Quassy: Race Report

Quassy. Oh, what a weekend.

Last year I suffered pretty bad on the run and I went into this race with a plan to have a much better run.
All my training and planning with Coach has been about nailing this run.

I woke on race day feeling a quiet confidence and feeling very well prepared. I am a lot leaner and stronger this year and I was ready to show that run course a little revenge.

In the days leading up to the race, the weather was predicting HOT temps and I knew this would not be good for me. The weather here in Maine has basically been 40* and rain for the last two months. Knowing how the heat effects me and how much I sweat, Coach and I had a pretty solid nutrition plan in place. Early on we chatted about using salt tabs this year (I'd never used them before).

On Friday, the weather was predicting mid 90's for Sunday and I was getting a little nervous. We got into CT on Friday and it was HOT HOT HOT.

Saturday was HOT HOT HOT but the weather reports were changing to 80's and winds for Sunday, race day for the half.

Ok, I can deal with wind and I was pretty happy to see the temps drop to the 80's, even though that is a 40* variance from what I have had...

Race morning I was a quiet calm with a dose of good nervous and knew that the only thing I could control was me and my reaction to whatever the day handed me. I was ready to swim bike and run. I was excited for my first tri of the season and psyched to be hanging with my Rev3 peeps. My team mates wife, Ashley, said a nice little prayer with me before heading to the swim start. I really needed that at the moment and it helped to bring me a feeling of calm peace.

Happy: Photo Credit Charlie Abrahams

I spent a lot of time race morning with my team mate Kelly (whom I adore) and her presence really kept me calm and focused. We reviewed our plans for the day and swam a bit. It was go time.

The Calm before the Swim 
Photo Credit Charlie Abrahams

The swim was pretty uneventful this year. I was in a pack right away and it was just bodies over bodies, kicking, chaos. I swam hard to get away from the mess and the first turn buoy came pretty quick (but dang! it looked so far off from the shore!). Once you turn, you are swimming into the sun and you cannot even see the buoys so I just found some feet and followed. Steady effort...then it was another group of us all together. I really can't stand all the melee so I got away from this pack and found clean water...put my head down and just went. Steady effort...
Next turn buoy and it was homeward bound. It was an OK swim and certainly did not think it was my fastest swim ever...the effort was comfortable and I know I went longer because of my quest for clean water but the plan was steady effort and I gave steady effort. Out of the water in 36:04 and a lot faster than I thought (I did not see any time results until Monday).

and time for some fun on the bike. Let's go have some fun.

Ahh, the bike. I've ridden this course three times and I know exactly what to expect out there. The plan was to pull back a bit on the riding and set myself up for a great run. Keep the hydration and nutrition plan on point. Keep cool...I had nothing to prove to myself here. I know I can ride this course and it was a matter of checking my ego at the door and riding smart....
and I Nailed it.
Dare I say that this bike was EASY? Because it was. I floated up the hills and hammered the flats. My heart rate was controlled and I felt amazing. I am so much stronger this year and enjoyed this course so much. I really had a blast out there and I just LOVE this bike course!!

What goes up must come down, right?

I was thinking to myself out there how I love climbing and hills don't scare me and I love it but I'm kind of conservative on the descents. It also felt like there was waaay more downhill this year (even though it was the same exact course). I hit 45 mph on one descent and slowed it down, I know there are some sharp turns and you cannot really hammer on some of them.
I was thinking to myself that I would get more comfortable with a fast descents.
Then I saw my team mate on the side of the road with an ambulance and my heart broke for her. I had no idea what her condition was or what happened. Right then and there, reality hit me. It's dangerous and a couple seconds gained on the downhill is not worth the risk to me.
Sure enough, another descent with huge CAUTION signs and volunteers shouting "SHARP TURN! SLOW DOWN" on the side of the road and two guys had crashed.
It was heating up and I could tell I was getting HOT> kept the fluids flowing and kept myself cool with water over my head and down my back.

The bike was done and it was time to run!

happy and heading out to run-high fives from Lola! 

Right out of transition I saw Lola and got my obligatory HIGH FIVE from my girl.

And another high five from Dutch

Running felt good. I was hot already but the legs were moving. I was ticking off the first few miles at 8:30's --the HR was a little high but I kept going.
After several miles, the wheels started to wobble. It would be several miles before they came off.
I broke out in goosebumps. Chills. It was weird. I was HOT but cold.
Then I noticed that my hands were really puffy. My fingers were swollen. Really swollen.
I slowed the pace a bit and then I saw my team mate, Ryan, sitting at the aid station. He has just been shut down by the heat--literally. Passed out and blacked out. NOT GOOD.
Ryan said that I was likely suffering from the heat and told me to take it easy.
I dumped some water on me and walked for a bit. The HR was not coming down and I was starting to feel strange. Dizzy. Kept walking. Arms started to tingle a bit...hands felt weird.

