Big Nut Race Report

(I'll add more pictures as I get them...)

The Giant Acorn sprint triathlon (or Big Nut as TriGirls' call it) was a blast.

Some of us spent the night at TriGirl Jennifer's beautiful home. Jennifer, Lesley, Jennihoo and I met there Friday evening and headed to packet pickup. Packet pickup was uncrowded and simple. The swim course had been changed to move us into deeper water - Lake Anna has been very effected by drought conditions impacting the entire state of Virginia. With the buoys in place, 750 meters looked long. There were 650 participants so the transition area was large. We all found our spots in preparation for the next day. Jennifer and I were in the back with the other 40+ age groupers. We were close to the swim and run entrance/exits but pretty much as far away from the bike entrance/exit as we could be. Oh well.

There was a nice little triathlon shopping area set up, so we all indulged. I purchased Nuun electrolyte tablets (although I opted not to use them on race day since I've never tried them before) and some vanilla Gu, my favorite.

Then we headed to a great restaurant called Tavern on the Rail. The restaurant was a general store that has been converted and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. It was really cool. Jennifer made reservations in the bar area. Here we are waiting for some other girls:

Lesley, Jennihoo, Jennifer, me at the bar

Not a great picture, I know. But you should see how bad the other one is!

We opted to leave the bar area because a man hanging out by himself with a bottle of wine took a little too much interest in us and wouldn't stop talking. He continued to listen to our conversation for the rest of the night and seemed enthralled.

Jackie, Caroline, Courtney and Patty joined us shortly thereafter. We ordered a few bottles of wine and delicious dinners. We discussed lots of good girl topics, laughed frequently and loudly, and pretty much entertained everyone in the restaurant. Then we made the irrational decision to return to Jennifer's house and open more wine. In hindsight, not the wisest decision... but quite a bit of fun!

The younger girls proved themselves to be smarter than us old dogs, and they went to bed earlier. I finally got Patty and Jennifer out of my room around midnight and crashed hard. But you know when you've been hydrating all day and then had to much wine? I was up peeing all night and at some point, my head started a dull ache which prevented a good night's rest.

Thank goodness the race started at a civilized 10 a.m. We all struggled out of bed the next morning to a pre-triathlon smorgasbord of bagels, oatmeal, bananas and orange juice. Jennifer is such a great hostess! I choked down a few bites of oatmeal and some Advil, then we headed to the race sight.

Lake Anna Beach Marina is beautiful. The race changed the venue from a sleepy little country marina into a thriving triathlon community. Cars and racers were everywhere. We passed some cyclists and a few runners warming up on the course and marveled at their motivation. Ours was sorely lacking!

Is there a race report in here somewhere!?!?!? Perhaps now would be a good time to refill your beverage, grab a snack, and get comfortable. I appear to be on a streak.

We arrived at the transition area and set up our stuff. Jennifer lent me a bright pink tee shirt to mark my spot so that I could easily find it during transition. (Note to self: next time, remember flip flops and Garmin. Don't bring wine for the night before.) We caught up with other TriGirls Charlotte, Liz, Molly, and Lorene. Jennifer was body marked as age 25 because she looks so young and fit, but for some reason she insisted on having it changed. I think she could have pulled it off! I saw Erin with RTC and she told me to bring the TriGirls by their tent after the race for some beer and wine. That lifted our spirits (excuse the pun), Patty in particular as she was feeling the worst from the preceding evening of frivolity.

There was plenty of time for pre-race jitters since Patty, Jennifer & I were in the eighth and final wave (women 40+, Athenas, and relays) which started at 10:28. The water temperature had dropped four degrees since the last published reading to a chilly 76. It was a wet suit legal event. I have a wet suit but opted not to use it for the first time in a race. My brother-in-law Brent arrived just before the swim start, and I was thrilled to see a family member. Jennifer and I were the last two participants in the water, moving slowly and complaining loudly the entire way while those around us laughed at our silliness. We treaded water and chatted for a couple minutes, then the horn sounded and we were off!

.

Swim. Once we started swimming, I didn't notice the frigid water temperature. I concentrated on my race goals: swimming mostly freestyle, staying calm, and sighting well. The course was triangular and I made it to the first orange buoy easily. As I made the turn, I spotted Jennifer just ahead of me. I tried to catch her draft but kept hitting her feet. Assuming she would be annoyed, I backed off and swam my own race, spotting buoys and her frequently. At the second turn I called her name and we swam the last leg together. I was thrilled to keep up with her as she is a far better swimmer than I. We climbed out together, jogged up a few stairs and right to our bikes. Swim time: 16:58 (6th of 24 women in my age group).

