Pat Griskus Triathlon

aka, a lesson in confidence

On many levels.

This was a Saturday race that required an overnight stay and thus required me to get from work to CT with a stop at the bike store for gels using a route that was not entirely map quest endorsed (I wanted to take a less direct route to avoid city traffic).  Back in the day when I lived here and drove to and form school and had friends that were scattered far and wide I knew my way to everywhere I needed to go.  I never got loss or felt like I didn't know where I was.  Now that I apparently live, work and summer in the garden state I find myself driving more than I have in years and in parts of the state different than the ones I grew up in.  I always figure it out and I've never (NEVER) had to ask for directions but there have been some where-on-earth-am-I? moments.  Not to mention that I'm not the most aggressive driver.

Anyway, I made it to the race site in time for an evening check in with no issues and then had a nice solo dinner at the bar while chatting with some people who were also doing the race and just felt content.  I obviously would have been happy to have someone there with me but I was totally fine making small talk over a beer and a turkey club.  It was something different and made me feel grown up.  Sort of.

Race morning was uneventful (despite eating my oatmeal with a straw) - the race site was super close to the hotel which was nice.  We got there in plenty of time to set up transition and I wandered down to the beach to check out the swim course.  It was pretty.  The lifeguards were hanging out on the beach being briefed on how to guard us.  It reminded me of my lifeguarding summer and the quiet cool of the beach calmed me.

And then everyone else made their way to the beach and it was filled with adrenaline, neither quiet nor cool.

I put on my wetsuit and got into the water for a 5-10 minute warm up.  And before I knew it, Sara's dad took a pre-race photo and we were off.

The Swim -swimming with geese-es

What a difference 20 degrees makes.  Not being terrified by the cold  was nice.  I got in a bit behind the fray and just swam and swam.  And swam right to the first buoy.  And then I kept swimming to the second buoy which was a bit harder to see ... I've never been in a triathlon where there aren't smaller little yellow buoys in between the big orange ones that tell you where to turn, and while I have really good vision, goggles cloud and sun glares and its hard to know where to go.  Pre-race I identified a house on the horizon that helped guide me to buoy 2 but once I rounded that buoy I had no idea where I was.  So I swam, and swam and swam and realized I was pretty far off course.  So I swam and swam some more trying to right myself and found myself even more off course.  I kept swimming and a kayaker noted that I was doing well but sort of in no mans land.  Thanks, dude.  I kept swimming and made a WIDE turn at buoy 3 and then tried to take the most direct route to shore.  At one point I looked up to sight and realized that I did have a good line to the finish but then nearly jumped out of my wetsuit because there was a large object just to my right ... which I quickly realized was a family of geese.  And the geese aren't exactly hanging out in the midst of the pack of swimmers so I really was no where near everyone else.

At any rate, I focused on strong pulls and on kicking (I tend not to kick at all in the wetsuit but it obviously helps you go forward) and swam at race pace confident that I could go the distance and didn't have to go super slow just to make it through.  I finished in 40:xx minutes which I was pleased with considering the detour. 

I suspect I swam the Big Race distance, and if I didn't I was close and am not worried about the July 13th swim (as long as the waves cooperate, which I obviously can't control).

T1 - I hardly even remember this.  I was breathing hard from the run off the beach, got my stuff on and got out.  Post swim is the only time I'm not last in a triathlon and I try to make it last!

The Bike - "Take it as it comes and be thankful when its done."

My problem with the bike is that I either go All Out or Real Slow.  When riding outside I go All Out more often than not, so its hard to differentiate between racing and riding.  In addition, there were some hills with bizarre grades on this course and they tended to go straight up so you knew that while the bizarre grade might end quickly the overall up hill portion would go on potentially forever.

Not really knowing the course, I told my self that my only option was to "Take it as it comes and be thankful when its done."

I did take it (into a really low gear up all the hills) and, just shy of 2 hours later, I was thankful when it was done. And it left me confident that I'll be able to finish the Bike Race bike in 4ish hours (maybe?) - I'm hoping the hills are better.

T2 -  Can I get your autograph?

When I rolled in to T2 some triathlete was standing there cheering for everyone to transition well. At first I just thought she was enjoying some sports drink before she headed onto the run but then I started to suspect she had FINISHED THE RUN.  So, on my way out, I stopped to talk to her and confirmed my theory and congratulated her on coming in first.  Probably not the best use of my time!

The Run - Apparently what you don't know can't kill you.

I never really grasped that this was a 2 'loop' out and back UP A MOUNTAIN.  Had I known this I might have stayed in bed.  I made it though.  Down and up.  And then down and up again.  My run time of just over an hour makes me really, really want to Race a stand alone 10K.  And I think I'll be able to run most of the Big Race run at a decent (for me) pace.

Finished the run in 1:02ish for a total time of 3:42:22, which I'll take (not that there are a whole bunch of other options at this juncture).

So, the dress rehearsal for the Big Race is done - final push and then its time to head to RI.  Which, despite my new confidence, is still terrifying!