Nation’s Triathlon starting up soon

[acc]

I’m not in good enough shape to tackle today’s local tri so I went down to Williamsburg and muddled through a shorter triathlon. I’m thrilled to say I cut more than five minutes off my bike/run time compared to last July so it was a great outing for me. But more importantly I’d like to thank everyone who comes out and volunteers.

I was greeted by teenagers in the parking lot directing traffic at 5:45 am this morning. Thank you. I have a teenager, he does not function before noon. There was a squadron of people armed with Sharpies to do the body markings at 6:00 am. Thank you. Thank you so much for taking me literally when I said, mark my age in really BIG numbers. Ugh. To the folks manning the water station offering to splash us down a la Flashdance with ice cold water — uh, yeah. I’ll pass. To the 25 rescue personnel strategically placed along the river — God Bless You.

I’m thanking you now because during a race there’s no opportunity. I notice you but am preoccupied with stuff like thinking about how I don’t want to drown.

ann

[thucydides]

The Nations was most excellent this year and as far as I’ve heard there were no major health or injury incidents. I always park on GW campus before the race specifically so that I can walk across the pre-dawn Mall. The scene this year: a brilliant Jupiter reflecting on our newly refurbished reflecting pool along with the Moon and Washington Monument. Totally cool. The weather was spectacular, the Potomac was warm, and, uh, cleanish. It turns out that you can get a great view of the MLK monument from the middle of the Potomac. The only downsides are I’m sore as hell today and my time wasn’t quite what I wanted. Oh well.

[consularrider]

I don’t think the weather could have been any better! I was a marshal on the lower half of the bike leg (basically riding up and down Canal Road from Georgetown to Chain Bridge). It was a real joy riding from West Potomac Park up to Chain Bridge before sunrise to check out the course. The best part? No traffic other than a couple of trucks finishing up the cone placement. I just hope the five of us marshals didn’t get in anyone’s way (it didn’t seem like we did). With riding to and from the start, I got in just over a metric century for the day, 80 km of that on the tri course.

Does anyone know if the Marine Corps Marathon uses bike marshals?

[thucydides]

@consularrider 30532 wrote:

I don’t think the weather could have been any better! I was a marshal on the lower half of the bike leg (basically riding up and down Canal Road from Georgetown to Chain Bridge). It was a real joy riding from West Potomac Park up to Chain Bridge before sunrise to check out the course. The best part? No traffic other than a couple of trucks finishing up the cone placement. I just hope the five of us marshals didn’t get in anyone’s way (it didn’t seem like we did).

No marshalls got in my way. They were there and visible, which is what you want. And let me take the opportunity to do now what I meant to earlier, which is to thank you and all the other volunteers. They were out there in force, doing what can be a long, hot, and thankless job. Though it sounds like your job was pretty sweet.

[eminva]

@consularrider 30532 wrote:

Does anyone know if the Marine Corps Marathon uses bike marshals?

I think the Marine Corps Marathon uses the best kind of volunteers you can get; those who can be compelled to do so in service to their country.

Liz

[Certifried]

http://dcist.com/2012/09/to_the_triathlete_who_used_a_capita.php

(thanks Kel, for the link)

wow, just wow

[consularrider]

@Certifried 30576 wrote:

http://dcist.com/2012/09/to_the_triathlete_who_used_a_capita.php

(thanks Kel, for the link)

wow, just wow

I had a quick word with him as I passed on my final trip in from Chain Bridge. I was also impressed by the aerodynamics of his outfit. I’m glad to read that his fees were refunded, makes great publicity for CaBi if they can get it wider distribution. By the way, there were lots of CaBis on the course from Georgetown down to Independence. Not competing, just taking advantage of the roads being closed to motor vehicle traffic.

[KLizotte]

Is the photo from the article really what he wore for the race?

And good god, aside from the logistics of riding a CaBi 25 miles, he could have rented a perfectly good bike for the day for $101.

Bizarre.

[Tim Kelley]

@KLizotte 30586 wrote:

Is the photo from the article really what he wore for the race?

And good god, aside from the logistics of riding a CaBi 25 miles, he could have rented a perfectly good bike for the day for $101.

Bizarre.

