Anthracite Triathlon 2011

July 17, 2011: Anthracite Triathlon, Jim Thorpe, PA

Some people choose to start small and get bigger…not me, at least not this year.  I started off with an Ironman race, including 2,000+ other competitors, then dropped to a half-ironman distance, then an Olympic-distance, down to a Splash-N-Dash, and finally back up to an Olympic with only about 175 racers.  The race was held in historic Jim Thorpe, PA on July 17, 2011.  My decision to race was fairly last minute.  I’d been looking for a July race but the Half Ironman that I’d contemplated was closed for registration before I could make a definitive decision.  When I heard friends Polly Jansen, Chris Verry, and Dave Morris mention they were racing in the Anthracite Triathlon, I decided it would be a fun one to do.  It’s one that had actually been recommended to me years ago.  

Rather than checking into a hotel or meeting a home stay host family when we arrived in Jim Thorpe on Saturday, Christian scoped out our campsite looking for an ideal spot to place our tent.  Yup, we were camping.  We ended up putting our tent on our friend’s site as our site lacked a large enough rock/root-free space for a tent.  After setting up camp, we went out and drove the course, had dinner, and then built a campfire.  I finally turned in after watching everyone else enjoy roasted marshmallows and s’mores.  After getting very little sleep that night, I’ve learned that camping is probably not the most ideal race-night routine for me.  It was still dark when I crawled out of the tent on race morning so I enjoyed my normal pre-race breakfast in the car lit by my Princeton Tec headlights.  After pleading with park employees to let me jump in the shower (it really helps refresh and wake me up) before their cleaning, I was off to transition.  Once there I had to figure out the best spot on my rack as one rack was even too short for my little bike.  Somehow I got a little behind on my set-up and warm-up and was then frantically rushing to get my wetsuit on prior to the start.

 

There were only two waves, men followed by women.  I got off to a strong start and felt good until the first turn buoy.  At the turn, we were completely blinded by sun glare.  Sighting became nearly impossible and I felt lucky that day that I did an okay job of tracking a decently straight line.  About halfway to the 2^nd turn, I started reaching men from the first wave, which just made the lack of sighting visibility even worse since I now had to try to avoid swimming in to people.  Sometime just before the second turn we went through a nasty section of water that had a terrible odor and was full of tangled seaweed.  I wondered why the men had not done a better job of breaking it up!

Once on my bike, Christian let me know that there was one woman ahead of me.  I soon had her within my sight and passed her with the first few miles.  We hit our first tough climb around mile 3 where I proceeded to weed through much of the men’s field.  Just before the decent down the other side, I passed Chris; I thought he’d definitely overtake me on the steep, winding descent but he must have been taking it cautiously because the pass never came.  Through the next section of climbing, descents, and flats I tried to push hard, knowing that the last several miles held a good amount of climbing.  As I made the final turn-around on a short out and back section, I tried to watch for my closest competitor.  The next female looked to be a little ways back.  Heading into Transition, I was happy that I built a nice lead.

The run was a nice out and back with the majority along a nice, shaded gravel trail.  Its difficulty lay in the gradual 2-mile descent followed by a steep, 1-mile climb to the turn-around and then the gradual 2-mile climb to the finish.  I passed a few men in the initial miles of the run and finally saw Dave, the men’s leader, somewhere around his mile 4.  I watched in amazement as it was several minutes before I saw any other male racers.  I was mentally prepared for the hill after mile 2 but it was tougher than I imagined.  And the way the road ascended, we couldn’t see the top, which made it even tougher.  I just kept telling myself to keep my legs moving and I’d eventually get to the top!  I passed Chris as he made his way up the hill and I was heading down.  By that time I actually had some oxygen hitting the brain and lungs to I was able to yell out a few words to cheer him on.  At the base of the hill, I saw Polly and gave her the stats of the next female up from her.  For me, I just had two miles or so to finish up.  My legs felt a little flat so I knew I would not be able to make up time I’d lost climbing the hill.  With about a mile to go I saw another female ahead of me; I knew she was part of a relay but was happy to pass her knowing that when I finished, I would be the first female to cross the line.

At the awards ceremony, Dave, Chris, Polly, and I racked up some serious “future bling.”  [The race’s awards, which were very fitting for the race/area – chunks of coal.  In the right conditions, many years from now, they could be very valuable.]  Dave and I were first male and female (I was 5^th overall), respectively; Polly overtook the female ahead of her to finish 2^nd female, and Chris finished 2^nd place 35 – 39.  And to cool off and relax after a tough day of racing, cheering, and breaking down camp, we all enjoyed a little swim and splashing in the lake before heading home.