Love:
It’s so close!
Cambridge seems to love hosting (or they fake it well).
I know the course.
Final thoughts:
Love this swim (even the jellies).
Wish I had pushed a bit harder on the bike.
Proud I made good choices on the run and didn’t stick to a plan that could have cost the race.
Final Final thought:
I’m never doing Eagleman again (but, obviously I will definitely do it again).
Final Final Final thought:
Finisherpix is trying to make me look like complete a-hole. I just want to be clear that I did not just run past the man on the ground behind me in this picture to get to the finish line. I did stop to offer help. Medical personnel were steps away. He officially finished the race. His Garmin was stopped so he had the correct data.
Hate:
Jellyfish.
Crossing the Bay Bridge.
Racing in an oven (set to broil).
So, when the team decided to make it one of the team races this year, I thought only of the items on the love list and signed myself right on up.
Goals:
Eagleman was my A race for this year (with the right to move A race status to another race if everything went to hell…because I’ve done Eagleman and I know it can all go to hell).
When I started triathlons my cycling was terrible, so I mostly just got through that portion and saved my energy for the run. Over the years my cycling has improved and as I’ve started putting more effort there, my run has suffered a bit. It’s a constant back-and-forth trying to figure out the best race strategy when it comes to effort and where to put it.
For this race I really wanted a strong run, which meant intentionally holding back a little bit on the bike so my legs would be strong.
Logistics:
I arrived Friday afternoon and stayed within driving distance, but not walking distance, so I was SUPER grateful to Ed for his years of creating relationship with the Tamplins. Eagleman/IM MD parking is such a cluster and being able to park so close to Gerry Boyle Park is a major perk.
Friday was the packet pick-up and some shopping in the merch tent. Saturday was a 1 hour ride on the course and a 15 minute swim in the practice swim area, followed by the Athlete Briefing. Friday evening was a yummy team dinner and re-reviewing the courses one more time (because I had a nightmare about getting lost on a course earlier in the week).
Swim:
5:45 start time –such an early morning (luckily I don’t sleep well before races). The race was wetsuit legal, but I decided to go with a swim skin because I will avoid having to get out of a wetsuit quickly at all costs. The water was so calm and serene, and once I hit the water my nerves just melted away.
I did the Rock Hall Olympic last month, and royally messed up the swim (got way off course). I think that was a really good shake-out/reminder because for this race I was extra focused on staying where I needed to be. There was really only one short moment when I was following the crowd blindly without actually seeing the next buoy.
I wasn’t expecting my jellyfish friends to come and cheer, but apparently they wanted to show their support. It was fine. The stings don’t actually bother me too much, so they are always kind of a bigger deal in my head than they wind up being during the race.
T1:
I didn’t have to get out of a wetsuit, but I still took entirely too long. Why? Who knows. Anyone want to do transition drills with me sometime?
Bike:
The bike was flat, as always. I really enjoy climbing, but there’s something nice about the speeds you see on your bike computer on a flat course.
I was having a little bit of trouble with the lid on my hydration system and was afraid the lid (to which my bike computer was attached) was going to fly off, so I sort of had one of my hands holding it down the entire time. Not perfect, but Eagleman is a race where you are in aero the whole time, so my hands were basically right there anyway.
The wind can be bad on this course, and there definitely was some, but I actually noticed it more when it was helping than when it was against me.
In retrospect, I should have been paying closer attention to my low heart rate and should have pushed a bit harder on the bike. I definitely had more in me, but I was too focused on saving for the run.
Speaking of the run…
T2:
Sorry, I forgot about T2. Eagleman makes your run SOOOOOO far with your bike. ARGH! Once I finally got back to the rack, T2 was actually pretty quick.
Ok, now speaking of the run…
Run:
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the run was @#$%ing hot.
Remember how I was saving on the bike to go all-out on the run? Within the first 5 minutes that game plan changed to: ok, all-out isn’t going to happen today. Let’s be smart and use what you saved on the bike to get to the finish line in one piece.
The Eagleman course feels like you are running through an endless maze of neighborhood streets… with occasional views of the Choptank River… and no trees… and with the sun literally hunting you down.
I had hoped to run through every other aid station, but I decided to walk them all regardless of whether I needed to (although I pretty much always needed to).
The whole 13 miles was a constant conversation with myself: how do we feel? Heart rate too high? Let’s pick up the cadence and slow down the pace. The self check-ins definitely kept me on solid ground and while the run was pretty painful, I never felt like it could fall apart.
