Eagleman 70.3

PRE-RACE
All of the usual pre-race “administrative” stuff – packet pick-up, bike racking, scouting the course and transition entrances/exits, etc. was taken care of Saturday which made things much easier for Sunday morning. Meyer and I got to the race site around 5:30, and I got my transition area set up. I went for a short jog to wake up, warm-up, and clear my head. The clearing the head part didn’t work because it was then that my jitters started getting the best of me. My stomach was telling me it didn’t want to race.

SWIM
We had an in-water start, which I much prefer to a beach start. The pros went off at 6:40, followed by the 55+ men, 50+ women, and paratriathletes at 6:45. My wave was next at 7:00. My friend Russ was in the same wave, and just before we went into the water, I saw another old friend whom I hadn’t seen in about 5 years. There were about 200 or so men in my wave and I positioned myself so that I wouldn’t get caught up in the flailing arms and legs chaos that always goes on. But within the first 100 feet my stomach started screaming at me and I almost tossed it right in the water. Instead, I got psyched out and nearly hyperventilated. The only way to catch my breath was to roll over onto my back and backstroke. I never regained my composure in the water and spent nearly the entire 1.2 miles of the swim on my back. I slogged through it and finally reached T1.

BIKE
The bike started out completely opposite the swim. The sky was overcast and there was almost no wind, which made for a very good pace. Meyer and I had driven the course the day before so I knew what to expect. My only problem was that my stomach was still acting up and could only tolerate one bar and two gels during the entire 56 miles of cycling. I started passing a few of those people who’d passed me in the water, so I felt pretty good about that. I also started to learn to hate the “whooomp, whooomp, whooomp” sound of disc wheels coming from behind and passing me. (When I mentioned this to my friend Rick after the race, he said, “Yeah, but isn’t it great when you pass them?” Ummmmm yeah, Rick. Like that really happened to me.) About halfway through the bike, the wind decided to pick up and my speed dropped, but luckily so did everyone else’s. Right around mile 40 both of my knees and my right ankle began to hurt. With only 16 miles left, I figured I would just have to “get through it.” Which I did, finishing the bike in a respectable 3 hours (give or take a few minutes.)

RUN
The skies had cleared up and the sun was shining, so it was going to be a hot run. I started out fine, but the right knee pain flared up again – right away. So most of the run was done as a jog/walk – jog until the knees hurts too much, then walk until it doesn’t. It made for a much longer run time than I had planned on, but it was the best way to finish without causing serious damage. The run course was an out-and-back, so I was able to catch Rick, Patrick, and Russ on the way out and Jesse, Amy and Mary Beth on the way back. Somehow I missed Liz, Erik, and Tara. The highlight of the run was the front yard party (obviously the 20 or so spectators there had been partying since the race began) at mile 2 and 11. They had a big slip-n-slide that they were trying to get racer to do. And a few did, much to the drunken delight of the partiers. I passed on it, fearing that once I did it, I wouldn’t want to get back up. I kept up my jog/walk to the final turn and could hear the cheers of Meyer and all the other Tri-Delaware folks who’d finished before me. Crossing the finish line was a great feeling, even though I hadn’t finished in the time I’d wanted.

POST-RACE
My stomach slowly returned back to normal, and I was able to down some food. Surprisingly, the part of me that hurt the most was my sunburned skin (since my sunscreen was all either in the Choptank River or on the inside of my wetsuit and I didn’t take the time to reapply). After cheering in the remaining Tri-Delaware members, I collected my things from the transition area and we made the long drive home, which actually seemed pretty short for me since I slept most of the way.

This morning I woke up expecting to be sore and barely able to move. Much to my surprise, I wasn’t nearly as sore as I thought I’d be. Granted, I do feel a bit beat up, but not as much as I did the day after last November’s marathon. This time I can actually go down stairs facing forward!

Next up……Ironman!