[drkelly]

Rockwall Sprint Tri…. Warning LONG

My first tri event so I wanted to try a write up. Here it goes. I actually got to bed rather early and was impressed with myself for being able to go to sleep at 10pm the night before. What I didn’t expect was getting up at 3:30am and not being able to go back to sleep. I had the alarm set for 5am so the next hour and half was brutal. My mind was going trough everything. I finally just got up at 4:30 and start fixing breakfast. I ate a half bagel with cream cheese and forced down half a banana. (I hate bananas). I then drank some Gatorade and proceeded to load the truck. I laid everything out before hand the night before so the morning was very easy to get ready. I was on the road at 5:30am heading to YMCA in Rockwall. Once I arrived they lead all cars back in some pasture where I parked and started unloading. As I was taking out my bag I felt my feet tingle and start to hurt. I looked down, but of course I couldn’t see anything it was way to dark. I then put one of my foot in the car to see what was going on and saw ANTS crawling all over my feet. I was wearing sandals and started jumping and screaming all over the place. I had several ant bites on both feet and said what a way to start a race. I finally got situated and headed toward the marking area and got marked with my number then proceeded to the helmet/bike check area. Everything went smooth and then headed to my rack location and realized the area they actually give you is very small. I racked my bike and started laying my gear on a towel. By this time I had to piss like a race horse and the lines were horrible for the bathrooms. I couldn’t even change into my tri shorts. I finally went behind the YMCA and changed and took a piss. I walked around to all the transition locations and checked out the pool. The whole time I’m sipping on water. Not drinking a lot just slowly sipping. I ran into a friend of mine and he was going to swim a few laps before we got started, but I was a little hesitant for some reason. I waited until they called 10min until race review then decided to jump in the pool for a few laps. The pool was cloudy and I couldn’t tell where the walls were. I didn’t like that one bit. In just a couple laps they were saying everyone out of the pool the race review is starting. I jumped out and headed toward the transition area. Once the review was over everyone started lining up to start the race. My friend was #1 in line since he has the fastest swim and I was #94 so since it was 10 seconds between each racer I had about 16min to wait. This was a horrible experience because you’re watching each racer jump in the pool and begin the race. Lots of emotions were running through my head at this time. It’s basically 16min of waiting for pain to start.

