Barrelman 2022 - Stop This Train

 And... the final multisport race of 2022 is done!  After the whirlwind week leading up to Barrelman half ironman, I was in a really weird spot with the race - it had started out as an A race early season with some legit goals (sub 5) , then took a back seat to more of a "Let's try to PR this thing" but have fun with it.  After the whole passport fiasco, it had properly been placed in the " let's have fun trip" with a side goal of fast.

Saturday morning, the day before the race, Mike (RATs prez, fellow bad decision maker) and I headed for Canada to check in and commence our little weekend road trip.  Rest assured, we made it across the boarder just fine, albeit a little slowly as we got into a detailed training plan with border authority and how he too could go from smoking a pack a day to racing barrelman in 2023 with us!  Oh Mike.  This dude could sell ice to an Eskimo, I swear.  

Once we finally got to Welland, we took care of business rather quickly and got our packets, racked our bikes, and caught up with friends.  We hit the basin for a quick swim sans wetsuit, as it seemed to be borderline as to whether or not it would be wetsuit legal (that would be 24 in Canada, which equates to 75.2 in dumb American).  The water felt refreshing and amazing, and it was zero problems to swim wetsuit free.  Without any drama, we finished our pre race site checklist and headed to the Air Bnb for dinner and last minute details.  I was still pretty unsure of my goals for the race - Mike was gunning for a sub 5 and while it sounded good, I couldn't get the math to work in my brain - I had the rough goal of 36-38 on the swim, 2:40 for the bike and 1:45 for the run, plus transitions, which worked out to about 5:05-5:10 with transitions.  Fair enough.  My PR is a 5:17 so I figured I'd go for broke on the swim and bike, and if I shook out to a 3:15 or less going into the run, go for that sub 5.  Not much else to mention pre race except I somehow managed to pack my race fuel and no scoop to measure, so I emptied a K cup that looked about twice the size of my scoop and hit it that way - what a fun game to play - was I getting 600 calories of nutrition - or 200? Or 1200?  Stay tuned!  (Post race notice - a K cup is almost exactly twice the size of the Skratch scoop - am I good or what??)

Race morning dawned....not so early.  With an 8:42 wave start (YES for non time trial start!) Mike and I were up and moving naturally at 4:30 for a 6am departure to T2 - this race has two transitions, so we drove to T2 and were bussed to T1 to set up our bikes and get ready to rock.  It was a warm and windy morning, and on the 45 minute ride to transition, I felt really queasy - like - throwing up type of queasy.  I wasn't sure if it was nerves but my stomach was a mess. This continued until the beginning of the race and definitely affected my nutrition - my own fault but what can you do.  Before I knew it, our wave was up (Mike and I started at the same time, which was pretty cool!) I jumped off the dock, swam to the start, and seeded myself aggressively within the wave - toward the front third and all the way to the right.  Stomach, passport, and nerves be damned - let's DO THIS!

Swim: 38:42 (1:49/100 yd)

The Barrelman swim is advertised as long, at 2000m instead of 1900, which is the standard half distance.  I knew it and accounted for it.  The cool part about this swim venue is that not only is it sheltered in a basin, there's a cable underwater a la Lake Placid, where if you're brave enough to swim with the scrum, you never have to sight.  I'm brave enough, so for the first few hundred yards I survived the battle and swam with the cable directly to my right line of breathing sight, which was perfect.  About five minutes into the swim, my goggles started to slow leak in the right eye socket, so I adjusted them - this did no good and I had to do a dump ever few hundred yards or so, which was annoying.  The first half of the swim was slightly current assisted, and the way back a little wavier, but nothing to write home about.  I found a swim buddy on the way back and aside from a few smacks when we got too close, kept a perfect rhythm that was only altered when I had to goggle dump.  Not much else to say about the swim except for I probably need to learn to get out of my comfort zone more for next year - I seem to find a perfect rhythm between 1:45-1:50 pace in OWS for a race and know I am capable of going faster.  I burn no matches but it hurts my time, so we shelf that for next years goals.  Out of the water just over 38 minutes and on to the bike!

Bike: 2:40:44 (20 mph)

I was so excited about this bike.  Three years ago I biked a 2:48 and that was before I began to ride in aero - I clocked a 2:38 at Eagleman last year for a 21mph and average and had designs to do the same here. I got stuck out of the gate at the mount line by some guy hogging the whole area and basically sitting down for coffee, so I ran my bike further up and was off without embarrassing myself (yeah, I'm prone to do that in T1).  Within seconds, a massive headwind smacked me in the face and continued attacking for the next hour - I was on a flat road, going 15 and cursing the whole time.  The trees were an indicator of the winds, and the alternating cross had me blowing a bit sideways.  Nothing scray (I remember Utah) but definitely indicative of my speed.  The goal here was to, of course, go fast, but also head Mike off as long as I could - I'm a better swimmer, he's a better cyclist, and I'm a better runner, so the race was on!  I hot the turnaround at mile 14, averaging 16.9 (WTF) and was immediately granted some nice tailwind relief for a few miles, as I saw Mike behind me!  I downed a gel, narrowly avoided a crash brought on by an aggressive driver (cyclists okay, thank goodness) and headed right for some more crosswind fun.  Mike passed me at mile 17 (on the inside at a U turn because he's a dick) and after some good natured ribbing, I continued on.  The next ten miles were mostly tailwind, thank goodness, and I was making nice progress with increasing my overall MPH when I heard....a fucking train whistle.  WHAT. THE. HELL.  Sure enough, I saw a train coming out of the right peripheral vision and cursing, stopped my bike.  Almost 3 minutes later, we were off again - about twenty of us impacted.  Thank god I stopped my garmin (this would be important later) but I'll admit I was super annoyed - a stop on the bike robs you of all momentum and this was the second train of my season - both at 70.3's.  I've been racing since 2005 and have never been stopped for a train - what was up with 2022??

The rest of the bike was rather uneventful - the new course was a bit hillier than 2019, but nothing crazy, and I definitely think we had more cross and head than tailwind, but it is what it is.  At mile 50, I knew my mph was not going to be what I wanted it to be, so when I saw the race course photographer, I nailed a five year goal of mine and hammed it up in the "pathetic triathlete" pose - something that, before this year, I probably would have crashed my bike doing.  Success!

Coasted into T2 with a bike split of 2:40 and change, for 20 mph (bike course slightly short).  It was time to run!

Run: 1:45:01 (8:11/mi)

With the race clock at 3:25, I knew a sub 5 wasn't in the cards, and that was okay.  It had gotten pretty warm out (31C, which is about 88 Fahrenheit. )  I took off behind a strong looking runner, and averaged 7:45 for the first few miles - I saw Mike about 4 minutes ahead of me, which was a pleasant surprise (for me, not him).  I felt pretty decent - focusing right ahead and a steady clip, until mile 2.5 when I hit "dumbass hill" the affectionately named hill that is, well, a total dumbass hill that I'm better off power walking.  I took in some nutrition and was passed by Jennie at the top of the hill, who was on her second loop and looking strong (of course, being a pro, she has to pretend as such anyways!)  We joked for a bit and she was off.  I picked up the pace again and was running about a 7:30 when Jennie passed a guy ahead of me like a rocket and he looked so dejected I told him - hey - don't worry, she's a pro, she's supposed to go fast!  He laughed and asked her pace, and I replied in miles, not thinking, and we had another laugh.  I was going slightly faster than him so I moved ahead and wished him luck, and he called out after me - hey, are you a pro too, or do you run that fast for free?  Oh dude.  You made my day!

