raceday...

Lake_anna_summer

i feel compelled to let those of you interested how it went sunday - lets just say it was something i'll never forget.

4:30AM one of 3 alarms go off but i really didn't need it as i was up every hour on the hour waiting with anticipation. although this time i actually almost talked myself out of it. "do you really want to get up, drive 2 hours, race in the rain, then drive home?" there was a 10 minute battle but then i finally got out of bed. the car was already packed, all i had to do was shower and take wyatt for a walk. i turned on the weather channel to check the forecast: thunderstorms. great, this should be fun.

you know when you're driving and the windshield wipers are on its' fastest setting? and you still can't clear the rain? well, that was sunday morning, 5AM, pitch black. i went to dunkin donuts for my prerace ritual: 1 medium coffee, no sugar, lite cream, 2 bananas, plain bagel with cream cheese on the side...ah, breakfast of champions.

lake anna is in the middle of nowhere and of course, i'm the first one there by about an hour; so i listened to some npr and tried to rest a bit. the rain is still coming down and it still hasn't hit me that i'm about to do a tri. the cars start to show up about 7:30/8:00, the area is starting to come alive and it sounds a little cliché but the electricity was building but perhaps that was just the thunderstorm?

i was amazed how comfortable people were in the rain. some were drinking their coffee just chatting away as it poured on them. others made final adjustments to their bikes in the rain - not me, i remained in the car to stay as dry as possible. i did however, head off to the transition area to drop off my bike and to stake claim of my area but i quickly jogged back to car, what can i say - i'm sugar, i'll melt.

8:30am, 9:00am, 9:30am - guess who is still in the car? the race is in 30 minutes and i'm still just hanging out, making final preparations:

The_many_uses_of_duct_tape

and by final preparations i mean taking care of some blisters i received during a random flag football saturday.

okay, time to get wet. i take my duffle bag which is in a garbage bag and i sling it over my shoulder like santa clause. luckily there was a mens room so i was able to struggle to put on my wetsuit in a somewhat private setting. i make my way over to the transition area, meet a couple of my neighbors, one was from baltimore, the other from shirlington. it was at that point that i noticed they stuck me with the "big" boys. which is the clydesdales, the men that are 200lbs+. thats okay by me, they'll just make me look faster right? so i get the bike in order, my running gear in order, finally zip up an extremely tight wetsuit and i’m ready to go. that took about 10 minutes. it was at this point i realized how bad i needed to use the mensroom. i must have been drinking water all morning and now i really need to take care of this situation. i can't, i'm all zipped up, i'm about to start, i'll just deal with it once i'm in the water. *wink*

the beach was packed, i think they said almost 800 people were registered? the first wave was the professionals, the white caps. i was the 7th wave with the big boys and we were actually still on the beach when the pros finished, their time? about 9 minutes - thats fast, real, real fast. anyway, the green caps and i ease into the water which was cold. i put on my newly purchased hoodie to keep my head warm, throw on the fat guy green cap, secure the goggles and....damn, its cold! i mean its april and i'm standing in a &*$@ing lake. the horn blows and we all run into the water, then we continue running, and run even farther; it felt like 50 yards out and i still wasn't swimming simply because there wasn't any room. finally i just did it and plundged into the murky water. holy #!@$! this is cold! i can't feel my toes! i can't feel my fingers! face? whats that? lips? nonexistent. i chug a mouthfall of lake annas finest. remember your training! breath! one, two, three, breath, one, two, three, breath! no wait thats not it...its exhale, two, three, breath, exhale, two, three. okay i've got my rythym, i'm moving pretty good, i'm passing people, this wetsuit is really buyouant. i'm on top of the world.

i'm halfway through the swim and i notice a very slight tug from underneath my chin. its my cold weather hoodie. it seems to be getting tighter. its getting way too tight, okay i'm starting to panic! i can't breath this thing is going to kill me! i turn over on my back, rip my goggles, my swim cap, and chuck the hoodie with disgust. i put back on my swim cap and goggles and started back at it - so much for the 30 bucks i just spent on it. the rest of the swim was pretty uneventful, very crowded, but i think i did above average. i made my way to the beach, started unzipping the wetsuit and jogged up to my bike and my garbage bag full of clothes.

