Making the Podium...with the Africans

     The plan was to enjoy a day at Splish Splash, but then Laura won herself an entry to the Cancer Challenge 5k, so I decided I'd might as well run it too. It wasn't set to start until 11am, which is a bit late on a warm summer day, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ability to sleep in. Sunday morning came, I felt more rested, but still tired and not all that excited to race, or even run for that matter. I spoke to Laura, who, herself was too tired to race, and told me to take her registration. She went to Splish Splash the day before, had loads of fun, and got home late, while I sat through the third day of a medical conference and dreamed of being outside.
     I was really looking forward to running with Laura, seeing if I could keep up with her (she is super fast). This made my desire to race even less. But I also knew that at 10am in the morning on a hot summer day, if I didn't race and hadn't run yet, I wasn't going to run at all, so I headed to the start. On top of that, without Laura running, I thought maybe I'd have a chance at winning (I ran the same course in March, coming in a close second). I told my husband, Charles, about it, who planned to come watch, which kept me motivated.
     I set out to warm-up, but it was already hot, so I just did a few laps and strides on the track. Then I chatted with my VCTC teammates. It was really nice to be on home turf in Van Cortlandt Park, running a course different from all the Central Park races. This course was a mishmash of terrain. It started with 3 loops on the track and then you headed to the flats, which consisted of pavement followed by a graveled path that lead to a short jaunt on the hills, back to the parade grounds, and finished on the track. As I looked at the other runners, I didn't see any obviously fiercely strong women, but a few elite African men came out.
     The gun sounded and we were off. True to my form, I went out way too fast. As I ran I forgot who I was following...the elite Africans and a few really fast guys from my club. Running on the track is so much fun and so easy to get carried away. I looked at my Garmin and realized just how fast I was going and tried to slow down, yet I also knew that with the heat and the hills, I would automatically slow down in the coming miles. My first mile was a 5:48. Then I hit the trails, heading into the steamy woods, where I began to die a bit. I wasn't prepared for how hot and humid it would be. I am not a good hot weather runner as I overheat very easily, but I pushed myself to keep going. I crested the top of the hill, and knew I had just over a mile of flat terrain to go. Mile two was more than slow at a 7:08...I told you I died...so I needed to try to pick up the pace. I headed down the slope back to the flats, but kept thinking, "why are you pushing, you can relax a bit, there are no other girls around…you have this". However, I didn't dare look back to verify and fear of being wrong kept me going. Once I got to the turn to exit the flats and head back to the track, I took a peak and saw a girl about 300 meters behind me. I didn't know what kind of push she had, so I knew I had to push harder to the finish, only half a mile to go.
     I was determined to win. Charles, who often has bad timing when it comes to my races, had come out and cheered away while I was on the track. I knew he would be waiting for me at the finish. I ran past my teammate Dick at the entrance to the park, who cheered me on. I pushed and drove around the track to the finish, where Glen, the race director, my teammate, and one of my biggest supporters, was cheering. I put up my arms and broke the tape. What a feeling! And the best part was having Charles at the finish. A sweaty hug and kiss, followed by some Gatorade and shade.
     My final mile was a 6:37, with a finish time of 20:30. It wasn’t even close to a PR. Going out too fast, coupled with the heat, had cost me in the 2^nd and 3^rd miles. Even though I didn’t have a stellar racing performance, it was my first win, so I was happy! Later Dick told me that the second place finisher had more than halved the distance between us. She finished 3 seconds behind me. That was close!

     Award time! The winning male, Abiyot Endale, who hails from Ethiopia, also broke the course record, running in 15:14 (that is 4:55 minutes per mile). Amazing! I had the privilege of standing on the podium with him...well there wasn't really a podium, but I like to pretend. A few months back, before leaving for the San Blas Half Marathon in Puerto Rico, Charles asked if I was going to win. Where that came from, I have no idea, because I had never won before, but I simply replied,  "No, the Africans are running". I dream of being as fast as them, they are quite inspiring! I am still not even close to being that fast, but it was an honor to win with them in one of my favorite places to run and among so many friends!