I finally got to jump in and I kept telling myself to take it slow, take it slow. I just kept repeating that to myself. I started out at a nice easy pace. I wasn’t used to people passing me in the same lane going the other direction nor was I used to the pool having so much wake. I tried a few flip turns and realized there was no purpose since I could tell where the wall was in time to do one correctly. The first 100 I was feeling ok, but by the 200 mark I started to feel somewhat out of control and started to panic. The wake was tossing water in my mouth and I was worried about hitting people so I was too far over and my arm kept hitting the lane rope. I pulled myself together, looked behind and didn’t see anyone close to me. I also looked up and saw that I was closer to the guy in front. That scared feeling went away and I started to get into a groove. Breathing on every 3rd stroke like my training and ended up catching two people which ended up sucking since I couldn’t pass two guys in one lane. I had to breast stroke the last 25m because I kept hitting the guy’s legs in front. I jump out of the pool hardly breathing at all since I was had time to rest the last 25m. I looked down at the watch and it said 5:18 so I was thinking I’m right on target even with the guys that put in the wrong swim time. I made sure I hit the matt to record my chip time and ran to my transition area which happens to be right by the exit to the swim. Since part of the run from pool to T1 was on grass my feet had grass all over them. I wiped my feet down and started to put my socks and road shoes on. Then I threw on my wicker shirt, but it wasn’t going on very easy. I was having trouble since I was wet it took longer than I expected to put a darn shirt on. Once the shirt was on I put on helmet, glasses, race number which was on a belt. Then I tried putting on my gloves which was a big mistake. My hands were wet and they were not going on at all. I couldn’t get my fingers through the holes. I finally had to grab the bike and start running with the gloves halfway on. My family is yelling at this point saying this is a race David go, go, go. As I hit the red line I jump on the bike and start peddling and continued to get the gloves on. They finally went on and once I got settled I realized I forgot to use my power aid gel. I told myself no big deal; just make sure you get some on T2.
I get into a nice groove and look down and notice that I’m at 21mph and said that is to fast. From my training rides I get crushed at the end starting out that fast so I slow the pace down to 18mph. At this point one guy passes, but I don’t let it bother me. I stay at my 18mph pace. I take the first right hand turn and know the hills are about to start. I love being on home course. I stay at 18mph as another person passes by I also notice I have to take a piss. I just try to ignore it and continue on. I hammer the downhills and just stay in the same gear on the up hills and let my moment carry me. At this point I’m starting to pass several people most of which were on the climbs. I was also wondering why everyone was in the saddle on all the climbs. It didn’t matter what kind of bike they were in because I saw all types. By now I’ve passed about 12 people and 3 people have passed me. I’m pretty anal about keeping count. I was #94 and I passed a girl that was number #95 which meant on the swim she was right behind me. A huge downhill came and I’m peddling away and this girl goes by me on a tri bike. Then when the next hill approaches I pass her again. This continues over and over again until the hills stop on FM522. The whole time I’m thinking either I suck at downhills or she sucks at up hills. I know this is my recovery time because it’s flat all the way to hwy66. I use this time to recover going about 19mph it feels great being on flat ground again. At this point 3 people pass by and I decided to go with them. I actually felt great and didn’t need a long recovery period. I guess starting out slower was huge for me. I knocked it up to about 23mph and ended up re-passing the 3 at the beginning of hwy66. I focused on keeping my cadence and I hovered around 20mph even with the slight incline. I passed a few more people and just kept my rhythm, I never saw that girl with the tri bike again. I was still feeling really well at this point. Normally on my training rides I have to recover on hwy66, but that didn’t happen. I saw the big climb on hwy66 approaching and tried to pedal as fast as possible on the downhill about 34mph. I make it halfway up before I have to get out of my saddle. Then I hear something behind me and see this guy on a tri bike go flying past me up this in the saddle. I was so impressed that he could do this hill at that speed in the saddle. That guy was the last one to pass me. I also didn’t pass anyone else to the finish. I was able to maintain a 20+mph the rest of the way in. I really start to feel the pressure of the bladder, but what can I do. I start to see the runners go by as I’m heading toward the finish. I also saw my buddy go by and gave him a wave. As I near the finish they start to slow you down so you don’t come in all crazy. I hit the red line and jumped off the bike. I looked down at the watch and saw I was at 49min and said to myself no way. I’ve gone through the times over and over again since I got up at 3:30am. I was predicting 52min that’s with the swim time included. I run to my T2 area and take the shoes, helmet, glasses, etc. I then put my running shoes on and running hat. I started to tie my laces and realized it’s a little difficult with your hands a little shaky. I need to invest in the bungee laces. I grab a gel pack and squeeze and take off running. My father is yelling that I’m right at 50min on my way out. I went to grab some water thinking I can just drink that gel taste out, but realized it’s very difficult to drink and run at the same time. I was able to get some water and decided to use the rest over my head.
My legs are a little shaky, but not to bad. I start following all the markers since the beginning was the cross country part of the run, all grass and dirt. I then start to notice the beginning is up hills almost like switch backs. At this point my legs are burning like they are on fire. I wasn’t expecting hills at all. I’m in major pain and every step I had to force my legs to go forward. I didn’t feel any cramping though so I was somewhat happy about that. Even once I made it to the concrete trail there was still a slight up hill. I passed the next aid station and tried to drink some more water with no luck. I just dumped it on my head again and continued on. The hills finally stopped and I started to feel my legs come back so I picked up the pace. I looked down and noticed my watch said 1 hour so I knew I was on about a 10min pace, but now I wasn’t breathing as hard so I kicked it up a notch. I’ve passed about 4 people at this point and I hit the turn around. As I’m heading back toward the finish a guy comes up next to me and says nice job and continues to pass me. I don’t think anything of it and say thanks. I glance down at his calf and realize it says 31. He’s in my age group so I proceeded to yell damn you’re in my age group. He just laughed and said I’m hurting as well. I tried to stay with him as long as I could. I just couldn’t get my legs to go any faster. I wasn’t breathing hard or anything, I just couldn’t push it harder. I tried to calm myself, but each time I did that my bladder would hurt. There was no relaxing. My goal was to keep him in my sites at this point. As I got the end of the concrete path I realized the grass hills I had to run up I get to run down. I was trying to prepare my legs for downhill running worrying that I may cramp if I extend my legs all the way. The first hill came and I realized cramping wasn’t going to happen so I took full strides the rest of the way in. I passed one more guy that was run/walking and knew I was getting close. Another guy passed me on the downhill he was 22 years old. I was able to stay with him until the end where he took off sprinting. My legs didn’t know what sprinting was at this point so I watch him take off. The finish I really didn’t like very much because I couldn’t tell it was the finish. I came in and had a sharp right turn to a chip matt. I had to ask if this was the finish. Normally they have a huge sign that says finish, but oh well. When I stopped I wasn’t breathing very hard which I found to be very odd. I think my body needs more conditioning than my lungs. I then walked straight to the rest rooms because I’ve had to pee the whole time and it started to hurt. Overall I was very happy with the experience and had a great time. I can’t wait to do my next one. Thanks for reading.