Swim

it felt like it took at least 20 minutes to get off my skin-tight wetsuit but to be honest i wanted to catch my breath a bit and make sure that i keep the rest of my gear dry. ok i hop on white-lightning (just made that up) and begin to crank like i’ve never cranked before. my legs feel pretty strong, i’m a little winded but that'll go away here in a minute. ah yes, its april, i'm in the middle of a thunderstorm and i'm on a bike with tires less than an inch wide - this should be interesting if i meet any descents. okay, so i'm not one to brag by any means, i did just okay in the swim, i was slow as molasses on the run (more on that in a bit) but on the bike: forgetaboutit. men, women, children, get the hell out off the tracks, the train is coming through. "on your left", "i'm coming up beside you", "on your left", "right behind you" 1,2,3,4,5,6 just shredding people. there’s nothing more gratifying than seeing a guy decked out with a $2500 bike, probably $400 in bike gear/uniform and little 'ole me with my penn state mesh shorts, and my helmet from my 7th grade rollerblading phase scream by people. i think i was only passed by one person during the 20 mile sprint. it was crazy, i got stronger and stronger with each mile although i still had to go to the bathroom! i never went in the lake, i forgot! i was soaking wet and actually considered it on the bike but was too grossed out. there was one decent where i hit 37mph. i remember thinking: geezus brian, you're 3 feet from the wet cement, your brakes are useless, its a torrential downpour and you're refusing to take it easy - what's wrong with you? i didn't care, i just tucked into a draft position and tried to go as fast as i could.  the last 2 miles was a long uphill climb. "on your left", "coming up behind you", "on your left." i wasn't tired, my legs were numb but were still cranking like two pistons - little did i know they would be goo by the time i started to run...

Bike

long blog huh? i needed to capture the essence for my readers so ha! :oP

take your time here bri, this is your worst event, put on your brace, lace up your shoes correctly, try and get a good calf stretch, grab your water bottle and get crackin. nope! it was more like this:
shoes! where are they?! socks! i need dry socks! there they are! okay, now what!? i need to sit down! i can't its too muddy! sit on a towel! okay! sitting! shoes! okay, lace 'em up right! dont have time! tie, tie, tie! shit! forgot my brace! take off your shoe and put on the brace! no! no time for the brace! put on hat! water bottle? got it! running belt! got it! what else? what else? what else!?

okay lets do this, ah man i soooooo have to go to the bathroom....UGH! i got about 25 yards into the run and i felt a pain like i never have in my life right here:

its my damn tibialis anterior, and on both legs! holy smokes, i'm going to cry this hurts soooooo bad! look how slow you're running, this is a 10 minute mile pace, what’s wrong with you!? should i stop and stretch? should i quit? ouch, step - ouch, step - ouch, step. please go away, please! i think i could walk and go this slow. ah nothing like a brisk run mid april in a thunderstorm. okay, dont think about it - just think about breathing. whoo, whoo, heee, whoo, whoo, heee...whoo, whoo, heee, we, will, we, will, rock you, heee. whoo, whoo, heee, we, will, we, will, rock you, heee...at least people are still on their bikes so that made me feel good. this lady had a 43 on her right calf (indicating age) and was keeping a good pace so i decided to stick right behind her for the rest of the run. we talked a little towards the end but with a half mile left, i told her good luck and that i needed to go another gear. and i did, legs were still killing, but i had to go 110% and finish strong. "from arlington, va - 28 year old brian hensal" i crossed the finish line, gave a thumbs up, turned in my timing chip and walked over to my bike and realized that i wasn't even out of breath. i actually remember during the last half mile thinking, i could run another 3 miles right now even though my legs feel broken. i remember feeling pretty upset that i didn't run all that fast but was happy to sit in the rain by myself and massage my legs. the best way i can describe the pain is to picture someone taking the end of a flashlight (random, i know) and grinding it into the outside region of your leg as hard as they can for 20 minutes.

Run

so i skipped the post game party, the pasta lunch, the awards ceremony, and loaded up the truck and headed home. i asked myself, why do you do this? i came up with the following:

a. i love the encouragement from the fans, and other competitors during the race. i even remember passing people on the bike and saying: "great job", "keep it up", "looking good."
b. i love setting a goal, working towards it, and then achieving it - even though i thought otherwise 1/2 through the swim when i thought i was going to choke and die.
c. above all i think i really just miss getting butterflies in my stomach.  i used to get them all the time when i was younger playing competitive sports, and this probably sounds weird but its a combination of adrenaline, nerves, stress, anxiety, anticipation, all rolled up into one feeling and its a euphoric release once that horn goes off.

so that is my long ass race day blog; hopefully you get a feel for what was going on - i'm sure i'll have some pictures by the end of the week.

have a good one.

-bhensal