Caught up with Mike about mile 4, who was in pain.  I walked with him for a minute, then picked it back up after lamenting about the fucking train.  The rest of loop 1 was pretty decent, clocked in 50 minutes flat.  I knew I didn't have that in me for loop 2 - it was hot and my stomach was so off.  I dry heaved a few times and got in what I could with a decent run walk strategy.  I played leapfrog with two women - Amy and Ashley - one was in my AG and one was not. I kept an eye on the time and knew a 5:10 was possible if I kept at it, and the last 6 miles were a calculated mix of run/walk to make it happen.  I picked it up the last mile or so and crossed the finish line in 5:10:15 by my watch - a seven minute PR!

Post Race

After the race, I caught up with Ashley, the woman in my AG I was chasing that beat me - or had she?  She didn't get stopped by the train, but I had no idea if the results accounted for it.  I checked the Sports stats app and saw my time as 5:12:14 which meant - they hadn't.  I wouldn't have cared except for two key things - it was a PR, and it knocked me down to 4th in my AG.  Holy crap.  A quick chat with the timers cleared that up - you just had to show them your Garmin time - they gave a max of 90 seconds for the train, which cost me two minutes, but I would take it!  It turned out that the winner of my AG was the overall winner, so I came in 2nd AG, and in the top 10% of women, 15% overall.  Hell yeah.  I'll take it.  This was my first AG placement in a large half iron distance race, and I was so excited - a nice bottle of wine and $50 of running goodies are an alright payday for a race I didn't even think I'd make it to!

And with that, multisport season 2022 is a wrap.  Another season that blew my mind - a big Ironman PR, and PR's for the sprint and half iron distances - along with 3 overall wins (I have never won a tri prior to this year. Ever).

I have things to work on for 2023- my swim needs some work in the open water, and post Ironman, I never followed up with speedwork on the bike, which showed for the shorter stuff.  But there were some huge gains as well - I absolutely learned how to handle my bike well and be comfortable on it, and how to maximize my run off the bike, which led to some pretty awesome successes!

I'm really excited for fall running season - I have a fall race I'm starting to prep for, and an epic 2023 in the works already - stay tuned!  But if someone could....Stop the train...for next year, that would be great :-)

Oh Canada

 Ahhh, the joy of taper.  It's funny, I've done long course multisport for over a decade and every time I feel like I have the taper nailed, something always happens.  Note that I hate tapering, on principle.  It's a total mind job where you question all of your training and fitness and have time on your hands to overthink away about where it all went wrong and how you are destined to fail at the upcoming race. And when you think you've found all the ways you are SURE you won't make it to the start line...well....

Oh boy, do I amuse myself.  Even though I had downgraded Barrelman a few weeks back to a fun race, I decided to be wise and do a little week long taper to prep and hit the race as best as I could.  I thought I would be in for some grumpiness, a few questions about my glute (which is FUBAR, btw, but still lets me do something resembling biking) and a few blips on race prep.

So... every time I think I have life down, it hands me another crazy thing.  I finally started my race prep Monday night - for a half Ironman I don't think too far down the line, but wanted to make sure I had enough french fries and gravy nutrition and fresh batteries in my power meter, etc.  So I lugged out my pre-race checklist from Iowa and updated it for this weekend - adding in the extras I needed to pack, like my vaccination card.  On the advice of Mike, the buddy I was travelling with, I downloaded the ArriveCAN app to upload my stuffs for the border.  It asked for my COVID proof of vax, etc. to ensure easier crossing.  It also asked for my passport, which I hadn't touched in awhile, so I put it on my "to do" list for Tuesday to find it - we keep all our important paperwork in one location, but since the move in 2020 I hadn't bothered to dig it out - who was travelling that year??