The volunteers at the aid stations had to have been so hot too, but they were really lovely, so cheerful and positive (yay, Cambridge!).
So, when the team decided to make it one of the team races this year, I thought only of the items on the love list and signed myself right on up.
Goals:
Eagleman was my A race for this year (with the right to move A race status to another race if everything went to hell…because I’ve done Eagleman and I know it can all go to hell).
When I started triathlons my cycling was terrible, so I mostly just got through that portion and saved my energy for the run. Over the years my cycling has improved and as I’ve started putting more effort there, my run has suffered a bit. It’s a constant back-and-forth trying to figure out the best race strategy when it comes to effort and where to put it.
For this race I really wanted a strong run, which meant intentionally holding back a little bit on the bike so my legs would be strong.
Logistics:
I arrived Friday afternoon and stayed within driving distance, but not walking distance, so I was SUPER grateful to Ed for his years of creating relationship with the Tamplins. Eagleman/IM MD parking is such a cluster and being able to park so close to Gerry Boyle Park is a major perk.
Friday was the packet pick-up and some shopping in the merch tent. Saturday was a 1 hour ride on the course and a 15 minute swim in the practice swim area, followed by the Athlete Briefing. Friday evening was a yummy team dinner and re-reviewing the courses one more time (because I had a nightmare about getting lost on a course earlier in the week).
Swim:
5:45 start time –such an early morning (luckily I don’t sleep well before races). The race was wetsuit legal, but I decided to go with a swim skin because I will avoid having to get out of a wetsuit quickly at all costs. The water was so calm and serene, and once I hit the water my nerves just melted away.
I did the Rock Hall Olympic last month, and royally messed up the swim (got way off course). I think that was a really good shake-out/reminder because for this race I was extra focused on staying where I needed to be. There was really only one short moment when I was following the crowd blindly without actually seeing the next buoy.
I wasn’t expecting my jellyfish friends to come and cheer, but apparently they wanted to show their support. It was fine. The stings don’t actually bother me too much, so they are always kind of a bigger deal in my head than they wind up being during the race.
T1:
I didn’t have to get out of a wetsuit, but I still took entirely too long. Why? Who knows. Anyone want to do transition drills with me sometime?
Bike:
The bike was flat, as always. I really enjoy climbing, but there’s something nice about the speeds you see on your bike computer on a flat course.
I was having a little bit of trouble with the lid on my hydration system and was afraid the lid (to which my bike computer was attached) was going to fly off, so I sort of had one of my hands holding it down the entire time. Not perfect, but Eagleman is a race where you are in aero the whole time, so my hands were basically right there anyway.
The wind can be bad on this course, and there definitely was some, but I actually noticed it more when it was helping than when it was against me.
In retrospect, I should have been paying closer attention to my low heart rate and should have pushed a bit harder on the bike. I definitely had more in me, but I was too focused on saving for the run.
Speaking of the run…
T2:
Sorry, I forgot about T2. Eagleman makes your run SOOOOOO far with your bike. ARGH! Once I finally got back to the rack, T2 was actually pretty quick.
Ok, now speaking of the run…
Run:
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the run was @#$%ing hot.
Remember how I was saving on the bike to go all-out on the run? Within the first 5 minutes that game plan changed to: ok, all-out isn’t going to happen today. Let’s be smart and use what you saved on the bike to get to the finish line in one piece.
The Eagleman course feels like you are running through an endless maze of neighborhood streets… with occasional views of the Choptank River… and no trees… and with the sun literally hunting you down.
I had hoped to run through every other aid station, but I decided to walk them all regardless of whether I needed to (although I pretty much always needed to).
The whole 13 miles was a constant conversation with myself: how do we feel? Heart rate too high? Let’s pick up the cadence and slow down the pace. The self check-ins definitely kept me on solid ground and while the run was pretty painful, I never felt like it could fall apart.
The volunteers at the aid stations had to have been so hot too, but they were really lovely, so cheerful and positive (yay, Cambridge!).
The Team Z tent was a bright spot all 4 times I passed it – thanks guys!
Final thoughts:
Love this swim (even the jellies).
Wish I had pushed a bit harder on the bike.
Proud I made good choices on the run and didn’t stick to a plan that could have cost the race.
Final Final thought:
I’m never doing Eagleman again (but, obviously I will definitely do it again).
Final Final Final thought:
Finisherpix is trying to make me look like complete a-hole. I just want to be clear that I did not just run past the man on the ground behind me in this picture to get to the finish line. I did stop to offer help. Medical personnel were steps away. He officially finished the race. His Garmin was stopped so he had the correct data.
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