Steelman Tri Race Report

I originally registered for this race so I'd have one more chance at an open water swim before the 70.3 in September. This race is at the same location so I thought it was the perfect choice. But after a successful Olympic distance 2 weeks ago where I didn't panic in the water, I started looking at this race as more than just a practice swim. With 2 tris under my belt, I wanted to push a little more and see what I had in me.

I woke up to a storm and pouring rain at 4:15am and questioned if I even wanted to go. I don't mind being wet but I wasn't interested in doing a Duathlon. Thankfully, once I arrived at the park the rain stopped and the skies cleared. It was muggy as hell, but at least we'd be able to swim.

It was a long morning of waiting around but hitting the port o pots a gazillion times helped pass the time.  I think I finally figured out what's causing the stomach issues...coconut water. I'm going to lay off it for a while before workouts and see if the issues stop. I usually drink it for the extra potassium in attempt to ward off the calf cramps that I get.

Finally, with about a half hour to go before we entered the water, my stomach calmed down. I was 100% calm and just ready to do my thing.  It was an in-water, tread start, and the water was around 78 degrees. Much better than the 88 degrees 2 weeks ago. While there weren't many people in my wave, everyone was right on top of each other. Each time I found my own little spot, 2 people would swim over and get right on top of me. I remained calm but when the gun went off, I couldn't get into a rhythm. All the way to the first buoy I kept my head up and was avoiding kicking feet. When we rounded the first buoy I finally found some space but at this point my legs felt so heavy. I tried to focus on using my upper body and really pulling but I don't think I succeeded very well. While I didn't panic, I never felt that comfortable and mentally my head wasn't in it.  Mid swim I started thinking that I shouldn't do any more tris, I should just ride for fun and stick to running. I pushed the thoughts away by trying to remember the positive experience I had at NJ State but I was frustrated with myself that these thoughts ever surfaced in the first place. I plugged along, doing what I could and was so happy to see the final turn around which took me out of the water. I knew when I exited the lake that I was nowhere near where I had hoped to be, but happy to be out of there I was ready to kill it on the bike and run.

Swim - 19:37
T1 - 2:21 (long run back to transition!!)

The start of the bike was a long up hill climb out of the park to the main road where the race took place with 2 out and backs. My legs were burning leaving the park but I pushed hard knowing I had rolling hills where my legs could get a break once I got to the top. When I got up to the main road I was feeling really good! I was holding my own and trying my best to plow through the hills. One second I'd be going 27 mph down a hill, the next, doing anything I could to hit 10 mph going back up! I passed A TON of people with flats on the first half and wondered what the heck was going on. I know I'm new to this sport but I couldn't believe how many people were having bike issues. I felt so bad for them. Little did I know I'd be in the same exact situation soon enough.

Right after the final turn around, while climbing a hill, I started to feel like I was bouncing. Then...the dreaded sound of a flat tire. I pulled to the side of the road, dismounted and just stared at my bike. Having never changed a flat before, I didn't know if I should attempt it or walk it in to T2. It was around mile 11 so I still had 2 + miles to go. I walked a bit and saw a girl up ahead changing her tire. When I reached her and saw she was struggling, I suggested we help each other. Well, within a minute, there was a guy who joined us with a flat and a minute after that, another girl. The 4 of us sat there working on each other's bikes while people with flat tires road by us. What was going on??!!

I have no idea how long it took for this, but it was forever!! We had 2 race officials on scooters stop to tell us the wagon was on its way to help, but it never showed up. After we all got fixed up, we slowly headed to the finish. Unfortunately, 2 people flatted again immediately. I knew I didn't have enough air in my tire so I had to ride it into the finish so...freaking...slow. It was horrible. By the time I reached the dismount line, I wasn't sure if I was even going to head out for the run. But I didn't want to run when I got home so I decided to just take it easy and finish.

Bike - 1:41:41 (shoot me)
T2 - 1:43

I completely took my time in T2 and then headed out for the run. I didn't really care at this point how I did or what pace I ran. It was hot and humid as hell and I was just happy to see there were still sprint runners out there and I wouldn't be dead last. Nothing to say about the run really, except that this is definitely my strong suit and I want to find a 5k to do some time soon. If I can do this easily, I want to see what I can do when I'm fresh and pushing as hard as I can.

Run - 23:02 (7:26 pace)

Sigh...overall time...2:28:23. People did the Olympic distance faster than I did the sprint! At first, I was ok with everything. It is what it is. I never got upset or frustrated out there on the bike and just took what the day gave me. It was bound to happen some day and I'm hoping this gives me a flat free pass for the 70.3. But as I'm sitting here thinking about the race, I'm getting really bummed about how the day went down. The bike is one thing but my swim is another. The swim IS in my control and I'm completely disappointed with my time.

So, definitely not the race I was hoping for but it was a learning experience. I am proud of myself for sucking it up and finishing because when I entered T2, I really wanted to call it a day. I'm all about training and races building my mental toughness and this race definitely did that.  Now I just need to get mentally tough with the swim because I'm really a little rattled by this whole Tri business and I'm starting to worry about what's in store for me in 5 short weeks. And honestly, I'm a little worried I bit off more than I can chew.