Race Result

Racer:	Jamie Roberson
Race:	Marilyn Lathom "Homegrown" Triathlon
Date:	Sunday, April 1, 2007
Location:	Reston, VA
Race Type:	Triathlon - Sprint
Age Group:	Female 40 - 44
Time:	2:46:21
Overall Place:	20 / 20
Age Group Place:	10 / 10
Comment:	Reston's Best-Kept Secret

Race Report:

I was coming home from a May mini-tri two years ago when I passed a transition area set up near the soccer field on South Lakes Drive, just steps from my house. Clearly, some event was going on, and the participants really looked like they were having fun. A little investigation revealed that the event was the Marilyn Lathom “Homegrown” Triathlon, an event begun in 1994 (according to www.homegrowntriathlon.com) by “two sisters who wanted a more friendly, open-to-all, family oriented way to keep motivated about exercising”. They ended up creating their own event and named it for their mother, Marilyn Lathom, when she passed away from breast cancer in 1999.

The Homegrown’s motto: “Slow Down…then Taper”. Sign me up!

Race Morning

Mistake #1: The event seemed so low-key, that I found myself approaching it like a training evolution. Bad idea. I rolled out of bed 30 minutes before the swim start, threw my bike and some gear into the Element, and scurried around the corner to the community center, where the swim was to take place. But this was no Stinkyville Sprint: there was a check-in, race numbers, t-shirts, and an orientation, which was just about to begin. I leaned my bike against a tree, dropped my T1 gear next to the bike, bagged T2 gear hurriedly, then managed to rummage through and get my cap and goggles before the swim start.

Swim (28:20)

The swim was in the RCC pool, but not a snake swim. We were to swim 1000 meters, and a volunteer was present to help us count the 20 laps. On the bell lap, all of the volunteers made a point of cheering very loudly to spur on the competitors.

This was something remarkable about this race: there had to have been at least one volunteer for each of the 20 ompetitors. If not, it sure seemed like it.

I truly enjoyed this swim. Once I got going, stopped stressing out, and got into a rhythm, I found myself disappointed to be on lap 20. I just wanted the swim to go on and on…

But all good things must come to an end, and that was certainly the case here. I’d averaged 2:49 per 100m, a new swim PR! But then I had to face the consequences of my disorganized transition area: attach the race number to my bike and helmet, throw on some long cycling pants (it was co-old) and a long-sleeved t-shirt, try to put on gloves, fumble around, decide against the gloves, bag my T1 bag and hand it to a volunteer, ensure brakes were aligned… it’s a wonder T1 took only 08:10. It felt much longer, and I lost two places in the process.

Bike (1:07:33)

The bike course was two loops of an abbreviated version of the Reston course: instead of turning left from Glade on to Soapstone, we continued on Glade to a right on Colts Neck. T2 was at the soccer field (which also was the finish line).

Here’s where I made mistake #2: I was so thrilled from my swim time that I lost focus. I then found myself on Glade trying to distract myself from the shivering cold by thinking about how nice it was to be on the bike, how nice it would be to be on the same course at Reston, blah blah blah, when I realized that I wasn’t thinking about *pedaling the dmn bike*. I was lollygagging around, treating the bike leg of a race like an LSD training day. Once I realized this, I shifted into the big chain ring, but apparently too abruptly, as it popped right off. I hate it when this happens: being clipped in, I’m terrified of falling when I don’t have forward motion. I managed to slow appropriately, hop off the bike, reattach the chain, then get going again. It was too late, though. I lost two more places, and averaged a dismal 11.08 mph over the 20k course.

Run (57:49)

Split transition areas are always going to take a bit more time, and this was the case here. Fortunately, being at the end of the race, it was easy for the friendly volunteer to find my bag and hand it to me. I spent another 30 seconds or so finding an appropriate tree against which to lean my bike, then changed shoes, shucked the pants, pinned on a race number to the tshirt I put on over my long-sleeved shirt, and was off, for a total of 04:29 in T2. I did gain one place, though, and was now 18th out of 20 competitors.

Here’s where I made Mistake #3: not pushing hard enough on the run. Having had problems for the past three years with ankle pain, I was used to walking off the bike and hoping I could run *a little* through the pain after the first mile. After last year’s fasciotomy, though, I haven’t had any pain at all, just the brick-y feeling that all of us experience after T2.

So I trudged out of T2 down South Lakes to the turnaround, then realized, “um, hello, you don’t hurt. You really can pick it up here.” Again, it was too late. By the time I increased the effort, I was passed by the last two women and was now in last place. I decided not to dwell on it, though, and just enjoy the morning. It was right about that time that Melanie passed by in her car and shouted encouragement. That lifted my spirits, and helped me to run the last mile nonstop, though I still only averaged 18.40 per mile on the run leg.

Epilogue

I crossed the finish line in 2:46:21 and found happy triathletes and volunteers refueling on homemade brownies, muffins, and other treats. I was disappointed to have finished in last place, when three big errors on my part contributed directly to my poor performance. Experience in running bricks and mental toughness will bring this time down and help me break 2:00 on a sprint this season. In fact, that’s my new goal: finish the next event, the Worldgate Super Sprint in under two hours, and the Reston Tri in 4:00. I can do this, and I’ll definitely do this race again next year.