The Nation's Triathlon--Finishing Strong!

What a difference a week makes! I went into this race with zero expectations, I even went out the night before. It was kind of cool, did a dinner cruise with the Secretary of the Navy, and nearly every Navy Admiral in DC. So, I was "on the Potomac" Friday night, and "in the Potomac" Saturday morning! This was the first time since 1971 anyone's been legally allowed to swim in the Potomac!

And what a fantastically fabulous fall day it was. Not a cloud in the sky; cool, clear, crisp air and a definite electric charge all around! I rode my bike from the house down to the transition area in Georgetown--even met a fellow DC-Tri gal named Carmen who lives near me, so we rode together.

I arrived in transition pretty late, around 7:30 (my swim wave wasn't until 8:44), got all set up, and helped a number of newbies as well. Met the girl right next to me, Jennifer, who just got back from Iraq and is now out of the Army. After helping her set up, we both headed down to the swim start.

There were tons of DC-Tri folks all around, either racing or volunteering. The volunteer support was fantastic! The Georgetown waterfront was beautiful, clear blue skies--a perfect "San Diego morning".

THE SWIM (29:53)
Age group 10/31
The Potomac isn't the nastiest water I've ever been in. It was actually quite nice. Didn't smell bad, didn't taste bad, and it was actually better visibility UNDER-water than above. We jumped off the floating dock into the water, swam down to the Key Bridge, and then turned around for the down-stream, slightly longer leg back. Problem was that the sun was right in our face. It was a total white-out. The entire river seemed on fire with light. I couldn't see anything. I had to stop 3 or 4 times to try to hear others around me, and look backwards at the bouys to know where to swim forwards. Needless to say, it was a brutal swim!

T1 (3:12)
Age group 4/31
It was a fairly long run from the swim to the transition area--about the same as last week at General Smallwood.

THE BIKE (1:07:58)
Age group 3/31
I took off flying past the Kennedy Center, checked my computer and it said 24mph! WOW, I thought, this is going to be a good race! I was flying all the way until the tip of Hain's Point, and as I rode around "The Awakening" statue, I "awokened" to the fact that my 24mph was a result of a heady tailwind, which was now a full-on brutal headwind. It was all I could do to keep it in the 15-18mph range. Two loops, where 3/4 of each loop had the headwind or a nasty cross-wind. I was passing folks left and right, and really enjoyed the ride through all the Monuments. What a gorgeous course!

T2 (:56)
Age group 1/31 (Yeah!)
No cramping, no need for water, in and out, lickety-split!

THE RUN (46:42)
Age group 3/31
I had no idea where I was time-wise, but after last week's fiasco and my 5-second loss for 3rd place, I knew I needed to just run. Run, Forest, Run! The course took us up Whitehurst Fwy, then over a makeshift staircase to the other side of Whitehurst and back down again. The motorcycle camera caught up to me and I had a brief conversation with them, but then I was off! It was great seeing so many DC-Tri folks running, and we were all giving each other the "thumbs-up" as we passed; volunteers were shouting and encouraging, and the energy was unbelievable! Next thing I knew I was at mile 3. Completely afraid to look at my watch, I just kept on plowing, telling myself that I didn't have to do another run this year, so you better run your heart out and leave nothing in the bank! And then I saw the "Mile 5" marker. And I felt great! I picked up the speed again. Then some guy behind me actually asked me where the Smithsonian was; having told him there were numerous ones, but the Natural History Museum was right in front of us; he then asked which one was best!? Really. We had a total conversation while I was running a sub-8 minute pace.

THE FINISH (2:28:40)*Personal Best*
Age group 3/31
Overall 29/230 women (845 total participants)

As I turned onto 12th street from Constitution, I noticed that there were runners running in both directions. How long was Mile 5 anyway?!? Then I turned right onto Pennsylvania Avenue, running straight at the United States Capitol. WOW, what a sight! And then, at the foot of the Capitol, we did a U-turn around a red-hot new Porche, and it was a 4 block straight-shot to victory! I picked up the pace, saw a few folks ahead of me and kicked it in. There wasn't a chance that I was going to give up this week. This week I was going to FINISH STRONG!

It wasn't until I saw the finisher's clock (which was ~45 minutes ahead of my time) when I realized I might actually have run a sub 2:30 race. And then I looked down at my watch. I couldn't believe it! My watch said 2:29:17, and I started my watch about :40 seconds early before the swim (so I'm always a bit suprised by my "official" time). Not only did I finish strong, but I had CRUSHED my all-time-best, and finally made the "sub-2:30 club". I also managed to requalify for USAT Age Group Nationals again next year!

For all the nay-sayers, and folks who never thought it'd happen, the Nation's Tri is one of the all-time best triathlon experiences I've ever had! I can't wait till next year!

NBC News Coverage
Race Results

General Smallwood--Attitude Adjustment!

The morning arrived hot, humid, and horrible! How it could be 40 degrees last weekend and 80 degrees at 5 am this race morning are beyond me! I didn't get much sleep or tapering rest before this race, as I'd landed at DCA around 8:30 Friday night, had to stop at Conte's to get my bike, and didn't make it to bed until after 11pm.

I agreed to take a fellow DC Tri'er down to the race with me, a newbie named Jason who decided on a whim that he'd like his first triathlon experience to be an Olympic distance! Crazy boy!

Jason and I drove through the misty rain in the darkness down to General Smallwood park, all the while wondering what the weather was going to bring once the sun rose. It just got hotter and muggier as the morning went on!

