Another day, another race report, right? I suppose that's what happens when I decide four races in five weeks is smart...well, maybe four (stay tuned, kids!). Ahem, sorry. At last count we were at race #2 of 4 - the Rochester triathlon! This is, without a doubt, the hometown race these days. I was SUPPOSED to be living it up in Mt Tremblant doin the 140.6 thing, but since Canada is still no Bueno, the race was cancelled AGAIN and I found myself nicely free to support the Rochester Area Triathletes (RATs if you will) in their home race!
Years ago (actually, over a decade ago) Greg and I joined the RATs and partook in their shenanigans (Greg even designed the kit!) but for a few reasons, we stepped back from the team. Enter the new prez, Mike Smith, who is full of ideas, enthusiasm and general shenanigans. Take my money. He's grown the club exponentially, has a welcome, fun, atmosphere, so we said - why not - lets support local. While we haven't had the opportunity to do a lot of team stuff, its always nice to be part of thr tri community and support the team!
Going into the tri, I was amped to see what I could do with his course - I raced the inaugural Roc tri back in 2012, so this was its tenth year - and the bike course is quite a bit different. Its four loops (sprint does 2) so definitely some of the "same time next year" feel, but closed to traffic with half the course on new, fast roads. Huzzah! The swim is about standard - Lake Ontario, two loops, nothing crazy. I hate two loops but it makes sense when you're putting on two races. And the run was a nice out and back with one monster hill and two kick your butt hills I forgot about until mid race (spoiler alert). All in all, a good race. My Olympic PR was 2:38 and I was dying to get that number closer to 2:29 - lets do the thing!
Race week I felt pretty good, considering I had just raced the weekend before. My coach had me on the no mercy plan (mutually agreed upon, since Worlds 70.3 on September 18th is my goal race) so I had a normal volume week leading up to the race. Greg was racing the sprint and had designs to PR (totally doable) and I talked the Outlaw into the race (it wasn't tough). We all hung out the night before and got ready to rumble the next day!
Race morning dawned not so early for us at 5am (what is this sleeping in!) and we were ready to go. Oddly enough, I never felt nervous, which has some of my friends rolling their eyes, but I always have some pre race butterflies. We headed out and were in transition 20 minutes later (yess for the local race!). For lack of a better word, transition was a party. I think I've finally aspired to my inner Matt Kellman, who I idolized years ago - he is an icon in the Roc, and everyone knows him. (Greg and I even got a signature selfie with him #starstruck.
Somehow, through joking on Facebook, random workout meet ups, or general notorious behavior, it seemed everyone knew me at this race - including people I had no idea who they were (insert inner ego - though I'm pretty sure its not for amazing reasons!!) I met Laura, a fellow racer who is my Facebook bestie (she is, she freaking rocks and I love her more now that I know her), Joe, the dude that body marked me that I have chatted with on Strava (apparently I was nervous because I had no idea who he was until post race when he busted me - fair, Joe, fair) Blair, the girl who routinely smokes me and I can't even be mad because she's talented AND nice as hell, New triathletes mother and daughter Cheryl and Joanna (15!) who were super nervous and next to me in transition - I helped them out with things they needed and a ton of things I'm sure they didn't need) and my favorites - Marcus and Ken, my Worlds buddies, Joe Tally (a super bike and runner who wishes he could beat me), and so many others. I'll admit I played social butterfly pre race and paid little attention to - ya know - the business of racing. With a few minutes left, we headed down to the beach and got ready to rock - when Greg informed me my Uncle was there! I ran up the hill to give him a squeeze and barely made it back before my wave went off (I'm so hard core).
swim: 31:54 (1:51/100)
This must be the year when I can't pull a fast swim out to save my soul. The two loop course was a little bit annoying - there was a ton of shallow unswimmable water, so we ran through the water for a good minute before you could dolphin dive (and again for the second loop). Not much to say about any of it - it was comfortable, which is probably the problem - I need to learn to race the swim! In the second loop, my HRM, which is an armband, fell off, and I had to dive a bit to grab it - Eff. That's never happened before. I stuffed it in my trikit and ditched it in T1 - sorry coach! There were 3 buoys, which made sighting a little difficult (I'm so spoiled with Ironman's buoy every 100m), but aside from that, nothing to report. I exited the water just under 32 minutes, probably the crappiest swim time wise I've had in an Oly since 2018, but it is what it is. (I later found out I was 3rd woman out of the water - so - apparently not that crappy!) And - new off season goals!
Bike: 1:14:46 (19.95 mph)
And onto the bike! It still makes me smile that I can now say this with a big smile on my face! I was ready to rock this - until I realized I never turned ANY electronics on at all - no bike computer, no varia. Whoops. I booted them up super quick in T1 and was off. It was pouring at that point (where did this come from??) so I took off with a little caution then settled in. The course was sort of a lollipop- 1 mile out, tight turnaround, then 3 miles back, a loop through some shitty hilly road, a fun downhill, then do it 3 more times. The first loop was pretty uneventful and I got the lay of the land - the turnaround sucked in the rain, but other than that, not too bad. During loop two I got passed by the Outlaw (that didn't take long) who yelled out "Hold Your Line" (dick - I was) and I replied with something smart ass (turns out later he was yelling out something totally different and highly inappropriate regarding my race goals, which, pity, that would have made me laugh). Coming into the hilly portion, I was rounding a curve and heading for the descent when I saw a rider on the side of the road who crashed - I always hate this and yell out to see if they are okay. Getting closer - I recognized the kit - it was Greg. SHIT. I asked him if he was okay and slowed - he yelled to keep going - gah - so I did. (Turns out he hit a big pothole going 24 when he dodged to avoid a bike that swerved in front of him - he was okay except for some road rash and finished the race with a near AG placement - he is such a badass!).
Loops 3 and 4 were pretty uneventful except for the fact that with so many people on the course, passing was tough - and in some cases, impossible. My speed took a hit as I slowed to wait for people to make the turn arounds or find clear road. I called out on your left a zillion times (which many people thanked me for) and almost got plowed over by a dude that passed me unannounced with about an inch to spare. He yelled out something unpleasant and I yelled back "Call your pass, dude!". Idiot. I wouldn't have minded but riding far to the right - no reason for that kind of pass. I later passed him on the hills and bit back a snarky response - not worth it. I saw my coach on loop 3 and in general felt pretty legit riding in aero in the rain (I later found out he was more impressed with my shifting - hey, Ill take what I can get!). Of course, without reason my bike computer died at mile 9, so clearly the shifting was going to be the thing - data wasn't. Whoops. (I have no idea what happened, it booted up later just fine. Technology was not my friend today).
Off the bike with little drama (thank goodness - and now it was time to run!)
Run: 48:14 (7:45 mi)
After FINALLY remembering how to run at mini mussel, I was excited for this 10k. I realized that I wouldn't PR - which was fine - but if I could pull out a sub 50 minute 10k, I would shake out around 2:45 (clearly I have no math skills). I also had absolutely no idea where I was in the race, but with my shitty swim and so so bike, I knew I wasn't in placement overall, so I decided to just have fun. My instructions were to run mile 1 by feel, miles 2-3 and controlled in the hills, then zoom home. Okey doke. I hit mile 1 in 7:45 and knew it was not going to be a fast day. Alright - they aren't all fast! I saw my coach and gave him a big grin, then immediately put on serious face (he hates it when I smile during a run in a race - clearly I should be working harder (I don't listen to that, mostly)). I couldn't keep the face and started laughing, and a dude across the way yelled out - keep that smile on, you look great! And I heard my coach mutter something I won't repeat. I flipped him the bird (truly, I do love that man) and was on my way. The hill at mile 2 wasn't bad - 8:12 and heading into the neighborhood stretch I saw Blair heading it in for the win - that girl is smokin! Through the neighborhood, I got thoroughly twisted with the out and backs. I saw another woman ahead of me that I knew and cheered her on to not let me catch her (I wasn't gonna - she runs six minute miles) and then a few other women. I roughly guessed I was in 5th or 6th place (which was oddly disappointing - who am I???) then realized you can't win em all - so I focused on just smiling away! with a mile to go, I saw my coach again - who yelled out some shirtless dude is trying to pass you - you might like that! and I cracked up. Turns out it was Ben who I leapfrogged with at Summer Sizzler - I'm a better biker and he also runs six minute miles and had been trying to catch me since I passed him on the bike. We laughed and I chased him to the finish for a 48:14 - not my best, but certainly not bad for the humid day and course!
Post Race
Apparently my shitty math was - shitty - and I finished with a time of 2:37, good for a whopping 12 second PR. For the course layout and conditions, I was super happy with that. I immediately connected with Greg, who was alive and well, and the Outlaw, who finished second overall despite feeling like garbage, and commenced the post race hangout! Somehow, all oblivenessness aside, I managed to place third overall for the ladies, which blew my mind because I honestly had no idea I was even in the race. The two women that beat me are both SMOKIN' fast so I was really pleased with the effort - and we acted out our silly shenanigans with the fun race belt Mike got for the winners! (Lest anyone get concerned - there was NO podium, but an awards ceremony, so the streak is NOT broken
(Mike I love you - please don't get a podium next year, it'll kill my chances)The coolest part about all of this is that I finally have some awesome overall Female awardage - for every race I've placed in there was an engraving error or nothing on the award indicating placement - but now I have legit swag! (This found a spot on my wall immediately)
All is all, it was a great race. Did I go my fastes? Nope, probably not. That bugged me for about five minutes before I realized I had a fanastic time at the "party" - with all my old friends and new friends - at the party in the Roc! So, guys, this is for you - thank you for making the tri community so much darn fun and I'm so grateful to be able to get out and play with all of you for 3 hours on a weekend!
Ok, I lied. While the race was fun, I can only dedicate it to one person. And that is.....
Joe Tally. After years of trying, he finally beat me in a race. Congrats Joe, you're the GOAT. And next time, it's on 😂😂
Next up - Cassadagaman Half Ironman September 4th! Where the hills are alive (and I hear there's music)
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