Keuka Lake Tri 2019: Demons

And the day arrived....as we knew it would.  The ultimate test.  The "Rae that's great you pontificate on all these friggin goals, but let's get to the heart of the matter.  Did you slay the bike demon??" 

Clearly, Dan Reynolds and Imagine Dragons, as always, are there for me on this one with the title post:

Look into my eyes

It’s where my demons hide

It’s where my demons hide

Don’t get too close

It’s dark inside

It’s where my demons hide

It’s where my demons hide

Tri season had arrived.  And the true test was upon me.  Stepping back, as I look at the whole "Big, Scary Goals" deal of 2019, I know in my heart it was really about one thing.  It was about the bike.  2018 took my fear of the bike and epicly demonstrated how it was time to either shape up or ship out with triathlons.  You can have a preference for a discipline, sure, but when you have a fear so strong of riding your bike that you spectacularly dump an Ironman race with it, it's time to re-evaluate and get back on the horse...errr...bike...or find a different sport.

Who's that Girl...It's Jess!

I love so many things about triathlons, so I knew I needed to give 2019 my best shot. And I did.  I took the first 6 months by storm and decided to face my fears. Where it pertains to sports,  I started with the manageable ones (hey, baby steps).  I'm a slow runner - so I started running with faster people that were willing to put up with me.  Check.  I've netted 3 huge PR's this way.  I'm a crappy swimmer - so I started swimming with people that like to boss me around are great swimmers and listening to their advice.  Double check (Kinda.  That listening part might still be under debate from time to time.) And yet there was still that whole damned bike thing.  I started out reasonably - riding loops around my neighborhood, a few short outdoor rides at easy cautious pace, and I didn't die.  This was good.  Keuka Triathlon was the big test - could I race without fear?

Going into the race, I decided to do the sprint tri rather than the Olympic - a decision I hadn't made in years. (3 to be exact - I haven't raced a sprint tri since 2016).  I hate sprint tris.  The swim is over too soon, the bike is too long (can they cancel it?) and the run should be much longer.  Maybe they can keep the swim at a half mile and switch up the bike and run legs,so we do a 5k bike and a 14 mile run! ....no?  Fine.  I'll do the sprint.  I have a distinct lack of "fast twitch muscles" (hence endurance sports) but I figured the way to tackle the bike beast was to start with the little race and do it live.  

Race weekend, I felt pretty good.  My legs were feeling recovered after the shit show of the Buffalo Marathon, my right foot wasn't 100% but improving, and I had a freshly tuned up bike that was ready to go!  I swam in Canandaigua Lake the day before the race to test goggles and wetsuit, and even though it was pretty frigid, I didn't die and that was a good thing.

Race morning dawned clear and warm, and Greg and I were on the road by the ungodly hour of 4:45am to make the trek to Penn Yan.  We checked in with little fanfare, caught up with a bunch of our friends, and got our transition space ready to go! 

My med container.  No One would dare steal it.  

I felt pretty out of practice at the whole transition set up, since its been almost a year since I raced, but aside from the fact that I clearly need to get a new meds container for my ibuprofin and tums, I figured I had my T1 and T2 crap as good as it would ever be.  This took all of 5 minutes, so I had an hour to kill.

Since this race offered both the Olympic distance and Sprint, they kicked us out of transition at 7am for the longer course start.  I decided to spend this time wisely by watching the Boy struggle into a wetsuit he borrowed from the Outlaw (after realizing the day before he somehow lost his).  This was hilarious, as he has at least 6 inches on the Outlaw and the suit was....a struggle to get on.  I helped out enormously by singing "Fat Guy in a Little Coat" and humming Ginuwine's "Pony" to his reverse striptease.  He posits that the struggle was worth it because the suit obviously held mystical swimming magic left by the Outlaw.  I posit that anything left in the suit was far more ominous, but lost that draw.  Either way, it made for a mood lightener to calm my nerves and we headed down to the race start, where we caught up with The Banter and Mrs. Banter and their cute doggoes.  I got some puppy love, and headed down to the swim start to "warm up" in the 60 degree water.

Funny story.  As I was packing for the race the night before, I left socks out as I never run with them.  Greg thought this was smart and told me that the only way I would ever need socks was in the unlikely event that I cut my foot or something and was bleeding.  He's not allowed to suggest things any more.  As I came out of the water, I managed to slice the arch of my bad foot on a rock and sported a nice inch long cut on the bottom of my foot.  Dammit.  Well, I guess if it had to happen, it was the bad foot, right?  I hobbled out of the water and prayed to the Tri Gods that I would be able to get through the next few hours unscathed!