In Pursuit of a Bobble Head

**This is old. It was written on 6/9/12, but I thought it would be good as my first blog posting.

      This morning began a new adventure, a new addiction. I met Laura and Roly a few months ago as they joined my running club. Laura just happens to be the fastest and cutest Rocket I know, a huge running inspiration. And Roly is a speed demon on the bike. He wizzes by barely holding the handlebars with feet clipped onto the pedals, while I hold on for dear life. Naturally, I went to him when I was thinking about buying a bike.
     Roly told me about Patanella's Flat as a Pancake Sprint Tri. It was his first tri, really flat, good open water swim for beginners, and best of all they gave out bobble head awards with a category for first timers. I wasn't sure I could manage as it was only 3 weeks after a marathon and 3 weeks before my first 50 miler, but I decided to give it a tri :) And I adopted Roly as my coach. So I added a once a week swim to my marathon training at the end of March, just doing some simple laps. But then Roly schooled me on doing drills and endurance swimming. He told me I needed to swim everyday, but that didn’t quite fit into my schedule of school, work and marathon training, so I upped it to 3 days a week once I reached marathon taper mode. He gave me a mini-lesson and nearly tried to drown me, but it worked and I gradually got faster. Then a week after my marathon, he took me out for my first open water swim. It was hard, but he said I did well and could probably race the 400m in 8-9 minutes.
     I wish I could say the biking went as well. I was convinced at the start to use clip-less pedals. I got a pair of Speedplays, which had to be broken-in resulting in multiple falls. Once I got the hang of it, I realized I didn't like them. I opted to go with "reject" or platform pedals, so I could build my confidence on the bike. Besides, since the race was flat, I wouldn’t waist that much energy using them. I did a few 30 mile group rides, was gaining my confidence, but still shaky with going down hills and around sharp corners. Roly pushed me to do speed, giving me a goal of 20mph. So I persevered.
     Race day was fast approaching and then it finally came. I made a list a few days before and packed everything I needed. I spent the night at Laura and Roly's. We carbo-loaded with the biggest mound of spaghetti ever, went to bed at 11pm and got up at 5am...well, I was awake at 4:30am. I was quite anxious race morning, but tried to stay relaxed. I was going to hold off eating breakfast since the start wasn't until 8:20, but Roly encouraged me to eat some cereal and have a little coffee (great way to get your bathroom ritual over with fast). Our friend Ilyas, who was also doing his first tri came over at 5:30am, our planned departure time. At 6am, when the truck was finally packed and our other supporters arrived, we all loaded in, saying good-bye to Laura and Lili, who were running a 10k and then rushing the tri finish to celebrate. Roly put in the key, but the truck wouldn't start...WTF. They tried to jump it, but the truck wasn't responding. Lucky for us Roly's brother had his truck; it was just a bit smaller. So we transferred all the gear and bikes and crammed in. We were on the road. The nerves were swelling. 
     We arrived with plenty of time. There were over 600 bikes as it was both a tri and du event. I found my designated bike spot and got to setting everything up. Then I went for my number marking and the mandatory information meeting. I was delightfully surprised to see my friend Beth and her boyfriend Chris. I had told Beth, who has done a few tri's already, including NYC, that I was doing my first one, but had no idea she would be there. I chatted for a minute and then it was time for Roly to check my transition set-up. I tried to visualize where it was so I could find it quickly during the race. As I started to put on my wetsuit I began to panic as they were closing the transition area. If you have ever put on a wetsuit before, you would know that it can be a daunting task. I put some glide on my legs and arms to make it easier to take off and started pulling it up my legs, running out while I pulled and worked it over my hips. I continued working it up on my way to the beach, then got my arms in. We took a quick warm-up in the 68 degree water...it really wasn't that bad. Then it was time to wait for the start. Roly was in the first wave, I was in the 5th, and Ilyas in the 6th. We watched as the waves set off with 5 minutes in between. I got word from Ilyas that Roly did his swim in 6 minutes. I was in awe. What would I do, probably something much slower. I would have to wait until the finish though, because I opted to race watchless.
