Chesapeake Man Aqua Velo Distance: 2.4 mile open water swim in salt water, 112 mile bike. I followed it up with a 6 mile run just to see if I could do it. Goals: To swim in 1:12 or under. To hold an 18 MPH AVG on the bike and to run at least 5 miles at a 10 minute per mile pace. These are my goals for Beach 2 Battleship on November 7, so they were my goals today. Swim time 1:17:30 Bike Time, Official 6:07:07 (18.3 AVG MPH) Without my stop at mile 65, 6:06:03, (18.46 AVG MPH) Conditions: Swim was windy, wavy and very choppy. Bike was very windy and it got cold the last 40 miles. Food: Breakfast, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 large bagel, yogurt, banana, Gatorade and Water. On the bike, 1 Clif Bar, 3 Chocolate Gu’s, ½ a banana, about 20 Clif shots. Run, 1 chocolate Gu. Post race: 2 slices of cheese pizza, ½ of a chocolate chip cookie, Pepsi, water. Results: Lisa Myers and I both ended up 2nd in our age groups and we were in the top ten for the women in our swim. I did end up 9th overall for the women in the final Aqua Velo results. The Race I woke up at 5:45 on Friday morning to get the car packed and ready for the trip. After getting everything in the car, I said good bye to my guys and headed to my office to work for 20 minutes before picking Lisa up. Lisa and I got on the road around 7:30 AM. The trip went by quickly and we made it to our hotel at 1:30 PM. The hotel was beautiful and happened to also be the headquarters for the race. After checking in, we headed straight for the registration and expo. We looked up our numbers, I was 303 and Lisa was 380. We were surprised by how small the race was. They had a Swim Fest Race, the Aqua Velo and the Full Ironman distance. Total participants for all three races were 441. After getting our numbers, we headed to packet pick-up where we got our official race packets in a very nice bag, a pair of socks and 3 technical tee shirts. All the great gear we received and how nice everything was for such a small race shocked us. The Expo consisted of a local bike shop and two tables of gear. Not too much to see there, but that was ok. I didn’t really need anything. Then we marked our gear bags and headed for lunch. The Restaurant was great. We had crab dip and crab cakes for lunch, and then we headed out with our bikes to the transition area. Great Marsh Park wasn’t far from the hotel. It was a really nice park and the starting point for the Famed Eagleman 70.3. We unloaded our bikes, got them inspected and racked them. Afterwards, we decided to scope out the swim. The waves were big and everything was choppy. The buoys were already out and a couple people were swimming. It barely looked like they were moving. Needless to say we were hoping for better conditions for Saturday morning. (We wouldn’t get better conditions. In fact, I think they were worse). After talking to several athletes and discussing the courses and watching Lisa salivate every time she saw a Cervelo bike, we decided to head back to the hotel. I was hungry again and grabbed some food in the room. We went for a walk around the hotel and on the small beach they had. We even saw some crabs. Then it was back inside to get to the pre-race meeting. On the way into the meeting, we picked up our timing chips. Lisa put hers on her ankle right away. I just held onto mine. The meeting was 45 minutes long and was very informative. It answered all our questions about parking and shuttles and our race day bags. After the meeting we went back to the same restaurant for dinner. They had a buffet with rice, pasta, chicken, salmon, chocolate moose, cookies, and homemade rolls. We ate all we could, talked to some more athletes around us and called it a night. Back in the room, we got our race day bags together, our race food and our numbers on our helmets and race belts. Lisa fell a sleep early. I finally fell a sleep around 10:30 or so. Slept ok, not really. Lisa woke up at 4:30 AM. I was up around 4:45. We packed everything up and headed downstairs to get some food. Lisa probably thinks I have a tape worm because of all the food I eat. I bought two hard boiled eggs, a banana, a large bagel, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some yogurt. Lisa had a powerbar and some Gatorade. Lisa checked out of the hotel and we headed for the car and for Transition Area 2 at the local High School. We arrived at T-2. Found a good parking space that neither of us would forget, grabbed our gear bags and headed for the shuttle bus to take us to the start. The start area was like all other triathlons. People wandering around, standing in line for porta potties, people eating, some people resting and listening to music, others just milling around the transition area. I headed straight for my bike. I got my tires pumped up and checked my brakes and my components to make sure nothing crazy happened to it over night. I placed my water bottles on the bike and decided to go through my gear bags again to