Carol D. Challenge Aquabike AC race report

My hubby (ENer Turby Wright) and I decided to do the Challenge Atlantic City Aquabike as a "training day" for our upcoming Ironman Maryland in September.  Considering we both did IM Mont Tremblant 70.3 the week before, I was not sure what my expectations should be so I really didn't have any. I have not ridden 112 miles since Kona in 2012 and have not done a 2.4-mile OWS since then either!  Oh well - it's just a training day, right?  The most I have ridden since then was 80 miles about a month ago.  Based on my swimming times (e.g., SLOW), I was hoping for about a 1:30 swim.  My FTP is 156 which is higher than it was in 2012, so I thought I could easily get a PR on the bike for 112 miles (both IMNY/NJ and Kona were 7:30).  Especially since the AC bike was flat as opposed to hilly and/or windy and I wouldn't be running after:-)))  

We left early Sat. morning and arrived in time for a short swim on the course.  The water was very comfortable and nice.  It was obvious that there was definitely a current because after the turnaround, it was tough going - but didn't seem too bad since we only swam a short distance.  Spent the day checking in, racking bikes, eating a big breakfast (thanks Robert, for the great suggestion!), and all the usual pre-race stuff.  Did a bit of walking since our hotel was over a mile from the host hotel, but I will say it was very entertaining walking down the boardwalk and seeing the "interesting" outfits, etc. that people (who apparently do not own mirrors) were wearing! We met a wonderful couple in line for dinner and ended up eating with them.  They were both doing the race as well so we had fun talking "triathlon" talk.  I think tri people are just the BEST!   Sat. night there was a huge party in the room next to ours.  Not good!  They all left around 10-ish to go down to the Casino, but returned around 2:00 to continue whooping it up!   Not a good night's sleep at all...

Up at 3:00 (race started at 6:00!) to find an "open all night" place to get some food.  We did find bagels so that was what we had.  A couple cups of coffee and some perform and we were on our way.  As we were pulling into the parking lot near transition at around 5:00, I happened to hear the announcer loud and clear and he was saying "64 years old from Little Silver, NJ..."  Then he says "Oh - sounds like Carol has a fan club!"  As I guessed, it seems that I was the oldest woman competing in the Challenge AC.  LOL!

The swim - as you've all heard about by now - was AWFUL!  They decided no wetsuits since the water was supposedly 80 degrees (NOT), but you could go in the last wave if you wanted to wear a wetsuit.  The Aquabike was 2nd to last anyway so I was definitely wearing a wetsuit for 2.4 miles.  The problem was that SO many other people decided to wear a wetsuit too, which resulted in the wetsuit wave having the most people, by far!  Many were still on the dock when the gun went off!   Needless to say, lots of body contact in this swim.  The current was with us for about the 1st 10 minutes, at most.  Then the turnaround and the rest of the swim seemed to be into a current no matter which way we were swimming.  Too many turns and confusing buoys.  I was very happy to finally get out of that bay!  1:46 for the swim.  6 minutes slower than Kona where I did not have a wetsuit!  

Took my time in T1 (just a training day, remember?).  I even helped a woman who was changing all of her clothes and could not seem to get anything on because she was wet!  There were no volunteers around to help so I stuffed my wetsuit, etc. into the bag and dropped it off heading to the bike.

LOVED this bike course!  Maybe because it was flat and I think that suits me better than hills.  My plan was to hold around .69 - .70 for the ride.  The first half was pretty much right there.  I felt really good and just got down aero and passed a whole bunch of people:-)  I stopped at Special Needs at mile 62 for a porta potty visit, and to replace my bottles.  There were a couple of hairy moments when people who either didn't know the rules, or are just plain stupid or rude, did not move over when I was yelling "on your left" and almost took me out!  I actually got pushed over onto the grass at one point when some gal would not move over and I had just enough room to go by, when at the same time a guy passed her on the right and she came into me!  GRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr.  She got an earful from me!!

Coming back the last 30 miles, holy wind!  I just got down as aero as possible but it was not nearly as much fun going East.  The cars zooming by on the Atlantic City Expressway seemed to make it even worse.  My neck was killing me but I did my best to stay down as much as possible.  I saw my IF slip down to .68 and I was determined to not let it go any lower.  I just could not seem to get the Watts I was looking for.  Probably a combination of 1) no long rides, 2) MT 70.3 a week before, and 3) nutrition.  All I could think of was THANK GOD I am not running after this:-)

Came in at 6:08.  WooHoo - Definitely got that PR:-)  Turby was waiting at the finish (after he had already put his bike on the car!) and we were really happy to be done for the day.

NP - 106;  IF - .68; VI - 1.04, TSS - 283   First half was definitely faster than the second (19.3 mph vs 16.9 inc.SN stop)

5 1/2 bottles of diluted perform (1 scoop), 13 Gu chomps, 1 GU - 124 cals/hour which is a little low.  I'm usually good around 150.  I just couldn't seem to get any more in me and wasn't too concerned since I was not running.  I never felt like I was bonking but maybe a better breakfast and a few additional calories would have helped.  Oh - and a salt tablet every hour.

We showered and went to watch and cheer for the runners on the boardwalk.  It was great because we knew SO many people doing this race - including many ENers:-)  I felt bad for the runners though because they were dodging the people on the boardwalk all the time, including strollers, smokers, and just PEOPLE everywhere.  I think there are improvements to be made, but Challenge did a good job for the first AC race and hopefully will use the feedback to make some changes to the swim and run!

So - I've been a slacker all week (including babysitting my Grandkids all weekend which is a workout in itself).  Time to get serious with IMMD in less than 10 weeks!

Thanks for reading!