Eagleman 2006 Race Report - TJ

Wednesday, June 14 2006 @ 08:26 PM PDT

I just saw “Cars” this evening with my 8 year old daughter. There was a great line in the movie that prompted me to write my Eagleman Race Report *tonight*. Here is the line:

“Life isn’t so much about getting from here to there as fast as you can, but also about enjoying the ride along the way.”

OK, it is not a real original line but this evening, it just kind of hit me like a ton of bricks in the context of triathlon.

I love triathlon. It is great to get to the finish line fast. But, the swim, ride and run is so much fun for me that I sometimes wish the finish line didn’t come. Some days, it seems like I could stay out there all day.

Eagleman 2006 was one of those days for me.

Last year, I did Eagleman. It was my “A” race for the year. Unfortunately, I contracted a sinus infection about 10 days before the race. I didn’t shake it until about June 20. The height of the illness was the 4 days around race day. I was in bed sick the day before the race. I finished the race, but I was very disappointed with my 7.03:14 time. I had wanted to do it in under 6 hours.

As soon as I could sign up for the 2006 race, I did. I really wanted to train to do better the next time out.

RISE AND SHINE
I stayed at the Hyatt and woke up at 3:45 am. I poked my head out the balcony and didn’t like what I felt and heard. I could hear “waves” from the river and the wind was very gusty. My hopes that the wind would die down overnight did not seem to be in the cards. In the shower, I could hear the sound of howling wind against the little window in the bathroom. Well, we had done a lot of training in the wind at Hains Point so I felt like I would be prepared. At least it wasn’t going to be cold, too.

I slathered on the Butt’R and Body Glide and I proudly put on my DC Tri uniform. While watching a DVD of the movie “The Endurance”, which is about Shackleton’s trip to Antarctica when his team were stranded for over 700 days, I ate a Clif bar, a banana and drank a bottle of Accelerade. That movie kind of pumps me up for times on the swim, bike or run when I feel challenged. I can always say, “hey, this will be over soon. And, I ain’t cold.” I got lost in the story (it really is unbelievable if you aren’t familiar with it) and didn’t leave the hotel until 5:55 am to head towards Great Marsh.

I was able to take some shortcuts through town and not get stuck in too bad of traffic and made it to the park by 6:10. I parked in the normal parking area and get into transition. I condensed stuff into a bag that also held ice so I could keep my 4 Accelerade and 2 water bottles cold. I tried to find Chad but that crazy numbering system they had in transition bamboozled me more than my wife does and I gave up. Vigo announced that because of traffic, everything was going to be pushed back 5 minutes. So, I headed over to the porta potties by the bike exit.

I saw some buds over there and chatted while in line. The line was going nowhere fast so I stretched real good and did some pushups, sipping Accelerade the whole time. At 6:55 they announced that transition was closing in 5 minutes and I had moved all of like 5 feet. All my swim stuff was still in transition. So, I bailed and got my gear and headed to the swim area. I took a Gu with me and a little bottle of water. It seemed like the black caps were out there forever waiting to start. I stretched some more, ate the Gu and washed it down with water. The having to go to the bathroom sensation left me except for going #1.

Finally it was time for us purple caps to get into the water. I walked out quite a ways and relieved myself of that #1 sensation. I felt eerily calm and the water felt warm and did not look that bad. I even suggested to others that the wind seemed to be dying down. I had on a brand new pair of googles and doing some test swimming revealed that I would have no problem with leakage or fogging.

SWIM
Vigo yells “GO” through the bullhorn (no whistle or horn?!?!?) and we were off. I was out front and to the left and my strategy was to go straight to the boat with the flag, go around it and come back. Stay to the left and go straight. After the second bouy, the water got real warm. I was swimming on what I thought was a good clip and was breathing on the left side only. It just felt more comfortable. A couple of strokes caught what I first thought was seaweed but when I felt stings on my arms, I knew it was jellyfish. I was wearing a sleeveless wet suit. Some people who were swimming the day before when I was racking my bike reported jellyfish. So, I wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t happy either. If anything, it made me swim faster.

When I got to the first triangle bouy, I headed for the boat along with the 6-8 other guys in the little cluster I was in. The smell of gas tipped me off that the jetskis were nearby and I looked up to see them pointing away from the boat. I looked over and damn if there wasn’t another triangle bouy to the right. What the heck?!?!? Vigo had said, first triangle bouy then go around the boat. So, it turns out there are 2 triangle bouys, THEN look for yellow. So, that’s what I did. Swam around the second triangle bouy and tried to pick up sight of the yellow bouys. It dawned on me that they were hard to spot and the reason was the waves seemed a little more choppy at this point. I kind of got into an up-stroke, down-stroke rythym and made some progress. About the second yellow bouy in, the water got strangely warm again and I started feeling the jellyfish again on my strokes. One got on my neck on a down-stroke cycle and stung me pretty good right away. It really made me pick up the pace again.

Sighting the “exit” was not so easy. By this point, I saw two blue cap dudes pass me on the my left. They had picked up 8 minutes on me so I figured they knew what they were doing. I got in behind them and got into the boat ramp area. I stood up and walked as soon as I could because this is the area where you get the “mud face”. Because I wear booties. I don’t worry about cutting my feet. Out of the water, through the hose and on my way to T1.

