Rockin’ in the City of Brotherly Love

Mike's swim wave lines up

What do a guitar, bottle opener and a medal have in common?  It's what is placed around your neck after finishing the awesome Philadelphia TriRock race.  And if you place on the podium, the trophy is a beer mug that can be put to use in the Beer Garden.  As the winning woman Pro said, "it's a very useful trophy"!  This well run race with around 2500 participants between the Sprint and Olympic races had it all including racing with pros like Cameron Dye and Andy Potts.

Mike and I headed down on Friday for a reunion with our Vineyard Warriors with friends Diane and Eric as our host.  With the sprint race on Saturday and the Olympic on Sunday, we had people racing on both days.  Mike did the sprint (.5 mi swim, 15.7 mi bike, 5k run) and I did the Olympic aqua bike (.9 mi swim, 40k bike), my first such event.  With a restless night sleep on Friday and early start Saturday, I was tired just being a spectator!  Mike had a good sprint race finishing 19/68 in age group with a time of 1:35:34 (16:28 on the swim, 49:11 on the bike, and 24:17 on the run).

The Sprint gang got us started on Saturday

I was slightly concerned going into my race - I've had a lingering cold and cough since early May that has kept me from swimming as much as I normally do and my last - and my only - open water swim this season which was only 500 yd swim was rough.  The swim course in the Skuykill River was point to point and looked LONG (so long you couldn’t see the entire course end to end).  And, my longest ride this season was only 18 miles.  I at least had a solid night's sleep on Saturday night.  But, there is that moment at the start of many races when you ask yourself "why do I do this?"

I found my answer in the swim as I got past the first 200 meters and went into a comfortable swim stride and eventually confidently caught up to some people from prior waves.  I found my answer on the bike when a spectator in a lonely bike stretch held a sign that said "you inspire me".  And as I passed the Philadelphia Art Museum, aka the Rocky Steps, I felt truly victorious!   In the end, I completed my first Olympic Aquabike with a time of 2:18:30, a 34:24 swim and a 1:41:05 bike. 

The Olympic gang continued on Sunday

And, once again I found my answer in the weekend's camaraderie with fellow triathletes and old and new friends.  We descended on Diane and Eric's house and shared a wonderful weekend in the City of Brotherly Love.  Our friend Antoine took second place in his age group and Diane took third in hers.

As part of the athlete briefing, a sports psychologist spoke and told us you can only be courageous in the presence of fear.  My overall place in the Aquabike was pretty dismal (the winner swam the course in 17:32, faster than many pros!), but I felt victorious nevertheless, overcoming trepidation and completing a new distance and event.



The age group winners toast with their trophies!



Gretna Tri 2013

Yes, it's been a while since Barb did a post... 3 weeks post Gretna Tri I've finally got a moment!  The week leading up to the Gretna Tri did not look good.  Even though it was very hot early in the week, other lakes in the area were measuring 54 degrees with an accuracy rating of 2 degrees.  I could not find the Gretna Lake info online, but I knew it would be cold.  I tried a swim in my full wetsuit and my arms felt so constricted I couldn't stand it.  So I had to decide: did I want to be fast, or warm?  I decided on fast (of course I did) and settled on the sleeveless shorty with an under armour top. When the lady at the registration tent claimed the water was 65 degrees, which was apparently measured in the shallow area near the edge in the sun,  I think I was happy to be deceived.  It was going to be damn cold.
Friday I left work early and headed over to Gretna to pick up our race packet.  Cathy and Mike were on their way into town, so I ran home and picked up Bella and met them in Gretna (7 minutes from the house) to talk about the set up and layout.  It was a beautiful day, but the temperatures were falling throughout the week, Saturday was going to be cool and overcast.  At this point it was more about mental preparation than anything, it was going to take a lot to get me in a cold lake at 8 am.
We headed back to the house to unwind and unpack.  Cathy and Mike got their bikes and equipment ready, Cathy armed with a checklist of necessities and rules.

