Rain and the Grand Rapids Triathlon
Posted by Samantha Kennedy on Wednesday, June 17, 2015
My goal today was to get this blog about the Grand Rapids Triathlon
done, so here goes! First of all, I want to address the penalty that I
mentioned in my Facebook status because I want to get that out of the
way and then move on! I have run into this problem before, as I think
many fast women have as well. There are some men that just don't like
being "chicked." This same situation had already happened a few times in
this race, but shortly after the turnaround, it was happening again. I
passed a man and shortly after, he passed me back. It is then my
responsibility to drop out of the draft zone, which I did. But he
slowed down, forcing me to almost stop pedaling to fall out of his draft
zone before passing him again. Not long after, he passed me a second
time, but this time after he pulled ahead, he slowed down
significantly. I was soft pedaling, but because he was moving so much
slower at this point, it took some time so I even moved to the side a
bit (called staggering in the pro field), so the wind resistance would
also help to slow me. I waited until he was 5 bike lengths ahead of me
(that is the distance I am used to from racing pro), before getting back
to work. Just then, a marshal pulled past me and I saw her writing.
My heart sank, I knew she was going to penalize me, even though I saw no
other way than slamming on my brakes to get out of the man's draft zone
quicker. Also, she had clearly made up her mind that she was going to
penalize me before she had even drawn even with me. How could she
properly see the spacing from that far behind me? You can't contest
drafting penalties because they are a "judgment call," but I spoke with
the head referee anyway. I take solace in the fact that it was clear
that he was very close to overturning the penalty, but finally decided
that if he overturned mine, then he would have to overturn them all. I
do agree with this and I understand and respect where he is coming
from. As my dad says from my soccer days, there are a lot of judgment
calls! I have certainly gotten yellow cards playing soccer that I
didn't deserve and there have been many times where I haven't gotten a
yellow card when I definitely deserved one! In my soccer playing days,
I had a reputation for being... well, rather physical despite my
smaller size by soccer standards! So, at the suggestion of my wise
husband, instead of focusing on being upset by the penalty, we focused
on finding a solution instead. The 3rd wave of the Olympic distance
consisted of all the women (except the MECTC women), which means the
women racing for overall titles were behind all the men. This sets the
women up for the difficult situations I found myself in! The solution
that I can see is to have either an elite wave for men and women go
first, or to have a wave of women under age 40 go in a 2nd wave.
Whew!
Okay, now we can get to the race! Of course, it was raining again.
Because I literally cannot race in decent weather this year! I did my
early morning warm up run in a downpour, but honestly didn't mind that
much because it was warm and all you can do is smile and laugh! Setting
up transition was like setting up in a puddle, so I decided to forgo my
towel, figuring it would be soaked by the end anyway. Transition was
crowded and crazy as always at GR, but I was relatively close to the
blue flags that marked the beginning of the Olympic transition area, so I
was pretty happy with my spot. There is always a long wait before the
Olympic goes off at GR because of the other two races, so I spent my
time trying to find the right balance between socializing with friends
and focusing on my race. It was great to see the MSU Tri team
representing, as well as friends from the U of M tri team. And of
course it is always great to see smiling faces from Oak Park and
Playmakers! I swear I had my suit zipped and unzipped twice for last
minute bathroom runs; thank you Michelle for helping me out there! But
finally it was time to get into the starting area. The second wave of
men went and then it was time to get into the water. I did a few quick
strokes to help warm up and get used to the water. Then, before I knew
it, the horn was going off and it was time to go! I did my best to set a
quick pace off the bat because I really wanted to have a good swim
time. Not long after the second buoy though, I slammed into the back of
Wave 2 and spent the remainder of the swim winding and working my way
around people. I was still very happy with my swim time, which was
22:50.
I decided to try out the wetsuit
stripped because, why not? It was nice to be able to run through
transition without the restriction of my wetsuit! Transition went
smoothly, so I thought, and then I was out on the bike. Soon after
mounting, I looked down and was shocked to see my little bottle of UCAN
mix had fallen off. Oh boy. I had a GU in the bag on my frame, but
that was all I had for nutrition. I pushed the bike hard anyway,
focusing on the next closest person and working my way up to them. With
losing so much of my nutrition, I was worried the effect a fast bike
would have on me, but I wanted to go for it anyway! I pulled into
transition to clock a bike split of 1:02:29, one of my best! As soon as
I pulled on my shoes and set off onto the run, I knew this was going to
be tough. My quads cramped up just above my knees instantly. I did my
best to mentally set aside the pain and just focus on my form. My
first mile was 6:40, so I hoped my focus on form would get me through
the run! At every aid station I grabbed a cup of Gatorade to try to
make up my nutrition. I also threw 1 to 2 cups of water on my head to
keep cool in the rising temps and the high humidity. I wasn't really
sure of my place because of the ways the waves were structured and with
figuring a penalty into my time, so I used the turnaround to assess my
position. I was excited to see that I was in first for the Olympic! I
also kept a close eye on my watch, knowing I would need to win by over 2
minutes.
I tried to hold my pace, but that
huge hill just seemed liked a mountain. Shortly after hitting the 5
mile sign, I felt like i had slammed face first into a wall. All my
energy was gone and it was all I could do to focus on my form. My arms
started to cramp as well and I would alternately drop my arms to try to
relax the cramps. But then the finish line came in view. My dad was
waiting for me, ready to run me in as I had done for him for so many
years. I have to say, it is just as miserable but awesome as my dad
always says it is! He was relatively rested from his race, whereas I
had bonked. But I couldn't keep the huge smile from my face. Finally!
For the first time since my 2013 season, I had a great Olympic race! I
grabbed the banner with pride and walked across the finish line,
holding it together for a little bit before my quads said "nope" and I
had to stop moving. Despite my cramping quads, I had posted a run split
of 43:28, giving me an overall time of 2:11:50 (2:13:50 with the
penalty).
I couldn't have asked for a better
race. Sure, it would have been great if my nutrition hadn't fallen off,
but no race is ever perfect! I am so thankful for the amazing support
from the Oak Park Triathlon Team. I heard many Oakies give me words of
encouragement and, especially on the run, those words and smiles kept my
cramping legs moving! Congrats to all the Oakies on their great races
and overcoming the struggles of the rainy and hot day. It was also
great to see the Playmakers Tri team out there in force! And of course,
I couldn't do it without my incredible family. My mom and
mother-in-law both braved the drenching rain to cheer us on. My hubby,
Todd Kennedy, unfortunately had to deal with a flat on the bike that
resulted in a DNF, but I couldn't do any of this without his support.
Todd Buckingham had a good race and finished 3rd overall and 1st in the
MECTC. Eric Abbott also had a great race, finishing 4th overall and 3rd
overall in the open division (semantics here avoid more arguments about
how finished 3rd!). And a big congrats to my dad on his new PR and
still having the energy to run me to the finish!
I now have a short 2 weeks to recover before heading to Philadelphia for my first Olympic distance pro race of the season!
