My husband Bob and I were visiting my family in Connecticut last week and decided to enter the local sprint race while there. We packed an extra suitcase with the essentials and rented the only set of road bikes we could find. The bikes had a second set of small brake levers on top of the handlebars which reminded me of tiny T-Rex arms. I had not seen this before. They made me smile.
The day before the race we took a quick dip in the ocean to see if we would need wetsuits, drove the bike course and ran the run course. We were ready. It was the 11th year running for the Niantic Bay Triathlon. About 500 people were registered. I figured it would be well organized and well run and it was.
It was a dark and stormy night...and very rainy race day. Instead of body marking we were given "Tri-Tats" to self apply the night before. Had not seen this before. Worked well and looked nice. Note: they are equally hard to remove as permanent marker. At 7am, air temp was about 20 and water temp close to 22. I did not wear my wetsuit. About 75% of participants did. When I asked people why they said “to protect their bodies from all the jellyfish". Hmm. The race director also had mentioned that there would be vinegar spray bottles available at the swim exit for stings. I was hoping I wouldn't regret my decision.
The swim started on the beach at the water's edge in heats of about 125 people. The swim was shortened due to ocean chop and swells from the wind and rain. Swimming out against the waves for about 300 meters to the first buoy felt like swimming in a wave pool. 1 second you were on top of a wave with good visibility and the next second in the trough seeing nothing. On a positive note, jellyfish were not an issue. At the furthest point from shore where the waves were the biggest I did breastroke up and over them because I was tired of breathing to the side and swallowing water. Once we made the turn back to shore I swam hard with the waves pushing me forward. It was like walking on a people mover- you felt like you were moving really fast. I was a little worried about Bob in the heat behind me but he did fine. He later mentioned that seeing so many surfboards and kayaks nearby in the water was somewhat comforting until half way through when he noticed that most of them had multiple racers hanging on to catch their breath and stop taking on water. It was a short run to transition from the beach and I heard my parents cheering. (It was the first time for them seeing me race)
The bike was on secondary, paved, windy, heavily treed, shoulderless roads. You had to watch for frequent storm drains and rough patch jobs. The bike course was not closed and compared to Calgary it was quite dark from all the roadside foliage and mature trees hanging over the roads. Luckily there wasn't much traffic. We were warned about a downhill section of recently paved road which might be especially slick from oil and rain. I was extremely cautious here as I wasn't overly confident in my brakes and tires. I got passed here by a pack of 4 women which was annoying but better to be safe than sorry. I was only a few miles from the bike finish and I decided I would find them on the run.
The run was an out and back that snaked its way through side streets and ended with a beach run. It was only 5k and my legs were feeling good after a relatively short and easy bike so I decided to see what I could do. I had been feeling like I had been running well but the week before at the Calgary 70.3 I had really suffered through the run (heat and hills) and posted my slowest half marathon time ever so I was hoping for some redemption. The rain was keeping me cool and being at sea level was favorable. I found 2 of the ladies from the pack that had passed me on the bike and passed them early on. I saw the 3rd women at the turnaround and passed her. Then I saw Bob (who started in the wave 4 minutes after me) we high fived and I had renewed energy as I looked for that 4th woman. I did not watch my pace but knew that I was running at a high heart rate. I was pleased that I was able to run hard for the entire 5k and when I looked at my split at the finish it was 90 seconds faster than I have ever run a 5k in a triathlon. I had a great race, finished 2nd in my age group and got my first ever prize pack.
One final comment, I always try to say something encouraging to anyone I pass while biking or running. In Canada, usually people say thanks or nod or acknowledge you in some way. There was only 1 person the entire race that said something back. On the run I said "stay strong" as I passed a woman and she mumbled "as you". Nothing from anyone else. This was supposed to be a friendly community sprint race. I now believe that we really are nicer in Canada! Although having said this, props to the race director that announced that all DNFs could race for half price next year. Nice touch.
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