Mike the Bike Mechanic

Bella Guarding the Gear

   I had ordered a tray of stuffed shells for dinner from the Amato family at A&M, so I was busy heating those, and making the rest of dinner meanwhile.  Just to add excitement (as always in the Life of Barb) I also had to return a runaway Golden Retriever to the neighbor's house.  Dinner was delicious and fun family times, after which Cathy and Mike enjoyed the massage chair.  Pete showed up home from college, and then Derrick and his girlfriend Kristin arrived shortly thereafter from Richmond.  They were in town for a wedding - so after months of "empty nesting" I had a house full of people.  Mama Potena was happy, the house was full and everyone was well fed.  For once I drifted off to sleep easily before a race, since I was in my own bed.  The same can't be said for Cathy, who woke in the night and couldn't get back to sleep.  She later said her mind was circling around the race video we had made weeks earlier on her iPad.
I woke up full of P&V, rinsed off in the shower as is my pre-race routine to "wake up" my muscles.  Mike had mastered our fancy coffee maker and helped himself to one of the delicious NY fresh bagels Cathy had brought.  I had coffee and a peanut butter bagel, and felt relieved I only had to do one event this time instead of 3.  This also meant I had less equipment to worry about, everything seemed very casual as we got ready.  Cathy seemed a bit sleepy headed and disorganized, but I didn't think much of it at the time.  Bella, Derrick, Pete, and Kristin were all sleeping in, while we headed out the door for Gretna.  We were there in plenty of time, Cathy seemed disappointed that there was no warm up swim.  I was not disappointed, knowing there would be nothing "warm" about this swim.  Mom and Dad came for moral support - which is always needed and appreciated.

Dave's Bike

So we prepared our transition areas, got body marking, and met up with our runner - Wendy.

Barb and Dave's first Relay

Wendy runs marathons, she was so disappointed to be missing Boston with an injury.  When the bombings happened, we all breathed a sigh of relief to know that she and her family were ok.  They had been in Boston for the weekend, but came home early due to her inability to do the event.  We are all looking at things a little differently after that, knowing sometimes it's better not to question why a strange injury occurs at an inopportune time.  She would have been running slow because of her injury, and crossed the finish line late compared to her normal pace.  She would have been right there when the bombs went off, thank God she wasn't feeling well enough to run that day.

Dave & Wendy

I was remaining calm right up to the moment I went down to the beach to wait for my wave.  Thankfully, Wendy came down to support me, which was much needed.  Finally, my wave was being called, and I was thinking: ok, no turning back, it's going to be cold, it's going to suck.  I got down in the water, way down so I could adjust to the temperature before we set off on the swim - my heart rate steadied and I felt fine.  Just like Quakertown, as soon as we started to swim, the cold temperature took my breath away and caused me to struggle all the way to the first bouy.  

Me apparently running with my eyes closed.

I consciously reminded myself I was on a team this year, so quitting was not an option, and pushed on through the cold water one stroke at a time.  Finally I rounded the first buoy and felt good.  Since nobody was around me, I flipped over and started a strong back stroke.  Every 8-10 strokes I turned over to breast stroke so I didn't get off course.  After rounding the second buoy, I side and breast stroked all the way in to shore... whatever worked best!  I thought my time would be 20 minutes because it felt like an eternity, but it turned out to be more like 15 so I was happy.  I had enough energy to run all the way up the the bike transition, where Dave had a little trouble getting the timing chip velcro undone.  He headed off into the hills and I shivered.  I changed into dry clothes and added extra layers, still I was shivering for 40 minutes after the swim.  Dave and Wendy mentioned something funny about Cathy not wearing a helmet, but they weren't sure what happened.  Cathy had the most experience out of us all, so I thought - that can't be possible.  Yet here is the photographic proof... she did run out of the T1 sans helmet, but luckily the race crew caught her and sent her back for it.  Dave had a good ride through the hills of Gretna, which he has the advantage of knowing very well.  Wendy and I had a good time trading event stories while we waited for his return.  Wendy kicked butt on the anchor leg of our relay, helping us to obtain a respectable time.  Doing a Tri as a team is possibly more enjoyable than doing the whole event, supporting team members is gratifying and there is less pressure about equipment.  If you're short on training time, as I was this year, it's a relief to only need 1/3 of what's required to make a decent show at all 3 events.  

Cathy - center of picture, running with bike, wearing Yellow Tri Top, and No Helmet

We laughed most of the weekend about Cathy's rookie mistake, but I'll let her tell that story!  Dave and I did our first event together, and it was a great weekend with family, friends, fun, and food.  After I thawed out, I decided it was great fun and I think Dave would like to do another Tri in the future.  To me that is what these events should be:  fun, family, friends, camaraderie.
To me, if I can't come in First, Second, or Third, then I'm just doing it for fun and competing against myself, the clock, and in this case the elements.  I like swimming, but I don't love it enough to train more than 3 days a week.  Running is of course my favorite event, and yet that is the part I must train the least due to being in "preservation mode" with a knee that will eventually need replaced.  I'm beginning to love the bike, and hope to do at least one bike event this year.
For now, we all had the nerve to "be there" and give it a go; and we were all did it together - that was what really mattered.  Our Relay Team did pretty well for our first ever relay event,  we finished 33/59 with a time of 1 hour and 35 minutes.  Wendy headed off to her out of town wedding with black numbers on her hands, very elegant.  Such is the life of an athlete.
The moral of the weekend is:  We had the nerve!

Yes we had the nerve!