Race Report: Boston Triathlon

Race Report: The Boston Triathlon Sprint

Race morning:
Webb:  The race was scheduled to go off at 8AM. We had a WHOLE two miles to travel from our apartment door to the transition area. O brother! Would we get up in time???

Elle: So. We woke up, got ready, and were out of the apartment on time. A small miracle, really. We biked over to the race site, it was sunny & pleasant. We could tell it was going to be a good day, I mean, we couldn't have asked for better weather. Right on.
We had picked up our race packets the day before and had applied our nifty race number tattoos - plus the age tattoo for your calf - not to be confused with your cattle. I love and hate the race tattoos. They look supercool and make race morning run more smoothly, but they're a bear to get off, at least for me.
Anyhow, let me tell you about my sweet rack location - right at the end of transition near the swim in and bike in. Score! I had a good feeling about the day...

Race morning: it was going to be a good day

Webb: Meanwhile I was tucked in the middle, at the end of my rack. Anyway, we arrived early enough to set up and go for a shake-out run, including some light running drills before squeezing into our wetsuits. We walked the 1/4 mile or so to the swim start to find we were among only five or so swimmers. Not so strange considering it was at least 20 minutes before the mandatory pre-race meeting. We swam out to the first sight buoy and back, stopping a few times to tread water and chat. The water temp was bearable, definitely warmer than our prior races. Still I felt pretty crappy. My shoulders felt tight, my lungs small and I just didn't have much energy. I tried to push away any negative thoughts about not being able to meet my goal of a 1:15:00 finish.

The Swim: 1/2 mile ocean swim:
Webb: My wave was the third to go after the elites and the young ones. Having been a negligent swimmer this year I was wondering how to place myself. I found myself herded into the back and to the left. Any consternation I had from the warm-up was gone as I became preoccupied with the return of the nagging pain in my hip. (I really need to sort that out once and for all.) The announcer then alerted us that we would be off in 30 seconds and the next sound we heard would send us off. True enough, half-a-minute later he shouted "Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!"

And then we walked into the ocean. Walked. There were a bunch of us in my AG and a million more broken shells and razor-like rocks gnashing out at our feet. Once in the water I followed my Escape The Cape strategy: Find feet and swim long and easy. All went splendidly. The warm-up tightness and breathlessness was absent as I moved along trading one pair of feet for the next. My goal was to enter T1 in 15 minutes. I entered the TA at 15:13.

Elle: I had one of the best swims of my life. Perhaps it was all that swim training I had done? I spent a lot more time in the pool working on my swim, and then on race day, I had a good swim. Who knew? I actually felt like I was zooming through the water, a new experience for me. And then, before I knew it, the swim was over and I was speeding through T1. In and out in a whopping 1:14.

T1: Wait? How long did that take you?

Elle: I don't know, man, things were just going right. I have to admit, I was having a good day...

Webb: Seriously? That might be a new Triathletes Journey record. Elsewhere, I took forever in T1. At some point my race number tore off one side of my race belt and I spent too long trying in vain to fix
it.

The Bike: 9 miles

Webb: The course was a double loop. Loops are fast. On this day the loops meant two headwinds and two tailwinds. Once I finally was on the bike I gave it full throttle. I immediately began passing people who were not on tri or aero bikes. It had been awhile since I survived a bike leg without being passed. I cruised into the parking lot at the end of the first loop into a mandatory slow zone. O! It was so maddening! It is necessary for safety reasons, but I was having so much fun hammering away I didn't want to slow down at all. Not far into the second loop I heard the tell-tale whoosh-whoosh of carbon wheels hauling ass behind me. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Thankfully he was the only one to pass me and he wasn't in my age group. This time the goal was to enter T2 by the 43:00 mark. A quick look at my watch revealed 41 something. Sweet!

Elle: And then it happened...the first snafu of the day: as I rolled out of T1, all confident and smiley, I full on dropped my chain. Arrgghh! Everything had been going so well! So there I was, with a gaggle of on-lookers watching as I clumsily (yet quickly) grabbed my chain and practically threw it back on the ring, with no regards to the massive amount of grease that I now had all over my hands. I could almost hear a collective sigh of relief coming from the crowd that had gotten oddly quiet as they watched my debacle. The experience had caused a massive amount of adrenaline to rush through my whole body, and I bolted down the road on my Trek like a bat out of hell, passing rider after rider. And that feeling stayed with me for the whole (albeit short) bike course. Maybe the dropped chain had been a blessing in disguise? Either way, I now had a nice collection of sweat and grease smeared all over my face now. Sweet.

T2: In and out: Did we do a T2 for this race?

Elle: 59 seconds in T2. I always like to keep it under a minute, so we're all good there.

Webb: I also had a surprisingly good transition at under 50 seconds. No one knows why.

