Rocketman Race Report

Rocketman Triathlon
Swim1.5km, Bike 40km, Run 10km
August 26, 2012
Huntsville, Alabama

A little late, I know, but better late than never!

This has got to be one of the best races in the southeast. I may be a tad biased, though, since the Rocketman, Mike Gerrity, is my dad. He puts his heart and soul into this race, as anyone who knows him can testify, and it shows year after year with a smooth, well run, FUN race. This was Rocket-dad's 3rd year as race director. People don't realize how much work is done behind the scenes to make a great race. Every year brings along with it new challenges, but he handles them gracefully and continues to brainstorm new (and sometimes goofy) ways to make the event even better. 

Rocket-dad promoting the Rocketman Triathlon

at a club event with space-suit and race gear.

I LOVE this race for several reasons:

• The venue is on the Redstone Arsenal- a military base that is virtually vacant on Sundays, so no cars to worry about
• The Carroll D. Hudson Recreation Area is situated along the Tennessee River, and the race site is beautiful
• The bike course is FLAT FLAT FLAT (but windy windy windy)
• There's a "big race" mentality about the way it's run, but without sacrificing its' original grassroots feel
• It raises money for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots, and the marines come out to volunteer (my favorite is the drill sergeant along the run course... It's JUST what I need at that halfway point)
• The volunteers are FANTASTIC- from the Grissom High School ROTC to the Team Rocket Tri Club and family members- they work their butts off so that WE can have a great race
• The field is FAST- there are always great athletes who show up, and that in itself is fun! It's a USAT Southeast Regional Championship Series event (that's legit). I also love seeing the collegiates come out- it's also a USAT Southeastern Conference Race. WAR EAGLE!

This is how the event played out:

Saturday- Instead of heading up to Huntsville early, I stuck around to help Kyle at the store until mid-day. Good thing, because we actually had several people come in for shoe fits (it's hard to predict busy times at this point, because we've only been open a few weeks!). Right before I left, Kyle told me to read an e-mail I'd JUST received. In the weeks leading up to this, I expressed that I'd like to apply for sponsorships, but resolved to wait until the following season after some consistent training. Apparently, he sent in an application for me to be on the Timex Factory Team, but didn't tell me so I wouldn't get my hopes up. The email was an acceptance letter! HOORAY, I'M A SPONSORED ATHLETE!!! I can not express my excitement!

 I ended up hitting the road about 1:00, but I kept getting this nagging feeling like I was forgetting something. This isn't completely abnormal, because I ALWAYS get this feeling when heading off to a race. So I start a mental checklist of everything to try to calm my nerves. As far as I can tell, I'm in the clear. I continue driving and visualize every part of the race. I get to the bike, check the rear-view to make sure it's alright... CRAP! I FORGOT MY BIKE. Fortunately I realized it 30 minutes down the road, instead of 3 hours. A.D.D. moment...

I ended up arriving in Huntsville at 6:00. My mom and I made plans to eat dinner together, but she was swamped at work, so I  went to Nothin' But Noodles to meet up with Adam Diaz, Pamela Evens, and Chase Holmberg until she was available. After visiting with them for a little bit, I met my mom at P.F. Chang's for lettuce wraps. The wait was long, but it gave us a chance to walk around Bridge Street a bit. Bob ended up meeting us for dinner. We didn't sit down to eat until about 9, but it was worth the wait to have a light dinner with my family! I finally went to bed around 10:30- I was exhausted from being up since 4:30, and slept like a baby.

Sunday- My biological clock woke me up at 4:30. SCORE. I actually felt rested and ready to go. I got down to the race site around 5:10, and had plenty of time to get situated and warm up.

SWIM: 20:34
Normally I feel anxious about this leg- not this time! I've been swimming pretty consistently and was looking forward to a P.R.- I'd be happy with going under 27:00... I felt great in the water. As I approached the ramp, I looked down at my watch- 20:+... I couldn't believe it. I knew I'd been swimming a lot, but to drop 13 minutes from last year? It MUST be too good to be true. And it was. The swim was DEFINITELY short. After comparing some times, I figure if it were actually 1500meters, I could add 5:00 to my time. So 25-ish- I'm alright with that.

T1:    0:44
I just rocked that swim. And all the bikes around mine are still here. Heck yes!

