Amica Rhode Island 70.3 Recap - "Don't leave before roll down"
Monday, July 13, 2009 at 02:17PM Yesterday was the 2nd version of the Rhode Island 70.3 and Allie Lawler, Kristin Budden and I from TargeTraining (and over 1300 others that finished) were all ready to rock and roll. We had been somewhat worried about the weather, which earlier predictions showing rain and maybe thunderstorms on race morning, but the storms went through Saturday night and on Sunday, we awoke -- at 3:15 am for those of us taking the shuttle from Providence to Narragansett - to somewhat cloudy but not rainy skies. We arrived at the start in Narragansett to find that the race was being delayed as the night's storm and winds had relocated the buoys. This was a big field and we all had a wide range of start times...pros were going off first at 6:20ish with other waves following every 4 minutes...I had the 10th wave and so had a lot of time to kill making sure my T1 stuff didn't fall onto the "clean transition area" ground we were supposed to maintain.
I went in for a warm up "swim"...it was more like a warm up pinball game as the swells on what was supposed to be the calm beach basically tossed me all over (Megan, how much can I pay you for open water swim lessons?). "OK, I'll just make it up on the return back to shore," I thought. Finally, we start, and I was looking forward once again to being the USAT-age 45 year old guy in the 45-49 age group. The swim was brutal...crowded, choppy, just not fun all the way to the turn. The return was OK, but I went a bit wide and came back toward the buoys. Out of the water...slower than last year (31:24 including the run up to the mats), but hey, the swim was MUCH calmer last year. I figure I'll make it up on the bike.
We had tail winds for a decent portion of the first half of the ride, but looking at my splits, I think my head was somewhere else. I basically rode a little slower than last year, perhaps anxious to get to the run strong. The bike course is relatively fast, certainly not as difficult as some of the courses around here. Not feeling spent, I cam in with a 2:29:27; I'd hoped to go 2:27-2:28 but must have had a brain freeze around 50 miles or something and slowed a bit.
My goal was to come out of T2 at 3:00 and then runa 1:30 for a total time of 4:30. I emerged from T2 at 3:04, meaning I had to run a 1:26. OK...not out of the realm, so I got going. The run in Providence is a double loop with one really bad hill that's maybe 1/4 mile long...despite that, I was on 6:30 pace through 7 miles and felt OK...but after the 2nd time up the hill, I think I lost a bit of energy, focus, etc. and began to slow; over the two rollers between (now) 10 and 12 miles, it was even slower going. Nonetheless, I pushed back down the big hill and into the finish, ending up at exactly 1:30:00. Finishing time: 4:34:14. Place: 10th in age group (58th amateur).
This race was MUCH more competitive this year than last (that time would have been 2nd in the AG last year). Kristin was 5:03:36 for a big PR and 12th in her AG; Allie was 5:02:35 for 8th in the incredibly competitive women's 40-44, which included former Olympian Brigitte McMahon, Lisbeth Kenyon and Cassie McWilliam (to give an idea of the strength of the field, Cassie won the 40-44 at Eagleman and was 5th woman OVERALL including pros -- she was 4th in the AG here). This race was not only giving away Clearwater spots but also Kona spots, and it seems people came out of the woodwork for them. Subsequently, we all thought we'd be shut out of Clearwater spots and left. Unfortunately, it turned out that apparently, Clearwater isn't so popular (indeed, we've heard that many pros are upset with the race due to the amount of drafting that goes on) and BOTH Kristin and I could have had Clearwater spots if we'd been there to accept them. Note to USAT - the ridiculously stupid process of having to wait for over 2 hours after the standings are known to do roll down needs to be fixed.
Kristin's husband, Chris, also PR'd in 4:53:28 and numerous Westchester/Connecticut locals enjoyed the day as well. Congrats to all that raced!
Reader Comments (3)
Awesome job everyone! I could have told you there would have been roll downs...that happened to me last year at Timberman.
I was 9th in 40-44 last year and missed the roll down. Ah, well...my destiny, it seems, is IMAZ.
Seems like a policy in need of changing. We do have computers, right?