What better way to get back into triathlon than to do a triathlon? At least that is what I hoped. My first road triathlon since limping across the finish line at the
Duck Bill Thrill. My second longest run since aforementioned limping (longest on pavement). The foot felt solid and I was comfortable enough in my swim/bike fitness to feel like I wouldn’t make a fool of myself. Cool.
Just to make sure, I rolled out my
Splish business suit for the occasion. And I meant business! This time last year I hit the line of the
Portland Tri during my most successful triathlon season as a professional, and arguably in my best 10K run shape ever.
And I got second. By six seconds. So this year, my race plan went something like this: Win.
Not a good goal, or a super realistic one, but at least one guaranteed to motivate me beyond my current fitness level and ensure that I had a little fun along the way. Kids, don’t try this at home. You can NEVER control who is going to show up on race day (Portland Tri 2008 is a good example). And you should never hang your race goals on the performance of anyone else… that said. I wanted to win, still.
The 7am (gasp) start necessitated a sleep over at friend Matt’s house in Portland. I dragged fellow former OSU triathlete Brendan Tracy along with me from Corvallis (carpooling to the race was in keeping with the sustainable "green" theme). After a completely uneventful packet pick-up, we headed to
Noodles & Company (my favorite) for some Pesto Cavatappi and giant rice krispie treat. It was still so early, and rather than go back and meditate at Matt’s apartment, Brendan and I went to see the new Tarantino Movie,
Inglourious Basterds. Nothing like a little blood and gore and word-class dialogue (not to mention “killing Nat-zies”) to get us pumped up.
5:18 am found us both eating granola cereal and frozen blueberries that we scored at the local Portland Co-op,
Food Front. I was afraid I would have to race caffeine-free, but an over-worked barista opened up the
Starbuck’s kiosk in the Marriot for the race (thank you, woman-in-green-apron!)
Aside: And Happy 20th birthday to Starbucks... Pacific NW customers get free coffee tomorrow morning! That's Aug. 27....
And we're back: I set up my transition like I had been doing it all summer… and courtesy of the intrepid young-man next to me, a large baby-powder mark in the grass indicated where I was at when running down the lane (incidentally, when he made said mark, a gust of wind powdered my entire transition, towel, shoes, race skirt, and bike… I smelled nice the whole race!)
The Swim
We were starting off a dock in the downtown Willamette River… and also exiting out of the water without a ladder onto the same dock. At the pre-race meeting, the organizer had tried to describe the acrobatic exit to the swim that would involve planting a foot on a submerged 4x4 piece of wood, grasping rope webbing like you see on pirate’s ships, and hauling yourself over the railing. I was slightly suspicious that this heeve-ho wasn’t going to be as easy as she described. So, as soon as we were cleared to go out on the dock after the first wave of men went off, I jogged down the gang-plank, jumped in the water and promptly swam back to practice my pull-ups. It wasn’t bad, but it also wouldn’t be pretty if more than two-three people tried to get out at the same time.
The start was excellent… I pushed off the dock at the 3-2-1-GO! Lucky me, as I started the far-away buoy I realized it was positioned directly in front of a bridge pylon. Extra cool, since the buoy was white and so were the 150+ caps of the guys I was trying to catch. I latched on to the feet of two red capped women before I noticed they were veering off the chosen path, no probem. We were coming into swim furniture at that point (sorry slower guy-swimmers... you rock anyway) and I decided to "stay the course". Sure enough as I rounded the turn, I was in front of both red caps (not for long). The way back to the dock was a bit more difficult, with swirling eddies around the bridge pylons that we crossed under and a slight current... but I still managed to hit the dock in second... my exit wasn't pretty, but it was speedy. I figured that I had a pretty fast swim. Confirmed by the baby-powder guy who transitioned right along side me... his comment "wow, that was fast". :-)
The Bike
This course rocks! It has 500 ft. of climbing on each of three loops, technical descents, and a flat and fast (especially in aero) approach to the transition that was lined with spectators. And it goes right through the middle of downtown Portland! I love city triathlons (I've raced in
Chicago and
New York City, never in downtown Denver, what's up with that?)... you have a real opportunity to show off the sport! What can I say?... it was fun. And thanks to Gordie at
Northwest Multisports, I was rockin' a pair of
Zipp 808s... the sickest tires that my
Orbea has ever had on it. Next to these things, my race wheels might as well have been made of wood. I don't think she (my bike is a she) will ever be the same unless I get her at least a pair of new
404s. Gosh, so demanding!
Anywho, I zipped (oh, so punny) around the course, leaning into the turns and trying not to pass too close to the racers that were obviously doing there first triathlon (the sprint race had a beginners only wave). I think I was a pretty considerate passer, except on one section that was on an open road. I apologize to this woman profusely. I thought you heard me say "on your left". I am so sorry if I freaked you out.... but must avoid cars!
The Run
At this point, I know I am in the lead (race plan is working!), but I have no knowledge about how far... and my most uncertain leg (I'm very punny tonight) was upon me. No where to go but on-ward. I pulled on my race belt and
"poser triathlete" hat, slid my feet into my
Brooks and eased into the run. First time for everything... the easing part. I decided to start off at a pace I know I could handle and build from there. The run was two loops with two bridge crossing per loop and long straight-aways along the riverside bikeway. There were two spots per loop were I could easily gauge if anyone was bearing down on me with me being to obvious. I took full advantage, but really I was just out there running my own race! I started with ~6:50/mile and gradually sped up until I was pulling in 6:25s with a very respectabe finishing sprint. Along the course I got a ton of comments on the suit, including "nice suit" "great tie" and "you look ready for the office". And thanks to the fact that I had my name on the front, people knew I was coming and could cheer as I passed.... I think I like that. Probably going to keep putting my name on the front in the future.
Afterward
The theme of this race was sustainable... participants could off-set the gas they used getting to the race with an optional purchase of clean energy. Everything was recyclable, compostable, post-consumer materials. My trophy for winning was a steel hull of a ship (cool?). The race shirts were made from bamboo. Even the finish line was "
living". Finishers received those cool aluminum water bottles. And I know this doesn't count as "green", but the post-race BBQ was excellent. And for all the doubters... The Freshwater Trust is trying to develop the
Willamette River as a recreational body of water. I'm sold! Woudn't it be cool to have regular swim competitions in the river as long as the bacteria levels are safe?
If you are in the area, come out and try it next year. The race seems as though it tripled in size from last year, to 580 people. That's classy. Here's you parting shot: 1-2 finish for
Splish ladies as
Courtney Brown hailed from Seattle and took a strong second place!
If you want to pics of the "business suit" in action click
here until October 15, 2009.