Yes, that’s actually an action shot that Mark Blacknell took during the race.

And the story behind it all is that he contacted us ahead of time and we agreed to let him take out a bike to rack in transition the day before. I believe he said that he didn’t actually own a bike and had been training on CB bikes and stationary bikes for the race!

[PotomacCyclist]

I had a great time at the race, although my time was a bit slower than expected. Could have been the fact that I veered off-course on the swim. Going from the dock to the 100m buoy was at an angle to the rest of the upstream buoys. I kept going straight after the first buoy, which meant that I was actually heading over to Virginia. Oops. I also had some difficulty in getting my tri jersey on after the swim. I think I need to practice that before the next race.

I felt pretty good on the bike and especially the run. Awesome weather too.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered, cheered and participated. But one thing has me confused. Some kid had a sign on the run course reading “I know a shortcut.” Try as I might, I never did find out where that shortcut was. Darn.

Anyway, I’m glad to see triathlon return to the D.C. area after all of the race cancellations this year (Washington DC Tri, National Harbor 70.3).

I was sore yesterday afternoon, but the soreness began to fade after I kept eating. I’ll take it easy for at least a few days. Maybe a very slow and easy (and short) bike ride or two. But no running until maybe Thursday.

[eminva]

Congratulations! Great race.

Just don’t be tempted by any shortcuts; we wouldn’t want you to become as infamous as Rosie Ruiz.

Liz

[PotomacCyclist]

Nah, I’d never take a shortcut. I think the kid was standing near the Tidal Basin Bridge. So the only shortcut would have been to dive into the water while wearing running shoes. Probably wouldn’t have improved my time doing that.

[Tim Kelley]

@PotomacCyclist 30599 wrote:

I had a great time at the race, although my time was a bit slower than expected. Could have been the fact that I veered off-course on the swim. Going from the dock to the 100m buoy was at an angle to the rest of the upstream buoys. I kept going straight after the first buoy, which meant that I was actually heading over to Virginia. Oops. I also had some difficulty in getting my tri jersey on after the swim. I think I need to practice that before the next race.

I felt pretty good on the bike and especially the run. Awesome weather too.

Thanks to everyone who volunteered, cheered and participated. But one thing has me confused. Some kid had a sign on the run course reading “I know a shortcut.” Try as I might, I never did find out where that shortcut was. Darn.

Anyway, I’m glad to see triathlon return to the D.C. area after all of the race cancellations this year (Washington DC Tri, National Harbor 70.3).

I was sore yesterday afternoon, but the soreness began to fade after I kept eating. I’ll take it easy for at least a few days. Maybe a very slow and easy (and short) bike ride or two. But no running until maybe Thursday.

So what was your time/splits? What would you do differently in your training leading up to the race if you had the chance to do it again?

[thucydides]

@PotomacCyclist 30599 wrote:

I had a great time at the race, although my time was a bit slower than expected. Could have been the fact that I veered off-course on the swim. Going from the dock to the 100m buoy was at an angle to the rest of the upstream buoys. I kept going straight after the first buoy, which meant that I was actually heading over to Virginia.

Funny, I went off course at the start, too, but towards the DC shore. I’m still not sure what happened but part of it was I got really distracted by the sight of MLK. “Oh, look at that, you can see it really well from here!” One of the kayakers starting yelling at me. I couldn’t hear exactly what he said but I’m sure it was something like, “Hey Bozo, the race is over there!” The swim route was in the shape of the Washington Monument. But from the looks of my Garmin results, that Monument was designed by some pretty drunk architects.

[PotomacCyclist]

@Tim Kelley 30610 wrote:

So what was your time/splits? What would you do differently in your training leading up to the race if you had the chance to do it again?

[I started to type up a lengthy reply. Then Windows Update automatically shut down my browser and restarted the computer! I’m too irritated to re-type it now. I’ll try again later. I will also copy the text as I proceed, in case WINDOWS decides to shut down my browser again. I thought I had turned off Automatic Updates and set it to download then prompt for manual install. Wish I could throw the computer into the river right about now.

I have a good idea about what to work on, as well as limitations on time, money (coaching) and motivation (race cancellations this year).]

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