The Rest of the Race....for now.....

When I came out of the water and saw that I had finished under 40min - I got energized. As I went to transition, I heard the music switch to AC/DC's "TNT". That pumped me up more. I hit the bike and went out strong. The hills were more than I expected but, on my first 20K loop, I kept up with - or passed - alot of the athletes with aero-helmets and tires. I was feeling good and really moving. Coming back past the transition area to start my 2nd loop on the bike was like cycling through a stadium. How cool. Music, people cheering and rattling cowbells (and other noisemakers). I heard so many people yell my name that I thought there must be someone behind me named Jeff also. Then, I thought of Lindsay.

Lindsay was a fellow Team in Training participant. In all the training I did, where I dropped everyone on the bike but the experienced triathletes - Lindsay was the one that kept up with me. Or, rather, I kept up with her. We cycled together a few times and talked about training or her kids. Once we got off the bike, she'd dust me. I'm not a fast runner but she was always way faster than me. She's attractive, athletic, and down to earth - a cool person to train with.

The night before the race, all the TNT folks gather for a pasta dinner to celebrate making it to the event. Lindsay was the last person to speak. In short, I had no idea she was a cancer survivor. In fact, her cancer is "incurable" but treatable and she had recently undergone treatment. It blew me away when she spoke of going through treatment and therapy - fighting back tears while talking about explaining to their children ages 4,6,7 (I think) what it means for Mommy to have cancer. Her husband broke down while sitting at our table.

I had no idea.

I don't think I could have been more humbled - and more honored - than when she spoke that evening. She had trained next to me on many rides and never said a word, never complained, never mentioned it - and some of her treatment had been in the past year.

So....as I came into the ampitheatre of sound that ended the first 20K loop of the cycling portion of the race, I was pumped and moving at a phenomenal pace. People calling my name, cowbells going off, rock and roll on the speakers - and I thought of Lindsay and how much it must have meant to be there - to race, to have people call her name, to drop into that moment of total being. And, I got a little teary. I felt really proud and humbled to be in the race suddenly. It was a great, great moment.

The rest of the race went well. In hindsight, my first 20K loop was way too fast as I bonked hard on the 2nd 20K. I finished the first loop in under 40min. The second loop was over 50min. I did what I needed to keep moving forward and to get nutrition and electrolyte replacement in me - but I was toasted for the rest of the cycling portion. I was probably a little cocky about the bike and I got a big lesson learned there. I'll definately look to do better next time.

The transition to the run went well and I started the run strong. Since I'd be tight coming off the bike, it was my strategy to run every mile faster than the last one. I was fairly successful at that. It was a flat 10k course and when I got to the last water station I yelled out "What's the milage?" Someone answered that it was mile 5 - I saw that I had 6 min to make it to the finish to break the 3 hour mark.

I haven't run a 6min mile in my life - not to mention a 6 min 1.2 mile. But, it would not be for lack of effort - after dumping a cup of water on my head - I took off in a sprint, passing about a dozen people, working my way through the crowd (heard the TNT folks yelling my name again) and finished with my fist in the air at 3hours, 2min, 14 seconds.

So, let me say thanks to all my coaches, the folks I met and trained with, and my wife and Steph for making the trip to Philly to support me. A special thanks to everyone that donated $ to this effort. I can't recommend the Team in Training program highly enough. I look forward to joining for the Philly race again next year.

I'll be keeping this blog open as I hope to keep racing some. "Race to train, not train to race" as my friend Leslie would say. I'm thinking of joining some folks in Manassas for a shorter race in a few weeks - and have sent an inquiry to someone that's said they have an available slot for the Nation's Tri in DC in September.

Thanks to everyone for being there.

Remember - Keep moving forward......

The Race Report! Part 1- The Swim

After a mild recovery week, it's time for me to update everyone on how my first triathlon in Philadelphia went.

Basically, it was a great weekend. It's hard to know where to start because there were so many wonderful aspects to the race weekend in Philadelphia.

So, let's start with the details of the race itself first.

My over all time was 3:02:14. Three hours, 2 min, 14 seconds. Privately, I had been hoping to break the 3 hour mark but some beginner mistakes pushed me over that time. I'm a little bummed by that but mark it up to a learning experience. That I was close to a three hour mark for the race (much less my first race) is very, very satisfying.

So, here's how it all went down. Waking up at 4:15am for the 4:30mtg in from of the downtown Philly hotel, I gathered my gear and met the rest of the TNT group outside. Then, we all cycled the 4-5 miles to the transition area at 4:30 in the morning - through downtown Philadelphia. It was very cool - everyone was excited about the race and cruising the streets of Philadelphia alone in the wee hours was alot of fun.

I snagged a great slot on the rack for transition, got my gear set up, then sat next to my bike and had a little breakfast while watching everyone else file in. That was my time to get my mind together, to relax, and to enjoy being there. After bagels and peanut butter, some grapes, and a bananna - I caught the bus to the swim start.

I purposely stayed away from the group for the swim. Everyone seemed to cluster around the middle of the river, near the buoys we were supposed to stay just to the left of. I stayed about 10-15 yards further to the left in order to have a more open space swimming. I really didn't want to deal with the crowd, even if it meant more distance.

The first third of the swim was tough. In other words, the same as it's always been. I had a hard time breathing, a difficult time with pacing and timing, and quickly ended up on my back or in a modified breast-stroke (I call it a breath-stroke).

Then, I see my first swimmer being rescued. Not sure what happened but there was a guy being towed in by one of the safety kayakers. I remember thinking - "That's weird, this isn't that bad" - even though I was struggling and not breathing well.

Then, I looked up to see a safety kayaker fall out of her boat. Not sure what happened there, but I know that look. Wide-eyed and embarassed with a little bit of panic - she made eye contact with me as I swam towards her. She was in no danger as she had a pfd on and was beginning to swim with her floating boat. Of course, she swam right in front of me.

I swam to the left of her and then....something clicked. For the first time ever, I swam. I got my breath, I got my timing down, and I pulled the water with my stroke in the way I had been trying to do for months. I almost didn't recognize it as I kept waiting to run out of breath. That moment never came.

The problem with that was that I had always 'sighted' (looked where I was going) when I gasped for air - or went to a recover position. The result was that I went off course. Already 10-15 yards off the pack, I swam another 40-45 yards away. I didn't realize I was off course until I ran head first into a wall that formed the side of the river. When I did, I stood up briefly, and did a quick reversal to where I needed to be. I eventually caught up at the bridge - which marked about the 2/3rd distance (I estimate). But, the bridge was a big mental place to be because it was a big visible marker. From there, we could see the end. I briefly got turned around at one of the last buoy's but otherwise has a slow, determined, uneventful swim to shore.

Final swim time - 00:39:05.

Next post: The 40k Bike ride

Couple of last training pics.....

Posting a few of the last training pics. Will post race weekend recap shortly.....