Tel Aviv Triathlon - 17 June 2006

Thanks to 4sport, TAN and Shvoong for the photos

This was not one of my favorite races last year. I remembered it as being crowded with too many people wandering around in the transition area and very hot without much shade on the run. In fact, although I came in 3rd place last year, it was one of my worst races. I got dehydrated and ended up walking much of the run. The main reason I chose to do the race this year was to "fix" what went wrong last year.

Although the start time for the sprint was 8:00, we had to leave at 4:00 because the kids started early -- at 6:30. The bus parked quite a distance from the race site, so we had to walk with our bikes and equipment. When we got to the transition area, I spent several minutes wandering around trying to figure out where they'd put the sprint 39+ participants. Finally, after someone went and asked, I found it -- way off in another country (almost), in a separate area in the back that I hadn't even seen. It was the furthest point from the bike and run exits (and also from the entry from the swim), but we were all there together, so it didn't matter.

After getting set up, I hung around in the transition area watching the kids race until they kicked us out. There was still an hour to start time, but with no running shoes (they were in the transition area, of course), there would be no warm up run on the course. Instead, about 20 minutes later, I did a warm up run of about a kilometer on the beach and then took a short swim.

There were close to 400 people in the sprint 20+ wave and because they wanted to open the beach and the roads to the public as quickly as possible, they decided not to break us up into two waves. This was the largest swim start in Israeli triathlon history, as they made sure to tell us while we were standing on the beach. After being hit and punched and kicked and swum over too many times in recent races, I decided to move as far to the left as possible. This decision would have both good and bad consequences.

The swim was easy. I was so far over to the side that I was hardly touched at all. And I was so far over to the side that it seemed to be taking me forever, even though I was swimming. In fact, every single one of my teammates was out of the water before I was, even the slowest ones. I don't know how far I swam, but it was a lot more than 750 meters. On my way out of the water, I stepped into a hole and fell. I'm glad they didn't catch that on camera! I quickly picked myself up and ran up onto the beach. It took me a few more seconds to remember to look at my watch. At this point, it read 17:40. Ugh. Not a good time at all.

The swim to bike transition at this race is very very long. I had to run up the beach, past a shopping center and several businesses (cafes, etc.) in the port, across the boardwalk and then across the entire transition area. It's several hundred meters and many people left shoes at the swim exit, but I chose to do it barefoot. My transition went smoothly. Total time for swim plus transition: 22:09. The split times on the results are messed up, so I'm not sure where exactly this put me, but it wasn't in a particularly good place. There were plenty of people behind me, but way too many in front of me. Not a great start, but, as I reminded myself, this was the start I had chosen. Last year, my time was 23:20 (I had a very bad transition), so I managed to improve it a bit.

On to the bike. It was very very crowded in the mounting area. I have no idea if there were any accidents there during the race, but I wouldn't be surprised. Even after managing to get on my bike, I couldn't move -- there were too many people in front of me getting on theirs. The race officials were asking people not to pass in the mounting area and I took advantage of the slow pace to get clipped in. Once I turned the corner and hit open road, I was on my way.

Because of the number of participants and the fact that the course is short (sprint competitors had to do two loops for a total of about 21.75 km), this was a draft legal race. There were hundreds of people out there on the course (sprint and Olympic distance racers) and huge groups of people riding together. From what I heard, there were also quite a few accidents. I did my best to stay away from reckless riders and to take the turns slowly. The fun part about draft legal races is that you can stay close enough to another rider to have a conversation with him and I spoke to several other people. Generally, this is my favorite part of the race, but the safety issue made it a bit less enjoyable than usual. Despite the number of people and the fact that I didn't really manage to find someone that I could work with, I managed a fair pace. I finished the course in 44:39, averaging around 29 kph -- not bad for me. Last year's time was 48:59, so I was over four minutes faster this year. Last year, however, I had a lot of knee pain during the bike and I really suffered.

The bike to run transition went smoothly. So smoothly, in fact, that for a moment, I was sure I must have forgotten to do something. Actually, I wasn't in all that much of a rush. I was trying to psych myself up for the run, but memories of last year's run must have been in the back of my mind and I wouldn't have minded spending a few more seconds in the transition area. Then I remembered Michaela. Michaela, that woman in my age group who keeps passing me on the run. Michaela, the woman who I'd kindly asked earlier in the day not to pass me in this race. LOL. I did want to see Michaela again, but only after the race was over. I knew she was somewhere behind me and I didn't know how far back. Off I went.

The run was hot and the course was packed. I tried very hard to keep positive thoughts running through my head. "You can do this -- it's only 5 km." "You're in great shape, this is a piece of cake." When I ran out of those, I thought of Michaela somewhere behind me. And when I stopped caring about her, I just thought, "JFR". I made sure to take water at all the water stops. I wasn't going to get dehydrated this time. Starting at the second water stop, the water was ice cold. In fact, it was so cold, that I debated not drinking it and just pouring the whole cup over my head. Fortunately, common sense won out -- I drank and then poured. Around halfway, I found myself running with a woman in the age group below me. We stayed together for a bit and then she pulled ahead, but she called me to catch up with her so that we could keep running together. So I did. We stayed together until almost the end (when I passed her and just kept going).

The closer I got to the end of the course, the more difficult it became, but the more determined I was not to slow down. I was breathing very hard and my legs were tired. I don't get this at all. It's only 5 km (actually, if I remember correctly, it's a little bit more, but still short). I run longer distances than this all the time. Apart from three or four bridges that have to be run up and down, the course is completely flat. Why on earth is it so damn hard? And this is not just my own personal opinion. I heard lots of people talking about how hard the run is at this race.

By 4 km, Michaela hadn't passed me. I knew she couldn't be far behind, though, and I decided to give the last km all I had. That wasn't much. 500 meters to go. No Michaela. It was almost over. 200 meters -- there was no way I was going to let her pass me now. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't work up to a sprint. My legs wouldn't go any faster. I was breathing so hard that I thought I was going to die right there on the course. I was getting nauseous. Even with the finish line in sight, I wasn't sure I could make it. But I did. My time for the run including the transition was 31:49. Not a great 5 km time for me, even if it was a bit long and included a transition, but a whole lot better than last year's time of 35:03. And I'd run the whole thing. And I hadn't gotten dehydrated. And Michaela hadn't passed me. I'd achieved all my goals (and "fixed" last year's experience). My final time for the race was 1:38:37, just under nine minutes faster than last year. I was 268/387 overall and 3/9 for women 40-44. Hardware! And in a bigger field than last year! The only "downer" was the realization that if I had swum with my teammates, I would have finished in second place -- the second place finisher, a woman I normally beat, was only a minute ahead of me. I wasn't all that far behind first place, either -- about three and a half minutes -- and this, too, was a woman I have beaten before.

And Michaela? Well, she finished just under a minute after me. I was still in the finishing area when she came through. She came right up to me and said, "You did it! I looked for you, but I couldn't catch up!" Her run had been about four and a half minutes faster than mine. In previous races, she's been five minutes faster -- I'm catching up!

Last year, I was happy to be in the middle of my age group or below. Just one season later, I've actually become one of the better competitors. It's so strange to think that when other women look at the participant list and see my name, they might be saying, "Oh, she's tough to keep up with!" I never thought I'd be that person. And I've only just started. I'm pretty certain I've got a whole lot more "oomph" in me!