Eagleman 70.3

Wow. What a day. I think Eagleman was probably the highlight thus far of my year with Team Z. My finish time... nothing special (6:51). In fact, I think it was my best triathlon experience ever. After all, it was billed as a training day anyway. I just wanted to go out there, feel strong, and have some fun.

A group of us had spent the night at Holly's boss's house: a little ways away, but couldn't beat the offer. Besides, it was a slumber party of sorts. During the course of the evening, I heard of the sea nettles. Now, I naive as I was, I thought the sea nettle chatter over the email was some sort of Eagleman lore. However, some were stung by the things during their swim on Saturday. I grew a little apprehesive. I knew the Choptank River lived up to its name, but sea nettles too? Oh well, no sense in worrying now.

We woke around 4am, sharing our stories of restlessness over breakfast. Soon, we were off towards Cambridge.

The weather in the morning was rather chilly, unusually chilly for Eagleman. Eagleman is known for being windy and hot. Today, windy, yes, hot, not so much.

The whir in the transition as all set up was infectious. Yet, at the same time, it tends to make me a little unsettled in the nerves. I elected to tone out all the chatter over the loudspeaker and blare my Ipod to U2... "Beautiful Day" played, of course. (I think we all have come to associate U2 music with our long training rides.)

Adam and I headed over to the swim area to watch a few waves take off (my wave was not until later) and watch the pros come in. And soon it was time to get suited up and ready to race.

Maroon caps. Female: 30-34. And we were off. The swim started out fine, just slow relaxed strokes. I tuned everyone else out and took it easy. The plan for all of us doing Ironman was to keep the heart rate down in Zone 1 and just relax. Practice race disclipline.

Heading out on the swim was not too bad (other than feeling crushed quickly as the pink, then the "pumpkin", even a couple blue swim caps passed me). But then, turn around the sailboat, and wham! Suddenly I was getting abused by the Choptank's waves. On the swim back in, I had to stop twice, tread water, and take off my goggles to get my bearings. I kept telling myself to keep my cool, and for the most part, I think I stayed relaxed. Nevertheless, I was quite happy to exit the water.

Next up: bike. I was psyched to take the Red Baron out on her maiden race. This race course was made for my little Guru bike. I kept my heart rate low on the bike but felt very strong. I'm not a strong climber, but I can go in the flats. Eagleman had maybe a 50 feet elevation gain over the 56 miles. Maybe. It did get lonely out on the course, though. I kept looking for the Team Z green jerseys. Finally I passed Jess, sharing a few laughs. At about mile 35, Holly caught up to me. I think we were equally happy to see each other, so we wound up leapfrogging the rest of the bike route in, both looking strong, and passing several people along the way.

During the bike, I got a slight muscle cramp in my left calf. It faded away, but quickly came back with a vengeance on the run. I began to walk and stretch. I saw Ed about 2 miles in. He asked how my knee was doing (as I recently had problems) and happily, the knee was fine. It was my calf that was giving me trouble. He reminded me that Ironman, not Eagleman, is MY race, and just to walk as necessary.

Slowly, the calf began to loosen up. I saw Ed and John Mead at about mile 5, cheering away. And suddenly, I became simply giddy. I jumped in the air and laughed when I saw them. And then I saw fellow Team Z'er after another on the out and back run course. It gave me so much energy. I was able to run longer and longer stretches. With about 3.5 miles left, Helen caught up to me. And we decided to run in together.

Coming into the finish corral was simply amazing. Helen and I leaped high into the air as we saw others from our team. What a great finish to a fabulous race. And finishing that race made me feel ready as ever for Placid.