Race Report: Rock Hall Sprint

Well, if you read the Team Rabbit recap rap, you'll know that I successfully completed the Rock Hall Sprint! My first sprint in nearly four years! As I mentioned before I'm going for short and sweet and I've been working on speed. Both run and bike. Still need to get back on the nutrition wagon, but that's another thing...

On race day Carol and Margie arrived at my house bright and early! Well, it was early, but not quite  bright. We loaded the bikes on my rack - all Specialized - and hit the road timely. There was little traffic and we cruised right along. One short pitstop in Annapolis and before we knew it we were across the  bridge. The same bridge Margie and I will be swimming under, between the spans, THIS coming Sunday! *gulp*  It was fun to glance down and see where we would be in a week! 

We arrived at Rock Hall shortly after 7:00AM. They had suggested everyone arrive by 7:45AM. It was fantastic because we (1) got a pretty close parking spot, and (2) all got a good pick at location on our particular racks in transition. After getting things organized we walked over to where the swim start was and introduced ourselves to a new-ish triathlete along the way. He was doing his third race ever! At the swim start we each put our feet in the water and it felt pretty good! 

Then it was back over to the main site to hang out for a while. We ran into some old Team Z friends, who were there to cheer. Thanks Jen and Val! Finally it was time to head to the swim start for real! 

We all wore flip flops on the walk over and had decided we would leave them in a pile together to get on our way home. Turns out the nice race organizer folks would be bringing everyone's footwear back to the main area! Carol and Margie were going to swim without a wetsuit. I opted to wear my brand-spanking new speed suit. This things was about as hard to put on as a wetsuit!! 

Swim: 14:38 2/15
The three of us were all in the same swim wave (wave four!) which was great. We had a few minutes to bob in the water before the horn sounded and the water was really comfortable. I felt good the entire time and my goggles were fog-free! As I got out of the water Margie was right behind me! This was a good thing because the zipper on my suit got stuck in my tri top so Margie helped me out once we got across the timing mat. (Thanks, Margie!)  

T1: 3:12 4/15 
Speaking of Margie: she was in and out of transition in a flash! I, on the other hand, took over three minutes! That's because the speed suit did not come off as easily wet! (I had tried it on two days prior and it came off so much easier than it went on.) During my pre-race brick the day before I'd practiced going sockless. So that was my plan for the bike. Surprisingly, even with a 3:12 T1 I still had the 4th best time. Wow! 

Bike: 45:24 2/15
The bike was advertised as flat. Well...it was mostly flat! I came out of T1 and mounted and started off in an easy gear. Once I got situated I shifted into the big ring and just rode hard. The goal was to see how hard I could ride and then of course run afterwards. I rode hard but I got passed. But for once I passed people. A lot of people. I was trying not to let myself worry that I still had to run after. The roads were in really great shape. Nothing like Stagecoach Road from Ironman Wisconsin! Which, oddly enough, we did not write about! Oops, we actually did write about it on our training weekend rap! And looking back, I mentioned it in my training weekend report, here. Anyway, one stretch of road in about the middle of the course was super smooth! I always appreciate a nice stretch of road! I think along the third leg of the course I backed off a bit, but I used my Garmin on the bike, so I'd have a record of my RPMs, which tend to be low and my average speed. I had it display distance and RPM as I did not want to see the speed. I did maintain an average of 91, so maybe I did not back off, but I just was getting tired? I don't know. Anyway, got back to the dismount line and off my bike successfully! 

T2: 1:29 6/15
In T2 I made a 'game day decision' or more like a 'T2 decision' to go sockless on the run! Margie inspired me as she goes sockless on both the bike and the run. I wish I had taken her advice to put body glide inside my shoes. Anyway, change of shoes and hat, sip of water, and I was off! Wow - under two minutes? I am happy! 

Run: 29:17 5/15
As I started out on the run I saw the lead female almost finishing! Ran by the Team Z cheer tent here as well. (Thanks for the bunny love!) The run was entirely flat. There was a lot of sun but we did have a few shady spots. There was an occasional breeze that felt fantastic. The first mile was not too bad. But somewhere around that point I could feel a little abrasion on the instep my left foot. I did not let that hold me back though as I told myself I could suck it up for another 2.1 miles. And less as I got further along! I was running with only my watch, which I had started at the beginning of the swim and had not looked at the total time as I left T2. So as I hit mile marker 1 I had no idea about my pace. My new thing in races is to 'run naked' so to speak - using only my watch and not the Garmin, but by feel. In fact, I don't look at my watch during the race so as not to get discouraged, or overly confident! The only times I walked were at the water stops. I think there were a couple people I passed that passed me back; I'm really not quite sure. The bunny ears got some fun and positive comments! The little kids loved them, as always. Anyway, once I made the final turn and could see the finish area, I picked up the pace. There was a little Z cheer group at this point, too! After I turned onto the grass into the finisher chute I picked up the pace even more! I saw the clock and of course right after forgot the time that was there so I could not do the math to take away the 12 minutes back our swim wave started. I did remember to stop my watch and was pretty happy with the time showing, 1:34:10. I met up with Margie in the finish area and had a seat so they could remove my timing chip. She thought with my time I might have a place on the podium. I thought that would be cool, but did not allow myself to get too excited. We got up and walked so I could get a slice of pizza then went to wait for Carol to come in. We saw her finish strong! Carol, by the way, had run 24 miles the day before for her CanLake 50 training!! 

Total: 1:33:59 3/15
After we caught up with Carol we all had some pizza then found our flip flops! We decided to put everything except out bikes in the car then come back to check out the results. Setup Events, the race organizer, has a cool results tent that constantly scrolls through and updates the results as they come in. They finishing up the men's results when we got there. Then the women's started up. Margie noticed a couple women in my age group in the Top 3 Masters Female category and said again she thought I could podium. Well, imagine my surprise and shock when the 50-54 age group scrolled by and my name was listed as number 3! I was really pleased (and thrilled about the Top 3 Masters Female category). Of course, I would not believe this until they actually called my name during the awards ceremony. I went up to the podium, rabbit top, ears, and all!

Team Rabbit on the Podium!

I was happy with my swim and swim time. Generally in the swim I am near the top, then in the bike and run I always falls down in the ranks. My bike average speed was 19.2 according to my Garmin. I was beyond thrilled with that as well, as I have not seen those speeds in years! I feel like my run time really needs work for me to be a contender. However, I was very happy I had a sub 30 run though. With out a sore foot I bet could have pushed a bit harder. Maybe body glide on my shoe next time will prevent any abrasions! A positive I just realized, that my run split of 29:17 is a PR for this year in the 5K! I'm pretty excited about that. 

So, now time to shift focus to the next task at hand: 

The Great Chesapeake Bay Swim! 

Yikes!! Seriously, I am very excited about this but definitely nervous! An update went out earlier this week listing waves and bib numbers. It is getting real!! I'm trying to not obsess about the weather, but so far things are looking good! 

Happy and Healthy Training!! 

Rock Hall Bling and Hardware!