About five miles in I seriously considered calling it a day. I was feeling really strange. I bargained with myself to go to the next aid station and evaluate how I felt. I tried to keep to the shaded parts of the course when I could and would jog the downhills when able. I walked with a very nice RWB gentelman named Eric for a few of the miles and he was very kind, concerned.
I would try to cool my head and body with water and hold ice in my hands. Walk, jog when I could.
I then saw my friend Eric (yes, another Eric) who was walking as well. He was having a nutrition/fatigue failure and was struggling.

About 7 miles in was the worst of it. I had been in the sun for a while and I was feeling pretty dizzy and light headed. I stopped on the side of the road, felt like I was spinning a bit and just grabbed the guard rail. Puked a bit and moved along. I saw Kelly out there and she shouted to me to hang tough. I was trying my best to just keep moving forward.

Next thing I knew, I was at mile 10 and ran into Julia. She had been vomiting and having issues so we teamed up and got ourselves through the next few miles as a team. The final bit of this run course is this nasty bugger of a hill and then it's only 1/2 a mile till the finish. We were almost there...

When I came through the shoot, I was looking for Lola and my husband. I wanted to finish with Lola...but I knew that my projected time and my actual time were way off and I was not sure where they would be. I did not see Lola and Julia and I finished together.

There at the finish was Lola and Casey. They had both been very worried about me and knew something was up since I was more than 40 minutes past my projected time.

I said goodbye to my team mates and made my way back to the car for the long drive home. Severe thunder storms were on the way to our route home. After the car was packed and we were on the road, it was time for me to reflect on the day.

I would be lying if I said there were no tears.
I was very disappointed.
This was not the race I trained for...everything about the day was setting me up for the run I wanted. The run I planned for, the run I needed. But the day had other plans for me.

I had a long talk with Coach on the way home and I had a chance to digest the day. I cried. I so, so wanted this today. We went over what we learned and what we are going to do moving forward.

I am stubborn. I realized that I would have likely crawled to the finish line if need be... but I'm not stupid. Had my condition deteriorated, I would have called it a day.

I have never encountered this issue before and I am glad that I did not beat myself up mentally over what did not go as planned. I cannot control the weather, I cannot control my body's response to the heat, but I can control my reaction to it. I kept positive and at the end of the day it was a learning experience.

Monday morning I woke up to rain and 60's. I wanted to drive back to Quassy and do the entire race over again. My team mate Ron even said he'd join me :)

I know if I can get through Sunday, I can battle on another day. And I will...

QUASSY! I will be back in 2014 seeking revenge, yet again!! 

speaking of battles!

I finally got to meet my cyber-buddy, Leslie!!

Congrats to Leslie for the division win!! And more congrats to my run-comrade, Julia who nabbed third!!

Leslie (left) and Julia (right). Not sure who is in the middle.

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I woke today and felt the burn. My neck and shoulders are pretty fried even though I doused in sunscreen. I'm pretty sure this added to the overheating yesterday. There is a small part on my head where my hair parted and my scalp is nuclear level fried! At least I had a bit of a base tan on my arms but my scalp? No way...

There are more Rev3 Weekend adventures to share which I will in another post! 

A big, giant, enormous THANK YOU to Rev3, Powerbar, Pearl iZUMi, Quintana Roo, Reynolds, Blueseventy, SBR Sports, Biotta Juices, Compex and Normatec for their support. I am lucky to be able to represent such amazing products!

The Pee Mile

Another Rev3 Quassy HalfRev race is in the books and it was a day for sure! Look for the full race report this week.

I know what your really want to know! You want to know who won the contest!!

When did I pee? 

There were lots of great guesses and y'all were SO CLOSE!! I was very well hydrated going into this race and kept the fluids rolling on the bike. It was a HOT day and this Maine girl was not ready for the heat. I've had 40's and rain to train in all season and the high 80's did not do well for me.

I actually pee'd twice on the bike though but the first one is the one that matters.

The MAGIC MILE was MILE 29.

29.14 to be exact.

then again at mile 42. 

The correct guesses were Louise and Kristyn.

I stated in the event of a tie, I would randomly pic a winner from the correct answers.

and the winner is...

