Over the weekend I competed in my first open water river triathlon. I’ve done an off-road tri that took place in a lake, but this and that were two completely different things.
Before I get to the race, I should tell you what happened before I even got to the race.
I was cleaning up/tuning my bike the day before the race. I cleaned the chain, checked the tires, and gave the bike a nice shine. As I was taking off the rear wheel, my derailleur came off. My first thought was, “What the heck?” It turns out that the bolt holding my derailleur hanger onto the frame was sheered off. I did what anyone would do in this circumstance and panicked. My fears were soon allayed with a call to Gonyo. He told me how to fix it and it was fixed in only a couple minutes.
Earlier that day I went to pick up my packet. I had to show an ID and my USAT card. I pulled out my card and it expired on 5/31/2009. They wouldn’t believe that I had renewed, so I had to pay the $10 daily fee and try to find my card at home. Apparently, USAT had sent me 2 cards that expired on 5/31/2009 and none that expired 5/31/2010. After 15 minutes of searching (USATriathlon.org website sucks), I found how to print my temporary card (had to use Google to find it). I showed this the next day and got my money back.
I also managed to grab the wrong number.
On to race day.
It was a really nice day for a race. It was cool in the shade and still nice in the sun. I hung out with Susan and her friends before the race started. We watched as the fastest swimmers in the Sport Group took off and were quickly pushed downriver. These being the fast swimmers, they adjusted and made quick work of the swim. Shortly after that, Susan’s group took off. I couldn’t tell which one was her, but they all looked good. In 7 minutes the first Sport swimmer was back. Sport did ½k swim while my group (full) did 1k swim.
I was paying careful attention to any swimmer that was slow, or visibly having difficulties. I’m not a good swimmer and I know that. I’ve only been swimming for 3 years and don’t swim often enough. I saw at least one person quit during the swim and I saw 6 or so others holding onto kayaks.
Before I knew it, the pros in my group left. They were fast. Seemingly only moments later the announcer said there was 30 seconds for my wave to start. I guess I should have been closer to the water because when they said that I had to hurry over to start. Because I was rushed, I didn’t get to rethink what I was getting ready to do and back out. On my way there I slipped and fell in the mud, as I did that my wave started. Here I am rushing to start and I fall and the next wave is trying to get out of my way so I can start late, what a goof!
I finally start swimming and I notice immediately the current is strong. It’s much stronger than the last time I swam in the river, over a year ago. I’m supposed to swim to the eastern tip (downriver) of Belle Isle. When I get in the water, I start swimming for the western tip (upriver), knowing that the current will drag me back. This worked for all of the other swimmers, but since I am so damn slow, it didn’t work for me. About halfway to the island between the shore and Belle Isle, I had to rest. I was exhausted, worn out, beat down, (add your favorite synonyms here). I found a kayaker close by and grab onto the kayak. James was his name, and we were fast friends. He tells me he will keep me in place, but won’t advance me since he doesn’t want me to be DQed. After 4 minutes I start swimming again.
I would repeat this cycle many times. Swim my ass off, take for a break, swim my ass off, take for a break…
As I was watching the swimmers in front of me, I saw them taking rest breaks just off the island where they could stand. I was really trying to aim for these rest areas. Unfortunately, I was too far downriver from them. There was another group behind me and they started passing me very quickly, even the slow ones. I watched where the slow ones stood up and I aimed for those places. After what seemed like hours, I made it to a place I could stand up just downriver from the island. This is where I first thought about quitting the race.
I was almost halfway to Belle Isle and I was worn out. I had a large section of water in front of me and honestly didn’t think I could make it. I thought about the people on shore looking at this goof getting passed by all of the swimmers that started after him. I thought about my wife looking on and I just couldn’t quit.
I jumped back in the water and swam hard. I guess I swam for 10 minutes before I needed another rest on the kayaks. After 2 minutes of rest I swam for another 8 minutes or so, more tired than the last break. As I rested on the kayaks I seriously considered quitting. Twice I said, “Eff it…”, but I didn’t add the second part, “I Quit”. I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t say those words. That’s not me, I’m stubborn and I don’t quit. I really wanted to quit, but I wouldn’t let myself say those words.