I went to bed Monday, thinking nothing of it.  As I started to pass out, I randomly thought about passports and wondered how long they were good for.  A quick google told me - 10 years.  Sweet.  I went to Jamaica in 2018, so I was all set.  I drifted off and woke with a start -wait- did I renew it then?   When DID I renew it?  We went in 2012as well.....oh shit.  SHIT! So, at 10:30 at night, I tore the house apart looking for my passport which I found and it...expired in....February 2012.  OHMYFREAKINGGOD.  Another quick google search told me I could travel with an enhanced license - did I have that?  Nope.  Timeline?  6-8 weeks for a passport renewal.  Two weeks for an enhanced license.  I had....five days.  FUCK!!  The rest of Monday night Greg and I googled expedited passport agencies - I could get one in 24 hours for....$800.  You have GOT to be kidding me.  About 1am, we found one in Buffalo that would do it 24-48 hours for $60 extra.  YES!!

Tuesday morning I woke up early, filled out the passport application and had Greg take my mug shot.  I was on the phone at 8am with the service and they told me that they had a 9am appointment!

  In...Vermont.  Turns out this was a national service and they had places all across the country.  Since I had left my Concord in my "other jacket pocket" I asked about closer and they said the soonest Buffalo appointment was on September 20th.  This was perfect for a September 18th race. 

 Shit. I asked about walk ins.  Nope.  I asked about hanging out in the lobby waiting for a cancellation - turns out, they won't even let you in the door without an appointment.  A waiting list?  Also, no.  You had to keep calling and trying.  Perfect.  I tried three more times that day, and was able to locate appointments in NYC and Atlanta. Again, fun places, but....not in a day. This...was not good.

After a miserable 24 hours, I finally admitted the race wasn't going to happen.  By all accounts, I could get IN to Canada with an expired passport, but not home.  And as much as I like poutine, I was not down to hang out at immigration for an indeterminant amount of time.

Guys, I was crushed.  This was not an A race...but I had hopes for this one.  My Air Bnb host was awesome enough to give me the number for border patrol to try to see what could be done, but it was a wing and a prayer.  Was I willing to risk it?  Nope.  I also reached out to the RD with help from Mike, to see if I could transfer the entry to someone who was less of a dumbass another athlete - nope.  They were awesome enough to offer me some options for next year - and I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to get rip roaring drunk this weekend and feel sorry for myself.  I felt like such a giant idiot but - who has legit checked their passport since 2020?  And, I'm showing my age but - for most of my life, a trip to Canada was no big deal - you needed a birth certificate or license.  As a matter of fact, up until July 1 ,2022 - you could cross the border with an expired passport.

First world problem, guys. I know.  But it made me grumpy. And sad.

Wednesday morning, I went for a run.  I was starting to try to pick myself up and work toward some of my fall goals...gotta pivot somehow.  But I decided to try one last time.  I got back and called the service at 8:30, telling myself that if it didn't work out, Tri season 2022 was done and that was okay.  The woman that answered told me that they had a 12:30 appointment.

In. BUFFALO.

OMG!  I took off like a shot, printed my paperwork, and zoomed to Buffalo, in line at 11am to be early and sure of success.  The appointment went off like a charm, and they told me to come back at 3pm to see if the paperwork could be processed.  I drove to a Starbucks, worked remotely, drank seven gallons of coffee, and 3 hours later....I had A FREAKING PASSPORT THAT WAS CURRENT.

For the $60 dumbass fee and 8 hours in Buffalo,  I WAS IN.  Only me, right?  As I retell the story, people laugh and say...only you.  And only you would pull a rabbit out of your ass and fix this in 48 hours. This is, without a doubt, the craziest, dumbest pre race story I've ever told.  Of course, the drive home took 3 hours because they stopped all eastbound traffic, due to the fact that Kamela Harris was travelling in Buffalo.  Who cares.  'Merica. 

And with that, my race goals have changed.  Again. I am so damned happy and excited to race this weekend - I had no idea how much I wanted to go until it might not have been a thing.  While Barrelman might not be an A race in terms of my time goals, it's gonna be the AMAZING race I went to in 2019 - Let's GO LET'S GO LET's GO!

Stay tuned for the trip across the border for some Canadian fun - I'm #280 and I plan to kick it up and light a fire under this race!!

