The Nation’s Triathlon

6,000 athletes registered for The Nation’s Triathlon – doubling the size in one year. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that many athletes – but I’m leaning toward “I don’t like it”. The transition area was huge – 240,000 square feet to be exact. So big in fact that the “Bike In – Bike Out” was at least 800m from my transition area. Yes, that’s 2 laps around a track or half a mile. The swim waves were equally as huge – each age group was a wave within a wave. For example, the F25-29 age group (the AG I fall under) had 3 waves, A, B and C, with approximately 120 athletes per wave. Bottom line: too many people!

Pre – Race: The best part about doing a race so close to come is the convenience of race morning. We woke up at 5:00am, hopped in the cab at 5:45am and we were in transition by 6:00am. BJ and I love races that are close to home – especially triathlons because typically, they aren’t close to home! Race day weather was awesome – almost perfect for a race: partly sunny and a high of 81. It was just starting to get hot when I finished the race. Race Start: 7:00am
Wave 20: 8:00am

Swim: The swim waves were approximately 3 minutes apart. I was in the 3rd to last wave – so there were already a lot of swimmers in the water when our wave jumped in. I positioned myself in a great location for swimming straight out, under the bridge and back. I felt really strong on the way out – passing other waves that had started before me. But, the way back was a bit of a different story. At one point the Potomac looked like a rainbow river: red caps, pinks caps, green caps, yellow caps, blue caps and white caps e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. Too many swimmers! My other beef with the swim (and I complained about it last year, too) is the fact that the sun is coming out at the same exact time that we are swimming back. Bright, rising sun + bright yellow buoys = can not see anything! Now, I know that I’m not the only triathlete affected – it jacks us all up – but C-O-M-E O-N! [If any Nation’s Triathlon officials are reading, here are a few tips: more buoys, different colors!] I was literally swimming blindly for the last ½ mile. The last ¼ mile is a cluster of madness: people swimming on top of people swimming on top of people swimming on top of more people. I was glad to be out of the water! Time: 33:29

T1: I felt good coming out of the water – but had a little difficulty getting my wetsuit off in T1. It was pretty uneventful – but had to prep myself for the longest run to “Bike Out” e-v-e-r. Time: 2:18

Bike: Initially I did not feel strong on the bike. Since we live so close to the race, BJ wanted to bike into DC the day before to attend the mandatory briefing and bike racking. Logistically, we ended up biking and walking way more than we should have the day before a race. Oh well, now we know future race day endeavors. The course is flat and fast so by mile 5 my legs started to feel better and I was in a good grove. Then, mile 10 happened – and I lost my chain while attempting to shift to the big ring. (Of course I did) I slowed down, tried to pedal slowly and shift, in hopes that my chain would work its way back on. No luck. I pulled over to the side, got off, played around with the chain, accidently dropped my bike, had to pick it back up, played around with the chain some more and finally, got my chain back on. That was a 2.5 minute penalty. I felt like crying once I was back on the bike – and mentally it took me awhile to recover. For half a second I thought about quitting since the chain cost me a PR – but I wanted to get my $165 worth (plus, I don’t quit)! My attitude improved at the turn around point and I was fired up – I wanted to crank it out on the bike – 10 more miles to go.

Well, by the time I hit the turn around point, it seemed the other 5,999 athletes did too. Some points on the Rock Creek Parkway are narrow, one lane each way. You can imagine how crowded that can get with thousands of athletes on the course. Then, when you throw the typical M40-44 “I’m-too-cool-for-school-triathlete-because-I-ride-a-Cervelo-tri-bike” jerk into the mix, things get dicey. For full disclosure, I do not think that all M40-44 are jerks nor do they all ride Cervelo tri bikes – however, this is their last “hoorah” as strong, male athletes and I personally believe that some of them are they are trying to prove their awesomeness – or lack there of. Case in point: I was riding behind a F34 athlete and we were in the process of passing a fellow athlete. As we were passing, we started to hear: “On your left, on your left, on your left, ON YOUR LEFT!!!!” We didn’t have anywhere to go – nor were we in the wrong since we were passing before this “cool” tri-guy (age 43 – he was being followed by another guy, age 41) decided to pass us. WELL, as we got over, the “cool” tri-guy pushed the girl in front of me on her hip – as his way of saying we should have gotten over sooner. I was furious – and shouted profanities that are not appropriate for this blog. If he would have done that to me and/or I would have gotten his number “cool” tri-guy would have gotten reported. Here are my thoughts and what I would like to say to “cool” tri guy:

A) WTF – and who the F do you think you are!!!
B) Do you know how dangerous that is? That could have caused a MAJOR accident!
C) There are 6,000 athletes doing the race – what do you expect?
D) The road is extremely narrow – where do you want us to go?

This continued for the last 10 miles – and at one point I just stopped getting over for them! I didn’t have anywhere else to go! Plus I was doing my own weaving in and out of athletes – and I was getting tired.

Oh, and one last point: you know that there are too many triathletes in a race when everyone you pass or get passed by is drafting! Too many bikers! Time: 1:18

T2: Prepped myself for the long run back to my transition area. Bike shoes off – running shoes on – and out of T2. I felt strong and knew that the run would be flat! Time: 1:47

Run: The run course was super flat and fast. BJ and I ran the course the week before – and I’m glad we did because I knew exactly what to expect. Unfortunately, my calves cramped for the 1st 3 miles so I stopped to stretch them out. I’m glad I did because the last 3 miles seemed easier. Surprisingly (and thankfully), the run was over before I knew it! 400m out, I sprinted to the finish and was glad to be done!! Fastest run of the season – Time: 49:00 minutes (7:55/mile)!

Awesome things about the race:
1) Home Turf (!!!)
2) Insane weather
3) Super flat and fast course
4) Really well organized (especially given the number of athletes)
5) Awesome volunteers (!!!!)
6) Plenty of aid stations
7) 6 bikes/rack (as opposed to 8 bikes/rack in most races)

You need to fix some things, Mr. Nation’s Triathlon Founder:
1) TOO MANY ATHLETES – stop being money hungry, it’s dangerous.
2) 6,000 athletes = Yes, you still need more port-a-johns!
3) Buoys, water, sun – they all look the same. I’m talking orange buoys and more of them!
4) Post race festival: there were PBJ’s and fruit for free – but then there was food you had to pay for (the good stuff – like Skittles). I DO NOT WANT TO PAY FOR FOOD – I just spent $165 to do the race (that’s $990,000 total) and if I want Skittles, I should get them. For free.

Ok, now on to the Rematch results: