Delaware DIAMONDMAN® TRIATHLON - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Bear, Delaware
United States
Piranha Sports
76F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 6h 24m 14s
Overall Rank = 291/367
Age Group = Clyde 226+
Age Group Rank = 3/
Pre-race routine:

3 days before the race, I had my first ever serious bike accident. I was riding through some storm debris on the bike lane and, suddenly, got a very up close and personal view of my front tire. A stick had wedged itself between my rim and fork, locking my front wheel cold. I had gone face first over my handlebars, landing square on the right side of my head and right shoulder. I went to the emergency room not really knowing what kind of shape I was in. When the doctor told me that the shoulder was simply separated and nothing was broken, I made the decision to keep going forward with the race and see how the shoulder felt on Sunday.

Over the leading days, I made sure that I was rotating my shoulder around, trying to keep it loose and seeing how bad my swim stroke may be. The ibuprofen was certainly a great help. I knew that my biggest obstacle would be the swim, but I also knew that it couldn't last for more than an hour.
Event warmup:

I got up to the race on Saturday to get weighed in and bodymarked. I went for a 45 minute bike ride to test out the bike and the legs. I felt a little hip twinge during the ride, but nothing that would stop me from going forward.

Day of race, I basically tried to stay calm and didn't do any real warmup. Just kept drinking water and had a Gu before walking to the swim start.
Swim
  • 46m 25s
  • 2112 yards
  • 02m 12s / 100 yards
Comments:

It was painful to put on the right sleeve of the wetsuit for obvious reasons. I was also very ginger to put the swim cap over my eyebrow stitches like the doctor recommended.

I had a motto that I kept repeating to myself: "Eventually your shoulder will stop hurting, when it falls off. So just deal with it."

I waded out into the lake and felt the water enter the wetsuit. It brought a lot of the fears about my shoulder to life since this was finally it.

As the gun went off, I put my face in the water and started to pull. The first dozen strokes were awkward until I found some open space. Once out from the ramp a bit, I started to relax and simply go with the feeling. The water was cool and I was happy to have the wetsuit on. Besides providing insulation, the neoprene offered some extra stability to my shoulder.

By the time I hit the first bouy, I was really starting to feel the groove and had established a good breathing pattern. I was simply trying to stay with a good group of swimmers and not stray too far from the buoy line.

After the turn around, I knew I was going to make it. There was no way I was going to stop now. Which is a good thing, b/c at the 2/3 point, my shoulder started to really scream out.

I grabbed the collar of my wetsuit and let some cool fresh water into the suit. This actually seemed to help a bit b/c it cooled off my skin and took my mind off my shoulder.

As I hit the end of the swim, I had no idea what time I had done, but I was happy to just be out of the water.

There was a mini-transition at the lake exit for everyone to put on shoes for the 1/4mi run to actual transition.

I ranked this as a 'Good' swim simply b/c I was able to complete it.
What would you do differently?:

Not fall and separate my shoulder 3 days before the race. :)
Transition 1
  • 03m 22s
Comments:

I was very careful in removing the swim cap, as I did not want to irritate the stitches.

I took my time taking off my wetsuit. I wiped off my feet the best I could and put on some socks and my bike shoes. Sprayed on some sunscreen, put on the glasses, and buckled up the helmet.

I grabbed the bike and simply started walking it to the end of transition. This was a day to simply enjoy being out there, so no reason to rush and burn my fuel. Better to walk and keep my HR down.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing
Bike
  • 2h 58m 43s
  • 56 miles
  • 18.80 mile/hr
Comments:

I went out on the bike and kept telling myself that the key element was to keep my HR down. It is the one weakness that I've always displayed on shorter distances.

As I was finishing the lollipop portion of the course, I heard a crash behind me and looked back to see a girl had fallen b/c she wasn't looking and ran directly into a road cone with a bike direction flag on it. Fate had taken a 2nd shot at me and missed.

I focused on keeping an even cadence and simply letting people pass me. I didn't chase them, which was a big step for me. It was a day to ride my own race, to focus within my own tested limits.

I was drinking regularly and love my new aero bottle. I consumed just the right amount of gatorade and water. I was taking a Gu every 45 minutes, and took some more Advil at the 1/2 way mark.