KRISTYN

I could not link to your profile so I hope you read this. Shoot me an email at jsmall14(at)maine.rr.com and I will get your goodies out to you.





Obviously, after a few pees and lots of sweaty footed miles, my shoes smell fantastic!!
Pretty sure Lola's face says it all....

ps: To IRONBOB if you had guessed that I would continually pee from the time I put my wetsuit on until I got in the water, you would be my big winner today.

Contest: Quassy

It's that time of year again....
Time to make the pilgrimage down to CT and brave the hills of Quassy.

Last year there were horrific rains and winds on Saturday for the Oly race and beautiful weather for the half on Sunday. This year they temps went from 40's straight to the high 80's in a day in Maine and the temps in CT promise to be up there as well.

Here's to absolutely NO temp acclimation for me!

I cannot control the weather but I can control my reaction to it. It is what it is...
so here's to some hills.
Lots of hills.

HILLS HILLS HILLS.

Let's have a fun little contest to celebrate my favorite race...not time focused but bike focused.

In a way....

Last year Quassy was my first race with my beloved Quintana Roo, PinkiePie. I "christened" her at mile 43 of the bike and it was very memorable moment.

To celebrate one year of pee-tasticness and my (revenge) return to Quassy,

GUESS WHAT MILE OF THE BIKE I PEE (first pee)
I plan on being very well hydrated too.

The person closest to the mile that I pee on the bike will win a fantastic package from me!

TriSlide
Foggle
TriSwim products and 

some Powerbar love in there too!!

One entry per person.
In the event of a tie, I will choose one winner thru random selection.
Entries will be accepted until Sunday 6/2/13 at midnight.
Winner will be selected once I return from Quassy and can walk normally.

Moving Right Along...

random thoughts today

Today is Lola's last day of pre-school and I cannot believe it is here. This year had gone by so fast...if you have been reading for a while, here is a little snippet of how my girl has grown since starting this blog.

There is no doubt about it, she is MY girl!! While I am sad that these years are passing so quickly and she is no longer my "baby", I am so proud of her and what a beautiful little girl she is on both the inside and outside. This child has a heart filled with love and I hope she stays this way for many years to come.

Quassy is just around the corner and this year the entire family will be traveling down with me. I am so excited to have my "new" husband there with me, by my side and along for the journey. I am so proud of all he has accomplished in the last several months. I look forward to cheering HIM on as well :)

As for the Quassy half race itself, the only thing I really have as a goal this year for the race is to execute a solid run. I know I can bike and I can bike the hell out of those hills but I need to put my ego in my back pocket and focus on the run this year. That run kicked my biscuits last year and I intend to do things a little different this year. After all there is no such thing as a great bike and a shitty run...right??

As for the swim, this should be interesting. I have not even been in open water yet this season. It has been a very long and cold winter here in Maine so that's the wild card. I am hoping to get into the local pond this week now that the air temps have been up a bit but the nights are still really cold--last week we even had frost. So...

Last years finish, so happy to be DONE that run!

It will be interesting to see what the weather brings too. Last year we had massive rain on Saturday so the Oly was a mess. It was sunny and beautiful (and kind of hot) for the half on Sunday and the finish line was still a mud pit the next day.

I am looking forward to seeing my team mates and having an amazing weekend!! 

A Winner and More Quassy Fun

My life was an absolute chaotic mess of bad news just before the race. 
What a stress fest it was-it was presenting itself physically too!

Our clothes dryer went kaput just days before and I had to go and buy a new one (that was not in the budget!) and then even more good news, the clutch in my husbands truck also went kaput on his way home from work on Thursday. (really?? really!!)

He was staying home with Lola all weekend while I was gone and it was not looking good for me to take my car (which is awesome on gas) down to CT. My training buddy, Marc was coming down to CT with me to volunteer at the race and we could have used his truck but that giant V8 is a gas guzzler for sure!

We had my husband's truck towed to our mechanic and we were told that the truck should be ready on Friday-by the end of the day the latest so I was in the clear to head out Friday morning as planned with my car.
Fun note about this: the problem was actually much bigger than the mechanic thought and ended up having to do more work on the truck all weekend, leaving my husband stuck at home with an active toddler, with no car and massive rain storms that brought in over 7 inches of rain over the weekend itself. This would also end up costing waaaay more than we thought, as well. Great, more $$ gone! 