make sure I had everything I needed. Meanwhile, my bike pump was being passed around the transition area by a lot of people. I didn’t mind sharing and helping people out. As I waited, I ate my yogurt and banana. I ate the bagel and eggs in the car. Drank some Gatorade and water and found my bike pump again. I went over to see Lisa and see if she needed my pump and left it with her. Then it was into the porta potty line with everyone else. At this point I was getting nervous. I had been trying to not look at the water all morning, but people were already talking about the conditions and what a tough swim we would have ahead of us. After getting through the line, it was time to get the wetsuit on. Each time I’ve put it on this year, it’s gotten more comfortable. Probably from the weight I’ve been losing lately with all these crazy miles. Perhaps I’m just getting used to it. Not sure which it is. I thought about getting in the water to warm-up, but figured swimming 2.4 miles would be enough today. I dropped off my warm-up bag. Hung up my bike transition bag, and put on some old socks to keep my feet warm for as long as possible. They announced 10 minutes to the start and I heard the National Anthem being played. Afterwards, I did see Lisa again, but only briefly. We got some last minute swim instructions. We watched the guys on the wave runners ride the course and I remember the guy beside me saying how long it was taking the wave runners to do the course. I looked up at him and smiled and he said, “All I have to do is survive the swim”. He looked like he just saw a ghost. Hopefully he survived the swim. Then we were all told to head for the water. I kept looking for Lisa, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. Once in the water, we had to swim out to an orange buoy to start. We had to tread water for about 3 minutes when they announced 20 seconds to start. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach and actually thought to myself, “What have you gotten yourself into?” The gun went off and over 400 people started in a mass swim. Arms and legs were flying everywhere and the first straight away of the swim went by quickly. I just kept thinking this is way too easy right now. I was right. We made the first turn and when I went to site the first time on that turn, all I could see was a wall of water in front of me and then I ended up with a mouthful of salt water. Yuck! I did my best to ride the waves, but I had no idea where I was going, so I just followed the crowd of people in front of me. I kept my head down and tried so hard to swim through the waves and then I finally saw the next orange buoy, the sign for the next turn. I was hoping when we made this turn and headed back to shore, things would get better. They didn’t. They got worse. At this point, I couldn’t see where I was going, so I continued to follow the people in front of me. Bad mistake. Everyone was swimming off course and kayakers were now directing us left. I finally saw a yellow buoy way off to the left and thought how did we gat that far off course. I put my head down and started swimming, but every stroke I took, it felt like I got pushed back 5 feet. I absolutely hated this I thought. Then it got worse, I kept feeling slimy stuff in the water. What was I touching? Then I saw one, they were jelly fish. I got a bit freaked out. That’s all I needed was to be stung by a jellyfish. I tried to shorten my stroke under the water, thinking I wouldn’t hit them anymore, but they were everywhere and they didn’t seem to be stinging, so I went back to my normal stroke. I finally made it to the yellow buoy and I could see the tree line and the big bridge in the distance. I thought I was swimming in the right direction, but again I was too far right into the triangle. Afterwards, I found out Lisa was having the same problems. Again a kayaker yelled at us and told us to move left. That’s when I saw the next yellow buoy and noticed all the boats and kayakers along the left side. Note to self, swim to those on the next loop. I got to the next yellow buoy. Still getting pounded by waves. Trying to breathe as far back by my shoulder as I could to avoid drinking the salt water, but nothing was working. The waves were too high over our heads and all you could do was swim through them and try to breathe without drinking the water. I kept moving through the water the best I could and finally made it to the orange buoy. I made the sharp right turn and headed back to the start for loop number 2. I looked at my watch quickly to see how long that loop took. 39:51. Almost 40 minutes for the first loop. I wasn’t happy about it and decided I would do what I could to just stay on course and have a better second loop without being completely exhausted when I got out. The start of the second loop was comforting. I took full advantage of the current behind us and just kept my head down and swam. When I made the turn, I tried not to fight the waves