I had been looking forward to Luray for months....this was to be my "big vacation" this year, 4 days in the mountains of Northern Virginia. A far cry from last summer's 2 week vacation in the south of France, but I'll take what I can get in the turning economy....
So, Friday afternoon I headed out on the 2 hour drive to the tiny mountain town of Luray. Traffic, as always, was not great, but managed to get to Luray just as planned to get checked in for the race. As I was walking into the shop, I ran into Nate Spong, a fellow shipmate from my days as an Ensign on the mighty USS TARAWA! What a crazy small world it is. I hadn't seen Nate in over 8 years. Gotta say, he definitely meets "tri candy" criteria....triathlon has been good to him! We caught up quickly, and then went on our way.
At least I tried to head on my way....one thing about Virginia is that they like to name their roads random, obscure, non-linear numbers. And in fact, there can be about 5 roads known by the same route number. So, as I believed I was following the directions to head out on 340S, which I did, turns out I was on the "wrong" 340S. For one full hour, and 50 miles of going back and forth, back and forth, I was on the wrong 340S. Luckily, once entering the nearby town of Stanley, I stopped at the gas station and Gary, my new-found friend, knew exactly where I needed to be, and unlike New England, I could definitely "get there from here". And with Gary's very detailed, landmark-filled hand-drawn map, I finally arrived at the "Absolute Perfect Escape" cabin tucked into the mountainside overlooking the Shenandoah Valley.I had elected to stay with some of my fellow roadie friends, from Squadra Coppi, (instead of the group that included my ex-boyfriend) and was looking forward to bonding with new friends. However, through some miscommunication, I thought I was having dinner with said friends, and turns out I had been left off the food count. So, after being frazzled from the long lost drive, I had to jet back into town at 8pm the night before the race and drum up something worthy to eat. Needless to say, I was no longer in a good mood, and no longer enjoying my long-awaited, eagerly anticipated weekend retreat. On the bright side, I did discover the right 340S and was now able to get around without getting lost.
The moon was full and bright, and I finally went to bed around 10pm, but didn't fall asleep until well after 11, with the frustration of the evening heavy on my chest, and the excitement of Michael Phelps' winning his 8th gold medal on the TV downstairs.
Race morning arrived around 5:15, and it was a wonderfully chilly 57 degrees. Absolutely unbelievable for August in Virginia. The air was thick with fog, and it was an eerie drive to Lake Arrowhead. In the car, Mike, Lindsey and I were discussing songs that got stuck in our heads, and Lindsey got us all on the Bonanza theme......
I got body-marked, picked up my chip, and headed in to set up transition. The park was beautiful, the fog was lifting and I was getting nervous and excited to race! The swim was a two-loop course, and I was in the second wave! The water was a balmy 74 degrees, but with the air so chilly, I decided to wear my wetsuit, and headed down to the shore for a warmup.
And here's where my race fell apart.
SWIM: 28:11 (9th)Okay, I admit, at first glance 28 minutes is a pretty good swim for me. Unfortunately, when I got out of the water, my watch said 47 minutes. Yes, Forty-Seven minutes. WTF?! I knew I had been making some changes to my stroke, but geez, what was I doing in the water for 47 minutes!?!?!? Note my "happy face" after having seen my watch...I just wanted to quit at that point. There was no way I was going to make up 20 minutes on the bike and run.
T1: 2:03 (3rd)
It was a very long, uphill, up-a-flight-of-stairs run into transition. I got to my bike, was hoping to see a flat so I could just end my misery, but alas, the bike with the flashy 404 race wheels (from Conte's) was ready and waiting for me, the 47-minute 1500k swimmer.
BIKE: 1:20:26 (2nd)I got on the bike, had a problem adjusting my sunglasses for a few minutes, and was off. I had no idea how I was going to make up all that time. I was riding the course blind, no idea what the hills looked like, and had failed to put my magnet on the wheels, so I couldn't even check my speed/pace as I was riding. Just when I thought I'd had enough, I was climbing a hill and passing 2 guys off to my right, when the middle guy failed to hold his line on the steep incline and bumped into me. OK, no biggie, I know how to race a crit. I held him up for a few seconds, hoping he'd get his balance back, but he kept losing momentum, and slid back behind me and finally crashed to the ground. I called back to see if he was OK, he said he was, and I kept going. Somewhere out on the first loop it dawns on me that maybe, just maybe, my watch had started early and I didn't actually have a 47 minute swim. So, I flipped the watch to the time of day, and realized that indeed, it was only 9:15 and if I had swam a 47 minute swim, the time would be well after 9:30. Crap! I actually had a good swim, and I needed to get moving on the bike!
T2: 1:02 (3rd)
I raced into T2, knowing that I'd spent too much time on the bike, and that I needed to fly on the run. All my recent training for the Marine Corps Marathon had taught me that I could run through the pain, and that 6.2 miles really isn't that far (especially when I've got 16 miles queued up this weekend, ugh!). However, I'd ridden the second half of the bike so fast, I didn't take any time to get fluids in. So, I decided that I'd take a few big swigs of gatorade before heading out. I never do that. What's my mantra? Oh yeah, nothing new on race day. So, in the midst of removing helmet/donning running shoe, I downed some gatorade. I grabbed my race belt and visor and I was off! Somewhere around the bend, just as I was reaching the asphalt road I thought to myself "Self...it feels like you still have a bike shoe on." Hmmm, I looked down, and sure enough, one running shoe, one bike shoe. I again thought to myself "Self....can you run a 10K with one bike shoe? No, self, you cannot." So, I turned around, ran back to my transition area, ducking under the fence, grabbed the other shoe, and headed back out on the run, for the second time.
RUN: 50:49 (9th)
The run was a simple two-loop out-and-back run on rolling hills in partial shade down a country road. Once I was properly shod, I zoomed out on the run. I felt great! This marathon training is really helping my run! I felt like I flew to the turn-around, and then made my way back towards the second turn-around. That's when I discovered that the whole way back was one long uphill....no wonder I felt so good coming out! But I just plugged away, and as each uphill approached, I belted out (in my head) the Bonanza theme.....that really helps getting up a hill! I saw Nate Spong on the run (he was really flying!), as well as Jean, Michelle, Stephanie and Stone. Sometimes two-loop courses are nice. OK, they're nice when you're ahead. Not so nice when you're last (remember Philly....).
FINISH: 2:42:29 (5/26 F 35-39)
(22/143 F overall)
I finished the race strong, and felt really great, despite the clamity of errors that had gotten me there. Sadly, it wasn't enough to podium, and I guess this year I'm just not going to get down to the sub-2:30 mark (one chance left), but I really really enjoyed the Luray course! I will definitely do this race again.