The Rev 3 Mobile

I arrived at the Quassy on Friday afternoon and the first thing I did was set out on the hunt to find Coach. I quickly discovered that she would not be making it to the race due to medical issues. Now, I was a tad on the devastated side to find out she would not be there--but I know she is no wuss and would have been there if she were able.
Another Fun Note: She had actually emailed me mid-week (twice, actually) about it and to nail down a race plan but I never got those emails. Late Friday night I got notification that she tweeted about my lack of communication. I got all panicky and started back-tracking thru social media and my email accounts to see what I was missing. Ah-hah! there were those two emails I missed...sitting in my dang spam folder. (Hey Yahoo! she's in my addy book so why is this being dumped into my spam folder??) I called her (which I never do!) and we cleared the lines of communication. 


I made my way around the park and sought out my Rev3 Peeps!! Then it was time to get my new blueseventy wetsuit and hit the water for a practice swim!!

with the awesome LJ

 The water was amazing--so warm. Actually, too warm. By the time I got to the first buoy that was set up for the Oly race the next day, I was sweating!! I got in a swim, got a good feel for the wetsuit and it was time to eat! I was famished!!

with the beautiful Jacqui Gordon! we were rockin' our Rev 3 Shimmer suits

It was going to be an early start to the day on Saturday since I was volunteering at the Oly race as a bike marshall on the course. It was time to eat, get some info to Coach and get some rest.
Saturday would prove to be a very long day with lots of action!!

______________________________________________

A big thank you to 1BandID for allowing me to review their product and participate in a giveaway for my readers. I love being able to work with products that I support and use myself so ....


There were 41 valid entries into the contest. 


The winner was chosen by Lola. I asked her to pick a number between 1 and 41. Lola picked the number 26, so the lucky winner of the 1BandID is.....


JEN at COLOR ME HAPPY


Jen, please shoot me an email at jsmall14(at)maine.rr.com and I will make sure you are rockin' a 1BandID lickity-split!!

QUA'wesome-Quassy HalfRev RR

Wow. What a weekend...lots of ups and downs (literally and figuratively) but it was an amazing experience and I cannot wait to return to this race next year.
There is really so much to say about the entire weekend but for now I'll just focus on the race itself and then in later posts, I'll recap the rest of the adventures.

Quassy is a brutal and unforgiving course. Burn yourself out on that bike course and you'll be dead on the run. So many people talk about the bike course and yes, it is hilly but in reality, it is that run course is the killer. It was the challenge of this course that drew me to it in the first place and I went into this race with absolutely NO expectations on time. My only expectation was some suffering...and here is how the day unfolded.

SWIM
37:52
I spent a lot of time working on my swim over the winter and thanks to Coach Sonja's guidance, I have made some pretty strong improvements with my swim techniques so while I said that I have zero time expectations on the race itself, the swim was really the only place where I wanted to see some improvements.

photo property of Rev3Triathlon 

ready to rock the blueseventy suit

My red capped wave consisted of my age group and the other half of the men's age group 35-39 with a beach start. I had been looking for Audra (another athlete that Sonja coaches) without luck but just moments before our wave was to go off, I was lifted off the ground! I knew right away it had to be her.

Getting on the beach for our wave and chatting w/Audra-GO TIME!

We said quick hello's, wished each other a great race and she made her way to the front of the pack. There was no way I was going to position myself to get trampled by these men so I played it safe with a position of the middle/back of the pack. Coach gave me a pretty specific plan of action for the swim and I was ready to execute. 

3-2-1-GO  I went out with good effort, there was lots of mashing of bodies, some kicking, swimming over each other-you know, the normal start but nothing epic. I was looking for some fast feet to follow and I found them quickly. I'd hold on as long as I could and then the feet would disappear.

The swim start to the guide buoys to the first turn buoy allowed for lots of room because of the angles available. Some stayed away from the guide buoys and just went right for the turn buoy (a straight shot) while others swam to the guide buoys then followed those to the first turn buoy. As you can see from this picture, you start to the left of the yellow guide buoys, the red turn buoy is at the end of the yellows, where you then make a right turn (into the sun).

