Nice Tri returns from Eagleman!

The air was crisp and cool as I rounded the final turn at the end of my Eagleman 13.1 mile run. I was glad it was nearing its end, because I was starting to catch a bit of a chill as a nice cooling mist fell over the Maryland landscape...

Loaded up and ready to go

I snapped out of my daydream and back into reality as I plodded along in the 88 degree heat. Maryland actually was experiencing a bit of a cool spell, as the temperatures had been in the upper 90's in the weeks preceding the race.

This was our team's first exposure to Eagleman.  Bonnie and I set out with the official Nice Tri mascot "Watts" on Friday, and met the rest of the team in Maryland that evening.  The drive really wasn't that bad except for a few delays near Philadelphia.  The total drive time from Canandaigua to Salisbury was under eight hours.

I thought it might be fun to go out to an all-you-can-eat crab shack once we arrived, and the air was filled with flying crab shell splinters and kernels of corn-on-the-cob.  We settled down that evening in an attempt to get a good night's rest since I tend not to sleep extremely well the night before an event.

These things were AWESOME!

My exceptional photography skills at work

The team left on Saturday morning to make the 40 minute drive to Cambridge for bike racking and package pickup.  Once we got our packets at the expo, we had a little fun trying on some air bladders on our legs that are meant to aid in recovery.  It was also cool to hang around and hear some pre-race smack-talk from the likes of Matty Reed and Mirinda Carfrae.  Actually there wasn't any smack talk, just some neat conversation about training and preparation for this event.  Athena and Paul picked up some new tri shorts (which Athena RAVED about in her blog) and we were on our way.

Alvah, Athena, Andy, Paul and Coach Dan

We parked about a mile away from the start and had plenty of time to drop off our nutrition, pump up our tires, and greet some up the folks we knew from Upstate NY.

Paul heading out for a GREAT bike split!

The gang listens intently to Dan's fierce pre-race instructions

Our swim wave started without too much contact, and my goal was to stay SUPER conservative on the swim and not to let myself get anaerobic.  My policy of staying conservative went a little overboard, and I used my technique of wandering back and forth across the swim course to try to get a bit of an extra workout in and to give some of the other athletes a head start on the bike.  My plan worked flawlessly and I was out of the water mid-pack.  At least I felt remarkably fresh, but the swim time was a bit of a disappointment.

Alvah scaring everyone off with some karate moves

My thoughts on the bike course would be that it would be full of drafting and blocking.  I actually saw very little drafting, but there were quite a few riders that stayed in the middle of the road even though they weren't passing anyone.  My plan was to stay very conservative on the bike in order to have a good run, and I actually throttled back a bit too much in the second half of the ride.  My goal time for the ride was to go under 2:20:00, but I was over 3 minutes over that goal.  Regardless, it honestly felt like one of the easiest 56 mile training rides that I'd done to date, and most of the team felt the same way.
Train hard, race easy is our motto for a reason!

Athena contemplating the error factor on her GPS...

The run was tougher than most of us expected.  The flat terrain did not make up for the high temperatures, and it was tough to stay on pace after mile 4.  Everyone on the team did their best to keep with their pre-race plans, but moving forward in a fashion that looked like a run was our primary priority.  We filled shirts, shorts, and sports bras with crushed ice in an effort to keep our cool, and it actually worked very well!  EVERYONE did a great job pacing their race well, and I can't tell you how great it was to see other friends and teammates on the course at the same time.  Mary Eggers read me like a book and yelled "COKE!!!" at the top of her lungs when she saw me.  I started laughing until the next aid station when I enjoyed a tepid flat coke with a fly in it.  Mmmmm....protein.

Overall, the team decided that they would definitely do Eagleman again.  Not only was the event well-run, but the courses were beautiful, well-marked, and in great shape.  It was great to see our friends and teammates there as we cheered each other on, and it was great to see Paul as he crossed the finish line on his first 70.3.  Athena had so much fun at Eagleman that she's already booked rooms for next year, and Alvah vowed to work on some more karate stretches to keep us all entertained before the start of the event.  It was also great to see our good friend Andy Nazworth as he struggled through a hamstring injury (and still kicked some serious carcass on the bike and run).  Andy could be one of the nicest guys to ever don a tri top, so send us a Facebook message so we can introduce you to him.  You'll be glad you did!

Eagleman, we didn't necessarily love every minute of it, but we hope to see you again in 2012!

Andy looking super strong!