Post-Triathlon

This is what I look like after 32 miles. More pics and a race report to follow.

Look who was at the dam today.

I drove by the dam today and it looks like they are already starting to get ready for the Oly this weekend. <excitement building again>

Steph and I went for a ride Tuesday night, and I did a VERY brief 'confidence swim' near the race site. I also wanted to see if the water had warmed up any, yet. The water temp was great, although it did get about 20 deg colder about 4 ft down.

6-7-08 Ft. Benning Reverse Tri-Race report

I've been processing everything that happened during my race, and I think I'm ready to do the race report

Thursday night I packed up all my gear in a transition bag and checked, re-checked and re-double checked everything. I think I managed to make it out of the house without forgetting anything major.

Friday after work, I loaded up the bike and packed the overnight bags in the jeep. We stayed Friday night with my mother and aunt, so we wouldn't have to get up so early to be on site in time. I also prepped my bike by taping some Gu's to the top-bar. I'd seen this on a video and it turned out to be one of the best tips I've picked up - just grab a pack, and it opens itself -ready to eat.















Friday night, we had a delicious seafood dinner with lots of carbs...hasbrowns and hobo-cakes (probably not the BEST food, but it was delicious). I was able to get ready for bed fairly early - about 10pm. My aunt had picked up my race packet for me, so I had some time to look through my goodies a little that night.

I slept on the couch and surprisingly, I slept pretty well. I listened to some NPR on my Zune and went right to sleep, but I still managed to wake myself up about an hour before the alarm went off. I just lounged a bit until wake up time - still going over transitions in my head.

Saturday morning: I woke up and immediately panicked - this was to be expected. Everyone knows that you must have several last minute catastrophes, or it's just not a good time. I couldn't find my race packet. I'd have sworn that I put it with my duffle bag the night before - but I'd have been wrong. This was doubly troublesome, because I'd planned on having the powerbar in the bag for breakfast, as well as not having my documentation slip. Luckily we found it in another room where we'd set the bags when we came in Fri night.... I went ahead and ate one of the powerbars I'd brought with me for breakfast - I wanted to get calories in my system a few hours before the race. I'd eaten by 5:30, and the race was @ 8 so I felt like I was okay. I also started taking water as soon as I got up. I wanted to have about 24 ounces in me by the time we left, but I didn't want to be chugging water on the way out the door.

Then I realized I didn't have my tag receipt for the Jeep with me - I can't get on Ft. Benning without that (thanks terrorists...always gotta screw with somebody's day,huh?). We immediately took two steps back and punted. I moved the bike to my aunt's suv, and we loaded everyone else into my mom's car. Disaster #2 averted. From here on in it was pretty smooth sailing.

When we got to the race site, we were among the first people there. Less than 10 bikes were in the racks. Although I had a race #, I had no designated slot on the bike rack. This was very confusing for me, because I had no real clue about how to pick the 'right' position - I didn't want to bury myself deep in the crowd and have to hurdle people, but I didn't want to be the idiot who took the primo spots from the people where were actually competing for podium positions. I decided to go about halfway down the length and grab a spot on the edge of the runway. After I'd put my bike in the rack (just as a temp home until I got checked in), I headed off to body marking. At that point, I ceased to be Trey, and became: Number 172.
















I have to admit: as silly as it seems, the marking up was kinda cool - don't know why, but this kind of drove it into my brain that this was race-time.

I only re-arranged my transition area about 12 times. I kept checking it to make sure no one had moved anything. There was NO transition area security, racers, officials, and spectators were all wandering through.

At 7:45 the race director got on the bullhorn and gave us final safety instructions. Public roads, stay to the right, no headphones, etc. He also roughed out the course to the pool for the final leg of the race (remember - Reverse Sprint). After the briefing, we were instructed to assemble at the starting flags for the presenting of the colors (again, remember - military base).


At 8:01 the horn blew and we were off, and man was it a fast group.

I had a few goals going into this race some of them important, some of them not so much.
1st goal was to finish strongly, and not feel like I'd been beaten on by the course.
2nd goal was to finish the 5K in under 25 minutes - this was negotiable if it endangered goal #1.

I set the GPS to finish the 5K in 25 minutes, and once we started, I made sure I stayed ahead of the GPS. I passed NO ONE for the 1st mile, and people where blowing past me like I was on crutches. I finally began to gain on a father/son duo just short of 2 miles. The whole time I was ahead of my 25 minute pace. I normally don't take water on 5K races because of the short duration of the race, but we started @ 8am, and it was already warm. I had a long way to go, so I took water at the 2 stations along the way - never slowed down - I just grabbed a cup as I went past. I'd take a couple of chugs and poured the rest down my neck.

I was also running with no music. I almost always have music when I run alone, but I didn't miss it that much. I would have loved some good hard baseline tracks during the last mile or so. I began passing a few people, but nothing to get excited about. When I could see the transition area come into view, I picked up a little. Still about 200-300 ft ahead of pace on the GPS.