and figured out a better way to ride through them and I seemed to get to the next orange buoy a bit faster. After the turn, I just started looking for boats and headed for them. It was still tough to site through the waves and I could now feel my lower back hurting from trying to look over the waves and I could feel my wetsuit digging into the back of my neck. I forgot my body glide, but honestly, I’m not sure it would have helped. I seemed to be staying on track more and thought about picking up my pace, but figured I’d be better off saving my energy for the 112 miles ahead of me on the bike. Besides, I already knew my time wasn’t going to be great for the swim and how much time would I really make up at this point. So, I kept my stroke as comfortable as I could. I was still feeling the jellyfish in my hands and I also noticed I wasn’t keeping my hands closed in the water anymore. My hands were getting tired, one of my biggest issues when swimming. Unfortunately, my Lupus really bothers my hands and they get tired and sore easily and I could tell this swim was taking its toll on them. They were aching, but I tried not to think about it. I knew the last buoy was coming soon. Finally I saw it. It was close, so I started to kick a bit more and made the turn and headed to the boat ramp. I was surprised when I stood up that I wasn’t too bad. I got up the boat ramp, yelled out my number and a volunteer handed me my bike bag. At this point, the sun was bright in the sky and it felt pretty warm. I opted not to wear my jacket or jersey. I now know if the temp is under 70 degrees, I need to wear a jacket or jersey. I headed for the changing tent and heard Lisa say Joella, is that you? It was so nice to see Lisa out of the water with me. We talked a few minutes, as we got ready to go. I stuffed my pockets with my food. Threw on my helmet and socks and shoes. Said goodbye to Lisa and headed for my bike. As I passed the timing mat, I noticed the time being 1:21. I was happy with my transition time and found out later I had one of the fastest T-1 times of all the ladies. Under 3 minutes. The bike started off great. It was flat as a pancake and really fast. I was averaging 23 MPH and could have gone faster, but I didn’t want to push it too soon. I still had a long day ahead of me. Not smart. I should have pushed that first part just a bit more and I should have taken advantage of the tail wind while I had it. The first part was an out and back. 11 miles out and then we turned around. As soon as we turned around, I noticed my 23 MPH drop to 18, then 17, then 16. It just kept going down and I just kept pedaling harder. I just wasn’t going anywhere. I saw Lisa, we waved and I just kept my head down in my aerobars and I continued to ride. This section seemed to take forever and I was hoping we would turn soon and lose the wind for a while. We did and I was able to get back up to 20 to 21 MPH again. I held this for a very long stretch and was hoping the rest of the ride would be this nice and comfortable. I knew it wouldn’t be, but I was hopeful. Well, soon enough we had to turn again and with every turn on this course came a new adventure. At this turn came more wind. Not horrible wind, but there was wind. I was able to stay up over the 18 MPH pace I wanted to hold, but then we started into the Marsh lands and the wide open areas and the wind was everywhere. This went on for a long time and again you felt like you hit a wall. I was only thankful the sun was out to keep us warm. After a long time on this stretch, we made another turn and headed for some nice roads and less wind. I was able to ride harder and more comfortable again. It was probably around mile 40 at this point. This course was so flat and boring and despite the wind, I found myself day dreaming a lot and not paying attention to racing or riding hard. I needed to stay focused, but it was tough. For so long, I didn’t see any other participants. I was by myself and if it weren’t for the occasional spectator along the way and the couple aid stations, I would have thought I was just doing a 112 mile bike ride by myself. I thought about Lisa a bunch and wondered how she was doing and how she was feeling. I was hoping she was feeling as good on the bike as she did on the swim. As for me, I was fine. I felt good on the bike at this point. Not great, but good. I was just so sleepy tired, not physically tired and I was mentally tired already. If someone had given me a pillow on my aerobars, I would have easily fallen a sleep. I also could have fallen a sleep on the side of the road, either would have been fine with me. I started to wonder, was I really that tired or just bored out of my mind? Either way, it was tough mentally with no one around to talk to and nothing but flat roads and marsh land surrounding us. I continued on the nice road for miles, and then we had to make another turn on to a really rough road and the worse headwinds on the course. This part