.

T1. My goal in transition was to do them quickly as opposed to my usual lallygagging. I could have saved myself a few seconds by having my bike shoes unstrapped and open, but I think the extra time I took to wipe all the mud off my feet was well spent to avoid blisters or other problems later. As I left T1, I saw Jennifer's husband and daughter who waved and cheered - that was a nice surprise and boost. T1: 2:12 (11th/24)

.

Bike. I really wanted to have a strong bike. One disadvantage of an open water swim is that bike traffic is much more congested. This race started on a small hill with a section of poor road conditions. For the first half mile, I probably broke every rule in the book because the road was so crowded and bikers were all over the place. Once I cleared this first section, I started working my plan to ride hard the entire 12 miles. I knew there were three rolling hills at the beginning and I tackled them at a brisk pace. I sighted groups ahead of me and pushed until I caught them, then pushed to pass them. When I hit the rare open space, I grabbed a few sips of Accelerade then attacked again. Since we were the last wave, they were legitimate passes of either people out of the water before me in my wave or previous waves. I was constantly saying "on your left" and loving it. One guy passed me towards the end but I don't remember anyone else passing me.

Brent told me later that he watched our swim start then left to escort an official around the bike course on his motorcycle. After one loop, he dropped the official and roared back out to find me. But I was too fast for him - he spotted me just as I was finishing the bike.

I had a great bike and was really happy with myself for pushing hard and staying strong throughout. As much as I've talked about what a pretty course it is, I didn't see one bit of it yesterday. Bike time: 37:54 (19 mph, 6th/24)

.

T2: Nothing special here. I sat down to change my shoes and wondered if I would be able to get up again, but I managed. Grabbed my race belt, a Gu and my TriGirl visor and took off at a slow jog. T2: 1:37 (13th/24)

.

Run: I saw Jennifer's family again and got some much-needed encouragement. The run course started on the same small hill as the bike course but it felt much much worse this time. I reminded myself that this was good news for a downhill finish, but my legs were wiped. The next first half mile was a slight uphill, then we hit a turn for a slight downhill. I saw Liz finishing her run and Jennifer finishing her bike, both looking strong. My secret goal for this race was to "go podium" as Annnn calls it, but I knew that was dependent upon the field and entirely out of my control. I could just give it my best race. Three women in my age group blew past me in this first section, and I knew I didn't have it in me to catch them - much less stay ahead. I let them go along with my hopes of placing. Oh well.

Brent was waiting at the water station to capture what I'm sure are some frightening photos of me grabbing a cup and dumping water all over my head. It was probably a good thing that I forgot my Garmin because I focused on good form and basically putting one foot in front of the other the whole time. I saw every TriGirl at some point on the run and high fived most of them. A 46 year old man passed me just after the turn around and I paced myself with him for the second half of the run until he stopped at the water station. With less than a mile to go, I didn't stop. I saw Brent again - he cheered me on and said he'd see me at the finish line.

About 1/4 mile before the finish line, I saw Liz cheering in the TriGirls. Then I saw Jennifer's family again and finally the finish line. Brent was there snapping pictures. He's such a good guy. Run time: 26:42 (6th/24, 8:37 min/mi)

.

Post-Race: I turned in my chip then walked around to Brent and stretched. I babbled about how happy I was with my bike although I didn't know times for anything at that point. We cheered in the rest of the TriGirls and I think he got pictures of everyone. He is the new official TriGirl photographer!

Our next stop, not surprisingly, was the RTC tent for some beverages. I even had a beer and it was pretty good. The Virginia Triathlon Series runs a great event. They had burgers and Brunswick stew post-race. We hung out for a long time afterwards. Jennifer and I were among the last participants to get our stuff out of transition.

All in all, a great race. Congratulations to Patty for placing 2nd in her age group, even impaired by an evil hangover, and to all the TriGirls for a strong race. And many thanks to Jennifer for hosting us as well as for putting up with my pre-race anxiety. I'm happy with my results and learned a few more lessons. I will definitely do it again next year - although (hopefully) I'll wait to enjoy wine and late night socializing until after the race...