The Providence Half Ironman

Yesterday I "competed" in the Providence 70.3. The M Dot races are very different than your average triathlon. Most races, you sign up on line and show up the morning of your race with your gear, pick up your packet and your on your way with your day. Providence is a bit more logistically challenged. I did the usual sign up on line, but with all M Dot races it is MANDATORY that you go to the athlete check-in a day, to a few days prior to the race. So on Friday, the first athlete check-in day, it occurred to me that I had no idea how I was getting my bike to the beach (the start of the race). Duh?! Well,....even though this is my fourth season of doing triathlons, it seems that winter time erases my brain completely of any previous events (or I suppose, any common sense). Luckily (not from a money stand point), my last client for the day on Friday cancelled, so I was able to go to the athlete check-in and purchase my $8.00 shuttle bus ticket to the race. Phew! I grabbed some dinner with my friend Carolyn and was home by 10:00. Saturday morning was the day to bring my bike to the beach. Knowing that it was going to be a beach day and the Wickford Art Festival was going on, it was imperative to get on the road early. Well, in customary Nancy Gillooly fashion, I did not get on the road at 8:15 like I wanted to, it was more like 9:15. So....yes...I hit traffic (stop and go traffic) at the Exeter exit, I was in the high speed lane and unable to get off at that exit. The traffic actually moved at a decent pace and I made it down to the beach without too much frustration. Dropped the bike at T1 and drove to Narragansett Beach for a 10 minute jog. Now it was time to get my gear bags together, check those in and go to....the MANDATORY athlete briefing. Ugh! The hardest part of my Saturday was actually deciding what to wear in the race. (Ha! Typical woman!) Once I finally got all the mandatory stuff done, it was off to the super market and home to cook myself a good pre-race meal. I was in bed around 8:30 and soon off to dreamy land...until 11:30 when one of my cats decided it was a good time to start meowing for no reason. He finally shut up and then at 1:00 it was the down pour and thunder and lightening that woke me up. Before I knew it, my alarm clock was going off at my wake-up time of 2:30AM. Yes, the EARLIEST I have ever had to get up for a race! I was out the door at 3:30 to get to the shuttle bus in Providence. I ended up sitting next to, by chance, another athlete in my age group from RI, Kristen....I think, I'm so bad with names, but I enjoyed chatting with her all the same. We got down to the beach with no problem, but I was shivering from the time I got off the bus until the start of the race. Who knew that I should have packed ski gear for T1? Although, I do know someone who would tell me I should have been prepared for that. (Tell that to the Ironman officials who want you to turn in your SMALL morning clothes bag in before you start your swim.) It was great to see a few triathletes that I hadn't seen in a while and catch up and also meet some new friends. So, the 40 plus ladies (myself included) were corralled in waiting for the Pros to go off and the officials gave us the option of opting out of the swim portion and just doing the bike and run. That's unheard of in my book! We all chuckled and I looked out at the water thinking, "Ha...I've swam in water where it was like swimming in a washing machine! This is nothing!" Well, I didn't factor in that was THREE years ago, when I used to swim in the ocean twice a week. I hadn't swam in the ocean in over a year. (Note to anyone doing an ocean swim race: Do a lot of practice swims in the ocean because you never know what the conditions could be!) My thinking prior to the race was, "This is Sand Hill Cove, aka: Roger Wheeler Beach, there are no waves there. I don't need to do any ocean swims prior to the race." It never occurred to me that there would be a storm the night before and that every breath I took for the first half mile, I would be swallowing ocean water and thinking, "What the hell am I doing this for?" Everyone felt the same way, because people were stopping, muttering, swearing, laughing, doing the breast stroke, etc. Once I got to the half way mark the rhythm set in. It was definitely the worst race swims I've ever had, time wise and condition wise. On to the bike...I hopped on my bike and immediately thought my rear tire felt low, but also thought I was imagining it, because it was fine prior to the race. It also was not the first time in a race where I thought my rear tire was going flat. "Paranoia of the dreaded flat in a race syndrome". Needles to say, I flatted somewhere around the 20 something mile mark. Luckily, Matt from NBX came to my rescue, but it took a while to change because of various reason. At this point I knew my race time was in the toilet. I hopped on my bike again and passed all those people who were passing me while my flat was being changed (at least it felt like I passed them all). I actually enjoyed the bike course and did not find any of the hills too challenging. Oh, I am forgetting to mention that the spectators were AWESOME at the beach and out on the bike course. The volunteers were unbelievable too! Kudos to both! I finally got to T2 and started my run. I just didn't have it in me, the fight was gone and by the second loop my quads were spasming. I was in it to finish and hopefully before six hours. I forget my official time, but it was something like 5:59:42....ha! Man was I glad it was over. Again, it was great to see friends I hadn't seen in a while, the crowds and the volunteers were great, and I would truely recommend this race to anyone who is thinking about it for next year. It just wasn't my day yesterday, and that happens...no biggie...I still had fun!