2009 Nationals Triathlon Championships

Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home of the Black Warrior River…and the Corp of Engineers!

Saturday August 22^nd was the 09 Nationals Tri Championships in Tuscaloosa, AL. This would be my 5^th competition at nationals (6 if we counted the “unrace” in Kansas City) and I was hoping to make it my best. I haven’t raced since June in Lake2Lake and I’ve been training hard and I was peaked and ready to go. This is the first year in my new age group and I had set an expectation for myself that, all things being equal, I had a chance at a podium spot. My running has been the fastest ever, my cycling strong and my swimming consistent and strong.

I knew the weather was going to be hot and humid. I’d been in Birmingham a couple of days prior and it rained and was muggy the entire time. The humidity is so bad that when you walk outside from a freezing cold building your exposed skin immediately shows sweat rising. It is nasty. I wasn’t really worried about it though because I find I acclimate to humidity after a couple miles and as long as I stay hydrated it seems to be OK.

I shared a ride and room with Tyler W, Michelle F and Sonja W and we had a blast. Tyler is always entertaining and we have fun abusing each other. From words to pillows there is rarely a moment when one of us isn’t dishing and the other one volleying. By the time Sonja and Michelle arrived late Thursday night we had already had our share of silliness including the most amazing bike ride I have had in a long time. Earlier in the day Barry, Tyler and I wanted to ride the bike course so we checked our bikes out of Velo Express (a big shout out to Luke for taking such good care of GoGo for me!) and hit the road just as a big thunder and lightning storm was brewing. Cory started out with us too but he is smarter than the rest of us and he turned around when it started to rain. We cruised down to the race venue and checked out the muddy river and then decided to ride part of the course even though it was raining a bit. Needless to say it started to pour buckets and we were clearly in the eye of the storm at rush hour. I didn’t mind the lightning over my head or the thunder in my ears as much as I minded the raging traffic that I knew couldn’t really see us in the down pour. We finally ditched onto a side street where Tyler promptly decided to take a swim in a mud puddle. It was raining so fast and furious that the water was over my bike shoes and when I pedaled it was like rolling through a river. It was so cool and crazy and fun! The air was warm enough too so we stayed pretty warm until the end of the ride when we were really soaked through to the bone. I didn’t think our shoes would dry before the race but they did…barely.

The playfulness of the weekend made me very happy and reminded me why I enjoy this endeavor so much; people, laughter and accomplishment.