The Run: 4.4 miles

Webb: A flat, out and back. Pretty simple. Two point two miles out; two point two miles back. The strategy was all out, so I was all-in. I ran hard. Probably too hard. My breath was rapid as I focused on my cadence. The younger runners kept falling past me as I pushed up the line. This was an entirely new experience for me. The run is usually where I fall off pace. And then that old, fatigued feeling re-emerged. My pace slackened as I neared the two-mile mark. Trying to keep it together I reminded myself that no one in my age group had passed me. I just needed to keep it up. O how my body resisted. Just before the turnaround I was caught by two guys in my age group. I vowed to myself not to let anyone else catch me. I continued to pass the younger guys while not seeing anyone else in my age group. To be sure some guys did pass me but they were all in their 50s. Then with about a mile and a half to go I was caught again. I was hurting and could not match him. At this point I did not think I could reach him or my 1:15 goal. My one motivating thought was, "Hell, just get this race over with!" I reached deeper into the suitcase of pain and picked up the pace. All of a sudden the race chute was in sight. I popped over the curb onto the grass for the final 100 meters. With about 50 meters to go I saw the last guy in my age group to pass me. He had no idea I was there. I left it all in that chute as I ran past him and collapsed just after the finish line. I ended up beating him by three seconds, finishing in 1:15:00 on the nose.

Third place!

Elle: I was anxious to get out on the run - this was basically my first real attempt at racing a triathlon for the year. Not much to say, really, I just ran my ass off. I'll be honest, it felt good to pass people! Webb had said to me before the race, that I should have a goal of finishing without anything left in the tank, and I thought about that while I was out there, pounding the pavement. As I was nearing the end of the run, I saw a woman up ahead who was in my age group. I decided to put everything I had out on the line to catch her. Which I did. I hung back behind her for awhile, wondering when I should make my move. And then I just did. I kept waiting for a counter-attack, but it never came. I crossed the finish line. And then I fell to the ground. I'm sure if she had known that she was about to lose third place to me, she might have tried harder. But she didn't. I did. And now I have a trophy to show for it. Sweet.

Post-race: Rolling, rolling, rolling... (Thanks MuscleMilk!)

Getting ready for the 'Love Run'
(post-triathlon 5k run run)

Elle: Just a quick note about the post-race. After the awards ceremony, there was a 5k "fun run" hosted by the race director, aimed at connecting active people (singles!) to each other. Obviously Webb and I aren't single, but they are open to having couples run too. The race director, who we've met at other events, convinced us the day before it would be a good cool down run. So we figured, Why not? What's another 3 miles...
The group pretty much stayed together as we all chatted our way through the 5k, with the Atlantic ocean as a back-drop, it was kind of romantic. And sweaty.

Mass. State Triathlon - Volunteering!

Elle: Webb and I decided it was time that we gave a little something back to the community that gives us so much enjoyment and pain (but in a good way). So on July 14, we headed out to Winchendon, Massachusetts to volunteer at the Mass State Triathlon with TeamWater.org.
Water.org is an organization that is all about getting water to those in need. Team Water.Org is a collection of athletes who participate in a variety of endurance events united in the common cause to support Water.org's efforts. Chances are if you are reading this you don't take water for granted. Anyway, our team captain is Kyle Damon, who is also a triathlete. Webb emailed Kyle and told him we wanted to help the team volunteer at the Mass State Tri. And so we did.

Webb: The Mass State Tri has both sprint and olympic distance races. Team Water.org was manning the water station at the 6km mark. This was a symbolic water stop as the average person in developing countries walks 6km to obtain clean water for the household. I don't know about you, but I walk to my sink to fill up my water bottles. This was a great chance to give back to the triathlon community while raising awareness of the global problem of access to clean water.

Karen Smyers handing out water @ 6K,me, supporting with the back-up water
photo credit: Team Water.org 

On race day, the sun was out in full force. Just setting up the water and HEED table we could feel the heat beginning to bear down on us. The first athlete to come through was our friend Nate. (If you want to read a race report check out his.) A bit later 2nd came through with 3rd place not far behind. in fact he would end up overtaking him. Then a small stream of the fast athletes started flowing through. With no warning that stream became a flood as the mid-packers began to arrive. And it was only getting hotter. We stood out there for 2 hours in the hot sun, passing out water to people fighting dehydration. It was kind of exhausting. I told Kyle I wish I had worn my Garmin so I could log it as a workout. And to add a bit of triathlon celebrity to the day, Karen Smyers was there, handing out water with the rest of us.

Elle: Karen Smyers is not only one of the first people inducted into the Triathlon Hall of Fame, but also seems to keep showing up in our lives. I'm going to take that as a sign that we were meant to be triathletes.

Team Water.org @ the Mass State Triathlon 
photo credit: Team Water.org

So, it was hot. Super hot. And sunny. That sun beat down on us for quite some time. You really appreciate water on a day like this. I was glad we had decided to volunteer, but it was work, for sure. Finally it was quitting time, and we headed back to the transition area - we congratulated Nate, and checked in with our other friends. All of the usual suspects were there: Beth Allen, Jorge Martinez, Ed Galante, Jessica Douglas and all the rest. We hung out with the Team Water.org peeps for awhile, but we still had a bike workout to get in. So I ended up changing into my bike shorts in a port-o-potty, not my finest hour.
Then, we took our hot, sweaty, tired bodies and started our 2-hour ride. We did the olympic bike course from the race, plus a mystery loop that included an off-road section, plus a category 4 climb. Thanks Webb!, I won't get into all the gory details, but I was glad when that ride was over. Sometimes you're hot and tired and hurting, and the last thing you want to do is workout. But you make it happen. And in the end, you're stronger for it. I think...