Race Result

Racer:	Jessica Fry-Jones
Race:	Dog Days of Summer Tri at Broadlands
Date:	Sunday, August 9, 2009
Location:	Ashburn, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - Sprint
Age Group:	Female 25 - 29
Time:	1:20:48
Overall Place:	8 / 72
Age Group Place:	2 / 12
Comment:	My First Triathlon!!!

Race Report:

I decided earlier in the summer to sign up for the Patriots International Triathlon on September 13, and the more I thought about it, the more frightened I got from not having any triathlon experience under my belt. It was at this point that I started searching frantically for a sprint tri that was the perfect distance away from the Olympic tri and easy enough for me where I wouldn’t hate it! I finally found the Dog Days of Summer Sprint Tri on Active’s website and after reading the description, I signed up!

My wedding is on October 24th of this year so, since May, I’ve been really busting my butt in the gym. Lots of swimming (this is normal), lots of biking (this is also pretty normal) and lots and lots of running (so not normal!!!). I also started lifting weights. Needless to say, I felt like I was pretty ready for the triathlon. The only discipline I was somewhat worried about was my running; I knew I wouldn’t come close to how fast the other girls on the run would be, but I have gotten much faster in the last year and that’s all that matters to me!

Andrew had competed in his first tri in June. It was the Montclair Triathlon and he did fantastic. I remember the night before the race he was really nervous and got just a few hours of sleep. He was also really tense on the morning of the tri and I was worried that I would be like that for my first one as well. Surprise, surprise; I wasn’t! A couple of nights before the race I had trouble sleeping, but the night before I slept really well. I think my long history of competitive swimming has helped me control my anxiety before a race. I have learned to channel that energy to other parts of my body besides my brain! The night before the race we went to our favorite Italian restaurant, Mama Lucia’s in Reston, and Andrew and I shared a yummy pasta dish. Carbs like that are not allowed in my diet, but I’m sure my personal trainer would understand! I went to bed sometime around 11:00 p.m. and woke to an alarm going off at 5:00 a.m. I felt ready!

I had already checked in two nights before so we parked the car about a half-mile away and walked to the start/finish area. We got there pretty early, which made it easy to get in and find a good spot on my designated bike rack for my transition area. Andrew started pulling things out of my bag for set up (just shows you what a great guy he is), but I stopped him and said, “I think I need to learn this for myself.” My Cervelo P1 was so high off the ground that I was afraid to put my helmet and sunglasses on the aerobars in fear that if someone just lightly bumped it everything would go flying off in opposite directions. Instead, I just put everything on the towel next to my bike. I was on the end of the rack, which was nice because I had a little extra room. I had some time to think about what I was going to grab first, put on last, etc. and then it was race time! My goal time for the entire race was a 1:30.00, but I estimated my time at 1:45.00. Haha!

400 Meter Swim: 6:36 (2nd/72 Women)
Let me first say that swimming in anything other than a suit is a totally new experience for me! I felt like my two tri pieces of clothing were dragging in the water! The swim was a little chaotic to say the least. The pool was eight lanes across, but instead of having a long line of athletes starting off on one side of the pool, it was split in half. This meant that each racer had to swim up a lane and back down, which made it pretty impossible to pass. I am very familiar with this pool because I coach for Curl-Burke here in the summer, but it certainly didn’t help me in any kind of way! I caught up to the first guy (we started 10 seconds apart) just after 100 meters and got lucky; when we came to the wall at the 150 mark, he let me pass him. THANK YOU! I then caught up to the next guy just at 250 meters and was not able to pass him. I touched his feet a couple of times (not on purpose), but he just wouldn’t let me get in front of him at the walls. I completely understand this; it’s a race. It’s just frustrating for a swimmer to want to go faster and not be able to. At the end of the swim, I tore off my swim cap and goggles and ran to the opposite side of the pool where the exit was. We had to run around the pool office building and down the sidewalk next to the parking lot and then back into the transition area. Luckily, my bike was in the second rack in the parking lot, which meant that I didn’t have to run too far in the lot without shoes on. I didn’t feel tired from the swim at all and looking at my time, I see why! J At the end of the race when the results were posted, Andrew read my swim time and I said out loud, “Oh my gosh, that sucks!” Some other women that were standing next to me kept saying they would love to do that time. I just smiled and thanked them!

T1: 2:46 (15th/72 Women)
I felt like my transition wasn’t that slow and for my first time, I thought it was okay compared to everyone else. This is definitely an area where I can improve though! I did put on socks for the ride and I was wearing my road riding shoes, which have three straps (I recently purchased some tri road shoes), but I didn’t feel like this was a horrible or sloppy transition. I put on my helmet and race belt (it was required on the bike and run for this race). After I was ready, I grabbed my bike and ran down the center of the transition area and out through the mounting area for the bike. I didn’t do one of the infamous run and jump on maneuvers; I am much too inexperienced for that. I stopped completely, mounted the bike, clipped in and took off!

