The Posse (Mom, Ruth, Aunt Suzie and Sarah) also made a repeat performance at the Philly Tri – they have been unable to make any race before this – so it was great to have them back as well. With the fan base lined up, I prepared for races in the usual manner. Friday drive down to Philly, registration, bike check (make sure I actually packed everything – you sort of need swim goggles and sneakers etc to actually race) before heading to my friend Michele Segre’s house for a home-cooked dinner (Michele made the protein and Patty Ploussiou made the carbs). Stuffed, we headed back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.
Saturday was just a relaxing day. Starting off watching the Sprint-distance race which a few friends -- a small group of fellow Asphalt Green Tri Club (AG) as well as some friends including Hunter making his second triathlon appearance -- competed. After watching everyone cross the finish line (congrats all), I headed back to the hotel to rest and prepare for Sunday. This included watching some tennis (the rest), shopping at Target (need the essentials -- race morning food/drink; oh and Goldfish which were on sale!), and re-packing my transition bag. In the afternoon, I, along with fellow AG teammates Randi and Josh rose the flat-parts of the bike course to try and remember the feel of the course before heading off to our AG team dinner. After dinner, back to the room, re-check transition bag, slip an Ambien and hit the sack.
Getting a good night’s sleep (even with the help of Ambien) is an iffy proposition at best. Yep, I was awake at 3am – a good hour before I was supposed to be– and rested until the actual alarms went off (yes alarms – one from the blackberry, another from the regular alarm clock, and the last a wake-up call– you can never be too safe on race day). I get up, have my coffee, take a quick shower, check tires, eat something, get dressed, do my own body-marking, and head out the door to the race site. Arriving at 5:15am, I find a good parking spot and head down to transition to set up my transition area – it’s amazing how friendly everyone always is on race morning) and wait for Randi Gordon and Reveka Wallace (Rev) to arrive (Rev in all her wisdom decided to plan a family party the night before the race and didn’t get to Philly until well after 11pm; those Aussies like to live life on the edge). As I was in the 6th wave and didn’t start the race until 7:25am, I saw no reason to rush to the swim start (for those who don’t recall, the swim portion of the race is a 1.5k point-to-point swim taking us from one side of the Schukull River to the other). Fast forward a bit and Rev and I hop on the bus to take us to the swim start where we wait around, stretch a bit for the swim…and wait. While Rev and I are talking, we didn’t even realize the race started and Randi, in the second wave, was long gone…Oh well, sure we’ll see you on the other side. Finally, they call my age-group (first set of 40-44 year olds – I am still not used to being in the mid-geezer group, but oh well). Having learned from last year, I didn’t immediately jump into the water to wait for the swim to start – who actually wants to tread water for a full five-minutes before having to swim nearly a mile! So while others jumped in suckers), I checked my goggles, ear-plus (water in the ears sucks), finally jump in and immediately float on my back waiting for the count-down (a trick from Coach Neil). When they call out the 30-second warning, I flip over and float on my stomach (another Neil trick), relax and get into a good swim-start position. Finally someone yells go, and we’re off down the river.
My wave must have had about 200 people in it all trying to grab hold of water and pull themselves downstream the famous – or infamous -- Schuylkill River. We were lucky enough to have some current, but it was all hands, arms, some legs and heads for the first few hundred yards of the swim. I kept remembering what Neil told me during the countless laps in Asphalt Green Pool; swim front-quadrant, keep your head down, extend before pulling the water, keep arms relaxed on the recovery and get into a nice and solid rhythm. I continue to swim past others who jumped ahead at the swim start, past the first buoy market and then the second. I keep passing others while spotting when I can, but keeping my head down (not that I’m actually looking at anything as the water is, well, murky. The problem with keeping your head down is that you constantly run into other swimmers. Screw them; not my fault if they’re not following Neil’s words!
My goal for this race was sub three (or under three hours) which was 18 mins than the race last year, consistent with my performance at Mooseman earlier in the month and on par with the race in Franklin Lakes the weekend before). To hit the goal, I needed to swim the course in about 30 minutes. Ok stop thinking about the time, continue to focus on swimming forward. I round the last buoy and see that to get to shore, we need to swim a bit upstream. What benefited us going down, is going to screw with us now. It feels like for every stroke I take, I move sideways or back and not the direction I need to go. Let’s try kicking a bit…maybe that’ll help. Ok, a little movement in the right direction and I’m making progress. Finally, the balloon-arch in sight, I pop out of the water, a volunteer steadies me as the exit is neat sharp rocks, flip up the goggles, unzip my wetsuit and jog into transitions. Time check: 24 mins…wow that’s a great swim and I didn’t taste that much of the Schuylkill!
As I see Malibu waiting for me, I know I’m not the first out of the water, but am far from the last. Helmet and sunglasses on, a sip of water, bike shoes on, I grab Malibu and head out on the course.
