Race Report: The Niantic Bay Triathlon, August 3, 2014

I finished triathlon number two! The Nianic Bay Triathlon put on by the Hartford Marathon Foundation.   Have I said how much I love their races?  I love their races!  This was an awesome sprint triathlon with an ocean swim.

The week before the race I attended a group preview ride of the bike course.  It was nice to know exactly what the course was going in.  If I can always find a way to preview the bike course I think it will go a long way towards calming my nerves.

The night before the race, Michy, the kids, and I stayed with her parents on their boat in Mystic, CT.  That way we would only be about 30 minutes from the race, instead of the hour and fifteen or so it would be from our house.  It meant more sleep! Hooray.  We had a lovely night walking around Mystic and had a wonderful dinner before heading to bed as early as possible.  It was a bit difficult to fall asleep with both kiddo in bed with me, but I did manage to get some rest.  I wasn't quite as nervous as I was before the IronGirl, so I think I slept a bit better.

We got up at about 5am and were on the road by 5:30.  I had some coffee, coconut water, a banana and a almond flour muffin to get some fuel.   We arrived in Niantic around 6am.

Pre-Race:  Parking was at a nearby church, just a short walk from transition.  I got the bike out of the car and pumped up the tires before we headed down.  Packet Pickup went smoothly and I got my snazzy pink swim cap.  I would be in the third of five waves.

I left the kiddos with Michy (luckily there was a nice playground to keep the Munchkin occupied), and headed towards body marking and then found my transition spot.  The rack for my number was right next to where you came in from the swim and from the bike, so I had a great easy to see spot.  Once my area was set-up I headed back to the playground and had about a half hour to kill.  It was a pretty chilly morning, so I tried my best to keep warm.  I was definitely wishing I had a wetsuit.  The water temp was 71, which was fine but not exactly pleasant.

Ian and Micah met up with us to cheer me on and help entertain the kiddos.  Soon it was time to head down to the beach.

Swim:  1/2 mile: 16:58
The first two waves were the men, my wave was women under 44, the fourth wave was women over 44, and I think the last wave was relays and first timers.  The waves were 4 minutes apart.

At Irongirl I stayed towards the back of the group for the swim start, which was a mistake.  This time I went towards the front but off to the side.  I didn't feel nearly as trapped.  I was, however,  a bit shocked by the cold.  I'm used to swimming at either the 82 degree pool, or the local state park lake which is pretty warm.  This felt so cold.   It took me a couple minutes to catch my breath.  I was able to swim without feeling like I was kicking or bumping into someone, so that was good. I did quite a bit breast-stroking until I warmed up, but then I was able to get into a good freestyle groove. The first 100-200 yards was full of seaweed. yuck! It felt kinda gross, but at least there were no jelly fish.

I felt pretty good about the swim.  I caught and passed a few guys from the wave before me.   Ian was there at the end of the swim taking my picture and let me know I was around the top half of my wave.

T1-1:57

The transition area was closer to the beach in this race that it was at the IronGirl so that helped my time.  I just moved as quickly as I could. headband on, helmet on, wipe down feet, body glide feet and slip on my cycling shoes and I was off!

Bike: 12 Miles 43:48

Going to the preview ride was a great idea, because I knew the course started with a pretty steep hill.  So I had my bike in a nice easy gear, while it was obvious some people were struggling with harder gears. I even passed people.

It was a bit chilly and a little drizzly.  I don't have much (ok any!) experience with riding in the rain, so I held back a bit because I was worried about slipping and wiping out.

It was a pretty enjoyable bike course, really beautiful area, and only two really significant hills.  On the second big hill there were some locals who were watching from their yard- cheering everyone on and blasting "Eye of the Tiger."  That definitely gave me good motivation for that hill.  There were some fun downhills and I hit about 30 mph a couple times.  Wheeee!  I was also getting completely blown away by some people on super fancy tri bikes.

Sooner than I realized we were turning back towards the beach. 

T2: 1:24

I did pretty good moving quickly here.  Shoes off, vibrams on, helmet off, race bib on, and off!