was painful. My hands that were already hurting were even worse now and staying in your aerobars didn’t work on this surface. For about 4 miles, it felt as if I was riding on rumble strips. The vibration was horrible and trying to get any kind of speed was not happening. I knew better roads would come, but when? How long did we have to put up with this? Soon I could see better road ahead. I saw a bridge with a small bump that wasn’t even equivalent to crossing the bridge in Harmony. I guess that was our one hill for the day. Over the bridge I saw a bunch of kids, probably a local Scout troop, riding their bikes and all wearing bright orange shirts. They all said hi and I waved to all of them. It was just great to see people. The nice road was refreshing. I finally got some speed back, then I saw a couple people in front of me and decided to catch them for something to do. As I got closer, I saw the one guy move way to the left of the road and I didn’t know why. Then I saw the huge puddle of water across the road. The tide in the marshes must have been coming in. The road was covered. I took the shallowest part, but I still got soaked as I pedaled through. Up ahead there were a couple more, but I could get around those without getting wet. We continued through the marshes and somehow a bug flew under my sunglasses and into my left eye. I had to take off my sunglasses to get it out and dropped my favorite sunglasses and managed to run them over with my back tire. I was not happy, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I had to ride without sunglasses the rest of the way. I continued riding. I was now at the 56 mile point. I rode it in 3:03. It would have been great to be under 3 hours, but I wasn’t riding as hard as I could and I knew I wanted to try and pick it up the second half. I started to pedal a bit harder. We were on nicer roads and the wind was better and I knew we would be back at the school in 10 miles or so. I could stop quickly there and get what I needed for the final 45 miles and use the bathroom. This part of the ride was nice and even fun at this point and I was thinking the last 10 miles to the finish on the next loop wouldn’t be too bad. Off to my left I saw a big pasture with about 10 Quarter Horses in it. I said hi to the horses and thought how nice it will be when the Ironman is over and I can start to ride Hershey again. I really miss my horse and riding. I kept seeing more homes and then made a slight turn near an industrial site and then I saw the sign for the City Limits and orange cones ahead. We were back at the school. The volunteers were yelling out our numbers. I didn’t pack a special needs bag. I did stop to use the bathroom quickly, grabbed a piece of a banana, more water and continued on my way. Back out to loop 2. Leaving the school was great. I picked up my pace and knew I wanted to try and get the last 45 miles in as quickly as I could, but still saving enough energy to get off and run afterwards. The first 6 miles were comfortable, but then we had to turn on one of those roads we all hated. The vibration again and the headwinds were just terrible. This stretch was only a couple miles and I knew the 4 mile stretch was still ahead of me. I got through this part more quickly than the last time. I actually cranked up my gears and stood up several times on this part. It was nice to just stretch out a bit and get into a different position. The aerobars were starting to bother my back and shoulders and I was still bored out of my mind and I could have fallen a sleep at any time. I got off the bad roads and hit the marsh land again. The wind was stronger this time than the last time around and I was trying to push as hard as I could. Only about 30 miles to go. I thought "I can do this for another 30 miles, I could push through the pain and the boredom". The wind felt as if it was getting worse and now the sun was gone and the clouds were getting thick. I was starting to get cold. I hate to be cold. This wasn’t good. Now I was really bored, so I put my head down; I started to count what animals I saw a long the way. 3 snakes, 1 turtle, 1 deer, lots of birds, and 1 crab crossing the road. I thought if I picked all these up, Zac would have a lot of fun pets at home, but where would I keep them on my bike and what type of snakes were they? Maybe they were poisonous. Yes, I felt as if I was losing my mind at this point. As I continued to daydream and thinking about all kinds of stuff, I heard a voice behind me say good job. It was the first person I had seen in a long time. It was a woman out for a training ride. She actually talked to me for a few minutes, which was nice and then she took off. She was only riding 30 miles. So was I at this point. 