I had some clean water for a bit then I'd find more feet and go. I got to the first turn buoy, passed some people, swim swim swim...it was so hard to see because the sun was right in my eyes but I'd swim swim sight, swim swim sight. I passed a yellow capped dude from a previous wave and just as I got past him, my feet were grabbed and I was pulled under--just I was taking a breath! This caused some water going down, my choking, puking a tad and cursing loudly!! But I kept my composure and just kept going. Got to the next turn buoy rather quickly and then it was go time to the shore. I don't recall much about that last portion of the swim except I passed a lot of people and I was ready to get on my bike!!

photo courtesy of my awesome Rev3 Team Mate, Elaine

T1 2:52 I remember having issues getting my Garmin on and I seemed to fumble getting my nutrition packed into my kit (and shoved down my top). Literally, one second faster than my T1 at Timberman


BIKE
3:08:04
What can I say about the bike except..WOW. What a blast! This course is lots of hills and lots of fun. Again, I had a plan to tackle this course and it went brilliantly. I kept in my zones (even when I wanted to bomb right up those hills) and paid attention to how many matches I was burning out there. I knew that there was a hell of a run coming up and played it smart. I had also seen some really bad crashes the day before (more on that another day) and on some of the downhills, I did find myself holding back a bit. I am ok with that. I like my skin on my body, I like my bike in one piece. I hit just over 40mph on several of those down hills and had a great ride. I felt fantastic the entire time and really, could have gone one more loop!

I had so much fun. 
I just love biking so, so much and there is not much else I would rather do than be out on my sexy, fast, awesome Quintana Roo cd0.1!! Plus, this course is just amazing and beautiful, those who live in this area of CT and get to ride/run this land daily are really lucky folks.

T2 1:52 In and out, time to run. (1:39 faster than Timberman)
Good thing I don't take T2 lessons from my pal Matty-O.

RUN
2:15:04
Ahh, the run. While I did not have any time goals going into this race, I knew that it was suffer time on the run and I knew this would take me 2-2:15 to complete so I was pretty much on target there though if things had gone as planned, it could have been a lot faster.
My plan was to take it easy the first half, be conservative on the climbs (so.many.hills) and then bomb it home for the last half. The first several miles were uneventful and easy going. I kept my HR in check, kept my pace in check (8:30's and 9:00's) and I was feeling good! I love to run off the bike and things were falling into place.
Lots of positive self talk and I continually reviewed my plan for those unrelenting hills ahead.


that smile would be a grimace at mile 7...another great photo from Elaine

Somewhere between miles 4 and 5 this sharp, cramping pain started in my right side. Now, I have had these happen to me in training before and I can usually take a little walk break or change up my breathing/foot strike pattern and run 'em out. It would wax and wane but it was always there. I did not want to stop, I did not want to walk but then I figured, if I can get this under control, I get get going. I took a little walk break and nothing so back to slogging along, climb, ouch, walk a bit...on and on. From being hunched over to my right trying to alleviate some of the side pain, I would later start to have my right glute and calf act up as well. My lower back was starting to hurt too...then I let the pain win. I stopped, doubled over and just took a deep breath. Started walking again and this gal, Jeannie (who I ended up chatting with post race) said she was having some side cramping too and suggested that I walk with my hands over my head. I did this for a bit and it did seem to alleviate the discomfort enough to battle on.

It hurt, it was hot but it was perpetual forward motion. I'd run, jog, get up those hills slowly doing the best that my body would allow each and every moment. I was pissed off, I was hurting but I wanted to be running. The land leveled out for a bit and I just went, went, went...trying to ignore it and push thru. Finally, I knew I had just one more hill to battle. I tried bombing up and my right calf totally balled up into a knot. I stopped, rubbed it out, stretched for a second and it was go.
I knew I only had about a 1/2 mile to the finish and if I could just get over this one hill, I was home. At this point, my frustration took over. I no longer cared how bad it hurt. I did not care if my legs fell off or my calf exploded. I just ran to the finish.

Almost there! 

The rains the previous day made for a mud pit of a finish line and I just blew thru it, slipping a tad and then done. I wobbled a bit when I stopped but then I smiled.
I hurt but I already knew I would be returning in 2013 for another crack at this race.

I knew this race was not easy.
This was no place for my ego or for going for a PR.
I executed the swim and bike just the way I planned.
Some things went not-as-planned on the run but I did what I could in the moment.

Growling...really.

Sitting here now, I think about mental strength and battling through pain. There will always be pain to work through to keep going. This is a skill I can work on, I can bring more pain to my days to learn to deal with it.

I am so happy overall with how the race went. I knew it would not be easy and I had a great time out there.  I have some things to improve, some things to learn and an amazing Coach who will help me get there!
A giant thank you to Rev3, you put on great race and I am so proud to be a part of the Rev 3 Family. Many, many thanks to my awesome sponsors! I am honored to have the worlds best products to train and race with!!

• Pearl iZUMi
• Powerbar
• Quintana Roo 
• blueseventy, 
• NormaTec 
• Reynolds
• Swiftwick 
• SBR Sports, Inc.

Post-race at the Powerbar tent!! So proud to represent Powerbar at Quassy this weekend.