Rumpus in Bumpus Tri Race Recap

What a fun weekend! Setup Events does a great job of putting on a race. Everything seemed pretty organized and well run.

Our weekend started Saturday with cheering on our teammates that were doing the International distance. We left the house for our hour and a half drive to Lake Anna. The day was cloudy, rainy, and the first day of spring break. That spelled traffic on 95. It took us about two and a half hours to get there - good thing we weren't racing today!

Sammy trying to keep rain out of his eyes

We got lots of compliments on the tatoos

The race was awesome! Most everyone had to swim and bike in the rain. It went off and on from pouring, to a drizzle, and a few times the sun even made an appearance. For the most part I think people got to run without the rain. No one was free from the mud. It was everywhere! I even saw a shoe come off because it was stuck in the mud. That is never fun. Because we were late we didn't get to see the swim start. We saw almost everyone leave T1 and head out onto the bike. It was so much fun to cheer our teammates on and give support.

Sunday. Day 2. The sun was out! The wind came along too. The water temp was 61 degrees - alittle colder than the day before. Sam and I were told to make sure we get in, warm up, and put our face in the water before the start. We were so chilly from the wind that we put our wetsuits on pretty early. This is only the second time I've put on a wetsuit and it's not the prettiest event I've been a part of. We did have TRISlide that we sprayed all over us to slide the wetsuit up. It worked really well. I put on my heart rate monitor and even my bib number under my wetsuit (anything to save time in transition).

me and my mom waiting in the wind

sam waiting for the race to start

The swim. I wasn't really worried about the swim. I was told the water was beyond cold and super choppy. Nothing I can do about that, so I tried to not think about it. I was in the last heat, so I got to see how everyone was getting in and handling it. I saw a few people get pulled out pretty close to the start - that always makes me a little nervous. I got in and swam around before my start. The cold wasn't too bad, it was cold....but it didn't take my breath away. I put my face in and made sure my goggles were good to go. The horn went off and I swallowed about half the lake. I choked, gagged, coughed....tried to calm down. I went on my back - didn't really help. I let myself cough and gag to get it over with. I did some breast stroke, tried to slow my breathing and realized I'm not going to die. There was no way I was going to wave my arms and get out. I was going to do this! I made such a scene that my mom and mother in law actually saw me struggling from the side and wondered if I would get pulled out. Not me. I got it together and started to freestyle. I got to the first buoy and kept going. My goggles didn't fog once! I was able to swim straight and keep going with freestyle. I passed a few people here and there and got into a rhythm. Then it was done. Phew! I climbed up the steps and started pulling off my wetsuit. Time: 22:46

T1: I pulled my wetsuit off quickly. I was nervous about that part. I didn't want to fall in the mud and make a big mess. I got my helmet on and buckled (no DQ here) and put on my bike shoes. Off I went, running through the mud. For this race you have to take your bike up a hill and you can lock in at the top. Long transition - but what can you do? I ran by my fan club on the way up the hill (always fun) and clipped in at the top.

Bike: Off I went! This was my first race to clip in, I was nervous, but determined to do it. My feet and thighs were kind of numb so I just peddled. Rolling hills describes this course the best. It took me some time to get into the right gears and move along. My heart rate was high, but I felt good. I passed people mostly on hills, and got passed on the flats. Don't worry, already sent my Coach the email about "how do I do this better?". I did see one person fall. He was a bigger guy and flipped completely over - bike attached - into the grass. I asked if he was ok and he popped up said "yep" and got right back to it. Hilarious! I felt pretty good on the bike, but my time was not as fast as I hoped. Something to work on. I guess there was a good amount of wind on this ride too - I was just trying to stay up and moving. Time: 48:24

T2: You have to get off your bike at the top of the hill and run down with your bike to the transition area. This was a little tricky as it was slippery in bike shoes. I chose to go down in the grass - I'm no fool. All went well. Parked my bike, changed my shoes, and I was off again.

Run: My feet were completely numb for most of this run. I think that was a good thing. My legs were sort of numb too. I just ran. I didn't pay attention to my pace at first, I just wanted to settle in and get going. The sun was out and it was a great course. Around mile 2.5 my feet started to though. At first it just felt like I had mulch or something in my shoes, then it hurt. As my feet and legs thawed they started to feel tired. I think I slowed down a little, but I haven't uploaded the Garmin yet to see by how much. Breathing was good, muscles felt good, no tummy issues. My time was 28:30. One of my top 4 5k times! I'll take it!

giving sammy a high five

Wish I had another sprint to do next weekend! I love race weekend for how much it inspires me. It's hard work but for good reason. This was also a great race since so much of our team was racing and cheering! I think we had just as much fun cheering the day before as we did racing. Great way to start my spring break!