Season Opener: Bassman Race Report

“Fifteen seconds to start,” the race director called through the bullhorn.

Hamming it up before the start of the race.

What the heck?

Only 15 seconds before he made this announcement, he had just let us enter the water. Now, about 100 of us had to make our way to the in-water start line, which was about 100 yards from the shoreline. Note to RD: It takes more than 30 seconds to line up 100 athletes at an in-water start.

I tucked my head into the clear water and gave a few fast strokes to get to the buoy line. John was right in front of me. We wound up being in the same wave together because the women and the aquabike competitors were starting together. John and I are NEVER in sight of each other during the swim. At an Ironman, he’s on the front line, and I’m not anywhere near the maul-fest of the front line of swimmers.

My coach had directed me to start right at the buoy line in the front row. Well, John took that position. So, I got right behind him.  With just moments to go until the Bassman half iron started, I fantasized about staying on his feet and having the best swim of my life. Team Crazy had the swim hot corner all locked up!

I prepared my mind to swim hard, and not let the rush of the line up get me flustered. The old me would be panic stricken by now. The new me took it in stride.

“Ready…set…go…” Sirens wailed to mark the start of the race.

Jeannie somehow managed to pick John out from the other swimmers.

About half of the people in my wave still hadn’t made completely into the water, so the swim start was very spread out. John took off like he was shot out of a canon, so no hope of drafting off his feet. Dang it!

After I passed the first turn buoy, I came upon a group of about 5 swimmers going at a good clip. I managed to stay with this group for the remainder of the race. The man I was behind was doing a fabulous job with sighting, so I had to sight only about half as much as I normally do.

As I came into the beach to finish the swim, I felt certain I had had a solid swim. In fact, I could have swum harder. (In my post-race talk with Vince, he said, “The swim – yeah, you should have swum harder.” Suffice to say, he is NOT letting me get complacent–and he shouldn’t.)

I saw John’s parents–Jeannie and John–on the shoreline as I came out of the water. I looked at their faces. They both seemed shocked to see me.

Exiting the water and into T1

Hmmm, I thought, that’s a good sign. That means I must be out of the water pretty quickly. 

I don’t wear my garmin when I swim, so at this point I had no idea what my swim time was. For the first time ever in my triathlon racing history, I cared and wanted to know. But, there was no way to figure it out. The RD hadn’t placed a clock at the swim exit, so I would have to wait.

I ran to my bike, and it was surrounded by other women’s bikes. Oh, yeah, that’s another good sign.

There was only one other woman in transition with me. She asked something about arm warmers, to which I replied, “We are about to go ride our asses off. We don’t need arm warmers.”

And, with that, I unracked my bike and ran out of transition. John’s parents were at the T1 exit.

“Any idea of my time on the swim?” I asked.

Jeannie replied, “We think you were the second woman.”

Huh?!  Come again? Was she talking to me?

There was no time for double checking, I had to get into the saddle and go fast.

I crossed the mount line, hopped on my bike, and said to myself, “Let’s see what’s under the hood, girl.” In answer to your question: Yes, I really do talk – out loud – to myself while racing.

As I started the bike, I looked down at my heart rate monitor. My heart rate was high, a little too high. But, this is typical for me after the swim. I just had to relax, and let myself settle. Within 15 minutes, my HR came down to where it needed to me.

“Okay, let’s keep it steady right here, girl.” More self-talk.

Even though I recently purchased a power meter, I haven’t used it enough to really get a sense of what numbers are “right” for me. So, I opted to hide that information, and pay attention only to heart rate.

I do NOT look at any information that would give me a sense of how fast I am going–it only flusters me. Speed is the least reliable indicator of effort because it is so easily affected by environmental factors such as wind and hills. My heart rate, on the other hand, gives me a sense of my effort, and helps me keep my pacing in check for the duration.

The Bassman bike course is two mostly flat loops, that brings the total course distance to 57 miles. No, that is not a typo. The bike course is officially 57 miles–not 56 miles. It’s set in the Pinelands of New Jersey, on country roads, most of which have wide shoulders, and in the places where there is no shoulder, there is very little car traffic. I know this course very well – I ride these roads every weekend. For me, knowing the course is a huge advantage because I can more easily determine a proper pacing strategy.

Jeannie & John were nice enough to bring Bella for the day. She crossed the finish line looking good! Hahahaha!

At one point during the second loop, I was passed by a full paceline of racers, about 15 cheaters deep. There were so many of them, I thought it had to be people out for a group ride. But, nope – all of them had race numbers on. After the first three passed me, I said, “Wow – just wow! That is some blatant cheating. This isn’t ITU!”

One man commented, “Hey, it’s free speed.”

I replied, “It’s CHEATING!”

As the caboose of the paceline roared past me, I couldn’t help myself: “You guys should be really proud of yourselves! You are doing an awesome job of cheating!” To which the man at the end of the line responded with the middle finger. Classy.

I should not let myself become so bothered by this. I haven’t done a race yet where there aren’t people cheating in some way. It just irks me–especially when those cheaters get an award at the end. ‘Nuff said.