Amendment

 So, here's a curveball you didn't see coming.  It's time for a serious post.  I know, we don't do serious here, but I'm going to rely on a few things  - again, the concept of balance - and also - I can't stay silent about this one.

My post about the Roc tri felt a little forced, to be honest - I had it mostly ready to go, and planned to publish it Wednesday.  As I proofed it (and did a shitty job TBH) I hesitated on the "publish" button.  Why?  Eliza Fletcher. 

 As many of you know, the woman that disappeared last week during her morning run in Memphis was identified on Wednesday - I hate that word.  Identified.  You can't say found, because she wasn't really found - at least, not in the sense that gives anyone anything other than closure.  And while we don't have all the answers yet, it's pretty clear what happened - she, like so many of us, went out for an early morning run - was abducted, and killed.  

It makes me sick.  And I've been feeling heavy about life the past day because of it.  I'm mad, scared, horrified, and mad all over again.  I took the past few days to process it - I won't say I have fully - but on my ride yesterday, I started to conceptualize the  feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

Like Eliza, I'm a runner.  I'm a woman.  I'm a mom.  And I fit my training around my other life commitments.  Sometimes that's an early morning run - I've gone out at 3am to get a run done well before the sun comes up. Why?  It was the only time I could fit it in while being a boss, mom, wife and friend.  And I was perfectly fine with it. I thought nothing of it beyond getting my butt up, caffeinated, and being able to see and be seen. 

What did I wear?  Shorts and a sports bra. I don't think about what I'm wearing when I run beyond functionality and comfort- is there more to think about? I don't wear a lot in the summer - know why?  It's f*cking hot out\.  When it's dark, I wear my Nox vest - so I can see and cars can see me.  I don't carry mace - I'd be just as likely to accidentally set it off on myself (I know, thats a me problem, but i own it.)  I run with music,  one bud popped in to hear my surroundings - but I run with music because I like it.  And when I see a man running or walking the opposite direction, I wave.  When I go around one, I say hello.

Am I an idiot?  I don't know.  Maybe I am, or I'm sticking my head in the sand. It seems like this is happening more and more lately to women, and I have zero solutions for it. Is it happening to men and we just don't hear about it?  I don't know.  I would think not - but again, I don't know.

 I think about being a female in sport - and all I want is an equal shake at it.  I don't want to have to think about what I'm wearing to go run.  I don't want to have to think about the time of day I'm going.  I leave a note - just like Greg does, with my ETA  - but I like to decide on my route as I go. I want to be able to have music at a level where I can hear my surroundings - because I like running to music. I run to clear my head - and to think through problems. It's my therapy.  I run to train for races- because that's my hobby and I love it.  I don't run to have to think about what to do if I'm approached and live in fear of trying to decide if it's a safe time to run or if my clothing is appropriate.  I run to....run.

I train mostly with men.  I've spoken to some of them about this and they are just as sick as I am over it - but they also admit they can't live in my shoes - they don't fully get it - and they are right.  What's going on in my brain - and many women runner's brains right now - is foreign to them.  I train with men for several reasons - most of my friends are guys.....and most triathletes - are male.  They make me laugh, they help me go faster, and they don't put up with any bullshit.  If I'm slower than them I either go faster to keep up if its a zooms workout or I do my own thing.  On a group workout, we all keep pace decided prior to the workout.  Nothing special, nothing extra, and no favors because I wear a sports bra.

 I have zero problems with the fact that it's a male dominated sport, and actually get frustrated when artificial incentives are given to women to participate.  I want an equal playing field.  That's all. No  special treatment because I'm a woman just - the same race and the same expectations.  I appreciate competing against women because we all compete against our own sex and age group, which seems fair.  But I want the same race, the same expectation, and the same settings.  I'm a triathlete - let's go!

As I sat last night with my daughter in our family room, I snuggled her tight.  I'm not sure how to explain to her what's going on in this world - especially this year.  I want to tell her she should live life fearlessly and without boundaries, but there are limitations being set down in the current environment that prohibit that.  And it's sad.  As I held her, my eyes roved to our "Racing Wall" that stores our plaques, medals and race accomplishments.  My gaze landed on an award I won for a race.  It said "1st overall female".  Cool . I bet the male winner's plaque said "1st overall male".  Which is accurate. The one next to it said...."1st Overall - ladies race".  I bet....the men's race did not denote "gentleman". I bet it said.... "Ist overall - men.  Or male."   And that's...a problem.  A microcosm, yes, but a problem.

How to address it?  I don't know.  When I was out riding yesterday, I saw about 20 people out on their bikes as well- and all of them were men except for one.  What did I think about this?  Two things:  It was awesome to see riders, and I waved, as they did, and we smiled our mutual understanding of people out getting in a great bike ride - and two - I wasn't afraid of them.  It never occurred to me that it was a problem that there weren't more women out riding - just as it never occurred to me that the men were a threat.

Its a lose lose situation right now - for both men and women.  This morning was the event to "finish Eliza's run" and I was... torn.  It was at 5:20am and the run distance - 8.2 miles. You could do it anywhere.  One of our local running clubs  sponsored an event to run 5 miles at 5:20am. That's awesome.  It's also downtown, and not conducive to my morning commitments.

 I wanted too head out my front door at 5:20am and go for a run to honor Eliza and "finish her run".  Then it occurred to me that it might be stupid to do so alone and in the dark. I wondered - should I ask a guy friend to run with me? Wait, what?? No! That....got me mad all over again.  Why should I have to do that?  What's the right answer?  I don't know.  I talked it over with my best friend, who has the most level head on his shoulders that I know and he reminded me that...this was something that could happen anytime.  Anywhere.  And that if I wanted to run at 5:20am to show my support, solidarity, and we run to run spirit....then I should.  I love that man to bits, and he was right.

So this morning I woke up, donned my Nox vest, and wore my pink sports bra and....ran for Eliza.  Alone. Just me...the stars, and a few other bikers  out doing there own thing.  I ran to... finish her run.  Because she is me.  She is every runner, out there, doing what they love, for the love of the sport.  And that's what I'm going to tell my daughter.  #finishelizasrun.

Roc tri 2022: Moments We Live For

I suppose when you race on two consecutive weekends, you'd best get your blog shit together, right?  Post Peasantman win high, I got right back into training, as my buddy Ryan stayed the next day and we did perfect race recovery dumb shit things like a 60 mile ride to Sodus with Gary.  Hey, life's short and he isn't around much, so this is one of those "balance" things where you take the moment to spend time with friends at the behest of perfect training.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I will totally admit, I was sore post Peasantman, and knew that I raced it - rather than "funning it" - once I saw the woman behind me during the run, I dropped the hammer and had zero regrets, but was feeling the after effects.  The next week was supposed to be the kickoff of my final block for Barrelman, but life had other plans.  The lead up to the Roc tri was ridiculous - since I am on the board for the RAT's (Rochester Area Triathletes) and was on the race planning committee, Monday through Thursday was a combo of last minute meetings, packet stuffing, emails, and a zillion details to ensure race success.  When I signed up to race this one, I did it with the full knowledge that it would be a "fun race" and nowhere near anything to prep well to do zooms.  I think I got about 10 hours sleep the four days pre race, and Friday, the day before the actual event, was a 9 hour marathon of moving crap from our President's garage, lifting boxes, manning packet pickup, explaining race day logistics to a million (okay, a few hundred) nervous triathletes, lifeguarding the kids splash and dash event (which was awesome and hilarious) and in general, running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  I ate four fig bars, a donut, and two grilled cheeses for my pre race lunch/dinner - what could possibly go wrong?

