The situation
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| Asbury Park, Aug. 24, 2014 - The historic carousel building in the background |
I was on a training roll after Jersey Girl Tri three weeks ago, but the past two weeks I have had to juggle childcare, start of work, and various personal calamities and haven't been able to train much. I hate the antsy feeling that comes from not being able to work out.
I have been treating my anxiety with significant quantities of homemade peppermint stix ice cream from Gil & Bert's, which has, in fact, helped a lot with the stress, but probably hasn't done much for my overall fitness level.
Motivation issues
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| Race face. |
Usually I start to feel pumped on the way to races. I listen to music, go through my mental checklists one last time. Today all I could think about was turning around and heading back to my nice warm bed. I honestly thought I might ditch out until the actual moment the airhorn sounded to start the race.
I yawned my way from the car to the transition area and set up my gear (the good news is I'm getting better at setting up and at being minimalist, which is key). While organizing my socks and shoes, I overheard some people near me talking about the swim portion being cancelled because of rip tides. I whipped my head around. WTF?
Taking things in stride...literally
Sure enough, the event coordinator came over the loud speaker a few moments later and indicated that we would be doing a run--->bike--->run course instead of a swim--->bike--->run course. The first run would be 1.3 miles to make up for the swim.My heart sank. The swim is my best and favorite aspect of triathlon, Asbury is a lovely place to swim, and looking forward to it had provided about 60% of the motivation I'd used to get to the race in the first place. Instead I faced the prospect of extra running.
My running times have plateaued lately, as I have spent more time getting comfortable on the bike this season, trying to beat back the anxiety that came after my bike accident last summer. At this point I find it easier to go for a ride than to get out for a run, especially on hot days, the exact opposite of what I experienced a year ago.
Given the rough training weeks, my coach, Chris, had stressed that I needed to look at this race as a chance to enjoy the mere fact of being able to compete in triathlon, and to build my repository of race day experience. I focussed on that as much as possible.
Solutions
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- Knowing that I was getting a lesson in flexibility by having to live without the swim
- Listening to this big hairy dude on a cellphone berating a training buddy who was running late and was (like me) also considering ditching out and heading home...The guy kept yelling: "Man up, bro! Man up!" I felt he was speaking to me.
- Since the stakes were low, I embraced the chance to people watch. Triathletes are funny people.
Best people watching moments included:
- spotting a dog in a race shirt;
- watching a skinny Asian lady down both halves of a large beef burrito a mere ten minutes before the starting gun;
- observing incredibly chivalrous port-o-potty etiquette;
- picking up some new race lingo from a couple of young bucks who referred to their bike wheels as "spinnerets," a term I had perviously known only in relation spider anatomy, and which seemed both effete and tough at the same time;
- counting the number of times one girl, in a group of five 20-somethings who were all wearing peach T-shirts, said "DUDE!";
- and noting that Zoot and Sugoi tri shoes are very much en vogue this season.
My race
My race went about as expected. I held a 9:15 pace for the first run section (a good speed for me). I averaged 18.4 mph (according to the unofficial results) on the bike (also good for me), and my final run was the labored slog I had anticipated. I am not a huge fan of running on the uneven boardwalk planks, though the ocean views are pretty. In the last mile the heat started to get to me, but I met a very enthusiastic guy named Bill and we pushed each other through the last half mile or so. I ended strong.
Take aways: I learned strategies for taking race day changes in stride. I got some exercise. People gave me a medal and a banana for this. So I would call that a good day.
Postlude: Some Thoughts on Corporate Race Companies
TriRock is owned by Competitor Group Inc. (which also owns a number of sports themed magazines and the Rock n' Roll marathon series, the NFL Run series and Muddy Buddy), a very much for profit entity that says it "represents a game-changing collection of dynamic media and participatory event assets." They also say they "deliver life-changing experiences."
Is this true? Who can say.
What I can tell you is that their health expo was paltry and that the actual amount of music, rock or any other kind, was minimal. However, their volunteer workers (yes, the massive quantities of money are being made on the backs of volunteer labor) were pleasant and well meaning, even though some of the race crew members seemed like homeless guys who had been handed blue shirts and told to set up orange cones. (Am I jaded for thinking that Competitor Group Inc. probably pitches the use of local homeless as "community service" when they are trying to impress potential clients?)
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| TriRock Asbury Park finishers' medals from 2013 (left) and 2014. The guitar medalion was also a bottle opener, for those moments when you are opening a beer and need to make clear you once completed a triathlon. |
Where other races donate almost all their profits to important charities like Parkinson's research or disaster relief, TriRock seems like it supports good causes just enough that they can say they that they do good and try to offer participants a way to feel good about spending $100 on registration. Competitor Group is a money making entity and charities eat into profit margins. On the other hand, because the event is delivered by professionals, it runs smoothly. There were some good vendors and one of the better post race food spreads I have ever seen.
This year TriRock even improved their finishers' medals so they didn't look as chintzy as last year's. I suspect they got feedback and realized that was not a great place to try to cut costs.
Will I do the race again next year? Probably not, but not because I object to TriRock. It's just not a great time to fit a race into my schedule. And besides: rip tides.
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