Carol and I drove up to Connecticut on Friday morning. We left the area around 9:30 and rolled into the hotel parking lot right around 4:00. I think. We took our time and made a few stops. Traffic was overall not too bad. We stopped for gas in town at the Gulf station, which we would visit a few more times while there... It was also free donut day and with the purchase of my iced coffee at the DD connected to the station. I got a chocolate frosted donut! We got checked in and unloaded and found some dinner at I think Subway. (Wow, can I really not remember?) The area around our hotel was pretty, quiet. We had also brought most of Pam’s stuff up with us. Pam was on-call till evening so she was flying out super early Saturday morning. After dinner we walked back to Gulf to get some supplies and while there met a super nice guy (the Gulf guy) that worked there! He was very helpful about a few things in the area...namely good pizza!
Saturday morning we headed out in the rain (bummer for the Oly racers) to the airport to get Pam. We knew the airport started with a “B”...but we headed to the wrong airport! We finally got things figured out and got Pam and headed back to the hotel to drop stuff off find some lunch. We ate at Subway again! After lunch we finally headed over to the Quassy Park for athlete check-in and packet pick-up! The transition area was pretty nifty with cool ground racks for the bikes with personalized labels for each athlete. After checking in and getting our pictures taken we stopped by the Team Z tent (which were all in the finisher’s area in the park) we went to rack our bikes. I decided to drop Trixie off for a quick service of the front derailleur while we went out and drove the bike course! That was fun and helpful though I actually found the course harder on race day. But was very glad to have been able to preview it the day before!
Some laughable / funny moments from the trip:
Lazy Sunday – we could not stop singing the Lazy Sunday song from the SNL digital short...
Feel Like a Rock Star – I would also sing this new song – the parts of it I knew that is – by Kenny Chesney featuring Tim McGraw because we are, after all, rock stars. Hahah I am motivated to learn all the lyrics though now...
We ate Good and Plenty candy like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread! We at it while driving and even during the race (when it did not fall out of the bento box – see below). Then while singing and harmonizing quite nicely in the car on the way home we decided we would take our show on the road to X-Factor and would call ourselves the Good and Plentys...
Carol and Pam rocked the cool rabbit jerseys that we debuted at Placid training weekend and got a few funny comments, like:
- Silly rabbit (Carol responded appropritately that, “Trix are for kids”)
- Carrot on a stick
- Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit
Pam wears a camelback on the bike and run and got from a few guys, “Do you have a six pack in there?”
My medal, my medal!!!!! (aka Medal Down!) All Rev3 races are held in amusement park venues. Ours was in the Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury, Connecticut. Race entry includes entry to the park. Carol and I decided to go ride the roller coaster - the Wooden Warrior - one time. This little coaster's looks are very deceiving!! I decided to take a video with my little camera (thankfully NOT my iPhone). We took off our hats and sunglasses per instructions and were riding in the front car. Yeah! We did not take off our finisher’ s medals. Carols flew off!! We were able to get a replacement from someone on staff though. Win! Here’s the video of this goofiness...
Someone said to Carol on the bike, “Did you drop a bag of pills?” aka Good and Plenty...)
Pam came by later and thought, “Oh, someone I know has been here!”
The announcer was really awesome. In the morning he was making all kinds of random comments. One of them really cracked us up: “If this (Rev3Half) is your first tri, God help you!! ”
The same announcer really liked Carol’s three finish line burpees, too! Can’t recall if he commented on my three finish line cartwheels though...
So, I finished the Rev3HALF Quassy, my sixth finish and seventh overall (I had a DNF last year at Watermans where I decided not to go on after the bike). Finish time was 7:23:39 and I was 37/38.
Swim 36:20 (1:52/100m) 9/39
I was in the second wave of age groupers (fourth wave overall). We started on the shore and ran into the water when the gun went off. Cool! The swim was a clockwise – my favorite – triangle! That meant breathing was to the right – which is not my weak side! I felt good on the swim but regretted my decision to not go sleeveless (and risk a little chaffing) and was a tad warm in the full sleeved suit. Oh well. I got a little off course (i.e., to the outside) on the first leg but the second and third were fine. No bumping or anything of the sort. I was careful not to swallow any lake water, too. Don’t want a re-visit from Peter Parasite now!! The second leg the sun was in my eyes and sighting was a little tough but all in all it was a decent swim.
T1 2:55 This is good as I really felt like I took a lot longer!
Bike 3:51:31 (13.81 mph) 33/39
So, being that I was in an early wave, a lot of male bikers passed me left and right all along the course. Well, all on the left actually. Some women (many actually) of course did as well! But I was ‘playing in my own sandbox’ anyway! I am glad we previewed the course as I did have an idea what to expect. Some of the hills were harder on the bike than they had seemed the day before though! Oh and I did just bike 112.7 miles the weekend before... The course itself was gorgeous! There were lots of nice views – even on the climbs – and definite downhill rewards after some of the climbs. I did see one racer getting looked at that I think got hit by a car. Bummer. As usual, I could not pee on the bike. I am still working on that one and maybe by IMLP race day I’ll have accomplished that! Needless to say, I stopped twice but had little to no wait! However, when I dropped my chain down shifting going uphill I was able to get that sucker back on without getting off the bike. I will take that success!! The bike course support was just amazing and the volunteers were super nice. Loved it! Before long I was making my way back up the road to the park and to T2...
Nutrition was overall good. I doubled up on the salt stick tabs from the start and took them every 45 minutes after the first hour. There was little cramping in my hamstrings. Yay! Practiced same nutrition I had at Placid training weekend though took more water from the aid stations for my aero bottle because it was there.
T2 3:60 (really, 3:60 – not 4:00?)
Run 2:48:53 (12:13 mi) 37/39
Had to pee right after transition. Guess I hydrated enough on the bike? Anyway, my legs felt pretty decent – none of that heavy feeling that is not uncommon. As I started out of the park and onto the main road I got my one and only “Go Team 2” from a volunteer. I just smiled and said, “Thanks!” I took a piece of banana from the first aid station – just because I was starving and needed real food! After that I was ok with my own nutrition (Gu, nuun, and salt tabs) but took Gatorade at the aid stations. My hamstrings were a bit crampy and I figured any extra electrolytes I could get would be good. it was not ridiculously hot out (high was about 75) but I was definitely warm in the sun. As I was starting my run I saw Carol coming in from the bike and a short time later saw Pam. Yay! We were doing it!!
The run course was as hilly as the bike so I did do a lot of walking. However, all things considered and with I think two more portapotty stops, I’m pretty happy with my run time. The volunteers on the run were also quite nice! Lots of friendly runners out there, too! Coming in to the finish area I ran by the Team Z tent! Small group but lots of energy! Oh, and there was one Z’er who’d raced in the rain the day before who had been out on the course (I saw her towards the end of the bike and the beginning of the run) out there cheering us on. She was awesome! Ran into the finisher’s chute and the announcer read my name and said I was about to finish...then I started walking so he said, “maybe not”. I held up my finger for ‘wait a minute’ then I started my three cartwheels. And I really cannot remember if the announcer made a comment about that or not. Nothing like Carol's burpees!!! (That was truly AUsome!!) Oh well. Got my cool finisher’s medal and headed to the tent for a Diet Coke and to wait for Carol and Pam!
Then later Carol and I rode the Wooden Warrior roller coaster...
Next Up: Baltimore 10-Miler (Happy Birthday, P!!!)
Happy and Healthy Training!
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