Tri the Wildwoods - TriathlonSprint

Well, my swim time looks decieving because of where I took off my wet suit. I actually had a pretty strong swim. I took off my wet suit on the shore line, as soon as I got out of the water. Although it still got caught on my ankles, it was a lot easier than taking it off once you enter T1 because there is water still in it, and it pulls off quicker.

With that little aside mentioned, here is the story of the worst swim course ever:
First, they did not annouce how the course went. They just let you assume what you had to do. There were three flags set up, two purple (who uses purple flags in an ocean swim, you could barely see them. They should have been fluroescent like most other courses) and one flag that was half white and half green. There were all these other flags out in the water, so we weren't sure which one to turn at, turns out it was the half and half flag.

I'm nervous as all hell because I've never done an ocean swim and the water is rough. I'm talking waves the size of tsunamis. Okay, I exaggerate, but they were huge. And this is for a girl who doesn't like being in the ocean when it's rough. I watch the "elite" wave go off (all the top athletes from the area) and they area all having trouble getting out to the first flag. They are just getting pummeled by waves. Tim's wave goes off 1 minute after that, and I watch him go out. My heart is pounding and I'm getting more nervous watching him get thrown around. I'm in the 4th wave and had 5 minutes in between his start and mine.

Finally, my wave is off and I am running (more like slow jogging) in to the water. Every 8-10 seconds, another wave breaks on me. I felt pretty decent, though, I kept on running through the waves until finally I was in water up to my chest. Most of the women were behind me, and I only had a small group in front of me and to my right. I started swimming then and pulled away from the large clump of women around me. I stayed in front with 3 other women around me. I drafted off this one girl for a while, but it was actually slowing me down because I felt like I could have definitley swam faster than her. But, with all of the waves and ocean commotion, I couldn't get around her. I turned the second buoy and broke away from the girls I had been swimming around. It felt like forever until I hit the beach, but once I got out, there were still men getting out of the ocean, so I had made some ground and beat a lot of people out of the water from wave 3.

I pulled my wet suit off right out of the water. Had a little difficulty around the ankles, balled it up in my hands, and took off running in the soft sand to T1.


Nothing. I felt very proud of my efforts, even for being scared to death before the race!

I will tell you something, taking that wet suit off at the water's edge made me feel SO much better about T1. It's like Dave (my boss) was telling me, transitions should be about "Clutter Free." Having that wet suit off was so nice. I just threw it down, picked up my helmet and put it on while I was wiping off my feet, threw on my shoes, glasses and knee strap and was off. The run from T1 to the mount area was pretty crowded, but I scooted by 2 or 3 people.

Find a way to get my knee brace on a bit faster.

Bike course was crowded and there were A LOT of turns, only one of which was hard. I came out of T1 and saw my coworker Jess standing near the mount area. She was yelling for me as I was running across the boardwalk. She watched me mount, and I clipped in with no problems and was off. I passed a good 5 people right off the gate who took too long clipping in. I settled in, changed into a harder gear, and was off. The first thing I noticed was that my right shoe felt like it was on the wrong way. I was experiencing a lot of pain near where your toes connect to the foot. I decided I was going to suck it up and let it play out. I didn't want to get off the bike and waste time playing with my shoe. The second thing I realized was that this wasn't going to be a smooth course. Every few feet, there were bumps. The roads absolutely sucked ass.

On my first loop, I saw Tim passing me in the opposite direction around mile 4 (for me). I screamed for him, but he didn't look up. I thought I was unlikely close to him on the course (come to find out, he had already taken his spill) and hoped everything was okay for him. Saw Tim a second time with about 4 miles to go on the bike. Screamed for him again, but he didn't hear me. I like to watch the people who are passing me on the other side of the course. It takes my mind off of how hard I am pushing the bike.

Parts of the course were extremely windy and gusty. I got into my mantra "Love the wind" and it actually helped. I hammered as hard as I could through the wind and managed to keep my MPH around 18. I felt really good and was passing a lot of people.

Only got passed by 1 female on the bike. She was flying. Got passed by a few men and played leap frog with one man for the second half of the bike. Eventually, I managed to pass him and beat him off the bike.

Push myself a bit harder. I still think for some reason, I hold back too much.

This is the first race that I decided to take my feet out of the shoes instead of unclipping. With about 500 m to go, I unloosened my straps and rode with my feet still in the shoes until I could see the dismount sign. Then, I slipped my feet out and rode with my feet on top of the shoes until the line. This worked great!

I racked my bike, dropped my helmet and put on my shoes and grabbed my race belt. Put that on while running out of T2.

Get my shoes on faster! I was pretty slow doing this (even though I shouldn't have even worn shoes for the ungodly hard beach run!)

This run SUCKED. The course description on the Web site said "hard sand beach run." There was nothing hard about the sand. You were either running in 2 inches of water, or in soft sand. I opted for running through the water. Although it was tough, it was still easier than the soft sand.

Anyway, one thing I have to comment on is that there was ONE aid station. There should have been one right as you were exiting T1. I was so dehydrated at that point.

I started the run, and felt taxed almost immediately. I look down at my watch and realize that I had only been running for 3:45. I knew it was going to be a long run. As I keep running, the whole time cursing a beach run, I see more and more people taking off their shoes and throwing them on the side. I wagered on with the shoes, thinking that if I passed Tim (who would be on his way back) and he had his shoes off, I would do the same. I'm getting further and further into the course and I still don't see him. I pass the mile marker and still no Tim. Finally, as I am around mile 1.3 and he's around mile 1.8, I see him. He yells, "You caught me. I wiped out on the bike." I immediately get concerned and hope he's alright. The rest of the run, I am worrying about him and hoping he is okay.

I finally make it to the turn around at 1.55 miles, and take off my shoes. Hit the stop watch for the spilt, 15.25. How effing pathetic. Taking off the shoes gave me a little edge, though. I cut the back portion down to 14.20. So, almost a minute negative split. But, they felt like bricks in my hands, so water logged and full of wet sand. Most people threw theirs off to the side, but I thought "abandoning equipment" and decided to carry mine.

Didn't know where the finish line was. Started to pick it up and sprint, but then I thought I had to turn up an finish near the boardwalk, so I slowed down. The next thing you know, I am crossing the mat and done with the race.

Not wear sneakers for a beach run.
Practice running in the sand.

Making sure Tim was okay.


My recent knee problems.
Wearing shoes on the beach.


Still took second in my AG, even with the tough conditions. I'm really glad I got over the hump of swimming in the ocean. If I could take on those waves, I could take on other ocean swims.

It was nice racing with Tim again. I love that we share these events. I just wish he didn't have to take that spill!