My friend Jean and her boyfriend Ken (both Coppi riders) came to volunteer, and it was great to actually have people who knew me cheering me on at a race for once! Ken was on the bullhorn for the swim start....

THE SWIM (29:30)
Age Group 9/23
Overall 29/77 women


This course, same as last year, was very grassy--tons of hydrilla in the water made for a swampy swim. It's two loops out and back, easy enough. It was really hot in the wetsuit, but I had a pretty straight swim, only veered off course once!

T1 (3:46)
Age Group 5/23
Overall 18/77
Again, same as last year, a long, over .25mile run up to the transition. I stashed my flip-flops and they helped with the concrete/gravel to transition.


THE BIKE (1:15:40)
Age Group 2/23
Overall 7/77
I used rented race wheels from Conte's, and they were great! I had a great time on the course. It seemed flatter than I remembered it--guess that's what happens when you ride the Pyrenees a few weeks earlier! I had a smoking bike, and even got kudos on the course from a number of the women I passed.

T2 (:56)
Age Group 2/23
Overall 5/77

THE RUN (52:58)
Age Group 3/23
Overall 17/77


I thought I was mentally prepared for the out-and-back hilly run from last year. But, the race director, David Glover, had a trick up his sleeve! The final mile of the race was a trail/cross country route instead of back down the road through the park entrance.

THE FINISH (2:42:48)
Age Group 4th place
Overall 16th place

At about 400m to the finish line, a lady caught up to me, shouted "We're almost there, come on" and took off ahead of me. Well, she looked to be in an older age group (no number on her calf) and the course wound down a narrow path where it then went uphill over a wooden bridge. At this point, I was just not mentally tough enough, and I let the lady pass me. Turns out she was in my age group, and beat me by 5 seconds and ended up taking 3rd.

I learned a hard lesson today; never, EVER give up a strong finish. I don't care if it's a 90 year old man next time, I'm racing strong to the end.

Race Results

The Inagural Annapolis Triathlon

I drove to Annapolis Saturday afternoon with the top down, checked into the race, had pasta dinner with friends, watched some 80's "The Cory's" movies with friends, and was in bed at 10:30pm.

Race morning was very early, left Jenna and Sam's house at 4:45am to go deal with the two transition setups. And then I had to wait until 7:30 to start my race! Oh the agony!

THE SWIM (29:33)
Age Group: 16/53
Overall: 43/377

I felt like crap entering the water, didn't even get to check to see if I had a good seal on my goggles--which were scratched to high heaven! The water was really warm, and very murky brown. Was very very slow at the beginning, but stayed on track until the turnaround, and on the return I went astray, and by the time I got back on track the first dark blue cap got me!

T1 (2:09)
I felt fine running out of the water, but when I got to my bike, I panicked as almost all the bikes were gone!!--or so it seemed, since I was 16 out of 53 out of the water, it wasn't quite that bad, guess all the fast swimmers were racked by me! Then my suit got stuck on my left ankle, so I flexed my toe to remove it and my calf seized up with a Charlie Horse. Nearly took me to the ground in excruciating pain! Had to stop and massage the calf for a good minute because I figured better once in T1 than have it cramp again on the bike.

THE BIKE (1:08:07)
Age Group: 10/53
Overall: 26/377

The course was very crowded, single-file many portions and hard to pass, and had to use brakes to keep from drafting where there was no room to pass. Way too crowded! My calf was still very tight, but never seized on my. Had a good chase with the USNA and USMA girls--between me and the Middy we pushed really hard and in the end we pulled the USMA girl out of her comfort zone and she bonked on the run. Go Navy! Beat Army! The last few kilometers, a guy in a Mid-Maryland kit commented on my pink, and we battled each other all the way to the transition, it was fun, but if you're reading, you still got beat by the older chick in Pink! While this was my fastest split ever, since the course was 2K short, no idea if this would have been a PR for me or not.

T2 (1:40)
It was a 2 transition area race, so T2 was over at the Stadium parking lot. It was an uphill dismount and people were stopped all over the place way before the dismount and I nearly crashed. Once I got off the bike and tried to run with the bike my calf seized again, so I limped my way all the way to the back of T2 to my rack and had to re-massage my calf. Took 4 more thermalites and 2 excedrine and limped out of T2.

THE RUN (53:39)
Age Group: 13/53
Overall: 98/377

I started out very slow, small steps, and rolling my full foot to stretch my calf muscle as I ran. Mid-Maryland guy was right behind me, and I kept expecting him to pass me but he never did--took till mile 2 before my calf finally loosened up and I didn't feel it at all. By mile 3 I glanced down at my watch and saw that I was at 2:09 overall. Quick calculation said that I could probably get under 2:39 so I picked up the pace. Finally passed my friend Michelle as we headed towards the bridge, and saw a few other DC tri folks too. At the top of the bridge my hip flexors were hurting, but I knew I had more in me so I took big strides coming down the bridge and picked up the pace.

THE FINISH (2:35:05--a Personal Best!)

At 400m to go I smiled to myself and thought of the last 400m on the Port de Bales climb and knew this was gonna be a piece of cake; then a chick with a "36" on her calf ran passed me, I kept pace, she picked it up, and at 200m we were in a full sprint, everyone cheering us both on, and as I saw the opening to the Stadium I bounded ahead, leaving her in the dust!

Overall, I was really frustrated that it wasn't a standard 1.5k/40k/10k race as originally advertised, but the finish line was pretty cool!

And I got to see fellow Navy teammate Tommy Brown (what a cutie!) take the overall Professional Win too!


Complete Results
Overall Rank = 50/377
Age Group Rank = 8/53