Harrisburg Sprint Tri

This race brought to you by Continental Airlines and Caribou Coffee… At least that’s how it feels. After months of meticulous preparation, detailed planning and hours of training, I managed to put together a great race at Eagleman last week. Then I threw it all out the window in the name of making some cash…

After heading up to NJ for a day of recovery (and ice cream) following that race, I was on the 6:50 (AM!) flight to LA Tuesday morning to start rehearsals for (my boss) Josh Groban’s induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame… Optimistically I brought my running shoes and goggles, but didn’t really know how much time I’d get in. The week was a fun one. Nice to see old friends again and despite a lack of sleep owing to late nights and a rare case of jet lag (and maybe a night of a few too many margaritas…) the show went fantastically well, and the Hollywood Bowl is one of my all time favorite venues to play. The only bummer in the week was that my flight back Sunday wasn’t due to arrive in Newark until 8:30 PM, so racing the Harrisburg Sprint Tri was probably a no go.

But fortune (and my generous tour manager!) smiled upon me and I got my flight Saturday moved up to a 7:00 AM departure, meaning I could theoretically make it back in time to compete after all… Of course, the late show coupled with a post-party coupled a long drive to LAX meant I literally didn’t sleep Friday night, but was I going to let that concern me? Well, yes, but what can you do? I think I may have a racing compulsion... All told, my car pulled into my driveway at 11:00 PM on Saturday and my eyes were closed an hour later. It’s funny as I usually have a bunch of pre-race foods I like to eat and certain other preparatory things I like to do the night before, but I was just too tired to think about it. Having not even unpacked since Eagleman, I figured the same bag would suffice, though I did check to make sure my shoes were still in it!

Arrived at the race surprisingly alert (though this may have some thing to do with the HUGE pot of coffee I spent the pre-dawn hours downing) to get registered and squared away. The addition of numbered racks this year was nice as in the past there’s been some crowding issues near the ends of transition. And the weather was turning out to be surprisingly ideal, despite an early morning drizzle. After a quick swim-style deck change into my shorts I took the bike out for a quick spin (essential seeing as I hadn’t ridden it in a week!) only to discover I may have an issue…my rear derailleur would not shift. As I contemplated my first ever DNS I gave it a few more up and downshifts and it started to finally behave. Eagleman’s Gatorade + plus a week of no riding = very stuck derailleur, lesson learned. I am guilty of bike neglect I suppose, but I’m pleased it finally came around.

Apparently while away the rains had really been coming down because the Susquehanna had turned from ‘Lazy River’ into ‘Log Flume,’ enough so that everyone had to hold onto ropes and each other to avoid being swept downstream and you could warm up by swimming against the current and not have to worry about going anywhere! After a delayed start the ladies in the first wave left with my wave starting 3 minutes later. (I hope next year the organizers invest in a higher-powered bullhorn as this one was tough to hear!) It was simply amazing how far downriver the girls had gotten before we even started! With a current like this, everyone could easily channel their inner Michael Phelps!

Having not been in the water for a week I was a touch apprehensive about the swim, kind of like taking a test I hadn’t studied for. But reassuringly I felt a little stronger than I expected. I had one guy hanging out on my hip for most of the swim, but given the speed of the water trying to up the swim pace probably wouldn’t benefit me much, so I settled in and enjoyed the advantage of swimming closer to the shoreline than usual thanks to the deep water.

I managed to hit the boat ramp first in my wave and had one of my best transitions yet. (Pam, rubberbands and baby powder, everybody…) With a short bike and no time in the saddle during the previous week, I decided to just redline the ride as long as I could and try to hold on for the run. Would it work? No idea. But this sure wasn’t the race to leave up to the last leg, especially with Mike H. back there somewhere and super-runner John ‘Spider’ Sillery in the mix…

A bit of a headwind made for tough trip out, but knowing it had to be tough for everyone was motivational, I don’t mind hurting on the bike. At the turnaround I saw Kara S. just starting to head back the other way with an uber-cool motorcycle escort. I have to admit I was a little jealous, there’s nothing cooler than chasing the motorcycle, always makes you feel like a pro. But having her out there was good motivation and I made it a goal to try and make up that last bit of ground before the run.

Alas, Kara’s bike leg has been on fire recently and I just couldn’t catch her! Hit T2 just as she was leaving. I figured I had a decent lead on the rest of my wave going into the run, but 5,000 meters of footracing gives good runners a chance to make up a lot of ground and there was no way to know how fast the 3rd wavers were going. Found a good pace and tried my hardest to make up the gap Kara had (since she had now traded her uber-cool moto escort for an uber-cool mountainbike one…) but only made up about 10 seconds on her by the finish… I was definitely feeling the week by the time I hit the line. First in my wave, but had to play the waiting game to see if it would stick for the overall.

In the end it did, but Mike H. sure gave me a run for the money (OK, there was no money. But he did give me a run for the free jug of Hammer Gel and bag of granola) with a smokin’ fast bike leg and a run leg to match. Barely held him off by about 90 seconds, but I wish we could’ve been in the same wave as I think it would have made for fun, exciting and (for me) scary race!

Props to Sarah L. for supplying the granola to the winners. I wish I could say it lasted more than a day…but it didn’t.

P.S. Apparently they closed the City Island Beach the next day due to high levels of E.Coli... Lesson for everyone - more swim practice = less time you have to spend in infected Pennsylvania rivers...