     When it was my wave’s turn to start, we walked into the water. I set my sot and we waited for the gun, having to keep swimming back as the current pulled us forward. We were lucky cause that would make the swim faster. The gun went off and I dunked in. I immediately felt like I was swimming towards the shore instead of in a straight line. I tried to sight more often, looking for the orange buoys. At one point, I felt a girl swim over the top of me. I was quite annoyed at that point, getting frustrated with myself and how slow I was going. I saw a buoy and tried to swim harder, then realized that it was the last one. I swam as quickly as I could towards the shore and then started running as I pulled the top of my wet suit off. My legs felt like lead running through the sand, but I refused to walk. There was a small baby pool of water, which I quickly stepped in to rinse off my feet. With my blister prone nature, I really wanted to avoid having too much sand on my feet before sliding on my sneakers. I got to my bike without difficulty threw down my goggles and cap and started pulling my wetsuit off my legs, almost falling over and knocking into the girl next to me. I got my sneakers on, sunglasses, and helmet, then took a swig of my Gatorade, and set out running to the mount area with my bike.
     I mounted and set off. The course was 3 flat loops on a 3-lane road. When I started I realized I was going to have to go around a really sharp corner multiple times on the near and, but was relieved that the far end corner wasn’t as bad. I definitely put on the brakes for the corners, trying to speed up as much as possible once “safely” around. It felt like I was riding really slow, but I had nothing to gauge it by. I started to get thirsty, and could taste the salt water (yes, I drank a mouthful), but I have yet to master drinking while riding, so the Gatorade sat in the water bottle cage untouched for the moment. There were a few really fast guys on tri bikes passing me, but otherwise I was passing people, which felt good even though I had no idea what wave they were in or loop they were on. I kept looking for Charles. He was coming by himself to watch me, but I didn’t see him and thought he couldn’t get through due to the closed round. I tried to hold back any disappointment, as I really wanted him there and continued to ride. On the last loop, I said to myself, “you are riding so slow, now is time to really push”, so I pedaled as hard as I could trying to save some for the run. A bit before the 12 mile bike finish, I put it in an easier gear to spin out my legs. I slowed down as I turned into the dismount area, lucky I didn’t block anyone with my granny turning ways. Dismounted quickly onto jelly legs and started running.
     I told myself this would be the quickest transition. I ran to my transition spot accidentally overshooting it and approaching from the rear, but that actually made replacing my bike easier. I took of my helmet and grabbed my race belt. And of course, wasting precious time, took a few swigs of Gatorade. Then I set off for the final portion of my tri, my favorite sport of running. It was only a 5k, so this would be a breeze, but I had never done it on such heavy legs. My previous PR was a 19:53, so I figured I would run over 20 minutes. It definitely felt like I was running slow, but surprisingly, my legs didn’t feel as bad as when I had done my couple of brick workouts. There were mile markers on the ground, but no clocks, so I just ran and passed people. If I was running slowly, everyone else was running much slower. I really wanted to walk at one point, but again refused. The only reprise I gave my legs was slowing down to climb a few stairs in the middle of the course. I hit the turn-around and tried to maintain my pace, telling myself I would have to pick it up once I hit the boardwalk. From the boardwalk, I saw a tent and knew the finish line was close. I started to increase my speed. Once the finish line was in full view, I began to sprint. I saw Roly cheering, which made me push harder. My sprint ended up being much longer than I expected, but I willed myself to continue. The cheers from the crowd helped as I whizzed by. They all seemed astonished to see someone running so fast. From the few multisport races I have attended, no one really picks it up at the end, but being a runner by nature, I did. I crossed the finish and thought for sure I was going to puke, but Beth and Chris found me and gave me some water. Then Charles sauntered over. I was so surprised and happy to see him. He saw me sprint by, but I didn’t hear or see him…I was in the zone.
     I had glanced at the clock as I finished, and I knew I had to add 20 minutes for my later wave start, but I couldn’t believe I had done anything close to a 1:05 so I waited for the official results. Sure enough, I completed my first tri in 1:05:32 with a swim of 7:16, bike of 34:32, and run of 19:41. My total transition time was 4:07, with a T1 of 2:39 and T2 of 1:28. I was the 1st first timer to finish and 5th female overall (I would have won my age group had I opted to sign up for that category). I also had the fastest run split of all the women, which happened to be a 5k PR. I am astonished at how well I did! I far exceeded my expectations! And won myself a bobble head! And I wasn't the only one....Roly placed 2nd in his age group and Ilyas also got 1st place first timer...we had a clean sweep :)