Around this time the guy whose kayak I was hanging onto told me I need to stop swimming towards the dam and swim towards the buoy. I gave him the no-sh#! look. That’s what I had been trying to do!
I started swimming again and a mega-super swimmer volunteer guy (Jason) came out to meet me. He is a really good swimmer and with flippers and hand fins, he really was a fish. I took another break and Jason told me to follow him. He said I was almost out of the current and he would point me the rest of the way. I did just what he said. I think he was doing the side stroke and I’m barely able to keep my head up following him. Finally he says, you can stand up here.
Never have I heard a better thing in my life! I stood up downriver of the buoy. All I had to do was walk up to the buoy and swim a little around it. I kept swimming upriver around the buoy and it was a lot easier. Then Jason said I could just keep walking because it was shallow. He didn’t have to tell me twice. I walked the last 200 feet to shore.
Once on Belle Isle you are supposed to run (I walked) up to the pedestrian bridge and then swim back across the river. When I got back to the water’s edge the Kayakers there told me to keep walking upriver as far as I could before swimming back. Just as I was getting ready to swim again, my right calf started cramping. At this point I was 36 minutes into my race and hadn’t had anything to drink and was dehydrated. When I told James my calf was cramping he said something, and because of the water in my ears and my swim cap, I thought he said I was done. I started to get upset because at this point I really wanted to finish the swim. I did the hard part, they can’t make me stop! Luckily he didn’t say that. So after I stretched I prepared to swim again.
There used to be a lower bridge across the James River under the Lee Bridge. The piers are all that’s left of that bridge. Between the first few piers the current is fast. Directly beside them the current is super fast yet behind them it’s calm in the eddy.
From pier to pier I swam my ass off. Jumping into the water and swimming at a 45 degree upriver angle, I still wasn’t able to hold my ground. Each time when I arrived in the eddy, I had to swim back to the pier. Once on the pier I would move around to the upriver side of it to jump back in the water. All through this section my legs were cramping. It really sucked, but I couldn’t stop, I had to keep moving.
Once I reached the third pier, the one with the tree growing out of it, I was told I could just swim directly to the shore and with the current’s help, get to the finish. James said I could even breaststroke the rest of the way back. And that’s what I did. I did the breaststroke and a relaxed freestyle and cruised back across the river. I still wanted to take breaks, but I didn’t and just kept swimming.
I came ashore and was exhausted. There was a volunteer there just for me. She helped me find my flip-flops – not too hard because they were the only ones left. I put them on and turned and saw Carrie and Alex. I’ve never been happier to see them in my life. I walked over and gave them both a good James River kiss. I have to admit that I got a little emotional at this point. Seeing them after what I had been through made me get ‘something’ in my eyes. It was a physically and emotionally draining event.
That swim was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. It was supposed to be a 1k swim, I know I swam a lot longer than that. My swim time was 54 minutes by my watch (official time includes running back to transition). Oh yeah, I was last in the swim.
Carrie told me that she was worried about me. She had looked and my bike was THE ONLY BIKE IN TRANSITION!!! How crazy is that? By the time I got to my bike there were Sport riders coming in and I had to run my bike around them to get out of the transition area. I ran into Dave “The Big Kahuna” in transition. He was directing me out on the bike. Into his walkie he said, “The last rider is coming out, get the sweeper to follow him.” I turned around and said to him, “Tell your sweeper I’m going to drop his ass.” He looked surprised, then laughed.
Because of my cramping during the swim I had to take it easy initially on the bike so I could take in fluids to prevent more cramping. From the start I was able to ride strong, but I couldn’t push it. As I got off the pedestrian bridge, I saw Cass and Brad; they seemed surprised to see me. When I saw Jessica on Belle Isle it looked like she was relieved to see me. Apparently, everyone was wondering where I was.