Swim Time 41:45



T1
I am too slow in transition. I took my booties off. Took off my wet suit. Dried off my feet. Put on my socks. Put on my bike shoes. Put on my sunglasses. Put on my helmet. Ran the bike out of T1 and put my gloves on after I started riding. 4:33. Sheesh.

BIKE
I cruised out to Horns Point at a 20 mph clip and HR in the low 130s. I took a Gu about 4 miles in and washed it down with some water. Horns Point almost was a disaster because a deer came running out of the woods from the right. The rider in front of me kind of freaked but didn’t drop his bike or anything. But, we were close enough that if he stopped or veered too much, we might have wrecked. The wind was pretty stiff and I was happy to get to the left turn at Lover’s Lane.

I believe that the wind was pretty much against us all the way to Smithville Road. I was feeling good and made it out there in just over an hour so I was on a 20 mph pace into the wind and my HR was in the low 140s at this point. When we made the turn, you could feel the “quiet” of the wind when it is behind you and I really started flying. About 4 miles down this road, I felt like I was getting a flat. I asked a rider that I passed if my tire was flat. He said no, it looked fine. Was my seat moving? Nope. The bar didn’t seem to be moving down. Was it moving side to side? No. It was strange. What I realized AFTER the race was that it was crosswind blowing me. I know what it was now but did not put it together at the time. This actually made me slow down a little bit for a 2-3 mile stretch.

Egypt Road. Egypt Road is not my favorite road. I knew what was coming and my strategy was to not slow my pace down too much in the certain stiff head wind. At one point, I was going about 16 MPG and saw my HR was at 131. I told myself, “come on, pick it up you baby” and got my speed, and HR back up. I went small chain ring mostly on this road and tried to keep the RPM in the 92-96 range. It was really a head wind all the way back to 343 but then there was a great tailwind for the last 5 miles. I think I was up around 27-29 MPH that whole stretch to Leonards Lane and my HR actually dipped down below my low target range. I felt real strong and noticed that I had only gone through 1 ½ bottles of Accelerade and about ½ a bottle of water. I had taken a Gu every 45 minutes (so that is 3 after the one at mile 4) and ate 2/3 of a Clif Bar about 90 minutes into the ride.

Cruised into T2 and noted my bike time. 2.46:37.



T2
Easier than pulling off a wet suit, huh? Took off the gloves, helmet and sunglasses. Took off my bike shoes and put on my Nike Shox NZ. I remembered I had put two pieces of gum into the left shoe so I had to take it back off. I put on my race belt, grabbed two small Fuel Belt bottles full of Accelerade from the ice bag and hoofed it out the run exit. 3:42

RUN
Last year, I walked the first 4 miles of the run. This year, I ran the first mile in like 8:30 and my HR locked in at 151. I felt good and didn’t take a drink until I ran past the 2 mile marker. I wanted to run fast (for me, folks) out to 343 but then dial it back for that 5.9 miles out 343 and Horns Point and back. Chad passed me with a “POPPA GANOOSH” at about mile 5 and he damn near freaked out the guy we were both passing. I picked up some ice and put it under my cap at mile 5 water stop and decided to wait to the turnaround before taking another drink.

At the turnaround I slowed to a walk by choice, picked up a chocolate chip cookie and some ice in a cup. I poured one Accelerade into the ice cup and sipped on it. I saw Chris Manning approaching (he was heading out to the turnaround) and yelled out words of encouragement. After about two minues of walking, I ran again and it wasn’t long until I sensed a #1 coming along. I decided to run down to the porta potties at the Texaco and go there. Chris would probably catch up to me by then and we could run back together… if I could keep up with him.

That is what happened and we go back to Leonards Lane running at probably 9:30 mile clips. We made some movie references along the way and gave shouts out to DC Tri folks who passed us going the other way. At about mile 12, I wanted to walk for two minutes, take a final sip of Accelerade and then run the last mile into the chute. And that is what I did. I had run almost the whole 13.1 miles, didn’t feel all that bad and was actually kind of sad that the race was now over. So, happy (I DID IT!!!) and sad (DANG, IT’S OVER) at the same time.

2.07:48



The wind that was a pain in the ass on the bike was quite refreshing on the run. The swim was a distant memory at this point. When they posted the times, I was very happy by what I saw. I had done the race in 5.44:26. Average HR 147. An hour nineteen minute improvement on last year and 15 minutes better than my goal. Not too bad.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I don’t know what it is about this sport. I got hooked on it the first week I took up training. It is challenging as hell. It truly is a test of endurance and some varied athletic skills. But, for me, it has a spiritual quality. I feel happy when I “tri”. I feel serene. Other people, even when they are obviously struggling, seem happy. Many people are faster than me and while I pass my share of people, I get passed by even more people. Either way, we are friendly with each other. “Keep up the good work!” or “You’re looking good, kid!”. I don’t get that playing basketball or lifting weights.

I really just enjoy the ride.

-- TJ