A left-coaster's eman rr with doctoral exam addendum

For posterity, this is the rr I sent out a couple of weeks ago. Scroll down to And now that a week has passed... to get to the new stuff!

E^2 (Eagleman/Exams) 2006 Race Report

Since I'm sending this out to folks with varying levels of triathlon experience ranging from Ironpeople through those well-versed in one of the three sports to others who just shake their heads at me when I talk about how I spend my free time, I'll take a moment to explain what this is all about: I completed a 1/2 Ironman triathlon this weekend called Eagleman on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It consisted of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike and a 13.1 mile run. There is a tradition in triathlon of writing a race report detailing your experiences and that is what you are reading now. If you are interested in variations on this theme, check out the DC Tri Club website race reports forum here. And here is the quick and dirty version of my results if you are pressed for time. Otherwise, grab a cup of joe or a microbrew and settle in for a story!

I went back through my gmail and found the date where the smack talking (or at least the current round of it) that got me into this mess began: 9.11.05, when Eagleman registration opened. By the 12th, I was signed up and committed to a cross-country journey to race in June with 3 others in the 5:30 Capitol Hill riding crew including Cory, a 1/2 IM virgin. Over the next couple of months, my doctoral program decided most inconveniently to schedule our comprehensive exams the very week of the race. After some soul-searching about the craziness of stacking what arguably could be the two biggest events in my life this year into the span of 6 days, I decided to stick with it and race in June.

Training in Seattle was certainly different than putting in the miles in DC last year. I can count on one hand the number of times this year when I've been able to ride without full-finger gloves. That situation worried me a bit as I was preparing for a race where I had to line my hat with ice last year on the run to keep my core temperature low enough to avoid serious brain damage. And did I mention the rain?

Despite these meteorological obstacles and the mounting workload as my exams approached, I managed to get myself into what was probably the best tri shape of my life. Helping me along in this endeavor was a great Husky Masters swimming and running crew. The constant blogging/texting/iming of the smack-talkin' crew from B'more, the Hill in DC and the Arch also kept me honest and on track. The Smurfs and other School of Social Work affiliates were sometimes puzzled, but generally supportive. Commiserating with Jen and Meg about their IM CDA preparations was certainly helpful. I don't even have words for what the constant support of Alden, my parents & sister meant through all the long days of training and studying. It was such a strange journey to go through the tandem process of exam and Eagleman prep and I'm still trying to make sense of it all. So it is that I left on Friday intellectually spent, but with my body feeling rarr, rarr, rarrin' to go!



After a small reunion for the racing and non-racing members of the 5:30 a.m. crew on Friday evening at the local Hill watering hole, I headed to bed to rest up for the day of standing in line (aka, registration, bike check and racking). Got up on Saturday, put the bike together and headed out to Cambridge. Racked my bike and headed back to Easton for a yummy & relaxing early dinner and then to assemble the gear for the morning at the hotel.



Got to the race early (gasp! I know) and set up my transition area. Heard an announcement interspersed with the cheesy inspirational music blasting over the loudspeaker that the winds were expected to be gusting to 25-35 mph. Despite that news, I was still reveling in the relatively cool temps which never did become an issue throughout the day.

Was able to clear transition in plenty of time and find a spot near the swim exit chute to watch the pros come in. I felt surprisingly calm this year, especially as compared to last year. I knew I was prepared physically, the weather was cooperating (relatively) and a surprise 4:15 a.m. PST good luck phone call from Seattle confirmed that it would be a fabulous race!

Swim 31:23 (68th overall, 1st in my age group and exactly 1 minute ahead of World Champion Natascha Badmann- woo hoo!)

After some confusion amongst my wave-mates about where exactly the swim start was, I settled into a good pace heading out along the orange buoys towards the boat. Lost most of the maroon caps and started to swim through blue caps. Hit the turn and wham! with it 2-3 foot swells that would continue until the end. Now, I 'm a fairly strong swimmer so I wasn't that worried about the chop, but I knew that it did not bode well for the biking to come. Almost lost my chip at a couple of points with how crazy the water was and made a note to invest in my very own anklet for the next race that would stay securely fastened even in the worst conditions. Was feeling isolated, confused and frustrated, but noticed that I was swimming through yellow caps and even managed to reel in some silver caps at the very end which helped me to relax knowing that it was a rough day for everyone out in the water.

T1 3:00

No problems in T1 for me- one of the advantages of getting the rack all to yourself!

Bike 3:05:05 18.2 average (658th overall, 37th in my age group and 46 minutes and 23 seconds slower than World Champion Natascha Badmann- ouch!)