The Bike course consists of two 13-mile loops taking us from one side of the river, past the Art Museum (think Rocky) and onto the other side. It has a few steep climbs (four per loop or a total of eight) and some technical and fast descents. While we start out on a flat surface for the first 3/4 of a mile, the first hill comes on pretty quickly you’re no longer on the flat surface. As I approach the first hill, flashbacks from last year when I dropped my chain come back at me. To prevent this, I know I need a strategy for attacking the hills (sort of how we attack Harlem Hill during training sessions); get into my small chain ring and spin my legs to get up and over (thankfully there isn’t anyone dressed like a devil on this course!). I’m not the strongest cyclist and fully expect to be passed on the bike – especially on the flat and downhill portions. I am, however, careful and strategic when it comes to riding which proves to be smart as I see several people on the side of the road with dropped chains, EMT personnel and the like throughout the ride. Back to the task at hand…the first hill. As I make the approach, I shift and spin up the hill…pass others struggling up…get onto a quick flat and then into another hill where I pass more riders. Check HR…a mere 185 (zone 4; that was work)…Time to rest my legs as we head on a very fast downhill section. As I go down, I feather my breaks to control my speed and head back to a flat portion of the course and onto the other side of the river. More flats as we approach the second hill. Up the second hill using the same technique as I did with the first and to my surprise I pass more riders. In my head I start counting down the hills…two down, six to go. Back down hill and we head to the infamous Lemon Hill; a quick, but steep climb. But again as I approach it the “right” way, I simply get into a good gear, stand and scoot up the hill. That’s three down…not that bad (HR is at 182). As we pass the Art Museum and head to the last hill on this loop, we hit some serious headwind; where the hell did that come from! I keep pedaling and try to find a good gear to make my way through it. I turn onto the fourth hill, and see Liz Greenstein, a fellow AG racer ,making her way up. I say a few words of encouragement as I pass her (HR tops off at 185). Down another steep descent, I see some EMT people lifting a racer off the course on a stretcher (it pays to be safe) and head past transition onto the second loop. As I start the second loop another Neil saying pops back into my head (actually Rev reminded me of this before the swim so it was somewhat fresh) -- “save it for the run” – meaning don’t go too hard on the bike that you have nothing left in your legs for the run. Game plan in check, I attack the fifth (or first hill again if you get my logic) hill and head back to the other side of the river to attack hills six and seven. Up and down these, we head past the Art Museum and those headwinds (can’t they leave already) and make my way up the last hill. Phew, almost done. Back down the second descent and another biker down..and head into T2. Again with the time goal in mind, I needed to finish the bike and swim in about two hours. I look down and see I’m at 1:48…wow!
Into T2, I re-rack my bike, helmet and shoes off -- I need to really learn how to take my feet out of the shoes while riding) slip on the calf guards (these are compression clothing that helps to circulate the blood in certain areas – in theory. Calf guards helped me through the Miami Half-Marathon in January, so hoped they’d do the same here), and then shoes, visor on, glass back on, sip of water and I’m off.
The run is a flat out and back 10k taking us on some of the bike course, back behind transition, close to the Art Museum and on home to the finish line. As I start the run, I feel a bit of a side stitch coming on (this is what killed my run during this race last year…oh no, not again). The only way to fix a stitch is to get breathing under control so to fix it, I slow down and take deep breaths. On the way to the Mile 1 marker, I hear Go AG and my name from the sidelines (or the heat/humidity is getting to me and I’m hearing things). I stop at all of the water stations and grab some GU and throw it in my back pocket (hey you never can have too many GUs). It’s hot and the stitch is still there, but I’m making progress. While others who aren’t suffering speed past me, I do pass others who are walking – hopefully I won’t have to resort to that. Approaching the 1.5 mile turn-around, I see Randi going the other way. Goal: catch up and run with her. I make progress and catch-up to her. As I get to her side, I ask Randi to run with me…she says flatly no! Oh well, see you at the finish line. As I head back to transition, I see Rev, Josh De Haan, and Jen Nicoll behind me -- the stitch starts to wane so I start to increase my speed. It’s hot so at every water station, I dump some water on my head and take in some fluids (careful not to over hydrate). I keep picking off other runners, but know I’m not going as fast as I typically do. I see other AG teammates on their way to the finish line – right behind you guys – I think. One of the problems with a completely flat run course is your legs never have a rest…you’re constantly turning over trying to get some speed. Hills aren’t the best, but at least you can get your body and your legs as you float downhill. At the turn-around home (this is about 4 miles into the run), I look at my watch and see 2:30; unless something major happens I’m going to finish in under three hours. I continue to pick up speed and pass running. Past the 5-mile marker, I get into another gear (where I found it I haven’t a clue) and continue to run. As I pass others I say to anyone who will listen “less than a mile to go…we’re almost home.” I pass a women who sped past me on the way out, so know my run is getting stronger. Suddenly I hear cheers, and cow bells and see the finish corral and chute. Another racer is besides me and knowing I’m so close and going to hit a personal record, I find the last effort and sprint the last eighth of a mile past the finish line. I look down and see 2:44 – wholly crap! The runner who I was with finished after me and said nice sprint at the end. Not only was I 12 mins faster than Mooseman, but I was close to half-hour faster than I raced in 2008. Even I’m impressed.
I see the Posse; mom is beaming – maybe because I’m actually done – as are Aunt Suzie, Ruth, Sarah and Michele. Medal in hand, I down some water, I head for the massage tent to put my name down and go the sides to cheer others on. After a nice massage and a quick bite, we pack-up and have breakfast…oh and my well-deserved Bloody Mary and Blue Moon Beer (yum).
This race was especially nice as the Posse was back, I notched a personal record and kicked the Liberty Bell in a way which it kicked me last year. Oh, I also recently found out I got into the 2009 NYC Marathon. So while I have a little hiatus from Triathlons until The Nation’s Tri in D.C on September 13th (followed by a 12-person, 200-mile in 24-hour relay race called reach the beach on September 20th and the Westchester Tri on Sept. 27th ) I have some miles to get under my belt. Oh, I am in Atlanta for the long weekend where I get to experience the biggest (over 50,000 runners) 10k in the World – the Peachtree 10k…should be interesting.
I know I left parts of The Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes Tri story out, and while it was fun to not only race with my club but also an Accenture Partner Joe Lemaire, as that was a training race, and there were no Housewives creating drama on the sidelines…so this race only gets a sidebar mention.
Here are some pictures from the race.
