers were thinking, what their strengths are, if they were feeling the same way I was. By the time I got there, my goggles were pretty well fogged. At this point, I had a hard time swimming in a straight line to the next buoy. The chop was worse on this last leg, so I was getting some mouthfuls of water and started to mistake the kayakers for buoys. Damn the sun glare. Thankfully, I made it to the swim exit and into T-1, which was nothing new or unusual, but being the last swim wave to start and coming into transition with very few bikes left on the racks is a very defeating feeling.
Got out on the bike and kept having to fuss with my helmet and my pony tail. I should just shave my head to make things easier, damn hair. But, I was just thinking, ok, cruise for a little while and get comfortable. Start drinking at 10-15 minutes (times according to time on the bike). Was feeling good through 18 miles and opted to skip the first bottle exchange at mile 10. I kept telling myself, "Bitch, you better keep that speedometer at or above 18 mph, otherwise, you are not good enough and you should not be out here. This is a flat course, you can do better than this". I guess this is my way of setting goals for myself? But, that was a common theme that came back to me...keep it above 18. Thankfully I had a period (tailwind maybe?) when I was holding between 20 and 21 mph and wasn't feeling terrible. So, I held it there while I could. By the time 30 miles hit, my crotch and feet were numb and my stomach started to give me issues. Too much to drink? I am usually good with my water/gatorade rotation every 5 minutes or so. But, I was feeling full and only ate half of my nutrition. At this point, we took a hard left turn and had solid wind in our faces for the next 20 miles. At this point, I did fall below my "18" standard but wasn't feeling too terrible about it b/c I was still passing other bikers in the face of the wind. A handful of relay and aquabike participants passed me, but I wasn't upset and thought, "Sure, pass me. You don't have to run 13.1 miles after this! I would hope you would pass me!" My one issue was the last bottle exchange - I needed water and the two water bottle people were sweeping up bottles, migrated around pizza boxes, or doing something else, so I had to STOP, unclip my shoes, and ask for a bottle of water. WTF. This should not happen. So, I was passed here by some of those I passed awhile back. Grrrr. So, I continue and feel like I have to "chase" and try to regain some spots. By mile 50, I was ready to be off that bike - my crotch and feet hurt so badly I was ready to start the run. I decided that I hate flat courses that are longer than 20 miles. Coming in was a little defeating also b/c I could see EVERYONE running already and a lot of people on their way back to the finish line. I felt like I was so far behind, at the end, SUCKING in comparison to those already out there. But, I kept telling myself, "You started in the last wave. For every person you pass, remember, they started well BEFORE you, some an hour before, so you're ahead of them by more than just seconds."
It took a bit to get my feet under me, even running my bike into transition was a challenge with my feet being numb. Then the run out of transition was a big loop around and felt longer than typical. The first two miles of the run were just getting my feet and legs under me and trying to get my damn gels into my race belt, which never happened. I had to stuff them in my jersey pocket, but they kept sliding out. I finally got them to stay by putting my race belt over top of them so they were pressed against my body. So, off I go shuffling along and the whole time I was trying not to throw up. I don't know where I went wrong b/c I don't think I drank or ate enough (compared to what I SHOULD have eaten), but something was off and my stomach felt full and upset the entire run. By mile 2.5-3, the only thought I had in my head (similar to the swim) was "Just make it to the next one...just make it to the next aid station". They were my lifesaver - and my lifesaver was every mile or so during the hottest run I've ever experienced. I chatted with a lovely fellow from mile 3-4 as we shuffled along together, then he slowed at the aid station and I took my ice, water, and gatorade, said my goodbyes and moved on my way. At every aid station, I made sure to drink some water (and dump a full cup on my head), put ice down my shirt, pants, and under my hat, and drink some gatorade. It became clear early on that I was not going to be able to force any gels down (unless I wanted them to come right back up, which would have been counterproductive), so gatorade would have to be my liquid food. I hit the turn around in 1:15, so I thought, ok, a 2:30 half marathon. Not what I was shooting for, but at this point, I'll take it! There was a lovely snow-cone stand shortly after the turnaround, so I chose the cherry flavor. So, this is how it went pretty much the rest of the race. Keep the legs moving, ice/water/gatorade at every station, and keep the legs moving. I tried to be encouraging to those I passed who were walking, but some were just in a bad place and probably wanted to be left alone. Around mile 10 I hit a wall where I thought I was really going to upchuck...so I walked for a minute and tried to burp it out. It was this way for the last 3 miles of the race. I am a little mad b/c my legs felt fine, I wasn't cramping, and could have picked up the pace to the end. But my stomach had other plans for me this day. So, when I hit mile 12, I said, "Ok, one more mile. Get your ass to that finish line so you can take these damn water soaked shoes off before the blisters get any bigger!" I was so happy to turn down the finishing chute, see my wonderful, supportive husband along the side cheering me on (more like telling me to kick it in and get my ass across that finish!), and put my arms up in accomplishment, pride, and pain from the chafing. I did it. Another 70.3 under my belt.
I set off on the goal of going under 6 hours, but someone advised me to throw all time goals out the window for this one. I thought that several times in my head when I realized 6 hours was not in my sights. Just finishing this was an accomplishment. I was happy to beat my previous 70.3 time by a little over a minute :) So, not a huge improvement, but my fitness this time around was much much better, especially considering we didn't taper much for this race, since it was more of a "training" race with Louisville as our main "A" race. We wanted to try to train through this race - so after today off, it's back to the pool tomorrow :)
After the days report, here is a short race report:
The Good:
The friendly faces of fellow EnMu racers and tri friends, TriColumbia organization, race site, and the massages afterwards. The water staying below 76.1 and being wetsuit legal! Course support and the community were fantastic - thanks to all of the homeowners/local residents that came out with hoses, buckets of water, and a full days worth of energy to cheer everyone on!
The Bad:
Although people equate flat as easy, this was anything but easy. The wind was the hill(s) - although, not that bad. The road surfaces were a little bumpy and uneven causing projectile water bottles along the course. Those riders that didn't read the athlete manual regarding the "drafting/passing" rules in place by the WTC. What jokers. The water logged feet by the end and random chafing spots on the neck, arms, and legs.
The Ugly:
HEAT. HEAT. HOT. HEAT. 94 degrees, 85% humidity, not a cloud in site or even tree shade anywhere along the course, and a code orange air alert. Why did I sign up for this shit again???! Notorious race conditions lived up to their hype.
My stomach issues, I feel, held me back from having a better race, but I guess that's all part of racing. You never know what you'll get come raceday. Just have to adapt and move forward. Even if it is a shuffle. I saw a great quote on the ride home yesterday: "If it's a 14 minute mile, or a 6 minute mile...it's still a mile."