When I crossed the timing pad, it felt like I should have had flames rolling off my shoes. I FELT fast, I felt good, and my time was WAY beyond me goal. I entered T1 @ 23:40 (1:20 AHEAD of my goal) - and not having to kill myself for it.

It's probably hard to tell from the photo, but I'm even grinning a little as I enter T1.


I think I had an awesome T1 (especially compared to others in my age group) - I was in and out in 52 seconds - which put me pedaling into stage 2 well before my target stage 1 time...Again, I was even working up a little grin.

Through all of this, I still had no idea where I was in the standings (didn't really care, I just didn't want to be last).

As soon as I got on bike, I started drinking gatorade. I'd taken a Gu one right before the start of the race to get it in my system, and I was planning on taking one every 30 minutes, but I wanted to get some more fluids in my system. The beginning of the ride was 'interesting'. I don't have clip in, or clipless pedals on my bike. Just toe cages. I'd decided to ignore the cages for the first quarter to half mile, and get my feet in them after I was on a straight away, and out of a little traffic. I had to try a few times to get my feet in the cages because they kept rolling over to the bottom of the pedal. This is common, and happens on every ride, but on every other ride, there's not people gaining on me ;). I was finally able to get my feet locked in and settle into the ride. I made it a point to keep the gearing low enough so my cadence would stay high. This kept me on the middle ring, and about midway into the rear cassette. I made pretty good time on the ride, averaging 16.8 mph. There were 3 water stops on the 20K route: one halfway to the turnaround, one at the turnaround, and then again halfway back.

"NEVER USE NEW EQUIPMENT IN A RACE" - How many times have you heard that? Go ahead..count them...I'll wait.
Correct: 18, 358 times

I had a bottle of Gatorade in my transition space (on ice packs), but I was in such a hurry @ transition, that I didn't take any of it..."I've got a bottle on my bike"....a NEW bottle on my bike... a NEW, never before been used bottle on my bike. After I got my feet locked in, I took a Gu, and washed it down with the NASTIEST, FOULEST tasting acidic, chemical tasting drink I've ever had. I tried to get water at the water stops, but as hard as it is to grab a Styrofoam cup when your running it's 1000x harder when your zooming past on a bike. I spewed ice cold water all over the highway at the midway water station.....twice. I ALMOST chucked the bottle to grab a bottle at the midway water station, but figured I'd flub that hand off, too, so I just endured the nasty Gatorade. As I neared the end of the 20K, I caught a little extra boost and pumped a little harder. I cruised into T2 pretty fast and almost locked up the tires trying to whoa it down before the dismount line.

T2 went pretty quickly, too (1:26), but was delayed a little when one of my socks refused to let go. Apparently it had formed a fast and intimate relationship with the tape on one of my toes:


...and I had to step back to repel my own sock.

I grabbed my goggles and nose plug after stripping down, and I'm off!!

(notice the sock still clinging for dear life on my left foot)

I ran to the pool - how sad is it when you pass people in transition?? Is that taboo? against etiquette? I don't know, but I wanted to go faster than they did, so...


Then it all fell apart.

Dear Lord in heaven...I hit the water, and I felt like a graceful trapeze artist..after a horrible accident with a mule.

I couldn't breath ( or rather, I couldn't catch my breath). My stroke felt labored, and the water felt very thin..like I couldn't get an traction. My goggles immediately fogged up, so I was swimming blind. Within half a pool length, my nose clip went off on it's own to explore a new profession as pool decorations. It felt bad.

The course consisted of 11 lengths of a 50 meter pool. Swim a length, duck under the rope to change lanes, swim back in the new lane...repeat. This swim, change routine totally screwed up what little sense of rhythm I had. But, I endured. I kept stroking and heaving - I didn't walk along the bottom of the pool, I just kept pumping - despite being passed constantly. At one point I began to wonder how there could be so many people passing me in the pool - - I thought they all passed me on the run.

I could hear my family yelling for me each time I reached the far end of the pool, and by the time I was on the last length, I was breathing okay, but there wasn't hardly any strength left in my body. I climbed out of the pool and crossed the timing pad and I was finished. I had done it. I had endured - and I was thrilled with it. The time meant little because I had no frame of reference.


The swim was more of a challenge than I expected: partially because of exhaustion, partially because of lack of rhythm. I'm hoping the next race (being in the correct order) will not be so distracting.


Post race water (as if I didn't swallow enough in the pool)



And after it all, I can still act like an idiot in a public setting:




A big thanks to my family, without whom I'd never have been able to do this with a smile on my face.

Would I do it again? Absolutely...in fact, I'll do it again on Saturday..but 2x as long.

Final Stats:

Run: 23:40 pace: 7:37/mile
T1: 0:52
Bike: 44:10 pace: 16.8mph
T2: 1:26
Swim: 15:51 pace: 1.3 (meters/sec ??)

Total : 1:25:57

Place 66 / 96 overall
Place 17 / 25 in age group