We arrived in Westernport shortly after noon and the memories just started flowing back into my mind. Turning the corner onto Rock St. and looking straight up “the wall” is intimidating even in a car. I just started laughing. I’d ridden my bike up it (minus the actual “wall” block) and knew what it felt like. We parked the car at the base of “the wall” and walked up it. It looked in pretty good shape and ready for the racers to take it on. Jeff decided to go for a test ride, so I waited at the top with the camera. He turned the corner in his easiest gear (remember, he’s on a mountain bike) and just spun right up. His comment at the top was “this is easy!” I laughed…I think even I could make it up with his gearing!
Back in the car and we were driving the route. These hills just don’t end, but I wasn’t about to comment on it. We approached “Killer Miller” and saw Kyle (architect of the courses) and his wife Laura out marking the course. I couldn’t stop staring at the hill ahead. It was a beautiful area, but that doesn’t make it hurt less. At this point I really was keeping my mouth shut since my course was not this hard.
We arrived in Deep Creek with enough time to set up our campsite (which was in an awesome spot), go for a swim in the lake, and scout out some pizza for dinner. While picking up the pizza at Smiley’s we ran into Brett Bagshaw, who I hadn’t seen in 11 years since my very first triathlon. I had met her at the pool where I was coaching that summer and she was a big time triathlete. She calmed my fears and taught me about the sport. After the race, she asked me how I did and introduced me to some of her triathlon friends. I was such a newbie, and her support meant the world to me. Here we were 11 years later and it was me trying to calm her fears. I am lucky to have gotten to return the favor that meant so much to me when I was starting out in the sport.
Camping was a great time. The weather was cold, but tolerable and we had Smores both nights! Fortunately Jeff mastered the campfire after the third attempt on the first night and our dessert wasn’t in jeopardy! The campsite was only a short walk to the transition area so we didn’t have to deal with parking on race morning.
We attended the pre-race dinner since the ticket was included in our fundraising “prize” along with a cool SavageMan jersey. The food was excellent and we got to meet new people, catch up with old friends and enjoy a beautiful night on top of Wisp.
Race Day!!!!!
6 am (it felt like sleeping in for a race day) the alarm went off. We could see from our campsite that people were already starting to arrive at the state park. We had already gotten everything ready so all we had to do was get dressed for the race and walk down to set up transition. It was all downhill, but when we got to the bottom, just before entering the park, we realized that we had forgotten the bike pump. I ran back up to get it, and realized at that moment that my legs felt awesome and just knew it was going to be a great day.
At the transition area, I ran into Aaron (race photographer), Monique, Joanne, Brett and we all chatted about the race and our clothing choices for the day. I just had no idea what the weather was going to be like once I got out of the water so decided to wear my LUNA tank top and leave my jersey, arm warmers and wind vest at my spot in transition just in case.
Off to the swim start. Fog…again. They announced that they were delaying the start by 20 minutes for the ½ distance, but the international will stay the same. Jeff was cold, so being the great girlfriend that I am, I took off a layer and gave it to him. I think I had on 4 layers so I definitely could spare one or two!
Finally it was time for Jeff’s wave to start. The gun went off and he sprinted ahead. I watched him swim away and suddenly for the first time all weekend it occurred to me that I was racing also. I had been so caught up in his race, his gear and his preparations that I honestly hadn’t even thought about the fact that I was doing this also. Plus, I really didn’t expect anything from myself since this would be my first race of this distance since my disaster at Reston over two years ago.
After some final preparations, I got into my wetsuit and lined up with all of the pink caps…women under 39. I stood there waiting for them to call us into the water just looking for the first green cap to emerge from the water. Finally, there was Jeff, in roughly 27 minutes. I ran over to cheer and once he crossed over the timing mat, I got a mid-race kiss. It was so sweet and all of the girls in my wave agreed but said that their husbands/boyfriends would have taken the time for a kiss. I knew that he wasn’t concerned with his transition time so what’s 5 seconds for a kiss?
Into the water, and we were ready to go. The horn went off and I just sprinted ahead, trying to break away from my wave. One girl to my left and one behind me stayed with me for a few buoys, but at the turn, I took a quick look and didn’t see anyone. We did have to deal with the sun in our eyes on the way out, but I'll take that any day over last year's fog. The swim was great, calm and clean water and lots of buoys to sight off. I definitely made a larger rectangle than the course markers, but knew that I was having a solid swim. As I headed back to transition, I saw the big inflatable turtle that I had spent so much time hanging out on a few summers ago (and done a few back flips off) and knew that was where we turned for the boat ramp. I actually thought that it would be funny to get up on the turtle and back flip off, but thought I may get DQ’d so I kept swimming. I turned the corner and saw what must have been 20-30 people from the previous waves all headed for the same exit. I tried to go around as carefully as I could and quickly was on land. Over the timing mat and I smiled as I ran up the road. I was the first woman out of the water and 3rd overall. Not bad considering my lack of swim training!
There is a huge hill up to the transition area which I walked most of, my heart was just pounding. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I ran to my bike, took off my wetsuit and contemplated clothing choices. I quickly decided that I was warm enough so stuck with the tank top that I had on. I didn’t regret the decision.
Off on the bike, man it’s tough. There are two tough climbs on the international distance course and you hit the first one in the first few miles. Toothpick Rd. really keeps your head in the game. I had a tough time with this one because I still wasn’t calmed down from the swim. I was on a complete adrenaline rush and had to get out of the saddle and force myself to turn the pedals over. Once at the top, I relaxed and enjoyed the next few miles. There weren’t any woman passing me, so I knew I was in good shape.