BIKE: 1:08:35  21.7mph
At this point of the race, I'm pretty pumped because of my super awesome swim time. All I could think about was going under 2:30- my original goal at the beginning of the summer. My plan for the race was to hammer out the bike, because even if I reserve my legs, I'm still gonna have a crappy run- so just have a decent bike split.

T2:  0:57
Kind-of a blur. I remember coming out of T2 and waving at my dad and him cheering for me. And my legs hurt.

RUN: 54:42
I never truly feel pain until the run. This was rough... and I walked a little. Mostly just on those uphill mound things. The only think I dislike about this race is the freaking run course. It's HARD. 1st part- trail run. 2nd part- gravel mound things. 3rd part- more gravel. 4th part- out and back road. 5th part- back over the gravel mound things. And it's HOT HOT HOT. Of course it wouldn't suck so bad if I would just learn how to run... Run pace 8:49. That pretty much says it all.

FINISH:    2:25:29, 14th female, 1st in age group
Overall, I'm ecstatic. Yeah, the run needs a lot of work, but I met my goals, and not JUST because the swim was short. Pretty much everyone PR'd at this race- but I left knowing that my PR was a result of truly faster swimming and biking. Looking forward to next year's Rocketman Tri!

Clermont, HERE I COME!

 What's the fastest, most competitive, amateur DRAFT LEGAL triathlon around? Clermont.

Last month, Kyle instilled this crazy idea in my head to race a draft-legal triathlon. Thus the journey to the Clermont Draft Legal Challenge began. This is an elite developmental race, meant for athletes under 25. The top 3 females earn their elite license.

Unfortunately, I turn 26 a month before the race, which means throughout 2013 I race as a 26 year old. Until this realization, I have NEVER felt old. But analyzing the 2012 race results has made me feel like an aged woman trying to hang with fresh young talent... Ages of the 2012 winners: 16, 17, 17. Humbling.

Last year, there were a few females in their (early-mid) 20's, a couple in their 30's, and a 40 year-old who raced. SO, I emailed the RD with my racing resume to see how I could get in. He gave me the contact information to the USAT Elite Developmental and College Recruitment officer. I was asked why I wanted to race in Clermont, How I would prepare for this race, and How I could promote the sport of draft-legal triathlons... After carefully answering, I was cleared to race!

The RD gave me special instructions on registering... As of 11:14 a.m., I am officially registered! Let the SERIOUS training begin... Clermont, here I come! (March 10, 2013 is quickly approaching... and I NEED A BIKE)

Swimming Hurts FOR REAL

Several years ago, while talking about an upcoming tri, Kyle and I had a conversation that went similar to this:

 Kyle: "You need to be in good enough shape that when you get out of the water and are exhausted,  it doesn't take much time to recover from the swim and get your biking legs going".

Me: "But swimming never makes me exhausted enough that I need a long recovery to catch my breath... I just get on my bike and GO!"

Kyle: "That's because you're not doing it right."

At that time, getting in the pool twice and gliding around for 20 minutes was a good week for me. My "swimming" was more like floating than anything else, so naturally, I was rarely actually tired.

My swimming routine continued this way for a while... It wasn't until about a year ago when I started swimming with the masters group in Virginia that I learned what *swimming exhaustion* really meant. Needless to say, my swimming has improved substantially in the past year.

About a week ago, after finding out I'd been accepted onto the Timex Factory Team, Kyle agreed to start coaching me again under the condition that I actually do what he says (in the past I've taken his coaching as more of a guideline of what I should be doing...). Today I made it to the one week mark, which in my opinion, is just short of making this a habit!

So, as part of this new coaching program, I'm doing periodic tests to assess where I am and track improvements. Today's test was a timed 1mile swim. The idea is that my time for a 1650yard swim will be a good predictor for what I can do for 1500meter open swim. The goal was to stick to a 1:30 pace, which would be 24:45.... I ended up going just slower than that goal with 24:50, and it HURT. I took off a little fast in the first 500, stayed on pace through the 1000, and slowed down about a second on average through the end.

As I hit the 1000y mark, my thoughts were: "Everything is burning, even my legs! Why do my legs feel so heavy when I'm not even kicking that hard. Is this what I'm going to feel like during a race?... because I don't know if I can jump on a bike and hammer it out right now..."

Swimming hurts... FOR REAL. I think that means I'm finally doing it right!?!