Lorain Triathlon - 8/24/08 - how NOT to eat shot blocs!

A few months ago I volunteered for a tri in Lorain with NCN racing. I had worked the run aid station and listened to MANY complaints about the course. Either it wasn't marked well enough or it was hard or both. Some complained about the bike as well. So when I cashed my volunteer race voucher in for the tri this past Sunday I knew what I was in for. :)

I had checked out the course maps online on Saturday afternoon to make sure I had some idea where I was going. In all of the races I've done, (all 3 :P ) the first I had a part in T1 so there wasn't anyone to follow out on the bike, the second I took forever to "run" a mile and there wasn't anyone to follow on the bike so this one I was preparing for being alone on the ride.

I got up early after getting in a few hours of sleep the night before. Got all of my stuff together and Steve and I were out the door by 6:25am. I got all the way to Lorain and made my left onto Erie to catch the bridge. But the bridge was closed!!! There wasn't anything on the website indicating that the bridge was closed. :( I saw several others approaching the bridge as I was turning around searching for an alternate path. I finally made it to the race site around 7:30am.
We did the typical unloading and tire checking and then walked up to the transition area and I headed over to the registration table. After getting marked and forgetting to get my chip I headed over to transition where I met up with Sara and later saw JenC. It is always nice to see smiling and familiar faces.

My BS was kind of low when I got up that am (74) so I had wanted to check again before the race. But with only about 20 mins to spare, I figured that I should get things together and head down to the beach to fill up my bucket and get in line for the swim. I almost forgot my goggles!! so I had to turn back for those.

As I was standing with my CTC chicas on the beach I realized that I hadn't had any sport beans. I always down a pack of sport beans pre-race so that by the time I hit the bike they kick in and the extra carbs help push me along. I have to refuel more frequently that others because of how my body works (or doesn't! ;) ) and I haven't mastered taking in fuel on the bike, plus to have fuel for the bike I need to consume it at least 20 minutes before.

I start the swim and it feels like my timing bracelet is falling off of my ankle. So I stop and reattach it and get moving. The swim was good. I felt a little more tired than usual and really pulled with my arms. The waves were a bit bigger than I had expected so I just tried to go with it.

I was trying to make myself do as much freestyle as I could so I was working harder than my last tri swim. But all in all it felt good. I came out of the water and walked up the beach. I was trying to get my heart rate under control and running up the beach and then hill to T1 wasn't going to do that.

S: 15:52.25

T1 is still a struggle for me to get through quickly. I realized at this point that if I didn't eat something I probably wouldn't be able to finish the race. I grabbed a pack of shot blocs and ripped it open. I hate having the shot blocs all over my teeth forever after I eat them so I have begun biting them in half and swallowing the half whole. This day I decided that one really wasn't that big and I could probably swallow it whole. HA!!! BIG MISTAKE. I grab one throw it in my mouth with a big gulp of water and swallow. The sticky bloc quickly gets lodged deep in my throat. I start swallowing hard and realize that it truly is stuck. I don't think I've ever been choking before. In my head I think, "Ok stay calm! keep trying to drink and swallow. they are sugar, eventually it will start to dissolve." I also was reassured because the ambulance wasn't that far from me so I could always get help if I needed it. I started to feel breathing constriction and just kept drinking and swallowing. Finally, it broke free and I could breathe. Success!!!

I took a minute to breathe and relax some and then I threw on my shoes, helmet and sunglasses and started walking over to the exit.

T1: 06:05.45

The bike was decent. I felt tired and I was really struggling for the first 5 miles or so. Once the shot blocs started to kick in I could feel a change in my legs and I felt like I had more energy. There is one really steep hill which unfortunately isn't as steep on the way down. I was also a bit confused because I had remembered that for the sprint course you took all rights, but my first turn was a left so I started to get a bit confused. All in all the bike went well. I wish I had been faster on the first few miles but I was happy with my performance and time for the length of the course (14.3miles).

I still haven't mastered shifting. I set my bike up on my trainer today and watched the gears move as I shifted. I thought that if I pushed my shifter in all the way once my rear deraileur would move all the way to the top. Silly me! I didn't realize that I had to push three times. Yesterday, I was getting super frustrated because all the gears I could find were either too easy or too hard. Because I was only shifting between 5 gears, not ten. So next race hopefully I will figure this out! :)

B: 1:02:50.25

As I returned to transition I saw Steve standing on the side of the road and he started clapping. I got back to transition and walked over to my spot. He eventually made his way over and asked if I was going to run or walk the run. I was beat and the humidity was taking its toll. I knew that running would kick my heart rate up higher and probably not get me to the end any quicker than walking.

T2: 03:41.75

So I set out on the run in a light jog and then Steve met up with me near the car and we started walking. I was walking pretty fast so he was lagging back a bit because he hadn't had any breakfast and was super hot and thirsty. He stuck to the outside of the course and we chatted back and forth a bit.

It was mostly all in the sun and the humidity was really getting to me. I just kept a steady pace, determined to finish. I will say that this was probably the hardest run for me so far. When I woke up that morning, I had no desire to do the race. Everything kept going wrong and then the bridge incident plus waking up on the wrong side of the bed, I wasn't even confident that I would finish honestly. I went into the race thinking, just go and enjoy it and when it starts to really really suck you can stop if you want.

R: 55:13.40

total: 2:23:43.10

Having Steve shadowing me and chatting really helped get me to the end. I'm glad that I finished but I don't think I will do this one again. I hate being critical of RDs or races, especially when it was free for me, but I just didn't feel like things were very organized. The only support for directions on the bike course was the Lorain PD. They were awesome and cheering for people but I was surprised there weren't any volunteers on the course. Also, the only time you saw a sign on the course was at the actual turn. I often was slowing up at intersections to read the small street signs to see if this was one of the streets I was supposed to turn at. I was kind of annoyed that no mention of the bridge being closed was on the website or that an email wasn't sent out. Apparently, the bridge reconstruction was in the PD but I don't often read that paper so I had no idea until I got there. The fact that I saw 5 other cars on the way to the race going the wrong way means that I'm not the only one who didn't know.

Great job to all the CTCers that were there!!!! We had a great showing of participants and volunteers!!!