Pre Race

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect at this race.  I signed up for the Sprint event, which was a .5 mile swim, 12 mile bike and 5k run - I got a lot of shit for not doing the Olympic, which I would always prefer, but with the amount of race prep I needed to do for this event because of my RAT's duties, I knew the shorter distance was wiser.  I was up by 3am race morning, and felt like absolute crap from the day before- I housed some ibuprofen, a bagel, and was out the door by 430 to get to transition, throw

my gear down and help with set up.  (It was incredibly odd to go to this one alone, as Greg was racing too, but it made sense to go separately, as I was helping with set up).  The cool thing about this race is, its whole 20 minute drive - score!  Once I parked, I grabbed my bike from the car, went to transition and - was the FIRST bike in!  Yeah baby!  (Its the little things, kids).  While it was still dark out, I could hear the lake and it sounded...angry.  It was decently windy and you could hear the waves and  I thought - shit.  This isn't good.  But maybe it'll calm down. 

The next hour was a total whirlwind of set up, timing mat planning, a zillion other small details and then the racers arrived!  I was extremely serious about my pre race prep did absolutely nothing to prepare for my own race and spent the time helping body mark, explain the layout/race details, rack bikes incorrectly place, and made a zillion new friends (I think people are seriously doubting my introvert status).  I caught up with old friends and in general, treated this race like the party it was.  Oh, we have to swim bike run?  Whoops, I forgot that part!  And, as fate would have it, the RD called the swim ( a wise choice, as the waves would have freaked out those not as comfortable with Open Water swim, and we had lots of newer triathletes) - we were headed for a run bike run format. (1.5 mile run, 12 mile bike, 3.1 mile run). This actually favors me, as I'm a much stronger runner, but I was a little bummed about no swim because I do enjoy the water even if I'm not fast!

The Olympic started a half hour before the sprint, and while a wise person would have taken in nutrition and spent some time getting ready to race, I was still running around like a dope, hanging with friends, cheering on the Olympic athletes, and paying zero attention to my own race (This is likely a "what not to do" post and I entirely own this!)  With five minutes to go, I downed a gel, grabbed my race belt, and got in line with Matt Kellman and Brian Emelson for the time trial start - Matt was eyeing an easy first leg of about 7:15-7:30 pace to me, which sounded perfect.  Let's do this!).

Run #1: 9:42 - 6:43 pace

Yeah, thanks Matt.  I took off and tucked behind Matt and Brian, per the plan. With my first step I hit a divot in the grass weirdly and felt a shooting pain up my left hip - this was not good, but with the adrenaline going, I quickly forgot about it. I stayed behind the boys - totally forgetting that  these rockstars are fast as shit and that I was probably being stupid (do we sense a theme here?)  

As we hit the turnaround, I saw no women behind me but since it was a time trial start, I knew I could potentially have a four minute head start on any potential competitors (160 racers, two at a time every 3 seconds).  Not that I had serious designs to do anything special, but I'll admit the last two wins at local triathlons had me gunning to go FAST!  Which....I was.  The first mile clocked in at 6:44 and I muttered under my breath, WTF Matt Kellman (Because clearly, this was all his fault).  ut I felt good - this felt like tempo pace!  I decided at that point to just listen to my body and go with it, and I zoomed into T! with a run time of 9:42, for a 6:43 pace, which is my 5k pace - way to take that run conservatively, Rae!

