Eagleman. My validation race for Kona! I was excited all week as I had been looking forward to doing this race again since last year. What was so cool about this year is that three of the pros were at Sailwinds on Saturday. I got a chance to talk to Natascha Badmaan for a few minutes. She is genuinely a nice person. I told her to win one more at Kona and do it for us 40 year olds! She said she is trying and from her world record time at Eagleman on Sunday - she could do it. I chatted with Desiree Ficker as well. I also met coach Troy Jacobson of Spinervals (what a hottie he is)!
Race Day: The temperature was cool, it was overcast and the water was as calm as it can be on the Choptank - it was going to be a fast day for everyone. On Saturday afternoon, the winds had been blowing 10-20 mph and there were whitecaps on the water. Thankfully, by Sunday morning, it was much, much calmer.
The Swim: I hadn’t been nervous all morning until it was time to put on my wetsuit (then it hit me, like BAM!) By the time I got into the water though, I wasn’t really nervous anymore – and surprisingly calm. I noticed the same thing at Columbia as well. I was in the 40-44 age group, which was the largest women's and men's age groups of the day. There were 91 of us and when the gun went off , I never felt crowded or got kicked or hit. There were yellow buoys that were easy to sight leading out to the orange turn around buoy. It took quite a while to get out there, but when we turned back, the current was practically pushing us along. It was awesome and a much better experience than last year – and no stinging nettles! I was very happy with my swim and finished in 40:27 (I swam over 49 minutes last year).
The Bike: It is always a relief to get out of the water. T1 went well and I was off on the bike. There was practically no wind this year, which was another major improvement over last year. I saw the guy who won – there was no one else even close. At about mile 10, I saw Desiree on the bike in first. Guess who was right behind her? Yup – Natascha. She was very close to passing Desiree at this point. They were really battling it out – it was awesome to see!
Going 56 miles on a flat course is hard, but at least there were several turns, which helps break up the monotony of the ride. The major change I made on the bike for the first time was that I kept it on my small chain ring the entire way. Jeez, why hadn’t I thought of this before? You learn something new at every race, I swear. I ended up with an average of 18.3 mph for the bike, which was one mile per hour faster than last year. I finished in 3:02:55, (I did 3:16 last year). The wind had picked up a bit on the way back to Cambridge and I was really glad to be off that bike though, because now it was time to run!
The Run: The bricks I have done over the past year have really paid off. While I wasn’t into my real groove until about mile one, I didn’t have the pain and discomfort that I had last year. It really was a completely different race. I was feeling pretty good until about mile 8. Then I slowed, but just kept moving. I saw Tony out there and we gave each other a hug. One of the best parts of the run is that I saw Dave Rozelle – the Army guy from Kona last year who lost a leg in Iraq. As I passed I said, “Dave Rozelle – you rock!” he said thanks and we high fived each other – so very cool. The last five miles of the run were very tough, but the sky was overcast which saved everyone’s butt. I finished the run in a time of 1:56:15 (I finished the run in 2:14 last year).
I couldn’t be happier. I finished Eagleman last year in 6:33 and on Sunday I finished in 5:45:47. The conditions played a huge role, but I can tell that my training has paid off as well. I still have much training to do. 17.5 weeks to Kona! Yikes!
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1 comment:
Well said.
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