One thing that really made the bike so great for me, besides the conditions, was seeing friends out on the bike course. I saw 2 of my club members on the back of motorcycles. Granted they were USAT officials and couldn't really cheer for me, but just seeing their faces lifted my spirits. I knew that, even though they couldn't wish me luck or cheer me on, they were mentally doing just that.

On the way back, I started to pass more and more people. I wasn't getting out of my target zone, but others were starting to succumb to the distance. My back was starting to hurt, but it was the dull aching of cramps so I did some cat/cow stretches while continuing to pedal.

As I would pass people, I'd try to ask how they were doing, just chat them up a bit and see if I could take their mind off the pain. Some were responsive to it and were happy to talk. Others were simply in too much distress to even respond.

I also made sure to thank the police and volunteers who were out on the course.

I was just having such a great day being out there, it was indescribable.
What would you do differently?:

More core and leg strength training
Transition 2
  • 03m 34s
Comments:

I dismounted and walked my bike to the rack point. Again, not really worried about time, I was just happy to be off the bike. I took off my bike shoes/socks and put on some fresh socks to go with the running shoes. I also brought my UD hydration belt for the run.

I walked to the transition exit, grabbed some water and started to jog around the campground.

What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Run
  • 2h 32m 11s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 37s  min/mile
Comments:

When someone tells you that the ambient air temp is 80 degrees, don't expect that to be the temp you feel when running in the sun with no shade.

I kept a solid, but comfortable, pace for the first 1/2 of the run course. I was happy to have my hydration belt since the water stops were actually separated at about every 1.5 miles, which would be a 15-18 minute time between fluid for my pace.

At each water stop, I picked up a water cup, dumped most of it on my head and took a few sips. Later in the race, I also started to pick up some Gatorade.

The course was rocky with potholes in the trail every now and then. The uneven terrain caused my feet to get sore. It was a surface that I hadn't trained on and the arches of my feet were actually hurting.

On the run, I had not factored on how the shoulder would react. It started to throb and then full-on hurt as the up-and-down jarring started to take its toll.

As I was coming down to the last mile, I started to hear the voice of one of my training partners in my head. Back at Eagleman in June, he was about a mile out on the run course waiting for another partner and he saw her walking the end of the course. He started walking next to her and said "How do you want your friends and family to remember your race? Do you really want them to see you walking down to the finish line, or do you want to hold your head up and run through the end?"

His words were echoing through my head for the last mile, and it was certainly the mental push that I needed to get the legs moving and dislodge the thoughts of discomfort from my body.
What would you do differently?:

More run training. My speed was the simple factor of aerobic conditioning. Over the coming years, this will get better.
Post race
Warm down:

Water, Gatorade Endurance and phone calls to family and friends.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Shoulder injury.

Event comments:

Just making it to the start line for this race was a very emotional experience. I had trained so hard over the past months, and then to have the accident 3 days before the race was devastating.

As I sat on the side of the road on Thursday, blood streaming from my face, I wanted to start to cry. But I knew that I had to wait until I was checked out to see what shape I was in.

When the doctor looked me over and said that nothing was broken, my first question was "Can I injure it further if I race?" He was more worried about the stitches on my eye getting infected than my shoulder, so he gave me a script for amoxicillin to start taking as a preventive measure immediately after the race.

After all that I've been through in the past year, it was good to finally have this race behind me. The work, the suffering, the sweat, and the tears all led to me having one of the best days of my life. The fact that I was able to beat my original goal time and pick up a 3rd place trophy was simply fantastic.





Last updated: 2006-05-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:46:25 | 2112 yards | 02m 12s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/367
Performance: Good
Suit: Full Wetsuit
Course: Lake-based out and back
Start type: Deep Water Plus:
Water temp: 74F / 23C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:22
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Below average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average
Biking
02:58:43 | 56 miles | 18.80 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/367
Performance: Good
Used my HRM to maintain a 150-160 BPM range. That puts me in the solid Z2/Z3 range and extends my ability to go the distance by not burning my glycogen. I was surprised that I actually fell into the 140s consistently during the ride.
Wind: Little
Course: Flat and fast with a couple of small rollers and one climb over a bridge that was about a mile long.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 75
Turns: Average Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Average Hills:
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 03:34
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:32:11 | 13.1 miles | 11m 37s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/367
Performance: Good
Turned off the HRM b/c the ranges were set for biking and it would keep complaining throughout the run.
Course: Flat road around the campground and out to the C&D canal. Canal trail was primarily gravel and dirt with some paving.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4