First race of the year turned out to be wet one. The forecast was calling for Thunderstorms throughout the day, but luckily it only rained somewhat hard during the bike and stopped by the time I started the run. Igda drove down Friday to Fredericksburg to go to the packet pickup. We stopped in at TGI Friday's for dinner and then headed to the Ramada. Not exactly the best choice of motel but it was ok.
When I signed up for this race I really only had the intention of using it as long training day. Leading up to the race, I encountered a flare up with my IT band in my right leg. I think it had something to do with my move up 3 flights of stairs and racing the 10 mile Cherry Blossom the following morning. So, I didn't know if I was going to have the same problems at this race.
Since I haven't been swimming much since IMFL, I really didn't know how I would hold up on the swim. After the initial jolt from the cold water, I was able to get into a pretty good rythm and managed to end the swim around 34 minutes (which I was really happy with).
Headed out on the bike and totally forgot to adjust my speed/distance sensor to my race wheel, so I ended up riding the entire course without knowing my speed or how far I had gone. Lesson learned. The bike course was very scenic. We cruised around the Lake Anna for two loops. It was a rolling course with some nice flat sections. I felt really pretty good and my back was holding up well for being in the aero position for so long. Stupid me, I pull into the transition area, coming to a complete stop and then realized I didn't unclip from pedals. Yep, I fall over still clipped into my pedals. What a moron! I brush off the debry, and head to the transition.
Now, was going to be the interesting part. How would my legs feel? Would my IT band flare up? To my surprise, I felt pretty strong. The run consist of two 10k loops inside the park. It's pretty much a steady uphill climb out of the park to the entrance and then a gradual decline back to the turnaround/finish line. I had no idea of the pace I was running other than feeling fairly comfortable. After about 5 miles, I decided since I wasn't having any IT pain, I should cut the run short and stop after the first loop. After all, this was a training day, not a race for me.
I packed up my stuff and we headed to Olive Garden for nice lunch. The drive back was pretty miserable due to traffic, but that's life in DC. I probably should have signed up for the Olympic distance, but it was nice to get in a long swim and bike. I guess I'll know in the next 6 weeks if this helped me or not, since Columbia is May 22 and Eagleman is June 12.
