No real training to report since the race. I did get my aero bars fitted yesterday which I’m pretty pumped about. I am so happy that I decided to go ahead and do the Chattanooga Waterfront Tri. I wavered back and forth everyday for a couple of weeks following Buster Britton. Everything about the race intimidated me. The distances, the terrain, the expected turnout all made me want to go and not want to go. Well, I got up there around 1230 (Eastern) on Saturday and made my way to the registration tent to get my packet. The size of the staging area and transition area were huge compared to all my races so far.
tranisition pics
I got checked in…number 185…and headed to grab something lite for lunch. Afterwards, I decided to drive the bike course so I would know what I was in for….wow. I went from a little nervous to down right petrified. MapMyRide did not do these hills justice. They seemed to climb forever. I tried to stay focused and plot out a strategy, but all I could think was how long those climbs were. I decided I needed to go get checked into the hotel before I talked myself into heading back home. After a little bit of confusion at the hotel, I got to my room and started to try to unwind. A couple of hours went by and I got a phone call from Heather saying she was almost to the airport. Sidebar: My wife rocks. She decided she was going to rent a car after her grandparents’ party and head up to Chattanooga. Originally she was going to surprise me, but in the end she told me her plans on Friday. I was thrilled to have her up there! Love you babe. I headed to the airport to pick her up and we headed back to the hotel to grab some dinner. Dinner was ok. We got back to the room and I started freaking out a little bit. I organized all of my gear, lubed my bike chain, and tried to get some rest.
RaceDay
4:00- I got out of bed and tried to eat a little. No microwave in the room, so I was forced to get by on a couple of Clif Bars for breakfast. I showered and got ready. My stomach was in knots. To quote my dad, you couldn’t have driven a pin up my @ss with a ball pin hammer I was so nervous. Throwing up crossed my mind several times.
5:45- I rolled my bike downstairs and mounted up to ride to the race site. My nerves calmed a little bit once I started riding but came back just as quickly as I rolled down the street to the hoards of people. I got my body marked and went to set up my transition area. The wind was blowing and the talk around the bikes was that there was a pretty good chance of rain that morning….crap. I put my cleats and shoes upside down to try and keep them dry if it did happen to rain. I grabbed my Gatorade and a banana and just walked around. I tried to calm down and focus as I headed to the busses that would take us up to the swim start area about a mile up the road.
6:40- The bus drops us off at the UT Chattanooga Rowing Center. There is a football practice field where all the traithletes are waiting to start the race. Some were running around. Others were in groups talking while the rest of us decided to be by ourselves. A calm started to come over me while we were here. I couldn’t wait to get in the water. I decided ealier that I would head out towards the buoys to swim rather than stay close to shore. My original intention was to get out of everyone’s way, but I started to think about it more and realized that the current would be moving swifter away from the rocky shores…in my best Mr. Burns voice “excellent.”
7:45 We are finally all lined up and ready to go. The first two waves are already in the water. We start to walk down the gangplank and onto the dock. I sat on the edge and scooted into the water. You had to swim about 50 feet down to the end of the dock before you could start going all out. I heard “185, go” and started swimming.
The Swim
I got to the outside and felt great. I had some good separation between me and the folks behind me. Next thing I knew, I was heading under the first bridge, which is pretty creepy actually. I did break down and breast stroke for a few minutes along the course, but I never really got just drained while swimming. The second and third bridges passed overhead and I started to angle my way towards the shore. I looked behind me and just saw what seemed like a hundred sets of hands and feet flailing around and splashing. I turned back ahead and sprinted the final 50m to the exit. There was a small platform that workers would help pull you to so you could walk up the steps out of the water and then run (ok, I walked) up the amphitheater steps to the transition area. My swim time was 33:14 which put me 33/35 in my division.
I got to my spot and started putting everything on. The only thing I didn’t do was turn on Jeff’s GPS watch for the run…dohh! It takes a few minutes to align with satellites so I wanted to go ahead and get it on well before I needed to use it on the run. I trotted my bike over to the exit and started off on my journey.
The Bike
After feeling so good after the swim, I knew that I was going to be able to handle the bike. You go about 1.5 miles and go up an on-ramp to get on the highway. Some people complained about it, but come on, how often do you get to ride in a closed lane of a highway? Then about mile 2.5 you hit the first climb. I find a comfortable gear and go to town. I watched my cadence and as soon as it dropped below 80, I dropped into the next gear. The next thing I knew, I was over the top and starting my first decent. Hell yeah, this isn’t going to be bad at all” I thought. “How about them apples, b!tch” came out too, but the hills would have the last laugh. The next climb was a little brutal. Not extremely steep, just long. I had to stop for a minute so I could catch my breath and refocus. I saddled back up and didn’t stop until the turnaround and mile 13.1 so I could snag some water b/c I was afraid I didn’t have enough for the return trip. The return trip was a lot easier. The final big climb was another drainer, but I managed to grind my way to the top. I crossed back over the river and then off the interstate. I rounded the corner and started trying to spin in some high gears to get my legs ready for the run. I heard my MH hollering and shouted back an I love you too! . Apparently, I didn’t step on the timing mat with my left leg, so the official results don’t have a time down for me. The best that I can figure is that I had a bike time of 1:49:48 at a rate of 14.3mph which put me somewhere around 31/35 for my division.
I get to my spot in tranisition, and some A-hole has his bike in my spot, so I had to slide his bike over and then mount mine and drop my gear so I can throw on my running shoes and be off for the final 6.2 miles of the day.
The Run
The run wasn’t good even by my standards. I couldn’t get in a comfortable rhythm. The first 1.5 miles was all uphill. The rain then started to fall which made it very comfortable for the first 4 miles but after that, my feet felt like they were sliding around in my shoes just a bit too much. Once I hit the turnaround, I forced myself to run just a bit more. I passed tons of people who were on the out part of the run. It definitely made me feel better seeing a good bit of people behind me. I went down the steps and knew that I only had 1 more mile until I was done with my first Oly. I decided to man up and run that last mile. It was rough. I was going at a pretty good clip. The crowds of spectators had started lining the last ¼ of a mile of the run to cheer on the last of the runners. It was awesome having so many strangers cheer for you. I see MH and just smile. I started kicking just a bit more and the next thing I hear is my name over the speakers. My run time was 1:39:59 which put me at 35/35 in my division. My overall time was 4:11:48. I was a bit disappointed in my time, but hey, I did it! I can’t believe I finished. It was hard to hold back the tears. If anyone had told me this time last year that I was going to be doing an Olympic distance tri this summer, I would have called them crazy. But here I am with the finisher socks to prove it. Yeah, that’s right, they gave us socks as we crossed the finish line to go along with our shirts. Jealous?
Overall, I had a blast. I see why so many people love this race and do it year after year. It is already on my schedule as an “A” priority race. I feel like the biggest benefit of doing this race is that now, all the other Sprint distances won’t seem bad at all. This year has been an awesome learning experience for me. I know that I can finish up these last two races and then start focusing on IM Florida. Thanks again for everyone’s support. I couldn’t do it without you!
Eric’s Clip of the day: (I decided to start throwing a few of my youtube faves in the mix)
