Providence, Rhode Island. Nestled between the ocean, Massachusetts and Connecticut, its known for its patriotism, huge mansions and seafood. Although I didn’t get to experience all of these novelties, I did get to enjoy 70.3 miles of water, hills, and pavement. My 2011 schedule had a big focus on this race in hopes of having a fast race, and possible qualification to the World Championships. I didn’t know too much about the overall competition, but I did know there was a pretty deep field in my age group. There were some names that stood out in my age group, and I knew I would have to have a flawless race to beat them; needless to say it didn’t happen.
Arriving mid-Friday day, my parents, Catie and myself, checked into to our hotel, then headed over to Ironman village at the convention center. Right then and there was when it became surreal. Competing in a race of this magnitude always gets the juices flowing, and excitement takes over the body. I was excited to be there, and more excited to race. I had put in a lot of training and preparation for this particular race and I hoped to receive the results I was looking for. Although this last month of training has been less than spectacular, I thought I had built a solid base over the winter months. A lot of long, boring trainer rides, along with some long boring treadmill runs, and finally countless laps in Brockport’s disgusting pool. Friday night consisted of driving, and eating. We walked around the Newport area and this particular area flaunted its patriotism with multiple flags hanging from every household, red, white and blue painted road, and a July fourth parade. As Saturday came, it was more driving around to the swim start to drop off the bike and run gear, along with attending the athlete meeting. At this meeting I found out that the water would be over eighty degrees and that meant all wetsuits would be banned. I let out a silent (or not so silent) “SHIT!”. If you do not know the gains of utilizing a wetsuit during a swim, take it from a nonswimmer; it works wonders! The buoyancy it gives the body makes it seem like you are coasting on top of the water. It almost is comparable to gliding on ice. It is a huge gain when they are allowed and a huge loss when they are banned. After hearing this news I knew there was nothing I could do in my power, unless I had 5 tons of ice I could drop in Olney pond to cool it down overnight. That night Catie and I walked around Providence and Federall Hill. We hit up the largest mall I’ve ever seen (not by my choice) and took in the sounds and the sights. It was early to bed that night as Sunday would be an early one.
Sunday morning came, and it was an early 3:30 wakeup call as this race started at 6 am. My first thought was, some party goers will be just crawling into their beds right now. This was too early even for me, but the alarm went off and the room got up, no questions asked. Catherine, my rents, and I loaded into the car and drove off to the Amica Headquarters where we would then catch a shuttle bus to Lincoln Woods state park. Once we arrived I had a whole twenty minutes to get my transition area settled and get on to the starting line. Unfortunately my wave was the last wave so I had a lot of standing around to do before the race. The pro field began at 6 and I went off at 7:10, and waiting that hour made the nerves rise more and more. I was restless to start my day. Being a non-wetsuit swim I was unsure of how fast or slow my time was going to be, so I said “less than 37 minutes and I’d be content.” Once our wave was corralled the gun went off and the boys hit the water. I lined myself up right with the turn buoy that way my sighting would come easy. As soon as I hit that first turn buoy I was absolutely blinded by the sun. I couldn’t see a damn thing and I knew I was going to steer off course. I tried to stay with the lead pack of swimmers for as long as I could but they dropped me within the first ten minutes. I was lost, way lost, and I was hoping that I could stay close to the course. After finally hitting the second turn buoy I had gone a bit off course and needed to make up some time on the back stretch. Settling and being able to see are both wonderful things when it comes to performing an open water swim. I spotted the exit and headed straight for it. I came out in 36:XX so I was content with that. Knowing if I could see and if I could wear a wetsuit I would have been better off, and believe it or not I was 20th out of the water in my age group of 60+ so that’s not too shabby.
Once out of the water I hit T1 and got out there as fast as I could. I hadn’t ridden this bike course before, but reading online forums of people who had, I knew I was in for a bumpy ride. The first 30-40 miles were rolling hills, a constant up and down. The hills were relentless and when the final ten miles came, it was the worst roads I had ever been on. Picture downtown Niagara Falls, you know the one’s with the pot holes you can take a bath in when it rains? Yeah, it was that bad. Between bumps which protruded about six inches in the middle of the road, and the pot holes which could have been meteorite sightings, I was slower than slow the last ten miles. I don’t think I was in aero position the entire time, and I was grasping the bars so tight I thought I was going to snap them in half. Luckily for me I am as strong as a newborn so my handlebars lived to ride another day. Overall my bike split was borderline embarrassing. I couldn’t believe how slow I rode. I can blame the roads all I want (which I still know if it weren’t for those last ten miles I could have taken off at least 2-5 minutes) my split was bad. 2:42:XX averaging 20.7 mph. I wanted to be in the 21.7-22.1 range and I was nowhere near that. I guess I know what desperately needs work.
Coming into T2 I knew I would need a killer run to revive this race. Up until this point my race was sinking fast. I wanted to break 4:45 and I would need a 1:23 half marathon to do so. On a course like this, that was impossible for me. The first couple of miles were long, never-ending hills which took the wind right out of my sails. It was hot, like 90 degrees hot. At every aid station it was grab as much as I could and cool myself down with mode; sponges, water, I am pretty sure I ever doused myself in Ironman Perform. That was a sticky situation. Once I came to the first turnaround, I knew I would be running downhill and needed to make up some time so I took the hills and ran with them (literally). I finally settled in between miles 4-7 and then, being a two-loop course I would be welcomed with that same two mile hill as the first loop. I ran the hill faster the second time around and was ready to get my butt to the finish line. By this time the sun was high-noon, and you could tell because there were hundreds of athletes walking by now. Everyone looked like they had just seen the devil and wanted out. I kept moving past the fellow athletes and before I knew it, there was only two miles left to go. I saw a kid in my age group who seemed to be struggling a bit so I made it a goal to pass him before the finish line. With about a mile and a half to go, I went for it and ran past him. I congratulated him on a solid race, as he did back to me. With the last 200-400 meters being straight uphill I was relieved to see Catie, my mom and dad, waiting for me in that sun. They looked as tired as I was. I always say spectating is just as hard as racing. They have to worry, track, and stand countless hours while we prance around in spandex and look like cavemen or women taking in GU”s, bars, and hydration. I ran the 13.1 miles in 1:2828 which for this course I would consider pretty good. I finished the race in 4:50:51, 89th overall and 7th in my age group. I cannot lie to myself and say I had a “good race”, because I didn’t. My swim was slow, and my bike was despicable. There is work that needs to be done, but for now I have decided to take a complete week off, recharge the batteries and get ready for the second half of the season. I have a few more triathlons to go, and possibly a half marathon and a marathon. We shall see where the wind takes me over the next few months. I know I will be racing the Wilson Wet and Wild triathlon, along with the Ironman Muskoka 70.3 in hopes of qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. For now, its time to hit the pool and grind the gears because Muskoka is-a-calling.
