Stafford Sprint Duathlon: The Bridge

"I knew the moment had arrived

For killing the past and coming back to life"

Pink Floyd - "Coming Back To Life"

The 2nd Annual Stafford Tri/Du/Aqua has a new twist this year. The bike course had changed to include and out and back over the Manahawkin Bay Bridge. Once I saw this, I knew I HAD to race this course. It was a bit shorter than Hammonton with the bike leg being only 11.something miles. But I wasn't going to quibble. It was The Bridge! 

This was also my first travel race. Manahawkin is about an hour drive from where I live. Combined with the 7am start time, I decided it would be smarted to be closer. So I booked a hotel down the road in Atlantic City. And I can say this is the first time I've ever been to AC, and not spent it out and about involved in shenanigans. I was a complete good boy - stop snickering, I was! 

Woof Mother Effer. Woof.

Anyway, packet pick up was at the transition site at 4pm, we bounced up the Garden State Parkway, and got my packet. Only they didn't give me any pins for my bib, or a strap for my timing chip. Zoinks. No problem, that was taken care of in the morning. So back to the hotel room, the gaggle went out to do what ever my gaggle does, I ate some dinner I brought with me and settled down to relax.

I had planned to go to bed at 8pm and I tried. The idiots across the hall were up all night being loud, so I didn't get a good nights sleep, and work up with a sore neck. I was a bit unhappy this.

Me - in the morning.

Made it to the race area, and I staked out a sweet transition spot. Three rows in from the bike out, and at the end of the 2nd or 3rd rack. Sweet! No more looking for my bike, let's eat pizza. A bit of warming up, the pre race brief and we went racing!

So, here's how it all went down:

1st run: This was a small Du crowd. Maybe 30 of us if that? I saw one of my fellow AGers and made a mental judgement that he was going to be one of the people I aimed to keep in my sights. I positioned myself about mid-gaggle. At the gun/horn I kept myself midpack, keeping my target in sight. I made some passes and got zoomed a couple of times, I didn't sweat it. I just aimed at keeping in the mid pack area. The field started to spread out as the inital burst of speed wore off and everyone settled into their pace. Still had my target in eyesight. 

I see you...

Made a right turn, and found myself faced with a hill. My first thought was "Where in the hell did they find a hill in freaking New Jersey?!" 

But I leaned into it and powered up it, making a few passes. So far so good. I'm working hard, and my Garmin is showing that I'm running way quicker than Hammonton. I don't sweat it, I know I made gains, lets see what I gained. Around the turn and back down the course. I was starting to hurt a bit here, and I think my pace dropped. The rest of this run was me just keeping forward momentum, holding a steady pace and looking forward to T1. 

I'm Keith Effing Richards!

T1: Found my bike no problem. Off came the running shoes, on went the bike shoes, and then the brain bucket. Dashing out of T1 I went. MUCH quicker than last races T1 at something like :51 seconds.

Orale vato!

The Bike: I had been looking forward to this bike course because of it's signature feature: The Bridge. Before the bridge was a lot of nice flat country contested country roads. I made a bunch of passes, staying in aero and aimed to keep my cadence 80-85ish. A couple of sharp turns had us slowing down, especially after the local PD's warning about them. 

This was NOT what we wanted to happen

I felt pretty good, took on some water and kept spinning. I did notice I spun more this race than last race, I think. Finally on to the bridge. They had closed down one whole lane for us in both directions. Outbound we were in the right lane. The bridge has two hallmark features. Baby Hill and Momma Hill. Baby Hill wasn't a problem, I was able to stay in aero and get up it. Momma Hill, that's a different story. She is mean. About 3/4 of the way up it, I was in my granny gear spinning for all I was worth. This is also where I did puke a bit. 

I noticed my stomach was "sloshy" but ignored it. Kept hammering while I puked, grabbed some water and kept going. Coach did say it was ok to puke, just don't stop. Got some speed rolling off of Big Momma, tucked into aero and gave the legs a break by only pedaling occassionaly. Made the turn and headed back in, again to face Momma Hill. The second time she wasn't as bad, I was able to handle her easier. I think with out Baby Hill, things went better. Rolled off Big Momma again, grabbing some more speed that carried me over Baby Hill and into the turn back on the country roads.

Where I slammed on my breaks because that turn IS washed out and VERY bumpy. Got through that turn and even made a few passes. Kept heading back and I could feel my lower ribs aching and my legs letting me know I was crazy. I thought for sure I flamed out. I pushed the pain and the thought aways and kept going. 

In case you are wondering, there is NO shame in getting passed by a 72 year old on a TT. 

Did a flying dismount and into T2 I went.

T2: Quick bike rack, changed gear and took a second to grab a bit of water and dump it down my back. 

2nd Run: This is run and I are never going to be friends. I was hurting. My left calf was cramping, my hip flexor screaming at me. I just decided to out stubborn it, and kept running (no stopping!). Grabbed some water from a couple of the water stations. Made the turn, looked at the time and said "crap, I can be sub 1:30" so I kept going. After the 5k turn it was a long false flat, that turned into a nice down hill. I let gravity help me. Kept going and finding a bit of extra speed I think after the first half of the 5k. Made the turn into the park and once I saw the finish line, emptied out the tank.

Official Race Time: 1:25:12. 11 minutes off Hammonton. No hardware, but  progress is more important. 

Over all, I'm VERY happy with this race. I hope the gains keep coming.