My plan for the bike was to avoid blowing up, keep the effort steady throughout the two loops and set myself up for a solid run. While I didn’t blow up, I did punch the bike “higher than my pay grade”–to use Vince’s words. Unfortunately, I had several spots–at least 26 times according to Vince–where I spiked my effort too high. This affected my overall power, and my ability to run the best I could. Valuable lesson learned. The good news is that we have this power data now, and I can apply it to execute my next race, which is Rev3 Quassy on June 3.

I had really wanted to do a 3:04-ish bike, but wound up with a 3:09. No doubt, if I had been a bit more disciplined to keep my effort steady, I could have gotten closer to that 3:04 goal. I will crack the cycling code this season. I.WILL.

I spent a little over a minute in T2, and came out of transition with a big smile on my face. I pull on my lucky green visor, slip on my sneaks, and become a runner. I’m in control of my destiny now. No flat tires. No mechanical failures.

Just my heart beat, my legs, and my willingness to suffer.

I had been passed by several women on the bike, and I had to get to the business of methodically running each of them down. I really like the Bassman run course. About half of it covers trails within the Bass River State Park. Some of these trail sections have some soft sand, which makes for a bit of slow going. But, for the most part, the trails are firm dirt. There’s almost no traffic, and it was possible to run the course very tight to the turns. Even so, it still measured 13.4 miles on my Garmin. The race director lists it as a 13.2 mile run – again, half iron plus a bit.

Within the first mile, I saw another female ahead of me on the trail.

“Okay, stay calm. You have 12 miles to run her down,” I whispered. I didn’t need 12 miles; within a 1/4 mile I passed her, and saw another woman just steps ahead.

I was feeling good, but I could tell the bike had sucked some of the power from my legs. Even still I was running an average of 7:53 min/mile, which is the fastest I’ve ever run in a half ironman.

As I passed the mile marker for mile 9, I saw another woman. Because there were a series of out and back sections, I was able to count how many women were in front of me. So, by this point, I knew I was either in 4th or 5th place – overall.

My first thought when I realized this? HOLY SH*T! 

Just before we got to the marker for mile 10, I passed the woman. She asked, “Are you at mile 10, too?”

If you’ve been reading this blog long enough then you know that I love friendly competition. I smiled, and replied, “Yup.”

I worried that she might make a move to keep up with me. So, I picked up the pace, and kept it there for the final 3 miles. At this point, I figured I was safe to let my heart rate climb into the 160s, and I begged my legs to give me some power. They were very reluctant.

As I came into the final stretch, and a volunteer said, “Outside lane if you are finishing. Middle lane for your second loop.”

I smiled. This is it, baby!

I rounded the corner and saw the clock: “5:34:XX.”

“Shit!” I said out loud. I had really, really, really wanted to go sub-5:30. It didn’t happen.

I crossed the finish line, and John was right on the other side of it.

“I think you are the 3rd or 4th place female,” he said.

“Overall?! I was counting, but I wasn’t sure,” I replied. This eased the disappointment of not making the sub-5:30 goal. That and the fact that this time is still a 7 minute PR over my previous best – despite the extra mileage on the bike and the run. And, my swim time was a 2 minute PR over my previous best half-IM swim.

John coming in for a 2nd place overall finish in the Aquabike.

I had to wait about 30 minutes until my results were posted to the wall. I walked over – wondering, is it possible I’m in the top 3?

John said, “Even if your 4th place, don’t be upset.”

Upset?! Is he kidding? I’ve never even been in the top 10. I’m pretty sure I can handle 4th place.

I found my name on the list, put my finger to the paper, and ran it horizontally to the end, where the overall finish place was located.

“Gender place: 3.”

I smiled in disbelief. I was the third place female overall? I looked again. It still said “3.”

Which of these women is in complete shock to be there?! The smile on my face cracks me up! I think I may have strained a neck muscle from smiling so big.

The woman who won, Tara Rasch, is John’s coach from QT2 systems – a true beast of triathlon, and an incredibly kind person. As she took her rightful place as queen of the day, she said “Awesome job, Maria! You really worked hard for this.”

“I just can’t believe I’m here. It probably won’t ever happen again – so I’m sucking it up!”

Two days after the race, the fanfare has passed, and it’s time to get back to reality. I have aggressive goals for this year and next year. Vince gave me some tough love during our post-race chat. While it stung a little bit, I know he’s right. I didn’t swim hard enough, and I was not steady on the bike. The numbers don’t lie.

The good news is we can fix both of these problems relatively easily – especially now with the help of my handy-dandy power meter. Luckily, I have two more half-ironmans (that are truly 70.3 – instead of 71.4) before Ironman Mont Tremblant to test my progress.

In the meantime, I will continue to whittle away at my limiters. I will continue to be the athlete I need to be. And, I will continue to be thankful for being blessed with the ability and opportunity to live this endurance life.

Double bling day for Team U-Crazy!!! And, my first triathlon trophy. I like to cuddle with it on the couch. 

 

 

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