30 miles or a little less to go. I kept my head down in the wind and stood up and stretched more often now. My lower back was really starting to hurt and the pain in my shoulders was getting worse. I looked up ahead and I knew the turn with the 4 mile stretch of bad road was ahead. I was dreading this part for miles. Sometimes the worst part of loop courses is knowing what’s coming. Anyhow, I made the turn and hit a wall. The vibration started again and the wind was so strong. At one point I just sat up and started to yell. I was so mad and just wanted off the bike at this point. I’d be happy to run right now. Anything would feel better than this. Nothing seemed to be working on the wind, so I started doing some 2 minute intervals of standing up and pushing through the wind. This was the only way I could get up over 18 MPH on this stretch, but as soon as I sat down and lowered my gears, I would drop to 14 to 16 MPH. The wind was strong on this whole stretch and I was completely miserable. Then I saw the new road ahead and knew the wooden bridge would be coming up soon and so would some faster roads. I hit the bridge, got into my aerobars and enjoyed the slight downhill for 2 seconds and road hard until the first puddle. It was deeper than before and I rode through it carefully. I didn’t need to wipe out. Further ahead was the next one and it was across the road this time too. Then another one across the road and one more, just to make sure my feet were nice and wet. Well, at least it was something new and it woke me up a bit. So, the puddles were gone and I could start to ride fast gain. The water made me colder at this point, but I knew I only had about 12 or 13 miles to go. It would be over soon. Ok, on the first loop this part seemed so easy, but this next loop. Not so easy. The pain in my back and shoulders was worse, and I guess there just comes a time when you just don’t want to be on a bike anymore. I think I hit that point with about 20 miles left, but it was getting worse. I looked at my time and thought I might be able to be a little faster on this loop if I just push through this. No such luck. The wind had kicked up on this section and I was tired and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t hold a 20 or 21 MPH pace anymore. I had to settle with an 18-19 MPH pace. I started to see a couple more cyclists now. I passed a few and a few passed me. We all kept saying it’s almost over. I just kept looking at my computer and counting down the miles 1/10 at a time. I had nothing else to do at this point but pedal and watch the time and miles go by. Wonder how Lisa was doing. How is it possible we’ve been out here for almost 6 hours and I haven’t seen her since the swim? It would have been great to see her and to be able to ride with her for a while. Anyhow, there weren’t any friends on this course. I was just all alone. I looked up and saw the horses again. I knew I was getting closer. Then I saw the industrial site and the City Limits sign and then the orange cones. I was there. The High School was so nice to see and the volunteers and people were great. Everyone was yelling. They announced my number as I dismounted my bike and ran under the big balloon arch and across the timing mat. I was done. 7 hours 27 minutes to finish the 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike. I actually did 3:03 splits for both 56 mile splits on the bike. I was pretty happy about my consistency. A guy grabbed my bike and told me he would rack it for me. I kept my watch going. I wanted to use the restroom and head for my car and get my shoes and go and run. In the porta potty I could hear people yelling outside and then I heard a woman crying. I couldn’t understand what she was saying, but I knew she was in a lot of pain. I exited the porta and looked over. She was on a chair with a medic. She looked at me. I asked if she was ok. She said yes, she was just tired and her leg was cramping really badly. I went through the transition area. Grabbed some water and headed for my car. I got my shoes on quickly. Put a shirt on. I was still cold, grabbed my phone and headed for the road. People were yelling at me that I was running the wrong way. I had to explain that I was training for another race and not doing the full Ironman today. I headed to the main road and decided I would run to the hotel and back. It was exactly 2.5 miles to the hotel. This would give me 5 miles of running and a pretty good idea of what the Ironman would feel like. After getting out on the road, I called Scott and Zachary to let them know how I was doing. It was so great to talk to them. I was on the phone with them for the first mile or so. Then I hung up and called my Mom so she wouldn’t worry about me. Talked to her for a few minutes and then I was able to just focus on running. I have to say it felt good to run. Anything was better than the bike at this point. I wasn’t running quickly, but I didn’t need to. I just wanted to get the miles in. I enjoyed the flat roads on the run. Hated them on the bike, but on the run. I loved them. I kept moving and finally got to the hotel. I was holding a 10 minute mile pace. That was perfect and exactly where