Colonial Beach Tri on my Cervelo P2SL

Overall Time: 2:20:26
Swim: 17.35.75 (6/16)
Bike: 1.10.13 (1/16)
Run: 49.26 (5/16)
Overall Place: 122/304
Women’s Place: 16/92
Age Group: 1/16

Disclaimers: This is a very small race with a total of 92 females and 304 people over all. This is also a short Oly with a 1k Swim (I heard it may have been even shorter), normal 40k bike, but the run was just 6 miles. Everyone goes the same distance regardless.

Tri Team Z’s cheering and support for all competitors was awesome! We had an amazing showing. See Shout Outs for acknowledgements at the end of the report.

My main goal in this race was to see what I could do on the bike with my new Cervelo P2SL. I didn't go into the race with a specific time in mind, but I wanted to "hammer" on the bike as much as I could (I have never hammered before, but I wanted to try :) I knew that this would probably hurt me on the run, but that was OK, because this race was about the bike, baby!

The Swim: I started out at the back of the women’s wave to help a fellow Z team member who was really, really nervous. I wanted to make sure she was OK. It was only when I felt she was going to be fine and after she said, "Stacy, it's ok, go ahead", that I went. I am glad I was there for her.
What a cluster f*** the start was! There wasn’t much space between the shore and the first buoy, so we were all funneled through a narrow area. It was the most crowded swim start I had experienced yet. I worked my way toward the outside and by the first turn, the field was starting to spread out. My swim time was 17.35.75.

T1: 1.35.60 nothing exciting to report here.

The Bike: Here we go! Usually I look most forward to the run, but today it was all about the bike. While most were expecting a flat bike course, we had Intel from Talia and Brian who rode the course the day before that there were some hills and false flats. I started out “fast” for me, and got into a groove. Then I just kept it up the entire 40k. I have never, ever gone as fast on my road bike. The Cervelo just flew and was close to 32 mph at least once (countered by 8.6mph on one of the uphills)! I had a blast, it was so much fun! My time was 1:10:13.

T2: 1.35.65, which was freakishly close to my T1 time. I did fumble around with tying one of my shoes. Oh Well.

The Run: This is a VERY flat out and back course, with very little shade. It was heating up by then and Gatorade would have been great, but they only had water at the aid stations (but there were plenty of them). While I felt pretty good for the first three miles, I began to fade after the turn around and the last two miles were really tough. Here was the payback for the bike. I played my usual mental games to keep myself going, including my favorite bike game where I tell myself, “the faster I go, the sooner I get done.” And, “It’s going to hurt anyway, but it will hurt for less time”! I was still happy with my finish time of 49:26.

While this may be the only time I come in first in my AG, I am very happy about as it was completely unexpected!

Shout Outs:
First and as always, Team Z was right there, providing their amazing support throughout the weekend and the race. All those cow bells, horns and the majority of cheering for ALL competitors at the turn to the finish was mostly due to Team Z. You guys all rock!

The “Toughest Guy of All Time Award” goes to Sebastian. He was in a bad bike crash during the race and not only did he finish the bike, but ran and finished the race as well. I saw him on the run and he couldn’t even move his left arm. We thought that he had dislocated his shoulder and may have needed surgery, but as it turns out his ok. What a stud! And thanks to Chris Wren for taking him to the hospital.

Grace, I knew you could do it! Just keep it up with training and racing – while it is never a piece of cake, it does get easier, I promise.

Manuela, Jenny, Ken and Robyn: Great job on your first Olympic distance race.

To all who raced (I can't possibly name everyone), I hope you had as much fun as I did. Thanks for your cheering also. We had a great showing and several individuals and relay teams won “software” in the form of a fleece blanket.

Ed, Talia and Brian – you are the glue that keeps us all together. Thanks so much for ALL that you do, day after day, week after week, race after race.

Last, but never least – to all those who aren’t racing, but come out to simply give their support – you are the bomb. It is amazing that no matter how crappy I feel at the end of a race, I find something inside that inspires me to sprint to the finish. THANK YOU!!!!!!