Unlike the Ironman branded races I’ve done in past and will be doing later in the summer, this was a much smaller race with a field of less than 200. I always forget how much I enjoy community-run races because there’s a sense of hospitality that you don’t get at larger, corporate races. Registration on Friday took all of 3 minutes and the race packet included two of my favorite stocking stuffers, a 24oz water bottle and a pair of synthetic socks. Booyakasha (see Ali-G). After registration, I went on a search for food and had a hearty appetite for some pasta or rice. Being the adventurous person that I am, I decided against looking for a dependable pre-race staple like Olive Garden and instead used Google Maps to find some highly-rated local fare. I ended up at a nice Chinese Restaurant down the street from the race registration site and over-indulged on a tasty plate of curry chicken and rice. With a full stomach, I was off to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep after watching a bit of cycling on Versus for motivation.
On race morning, my pre-race ritual went off without a hitch. I arrived around 5:45am, setup my transition area and did a quick reverse warm-up of 10 minutes running, 5 minutes riding, and a 10 minute swim. After the warm-up, I had about 15 minutes until my wave began, so I tried to focus on having a strong start to the swim to begin my race day. The swim was two triangular 750m loops, ITU style, in the Potomac. The first leg of the swim required that we swim perpendicular to the current to get to the first and second buoys. This called for constant sighting and adjusting and I was able to do this surprisingly well, albeit slowly. The rest of the swim went smoothly and I finished feeling excited for the bike and run ahead. The bike was uneventful and it was a nice change to only have to ride ~25 mi after all the long rides I’ve done this year. After looking at my times for each discipline, it turns out that this was the fastest 40K I’ve ever done in a race, so all the riding is really paying off. A-yayee-yayee (see Ice Cube).
After the bike, I had a smooth transition and hit the fast and flat run course. My legs felt really energized for the first mile and I thought that I’d be in good shape for an overall PR. Unfortunately, the Chinese that I ate the night before decided to speak up and slow me down for the next mile and a half. Fortunately, I passed a port-o-john and was able to eliminate the problem in about 54 seconds. :) The remainder of the run went much better and I ultimately crossed the line within about 2 minutes of my Olympic distance PR. I would definitely consider doing this race again, though I would try to stay at the race hotel and find a tried-and-true pre-race meal.
The day after the race, I was informed, by my wife, that the writer of one of the blogs that I follow attended the race and posted some pics that he took during the day. Lo and behold, he managed to get great pick of me near the end of the run. Good shooting Rainmaker!