Run: 3.2 Miles 29:09

My legs felt pretty tired on the run but I kept up a good (for me) pace.   The course was mostly flat through a residential neighborhood by the beach.  We got some nice views of the ocean.  There were two water stops, that had both Gatorade and water.  I opted for water since I had coconut water on the bike.  The first water stop you ran by twice, the other one was at a turn around point.  So there was lots of support on the course.

I got passed quite a bit on the run.  I'm happy with my time, because my goal for the summer was to get my 5k under 30 minutes.  I want to continue working on my 5k speed over this next winter.

The final push of the run was on the beach, which was challenging but also really fun!  I loved hearing my name called as I crossed the finish line.

Post Race:

I met back up with my crew and grabbed a couple bananas.  The munchkin charmed his way into granola bars and a Popsicle. We hung around near the beach waiting for the results to be posted.

I headed back into transition to grab my sweatshirt while the guys stalked the results tent.

Total Time: 1:33:13  3rd place Athena!

So we stuck around for the award ceremony and I collected my prize.   The medals and division awards were really cool- made from bamboo and recycled bike chain.

After we left the race we met up with some friends who live locally for a celebratory lunch, stopped back in Mystic to grab the rest of our stuff and headed home.   Fun day of adventure.

Great race, beautiful location.  I can't wait to do this one again.

Now that I've got two triathlons under my belt, its time to start really gearing up for my September half marathon.

Race Report: Hartford Riverfront Scramble 2, July 31, 2014

Last Thursday was the 2nd in a series of three races, called the Riverfront Scrambles, put on by the Hartford Marathon Foundation.  These races are always fun.   The course isn't posted pre-race, they tell you where to go when you get there.  Sometimes it is over bridges, sometimes it is through the woods.  Its not a race to expect to PR since they are always fairly challenging.   Micah, Michy, Laurel, and I signed up for the entire series of races at the beginning of the summer.  If you complete all three you get a fun medal.  I love the bling!

My cheeseball likes coming to races because he always charms his way into snacks!

Pre-Race:  I was very conscious of drinking plenty of water during the day.  I didn't want to feel dehydrated and I have a tendency to forget to drink enough as I run around my day.  Michelle, Micah, and I took the kiddos and met up with Ian at Laurel's house and headed to the race together.   Packet Pickup was quick and easy, we gathered up our bibs and tshirts and looked around for the start and finish lines.  The start was up on a bridge- so this course was going to be running over the CT river twice. That meant stairs, and some rocky bits.  We hit the porta-potties and headed to the start line.

Race:  I hung out towards the back of the pack chatting.  I didn't hear them make any pre-race announcements, all of a sudden we we off!  Eeek! I had meant to get a little closer to the front.  So I darted off, trying to get ahead as much as I could in the crowd.  After the bridge is a narrow ramp back down into the park, and it was quite a bottle-neck.  I was forced to walk due to the crowd.  I kept trying my best to run around people but it wasn't until probably a half mile in that I was really able to just run comfortably at my own pace.  I was stuck behind people or sprinting around them.  The atmosphere was laid back and fun though.  There was a long stretch on a nicely paved park path and I was able to get into a nice groove.  At about the halfway point we came up to another bridge- which meant 5 or 6 flights of stairs.  I started out jogging up each step, but they were awkwardly short so I ended up walking up them two at a time which was actually quicker.  Then it was a windy run across the bridge to the set of stairs down.  I took the down steps one at a time.  Once the stairs were done it was just a run back to Riverfront Plaza.  Part of this meant running under an overpass which was hilly and full of rocks- not the most comfortable with my five-fingers on!

I saw the finish line and picked up the pace.  I crossed the line at 30:01!  Just barely over 30 mins, but with those stairs, I was quite happy with that time!

Post Race: I met up with Ian and the kiddos at the finish and drank a bottle of water.  Then I checked out the results tent.  30:01 and 2nd place Athena! Woot!

I then backtracked my way along the course to cheer Michy on until she reached the finish line.  She was nervous before the race started but she did great.

Group shot!

After we had all finished we got our Harpoon beer and Moe's burritos!  The post race party here is always fun, good fun and yummy beer.  We stuck around for the awards and I collected my 2nd place division award (an insulated water bottle).

Harpoon IPA, nom nom nom

2nd place Athena!

Hooray for another great HMF race!  Up next: The Niantic Bay Triathlon.