Eagleman is a lollipop course so I had the opportunity to see the lead men coming in again this year and wow, they can move! The wind was indeed an issue and each turn brought with it the possibility of cruising along at 26 mph if it was at my back or sloggin' through at 14 mph if it was going the other way. I changed my nutrition strategy after heading out on the run hungry last year and ate a ton which really helped out later on. Saw a pretty horrific crash at a bottle exchange, but managed to stay on my bike the entire ride. The fabulous bikes going by me provided yummy eye candy and even better was when I was blowing by them on my little Giant. I turned into a particularly tough head wind around mile 40 and was discouraged to see my speed reduced to about 12 mph. When I looked up from my computer, I saw an eagle out playing in the wind above me and vowed to try and enjoy the wind as much as she was. Spun through the last few miles despite my computer being persnickety and not showing my cadence (just thought like Lance and not Jan) to prep my legs for the run.

T2 2:26 (Yeah, I know it's slow- but I changed my socks and bodyglided my feet as I thought it was better to be a bit behind now so as to avoid having to hobble my way across the line later.)

My transition area was a mess with wetsuits everywhere (including one on my bike spot on the rack) and someone's wet cap and goggles sitting right on top of my supposedly dry socks- yuck!

Run 1:55:18 8:49 average (609th overall, 29th in my age group and 28 minutes and 48 seconds slower than World Champion Natascha Badmann- I know, I know, I'll keep my day job!)

Headed out on the run feeling strong. I'd managed a brick every week in May so the transition off the bike was the best I've ever had. Had heard Yvonne yelling coming in off the bike and managed to see her and Nate on my way out. Stopped for a potty break at mile 3 and was bummed to have to stand in line while my time marched on, but used the opportunity to stretch a bit and knew that the stop meant my nutrition strategy was working well. I lost a GU pack along the way so improvised with some chocolate chip cookies around mile 7- mmm, Chips Ahoy never tasted so good! One of the benefits of an out-and-back course is that looking for people you know distracts you and I managed to play that game well enough to spot Cory for a high five along the way. I generally felt great and started to push it on the way back. I knew I was going to set a PR and was reveling in the whole experience. When I saw Nate around mile 13 and he jeeringly asked me the same question he did last year, "Are you going to finish this thing, or what?!" I had my response at the ready, "Hells, yeah!" as I turned to head down across the finish line!

Total time 5:37:10 (616th overall, 26th in my age group and I won't even tell you about mon amie, Natascha)

Found Yvonne and Nate and asked them to carry my medal (Yes, it is that freakin' heavy!) as we headed back out on the course to cheer Cory on home. She was salty, smiling and looking strong! After loading all the gear back in the car, we stopped at Harris Crab House just shy of the bridge for crabs and a chipwich to end the day.

Monday was full of visiting old haunts on the Hill and catching up with friends. Cory and I headed out for a couple of slow laps around Hains Point on Tuesday morning for old times' sake even though neither of us could muster the energy to chase down the breakaways nor play with the traffic furniture. In fact, I spent most of the time wondering why the cadence function on my computer had suddenly decided to work and trying to unstick myself from the Gatorade Endurance Formula-caked Giant. Afterwards, I packed up my bike, had one last salad at Cosi and headed up to the airport for the trip home to Seattle.

All in all, it was a fabulous race and a great weekend. Mahalo to all of you who have supported me through the craziness of Eagleman & exams and read this far through my race report. I'll see you in the pool, out on the road, in the pit or online soon!

And now that a week has passed...

As you all know, I finished up my written comprehensive exams the day before heading back to DC for the race and was awaiting my results (expected the Friday after I got back) to prep for my orals. A couple of former co-workers from Michigan came out to distract me and keep me sane as I got my results back. It was touch and go there for a bit, but we all passed and I have this photo of my cohort partying to prove it- woo hoo!




And now that 2 weeks have passed...
Alden and I headed up to Lopez Island in the San Juans for a long weekend to punctuate the end of all this craziness. We camped, hiked, read, napped, ate tons of fabu food, and went a good 48 hours without knowing what time it was! We even managed a bike ride up to the top of Mt. Constitution (about 2,400 feet) to partake in what is touted as the best view in all of Puget Sound. My taper/exam/FedEx routing of the steed was definitely apparent and Alden was amazing at singing silly songs and telling stories to keep me distracted from the pain in my legs. The view was indeed incredible as you'll see if you can get beyond my sweaty delirium in the pic here. It gives me an even better appreciation of what I'd have to do to earn that polka dot jersey in the Tour...

That's all from me now- thanks for stickin' around for the longest rr ever!