The Swim

The Sprint race started at 8:15am and I was 3rd out of 4 waves, with all the men in front of me.  I decided to seed myself aggressively to the far left and in front, as I knew I could fast start and had no problem swimming with people.  The gun sounded at 8:25 and we were off!  The swim portion was rectangular in shape, with "Dorito chip" buoys (no really, that's how they referred to them) marking the three turns.  I could have done with a few more buoys, as my goggles kept fogging up and the water was kind choppy, but swam alone for 95% of the swim until the last 100 yards when some chick decided it was a great idea to grab my feet.  I gave her something to think about with a swift kick, lifted myself up, and hit the lap button on my watch - 16:53.  DAMMIT. I'd been dedicating way more time to swimming thanks to the fishies I hang out with, and was hoping I would have come out closer to 13 minutes - then realized I swam almost 1000yds (avg 1:44/yd), so either I fail at Dorito spotting (I do hate them anyways) or the course was long.  Nothing to do about it now.  The run to T1 was up stairs and annoying, but I'm used to it, so I did my sexy thing and stripped my way to transition.

Not so sexy run.  

The Bike

And...it was time.  I mounted my bike at the line, clipped in with relative ease (score!) and was off.  The first 3 miles of the 14 mile ride is on a pretty dead street, so I took some time to spin out, drink, and started to pass people.  A lot of people.  Since I had no clue how far back I'd exited the swim, I was disheartened to see so many athletes ahead of me.  I took a deep breath and reminded myself the swim was done, and to just go for it.  I glanced down at my bike computer, 1.5 miles in.  a few minutes later....1.65.  Shit.  My bike computer got stuck on average MPH and so I had speed and average, but no distance.  This annoyed me at first, the I realized it was actually a good thing, as my goal for the bike was 18 MPH, so I could track it.  The rest of the bike, dare I say, was uneventful.  I handled the descents well, never got out of the big chain ring (come on, one thing at a time) and passed a crap ton of people that really had no clue what "On your Left" meant.  (Spoiler alert - It does not mean move left).  At about mile 10 I realized two things - 1.  I didnt want the bike to end (WHO AM I?) and I was going to exceed my goal of 18MPH average.  I also realized about this point that all the people I was passing (I only got passed once) were duathletes....not women in my race.  This made a huge difference!  I still had no clue where I was in the women's race, but i coasted into T2 with a 43:19 bike split, or 19.08 MPH.  To say I was pleased was a huge understatement.  This is nowhere near what I am capable of in terms of power, but I enjoyed the ride and it was exactly what I came to do.

The Run 

And now...it was time to dance.  The run is, obviously, my favorite part!  I had a quick T2 (:43) and was out to run my 5k!  I realized a few things quickly - it was hot and humid as f*ck....and I was thirsty.  Thank god there was an aid station .5 miles in. 

I'm Flying!  (Thanks Carolyn for the pic!)

Unfortunately, the vollie didn't hear my yell for water and gave me gatorade, which I didn't realize until I dumped it on my head.  Well, now I smell lemon fresh!  I took a quick sip and debated going back for water, but as much fun as the reverse course was at B-LO, I decided not to make a repeat performance.  Hit mile 1 in 7:23 and realized I wasn't going to hit my goal of sub 22 - the heat and my legs just weren't having it.  The best part about this run course, aside from the beautiful lake along the whole path, was that it was an out and back....which means I got to see the early starters on their way home!  I high fived the Banter, who was on his way to a second place overall finish (his first podium!) and saw the Outlaw, who took the overall win for the Olympic Distance.  Then I saw Greg, who looked amazing and took 3rd in his age group!  Hit the turnaround just under 12 minutes and headed back.  With one mile to go (mile 2 in 7:19) a woman on a bike passed me and told me I looked awesome and that I had "springs for feet!"  Well that was much needed!  I had passed a bunch of people on the run, but still no sign of the sprint ladies, so I figured I was in that pocket between the fast people and the average joes (I usually race with men for this reason!)  With .5 miles to go I saw Greg and the Banter fam and they yelled something resembling encouragement, so I sprinted to the finish for an overall run time of 23:01 (so close!) a 7:19 pace, and a 1:26:18 overall.  

Which was good enough for 4th place overall and an age group win!  Holy shit!  I won't lie, my first thought was...where the hell was 3rd...I could have freaking overall podiumed...but she beat me out by almost a minute, which means the reason I never saw anyone else was that the first 3 were just enough ahead of me that I had been in 4th place...the whole time.  Not much you can do with that.  3rd place beat me out of the water by a minute, increased by a minute on the bike, and I made up a minute on the run.  With perfect hindsight I could find that minute, but living in the moment of the race, I knew I gave it all I head, and have never come close to 4th overall, so I decided to savor the victory!

Spoils to the (AG) victor

Overall, I was super amped with the day and my results - there is still work to do, and I can't wait for my next tri, which is July 6th in Buffalo - Tri in the Buff!  (No, I won't race naked.  But I won't wear pants.  Somehow in the little Tri-Go fam, I'm known as "Pants"....but that's another story for another time).  I may also be debating another race that would be equally fun and stupid....stay tuned (famous last words).

Thanks to Score This for another excellent race, the volunteers for being excellent, and our own personal sherpas who caught the ridiculousness on video and pics for posterity - you guys rock!

And...in case you were wondering....Bike. Demons. Slayed.  

They say it's what you make
I say it's up to fate
It's woven in my soul
I need to let you go

I can't wait to take my trusty steed out for more exploring and bring that bike threat to my next race! (And, in fact, I have....just over 23 mile outside ride done two days post race)

2019.  Big, Scary. Goals.  Let's do this thing!