Kyle wasn’t kidding about slowing on the descent on Black Hawk School Rd. It’s a tight turn right at the bottom before a steep climb. I didn’t have any trouble on this section. I actually felt great climbing up this road. Once at the top, you get to stretch out with some downhill until the hardest climb on the course.
At mile 12, I turned onto Frank Brenneman Rd. and all I saw were people struggling. It really went by fast, but about half way up the climb I counted 8 people walking. Not a good sign. It did get pretty steep (23% grade) but I knew staying on my bike would be so much faster than walking so I talked myself all the way up. What a rush to get to go down the other side, knowing that the hard stuff was behind me! The rest of the bike ride seemed to go by pretty fast and right before turning on the road that goes back to the state park, I realized exactly how close I was to breaking my goal of 1:30. I also knew that it wasn’t flat or downhill to the state park and I would have to just push pretty hard to get there in time. I really did push the pace and even didn’t take off my bike shoes because I didn’t want to miss it by seconds. I made it with about 40 seconds to spare.
Into transition and I was quickly off on the run. The first mile couldn’t be any better. It’s downhill then flat. I reached mile 1 in about 9:30 and knew it was going to be a good run. I had almost exactly 1:04 to do the 10K to break 3 hours and things were looking good so far. The course didn’t go nearly as far down Brant Rd as I thought it would and we were quickly running uphill into the campground. I thought that it would be a downer to run past the campsite, but it actually gave me a boost because people were playing music and I recognized the people in the area where we were camping.
Back out onto State Park Rd. and I made it to mile 3 in just over 31 minutes. I knew at this point I would have to even split the run to break 3 hours, and also knew my history of not even splitting the run portion of races. At about mile 4 you turn onto the fire tower road. It is straight uphill like nothing I have ever run up. I ran for a few minutes and then threw the 3 hour goal right out the window and walked. Luckily there was an aid station at the top, I definitely needed water at this point. Back down the hill and I ran, but was very careful not to take a wrong step. It felt so great to get back to state park rd and there was a photographer there. I probably looked way too happy at this point. Right after, you pass mile marker 5. I looked at my watch and had under 12 minutes to get to the finish line and 1.2 miles to go. Yikes!
There is a climb back up state park road right before you turn into the parking lot towards the finish. I knew it was going to be close and picked up the pace. At this point I was glad that my HR monitor wasn’t working because the high number it would have shown me would have freaked me out. I put forth as much effort as I could and at this point didn’t care about the people passing me, I just cared about the race I was in against the clock. Once at the top of the hill, I saw mile marker 6. With .2 to go, I had about 1:40 until 3 hours. It was all downhill, but still, what did I have left? At that point, I picked up the pace and gave it everything, “emptying the tank.” I could see the finish line, and maybe had 100 yards to go, and all of a sudden it hit me and I felt like I was going to get sick. “Just keep running” I told myself. My legs started to cramp. “No, NOT NOW!!!! Just get to that line!!!” I raised my arms in the air and heard my name announced, and had trouble slowing down. I stopped my watch, but was afraid to look. I got my medal, they took my chip, and I kept walking. I walked out of the finish area and prepared myself to look. Before I did, I told myself, “whatever it says, you gave it 110% today so just be happy.” 2:59:59. Relief.
I didn’t have much time before Jeff could be finishing the aquavelo so I grabbed a water, some cookies, chatted with a few friends, and headed back up to the transition with Monique. We sat in the sun chatting and cheering everyone in off the bike and finally, the Bell’s Oberon beer jersey appeared. Jeff was done. Smiling from ear to ear, but looking like it was a challenging day. I was so proud of him for attempting this, and so happy that he was done so that we could find out about each other’s day. We hung out at the finish for hours, watching everyone finish and then watching the awards. It was an incredible day, a breakthrough for me and a brick on Westernport Rd. for Jeff Roddin, “Mountain biker.”
I will be back to compete in 2009 and have already told everyone I know about this race. It doesn’t get any better than this. Kyle and Greg are incredible race organizers and the race is for a great cause. They care about every single little detail about the event weekend and it really shows.
Swim- 22:24- 1st woman, 3rd overall
T1- 3:15
Bike- 1:29:20
T2- 1:03
Run- 1:04:00
Total Time: 2:59:58 3rd woman 30-34, 10th woman overall
Official results
And remember, if you sign up for 2009, “you won’t be the first to cry on Westernport.” That was me, 4 years ago. Westernport defeated me on that training ride and I am not about to be defeated again by a hill. I crushed Frank Brenneman road on race day, and you must know that as I climbed, out of the saddle, one pedal stroke at a time, I was thinking about that day 4 years ago when I got off my bike and cried.
Stats on the climbs...
Toothpick: Cat 4, 0.25 miles avg 9%, max 16%
Westernport: Cat HS, 1.2 miles avg 12%, max 31%
Big Savage Mtn: Cat 1, 2.4 miles avg 6%, max 22%
Savage River: Cat 3, 2.8 miles avg 4%, max 7%
McAndrews Hill: Cat 2, 0.6 miles, avg 9%, max 19%
Otto Lane: Cat 2, 0.6 miles, avg 8%, max 17%
Killer Miller: Cat HS, 1.3 miles avg 8%, max 21%. First 0.6 miles avg 13%, max 22%
Maynardier Ridge: Cat 3, 0.25 miles avg 12%, max 23%
Frank Brenneman Rd: Cat 1, 0.7 miles avg 10%, max 23%. Last 0.4 miles, avg 15%, max 23%
Toothpick is on both courses, Frank Brenneman is international distance only and the rest are on the 1/2 course.
To see "the wall" for yourself, just go to youtube and search for "savageman" and you'll be entertained.
International Bike Course (23 miles)
1 comment:
I think we may need to make Savageman an official Luna Race! Congrats on your race and age group podium finish.
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