I want to be for the Ironman. I made the turn around and started heading back. I figured Lisa should be finishing about now if she held her 17 MPH pace she wanted to hold. I thought I would try to pick it up a bit and I did. Not much, but just under a 10 minute per mile pace. I got a text from my sister Jodi asking how my day went. She’s also training for the same Ironman in November and was doing a long ride and a run that day. I just decided to call her. It was easier. She road 113 miles and ran for 30 minutes and felt pretty good. She also said she couldn’t wait to get off the bike. We both felt the same way and she’s a great cyclist. I felt better knowing that a cyclist said they wanted to stop cycling. It wasn’t just me. I could see the school getting closer and headed in. I had people waving me through, thinking I was still racing. I ran around, looking for Lisa and made a couple loops around the parking lot and over to where we entered on the bikes. I didn’t see her bike racked and was hoping she was back. She had to be back I thought. I headed back over to the other end of school and saw another guy running. We started to chat. He was preparing for Ironman Florida, the same weekend as Beach 2 Battleship. We ran a bit longer. I looked at my watch. I had been running for an hour and should have had about 6 miles in. I stopped my watch. With all the miles and all the stops, it took me 8 hours 41 minutes and 39 seconds to do 2.4 miles of swimming, 112.2 miles on the bike and 6 miles of running. We saw the gymnasium and headed in for some much needed food and massages. I got into the Gym. Saw Lisa. She had a great day. 1:17:48 on the swim and a 6:27 on the bike. She finished in 7:48 and crushed her 8 hour goal she was shooting for. I was so happy for her. She was already signed up for a massage. I signed-up and went to get food. Pizza, a chocolate chip cookie, water and some Pepsi. It was perfect post race food. I really wanted chocolate milk, but this was good enough for now. I sat on the floor and stretched and ate and talked to Lisa and a bunch of other athletes about the day. We all agreed the swim was tough and we all agreed the bike was windy and boring and it got windier the second loop. We all couldn’t wait to get off the bike and there were even others who said they were falling a sleep on the bike. I guess I had a normal day for my first time ever swimming and cycling those distances. It was great. I wasn’t alone. It took a while to get our massages, but I’m so glad we did. The 15 minutes of massage and stretching were great and helped to get the lactic acid out of my legs. After the massage, we grabbed our bags. Got my bike and headed to the car. We packed up everything. Got a picture with our finisher medals and went to the hotel to shower and change. Back at the hotel, the shower in the women’s locker room was cold. I showered first and then hopped in the hot tub to get warm while Lisa showered. We packed up. Got in the car and headed for home. It was 6:00 PM. I knew I wouldn’t be home until about 12:30. I was right. It was a long day, starting at 4:30 AM and getting home at 12:30 AM and in bed at 1:00 AM. It’s funny to think that I was on the bike for the same number of hours it took us to drive. Crazy! Well, it was great to be home and to see Scott and Zachary. Even though they were both sleeping already. They surprised me with a home made apple pie they had baked for me. I would be having apple pie for breakfast, one of my favorites. Anyhow, I fell a sleep quickly and woke up at 7:00 AM the next morning. I got out of bed with out any pain in my legs. That was so great to experience. I figured I would be in a lot of pain, similar to the day after a marathon. I wasn’t at all. Overall, it was a great training race. I can’t say I feel as if I’m ready for an Ironman, but I feel like I’m almost there. Of course, I’m not sure anyone ever feels like they are ready for an Ironman, do they? I learned a lot during this race. The main thing is to stick closely to your goals. I feel if I had tried to push the swim or the bike any harder, then I would have had a tough time finishing my day. I stuck to what I wanted to do from the beginning and ended up being 20 miles short of finishing a full Ironman. I know those 20 miles will be tough, but I’m thinking this race has prepared me well. I learned that eating something every 15 to 20 minutes helps. Flat courses are very boring. Wind is just as bad as hills, maybe even worse. If it’s going to be less than 70 degrees, I need to wear a shirt or jacket on the bike. An Ironman can be a very lonely event and 112 miles on a bike is a really long way to go. As far as being sore. The only things that bothered me the whole way were my hands, my lower back and my shoulders. My neck also hurt from the wetsuit digging into my skin. Aside from that, my legs were great. Lisa and I had a blast. It was a well-organized race, but not sure it’s one I would do again.