lobsterman race report

My virgin race at Lobsterman has come and gone, and it was HANDS DOWN the most gorgeous race I have ever done!

Pre-race:

The parking is tight at Winslow Park, so the race directors advised getting in early (5:30am) to find parking and then napping before transition opens (6:30am) and/or before the race start (9am, 9:25 for my wave.) The hubs, dudebaby, Rupert the Dog and I made it down to the park right on time. But, due to the two SBucks double shot espressos I downed from the comfort of our Econolodge bathroom (to keep from waking up the baby...sheesh,) there were no naps to be had for me. But I didn't mind, with such ugly views from transition to keep me occupied:

Everyone I ran into in transition was so nice. Might as well have been on another planet compared to the rays of sunshine you have the pleasure of meeting here in Beantown. Chatted with the girl racked next to me for a while, pretending to know about bike fit and components. She was wearing an IM Austria jacket, had an IM Cozumel visor on her transition mat, and was taking stuff out of her IM Florida bag. I'm not judging here. If anything I'm jealous. Shoot. That many IM's deserves that much shwag. You go.

Eventually I wandered back out into the park to look for my boys. Morgan tended to the kiddo while I scanned the water for shark fins/Jaws/blood sat back and enjoyed the view of the ocean. Rupert the Dog was extremely popular that day. Just about every person at Winslow park wanted to know his name, how old he was, and if they could keep him forever. We continued to dodge Rupert groupies all the way down to the swim start. Eventually I just started telling people he was going to win his race category (Clydesdale) and to back the F up so he could focus. Seemed to do the trick. 

Jumped in the water for a warm up, and just about thought I was going to die. Really. I was gasping/hyperventilating due to the massive waves of shivers that racked my body. Only got in about 5 minutes of warm-up, which was temperature wise more of a freeze-up. And there were people in the water gleefully splashing about, saying how the water wasn't that bad. I dunno, maybe they are Vikings? Or Inuit? Crazy for sure. 

Got out of the water, did my standard pre-swim freak out/complaint/sphinter dance, got a kiss from the boys, and went to find the rest of my wave. 

Swim 1.5km - 36:30 (2:14) a PR!

Previous posts may have clued you in to the fact that I have a completely rational irrational fear of being eaten by a Great White Shark during these ocean races. I was also terrified of becoming a human popsicle in the slushy-like water. Well, neither happened. Swim was actually rather uneventful, other than the wee little wet suit hickey I developed after forgetting to put body glide on my neck. 

There were no kicks to the chest, face, teeth, or boobs. No pulling or scratching. My goggles did start to leak about 1/2 way through, but it wasn't too bad so I just let them be. [Afterwards my red eyes made me look like a stoner chick. Eating everything in sight probably didn't help with that impression.] Before I knew it I was slogging up onto the shore and kissing my wee baby. Hooray! Another swim survived without a shark attack. 

Bike 40km - 1:32:54 (16mph) def not a PR

[Morg and I drove the course the day before the race and I was so glad we did. There were quite a few potential quad-burners out there. It reminded me of the Decker course, but with slightly shorter, steeper hills. I tend to attack hills like a crazy person. Back in Austin when attacking hills was routine, I could hammer away and suffer no ill effects. Since moving to Boston, I just haven't had the hill training I'm used to, so I wanted to be careful not to murder my quads in the first half of the race. Some of the steeper climbs were in miles 15-22. And the run is on the same course. Hills aside, folks, this course is insanely gorgeous. Fairy-tale gorgeous. Dreaming-of-winning-the-lottery-and-buying-a-summer-home-out-here gorgeous.]

Back to race day. Uneventful transition, survived the dirt path out of transition, and switched into an easy gear to spin up the first hill out of the park. Then I just sat back and tried to find a smart, happy pace that I could maintain throughout the hilly course and still have juice left in my legs. At some points I felt like I was taking it too easy--but once I hit those hills on the back half and started passing people, I felt much better about my pace! I turned it up with about 4 miles to go, and was happy to feel my legs responding without complaint. Made it up the last little bitch of a hill, and then enjoyed the sweet sweeping downhill back into the park. Saw my badass cheer crew, which really made me smile :)  I probably went 4mph on the dirt road back to transition, for what that's worth. I'm such a wiener about off-roading.

Run 10km - 1:02:14 (10min/mi) maybe a PR? it's close.

Felt fantastic coming out of transition. No weird twinges in the legs. Solid stomach. Decided to switch the view on my watch from time to HR, so I could just focus on staying in my zone and NOT worry about time. Got to see the cheer crew again on the way out AND steal another baby kiss. Baby kisses are better than caffeinated Gus. 

The run went similar to the bike. Just tried to keep an even pace and not wear myself down by blasting up the first few hills. I felt better than I EVER ever have in an olympic run. Steady, even, and solid stomach. On that hilly bia of a course, I consider that on par with winning my age group :) I had a song stuck in my head that the dudebaby and I learned in our last play group, and it carried me through the whole race. I had an inkling that I wasn't going to PR, but couldn't care in the least. The course was just too gorgeous, and I was having too much fun. I came through the finishing chute with no energy to spare, but still elated. I mean, who can be grumpy when faced with this:

Total time - 3:16:04 (32/39 AG)

Some of my tri friends would probably be horrified being so far back in their age group. I might have even been horrified by it a year ago. Do I care now? Eff no! 

I had an amazing race. And loved every minute. THAT'S WHAT MATTERS. I am lucky to have such a super husband and baby who support me in training. I feel lucky to be physically capable of doing triathlons. And glory be to mother nature for showing up in her prom dress that Saturday. 

Post race - 3 free beers, 1 giant plate of lobster-bake goodness, and a bag of kettle corn (a PR!)

I now have a new requirement for triathlons: must include a post race beer garden and lobster bake. 

All in all, best race weekend to date. We might even come back next year! I probably won't race it, being 3-4 weeks out of IMLou, but I'm trying to convince the hubs he could do it on only 3-4 weeks of training :)

If you're out there in the interwebs land and considering Lobsterman next year, do it. DOOO EEET.