I stopped at the water stop at Reedy Creek. My water bottle was still frozen and I needed something more. Another rider dropped his water bottle there so they gave that to me. I finished that bottle after I entered Forest Hill Park (after about 1.5 miles) then I started to open it up on the bike.
I cleared Reedy Creek in both directions and that was cool. My sister, her husband and my nephew were all volunteers and cheered me on as I went through. Wow, can Kris yell!
I got up to the 42nd street parking lot and turned left as usual and then realized that the route was changed. I turned around and saw some woman running towards me. After a moment I realized it was Sarah. She stayed with me for a minute giving support and then I passed Dave, her bf, and sped up. I was feeling really strong on the bike at this point.
I floated through Forest Hill and didn’t have any difficulties. It was a better ride than normal. It’s possible that’s because I had a fully attached rear derailleur, but who knows.
Coming back out of Forest Hill my sister was once again yelling like a cat lady. She calmed down enough for me to hand off that empty extra water bottle. Through the tunnel I saw my nephew and brother in law and the upcoming rock face out of the creek. I wanted to make sure my nephew saw me clear that rock face so I sped up a lot and shot right up it. I hope he was impressed.
At 22nd street bridge I saw Snider. He had a few words of encouragement as I passed by. I think he said there were riders just ahead of me. I rode down the stairs and saw Ben at the bottom. I told him I was last and he said I was kicking butt.
I passed my first rider just after 42nd street Bridge. After that I passed another 9 riders.
When I got back to transition I saw The Big Kahuna again and said, “I told you I was going to drop your sweeper.” He looked at his watch and then at me again.
Susan was there to greet me as I came off the bike. She slapped me five and cheered me on. In the transition area the winners of my race were already packing up there gear, it was depressing. Then I heard Susan again and she helped me focus and got me back out of transition and onto my run.
The run was uneventful. I was able to keep a strong pace and ran everything but the hills. I passed back by Snider and he seemed to think I looked better this time around. I passed by Ben and told him I wasn’t last anymore and he laughed.
When I saw Jessica for the last time I’m Belle Isle, I told her I was walking the hills. She replied, “Yeah, walking the hills!”
I passed a few folks on the run, for the most part, there weren’t a lot of runners left on the course.
This was my hardest ever race because of the swim. The rest of the race was actually pretty good. My tri suit was awesome and kept me cool the whole time. I got a little chaffing from the zipper, but it wasn’t bad. My white shoulders and back didn’t do as well and I have the burns to prove it. In fact, my upper arms are burned except for where my number was, so you can still see my number on my arms. My arms are sore from swimming, and my feet from all the rocks in the river and that snuck into my shoes. My right knee is sore – I don’t know why – and my Achilles is still bothering me.
During my swim, I was sitting on a pier, catching my breath before I started out again. I had an audience of 3 or 4 kayakers around me. I told them this is going to be one of those things that I will look back on and will be really proud of accomplishing and I couldn’t wait to look back on it. Now I look back and I am really proud that I did it.
For all of you who use me in this sentence, “If Scott can ______ then I know I can do it,” please feel free to add this event to your list.
Thanks to all the volunteers and supporters out there for the race (in order that I saw them): Carrie, Alex, Cass, Brad, Jessica, Ben, Pete, Kristin, Sarah, Dave, Michael, Snider and Susan. And thanks to James and Rob the kayakers and Jason the Fish for getting me through the swim. And a special thanks to Xterra for coming back to Richmond! To me as a competitor, the race was of the same caliber it’s always been. Awesome job again!
I wanted to post my results, but Xterra completely hosed them up.
I think my swim time was 1:00:42. The second slowest swimmer took 34 minutes. By the time I finished they had blocked off the entrance for swimmers back into the transition area. So I ran across the exit to the run, instead of the entrance into the swim. They marked that time as my bike time instead of my swim time. I have no transition times and my run time was 2:54. My bike was actually around 1:32:00. I probably had 10 minutes total in the two transitions so my run was around 1:11:00.
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