My race was pretty weird and as I write this I can say I am about 90% over my disappointment of the outcome. The day before the race we went to the venue to check out the water, check our bikes and check out the people…lots of checking. The water was really muddy and seemed to be meandering in every direction. The guys who were clearing rocks from the ramp out of the water explained to us that the river only really flows when the Corp of Engineers in Birmingham have to release water because of too much rain water. They assured us that there would be no issue on race morning and if anything the city might release water in the afternoon but that we would have nothing to worry about. If I could find these two fine gentlemen today I would share with them my thoughts on “dingy water”, “gator snakes”, and water flow! They told us the water was not too bad, only “DINGEY” and that it wouldn’t be flowing. Oh how wrong they were. It had rained the previous 5 days and apparently the Corp of Engineers in Birmingham thought it best to release the water early Saturday morning…shortly before the first wave of triathletes hit the water. OMG!!! The first few waves were all the athletes over the age of 50. I was down on the dock near the finish watching as each man and woman was engaged in their own personal hell trying to stroke through the current that was now flowing quickly away from the ramp out of the water. As we watched from the dock we could see swimmers absolutely dead in the water…going nowhere and clearly pulling as hard as they could. The first guy out of the water usually does the 1500 in 21 minutes or so and it took him 32 minutes…holy crap. This made me equal parts ill and amused. The swim has always been the bane of my triathlete efforts at nationals and it appeared it was going to challenge me again. My wave was the last in the water so we jumped off the dock and we were immediately swept back into the dock due to the strength of the current. It wasn’t funny and I knew I was going to work my butt off to get through this. I wasn’t nervous or upset though…amusement was all I could muster. I hit the first buoy and turned and felt OK although I had to work hard not to get pushed down stream and then I turned the buoy to head back upstream and there I stayed…and stayed and stayed. If I swam that hard in a pool or steady water I would likely have had the swim of my life! J I was too far out in the current but couldn’t seem to get close enough to the bank without panicking that I was getting too far off course. So there I was…pulling my guts out. Literally using every ounce of energy I had to hold my position let alone move ahead. There was this beautiful brown home on the shore that I was able to really assess as I think I was in front of it for 15 minutes…and my swim time would tell you I am not kidding. I was swimming through terrible carnage of swimmers being pulled out and holding onto boats in order to rest and be pulled out. I met a woman in the airport this morning who took 3 HOURS to finish the swim and she finished the race! Talk about tenacity! I managed to get out of the water in just under an hour. It was demoralizing beyond anything I have felt in a race in a very long time. When I got up to my bike there were only 3 left on the rack…OMG!!! At that moment I assumed I was way out of the running and quitting ran through my head but I remembered a conversation I was having with Tyler about how the Pros quit if they can’t place and I agreed with him that I thought that was lame and they should finish the race unless they are hurt. I clearly was exhausted but not hurt so I grabbed GoGo and dragged my butt out to the bike start. As soon as I hit the course I realized I was going to be one of the last “racers” on the bike course. Not only were we the last wave but I was one of the last racers in my wave. The first loop on the bike course was a real mental struggle. I never really thought about quitting but I never felt like I was in the game so it was hard to muster any energy to race. I managed to pass 2 gals in my age group on the ride but it didn’t really pump me up. Not until I rolled into T2 did I decide that I was going to finish the race at 1000% no matter what. I had nothing to lose and I hope to find some people on the run course to draw a little energy from. As I left T2 I felt my legs twitch as if they had just been waiting for this all day. I had been visualizing the run for weeks; I close my eyes and listen to my feet strike the pavement. I have a cadence I have to keep and I can hear it and feel it. When I hit the road I relaxed my upper body (as it was so tired from the swim) and relaxed my hips and just started to sing in my head to the beat of the cadence I needed to keep. The greatest discovery of the day for me was that I can be completely exhausted in my uppers and core and if I focus I can keep my legs churning beneath me without acknowledging the pain…no limits. The 3 steep short hills on the course played to my strengths and I found a few women in my age group that I could take over and stay ahead of them. It was the first race I recall looking behind me to see if “anyone was making a move” and they weren’t; I never saw any of them again. I just kept churning past people. I knew that this run was going to be the highlight of my race and I was not going to give it up to me or anyone else. When I turned the corner and could see the finish line I had to swallow hard because I knew I was one of the last people to cross the line and that few of my friends had stayed to watch me finish! Thank goodness for Tyler, Priscilla and Barry! They were right there at the line hooting and hollering for me and I felt great. Thanks you guys!

The day turned out to be a great success for everyone; either because of effort, results or both! Michelle Ford made us all so proud by making 5^th place and the podium! Kirk, Lori and Susan also made the podium with great races! The rest of the gang, Steve, Tony, Tyler, Barry, Sonja, Mike and Cory all had awesome races in spite of the “raging river!” It looks like a group of us will be heading to Budapest September 2010! CONGRATS TO EVERYONE!

The Dreamland BBQ celebration was really fun however you would think we would have learned by now…we are always pooped after the awards ceremony and we never make it out on the town after dinner! We hardly made it back to the room before passing out!

2009 Nationals was one of the best experiences of my life…brutal swim that I finished and a run that I never thought I would see! I never thought I would see a 10K race time with a 6 as the first number in my pace! YAHOOOOO!!! There will be another chance to “run the river” again next year and I promise I will be ready!