Bike: 35:02 - 20.5 mph

The bike course for the ROC is a two looper for the sprint, and a four looper for the Olympic - for 2022, we changed up the course to make a lollipop rather than the old u turn, which got rave reviews for (yass!)  It's not a flat course, but most of the rollers you can carry speed for - the course gets a little congested with 350 racers on it once the sprinters join the fun, but thankfully the road is closed to traffic, so aside from the whole stay on the right and pass with room, its a pretty fast course.  I hopped on my bike with little fanfare and was off!  The bike course was well manned with RATs volunteers and I felt the love from the cheer squad as I settled into a decent pace - I had to leap frog a few Olympic racers but the first loop wasn't too bad - I got to see Greg at the runaround as he was heading out, as well as Ryan, who started way back - and Scott, who was totally dominating the Olympic Course.  Even thouh I'm not a fan of looped courses in general, it was a lot of fun to see some of my favorites out there racing.  About 3 miles in, some idiot dude close passed me without calling it out, and I looked up and it was my buddy Sean, who was doing the Oly.  I caught up to him and gave him shit in a good natured way, and we spent the next ten miles playing leap frog.  The first loop was pretty uneventful and I hit it at 17:00 on the nose, for 20.6 mph - the second loop was a little bit slower due to the amount of racers, but nothing major - I had to slow at one turn for a cyclist towing an athlete, which I would happily do all day- that's badass- and on the last climb to zoo rd, had to do a little maneuvering while shit talking to Matt about his climbing (why do these guys keep me around, I'm a total bitch - and he ribbed me for it post race, as he should have!)  Ryan passed me about halfway through loop #2 and yelled out "ARROW", which is totally an ongoing joke, and I yelled back "PINEAPPLE!" and started laughing.

I headed into the final descent and dismounted with finesse without making a total ass of myself , heading into T2 with my  buddy Joel, who was heckling spectating, yelling out something either resembling encouragement or disparagement - I'll never know, but either way, it lit a fire under me to get my butt out on the final run!

Run #2: 22:07 - 7:10 pace

As far as I knew, no woman passed me on the bike or run #1, which didn't mean much, as I was toward the front of the TT start - but as I headed out to run #2 I knew I was flat out racing and wanted to give it everything I had!  I heard someone yell out "GO GLASER!" and "You're in 3rd!" which confused the hell out of me - were there women in front of me?  Was I in third overall?  That couldn't be, as I knew Brian, Matt and Ryan were all ahead.  Oh I was confused.  But it was time to run!!  I hit mile 1 in 7:17, and then started to climb to the turnaround.  I saw Scott coming back in from his Oly run, fast as hell, yet somehow making it look easy (this guy is not human, but he's fun to watch and try to pretend I can do half the shit he does), and then started to count sprinters - I saw seven men before I hit the turnaround, no ladies.  Hit the turnaround in 11:44, and clocked mile 2 in 7:44, which was slower, but a decent amount of climbing.  I saw the first woman two minutes back, and did the math in the least beneficial way possible - I had to put two minutes on her if she started last - could I do it??  The final mile was honestly a blur - I have never felt like such a damned Rockstar, with everyone cheering me on.  I looked over at the lake - hurt on my face, but also smiling in the inside, remembering that THIS is why I do this shit.  A few weeks back, Greg sent me a song for my run playlist called "Moments we Live for" and I felt it playing in my head- 

These are the moments, the moments we live for
Once in a lifetime, Everything we wanted more
This is the start of a new day, a good life
These are the moments we live for

I felt some tingles.  Whether it was the 7:00/mile I was holding on tired legs, the cheering, or the sheer happiness of doing what I loved with 300 of my best friends, I didn't know - and I didn't care.  I hit the finish line, the biggest smile on my face - for a total time of 1:09 and change.  

Post Race

Turns out, the second week of me hitting the gas for the latter half of the run didn't matter much - I won the race by four minutes, which is absolutely bananas to me.  I cheered in all of my favorite sprinters and Olympic racers, and we all plopped down on the grass to hang out and wait for the awards ceremony.  The overall winners awards were sweet - the women got a plaque, flowers, and a free race entry to next year - score! 

Overall, it was a giant success of a race - and even though I am ridiculously exhausted with all the work that went into its execution, cannot believe I pulled a win out of my butt - the third Tri win of the season ....in which I had my first overall tri win, ever.  What the heck can I do to top this??I'm not sure - Barrelman 70.3 is up next, and while I really have shifted my focus to fall running and am doing Barrelman - uh - for fun - I don't think anyone believes me anymore when I say that.

Either way, it's time to take this show to Canada and see what we can do with another 70.3 - stay tuned!!