This was our first time racing the full championship distance in Richmond (1000m swim, 30k bike, 11k run). The last two years we raced the sport distance (500m swim, 19k bike, and 7k run). In past years, I struggled through the bike and walked most of the run. Last year (2007) was especially difficult. The weather was humid and in the 90s and I had donated a double-dose of blood a week before the race... not a bright idea.
So this year, I planned a little better by really focusing on run training and trying to keep as much of my blood as I could. Since the run leg of my Xterra is, by far, the weakest, increasing my run training more than the bike or swim should yield the most productive improvement. Prior to this year, various run injuries would pop up and keep me from training. This year, I started by increasing my run distances very gradually and adding resistance training, focusing on squats. Paired with ice and careful resting, run training has actually become enjoyable this year.
On to Virginia...
Staying at the Markey's the night before in Orange, VA was pretty comfortable. After pre-riding some of the bike course in the day, we headed back for dinner. Roxy cooked up some ribs, pork, mac and cheese, corn, and fruit salad. We watched Cloverfield and passed out around 8:30.
Morning came quick. We ate some breakfast, got our stuff together, and were out the door by 5:15am, ughhh. Since the weather forecast called for another hot day this year, the race directors decided to start the championship race at 8:30am. We got our transitions setup, got our body markings and headed down to the river. After Fortmann took off for the sport race at 8:00, we had our chance to warm up and check out pee island.
The start always comes up so fast, I swear time speeds up for those tense moments before the start. BOOOM, the cannon goes off for the pros at 8:40, two minutes later, Shawn and I are in the water fighting with all the other swimmers to get ahead into open water. Unfortunately, open water was nowhere to be found. Once we got some distance from the other racers, the shallow water and numerous rocks prevented us from getting into any kind of rhythm. The course took us across the river to Bell Island where we fought through some mud then ran a little, then more mud, then back across the river. In one really shallow and rocky section, I caught a glimpse of Shawn standing up in about knee-high water. I looked again and he took a nasty spill off a rock. It was pretty hilarious, but it turns out that he hurt his foot pretty bad. The run to transition was as expected, I decided to put on my bike gloves during this run to save some time - this worked pretty well.
Transition was ok, I could use some improvement. The first part of the bike went by really fast. Then we hit the staircase into Forest Hill. Tough climbs, numerous switchbacks, and technical downhills. This is an awesome bike course, I would love to have had more energy. I think I experienced every form of exhaustion in this race... tired legs, tired heart, tired lungs, feeling dizzy, feeling nauseous, feeling sleepy, and every combination. The technical downhills were great, there was one section where a guy was right on my tail as we were flying through some really tricky sections. I think he was getting a little upset that I was in his way since he complained to himself when I slowed down too much to go over an obstacle. We came up on a huge rock garden really fast. I couldn't slow down fast enough so I just went for it, bouncing off of rocks and trees and barely staying in control. Right after I made it through, I heard a huge crash, I could only imagine how much that must have hurt. At least he was off my back now. Through the rest of the bike, my energy was up and down until the final stretch which was all flat. This gave me a good chance to recover and prepare for the run.
Coming into transition, it seemed like almost all the other bikes were already there and the other racers were all ahead of me. After lacing up my shoes and wandering a bit to find the exit, I started the run. My plan was just to keep running. I remember the places I started to walk last year and made a point to run through those tough sections. Again I ran through the gamut of exhaustions, getting really sleepy, then my legs would hurt, then I couldn't breath. At one point, I was so dizzy and delirious that my legs seemed to run by themself. I gave them some encouraging words and tried to regain my mind. Finally, the last hill, then the finish line was in sight across the river, then I could hear the crowd, I sprinted the last 200 yards to finish. Shawn was there to congratulate me. He asked about the race, but I just couldn't get any words out that made sense.
Two minutes after I finished Sara finished. (This means that she beat me by 2 minutes since I had a 4 minute head start). Soon after, Alicia finished. She didn't look to good, but after a visit to the first aid tent and 2 packs of blueberry muffins she was back on her feet. Shawn ended up stopping after the bike, to prevent further injury to his foot. He also said that he felt completely drained on the bike. It turns out that he had the beginnings of strep throat.
All things considered, we all performed well. We continue to improve with each race, but most importantly we continue to have fun and create wonderful memories.
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