20k Bike: 39:35 (4th/72 Women)
I have been on my new Cervelo P1 a few times and really have been working on getting used to the aerobars. Apparently I didn’t do that enough because I barely got into the aero position. The ride was two loops, with two hills on each end. Anyone who knows me, knows that I don’t really like hills. However, I think it is getting easier with all my training and lifting. Going out for the first loop, I felt a gradual incline, and making the first left onto Broadlands was flat before the first climb. It wasn’t a hard climb, but just long. Once I got to the top of that hill, I took a left into a neighborhood and was welcomed by a slight downhill. Thank you! We climbed again before hitting Truro Parish and from there it was a nice long downhill until we hit Clairborne Parkway again. Going back towards the pool was pretty flat and then it would start to climb again. Passing in front of the pool, I could hear Andrew and Casey cheering for me and ringing the cowbell, which got me feeling like I was out to prove something to them. After the gradual climb on Claiborne, I took a right onto a steeper, but short climb. At this point in the race, there was only one other rider near me because of my early start in the pool. I liked this because I am used to drafting on rides or at least sharing the work with Andrew. I didn’t want to get in trouble for that! We did a turn-around on Croson Lane, climbed again and then headed back towards the pool for another loop. There was another nice downhill just before the pool where the crowd was, which made us all look much faster than we really are! The start of the second loop I was feeling pretty good, but not really looking forward to all the hills. They weren’t hard, like I mentioned before, but there were a lot of them. I kept my cadence at a good rhythm and by the time I was heading back in the transition area for the run, I was really curious to see what my average speed was. I came to a complete stop at the bike dismount, unclipped, got off my bike and started running. Just for the record, I don’t like running in road shoes. Not the most pleasant experience. Later on after the race, I did see what my bike computer recorded for my ride…18.6! Woo hoo! Andrew said I wasn’t allowed to ride in 5’s anymore with the Reston Bike Club. I agreed!

T2: 1:54 (52nd/72 Women)
HAHA! This wasn’t so great, huh? I guess this was the bad part about having my transition area all the way to the back of the parking lot, which meant that I had to run my bike in my road shoes to that location. Ugh. I felt like I was going to slip on the concrete and embarrass myself! I got to my transition, sat down to take off my shoes and helmet and quickly put on my shoes. I grabbed my running hat and ran to the very back of the parking lot, which is wear we had to cross for the beginning of the run. My least favorite…here we go.

5k Run: 30:00 (33rd/72 Women)
Let me tell you that I am very proud of my 9:40 pace. I am a horrible runner and to be able to do 30 minutes at the end of a tri after riding my butt off on the bike makes me pretty happy. I ran my first 5k race ever in over 34 minutes so that shows how much I’ve improved. I definitely want to keep running to bring this time down and I know it’s possible. I’d like to be around a 26-27 minute 5k at the end of a sprint tri by next summer and I am quite sure I can get there. At the start of the run, I was feeling pretty annoyed because I was getting passed by a lot of people. I knew the first mile was going to be the toughest for me because it always is during any run that I do. After I pushed through the first mile, I started feeling better and although I was still getting passed by people here and there, I felt good that I didn’t have to walk at all. I saw a girl my age in front of me so I concentrated on staying with her and it worked. The run was peppered with slight hills, but the hardest one was at the turn-around point where you had to run straight up Truro Parish (the same hill I loved coming down on the ride). I was relieved once I hit the cone to turn and was thankful for the volunteer there who encouraged me that I was halfway there! It felt good to run back down the hill! I took two more waters at the water stop and drank both of them; the first time around I drank one and dumped one on my head. I felt good that the race had started so early so we could beat the heat, but I felt it coming. I started feeling great that I was coming towards the end of my first tri so I sped up just a bit. Andrew let me borrow his New Balance watch and I started it at the beginning of the swim, but I must have bumped into the lane markers a couple of times because somehow I stopped the time. Now all I had to go on was the actual time of day. This was hard to gauge though if I was on track to getting to my goal time because I know that we didn’t start right at 7:00 a.m. The other triathletes on the course were very supportive and we all kept each other going. I was thankful for that. Towards the end of the run I kept looking at my watch and thought I was really close to the 1:30.00 mark. At the last turn of the run, I really picked up my pace (which made me think I should have gone faster) and crossed the finish line. I thought I was just over 1:30.00. In reality, I finished in 1:20.48! I was incredibly happy with that time and the fact that I finished it at all. I was also super happy that I didn’t have to walk at all on the run!

When the race results were posted a while later, Andrew pushed his way to the front to see how I did. He turned to me and said, “You are 8th!” I initially thought I was 8th in my age group and felt a wave of happiness float through me. I yelled back, “8th in my age group? Awesome!” He just shook his head and exclaimed, “8th overall!” I was ecstatic. My first tri and I was 8th out of 72 women and 2nd in my age group. I couldn’t have asked for a better race. I look forward to continue improving on all three sports, especially riding and running. See you at the next race!