What Was Your Work Out Today?

Thanks, @laurachambers86. I suspect it will be tough call for the race director, since a race cancellation affects so many people. OTOH, the risk of 1000 athletes being exposed to dangerous particulates in the air during several hours of heavy exertion presents a huge safety issue beyond the "normal" risks inherent in triathlon.

The RD posted an Instagram video saying the race is still a few days away and updates will come as soon as they have news.

Given the poor air quality here, I opted for a trip to the gym for some flexibility work and a 35minute treadmill run. No real fitness gains happen during race week, so the best thing I can do is enjoy the rest.

This one's for you, @DJProulx!

I completed the Escape The Cape race on Sunday along with a number of friends. This was a fairly large (1000?) race that offered both sprint and Olympic distance options. Six of us raced the Olympic distance and one did the Sprint. The day started with a 3:45 am wake-up, then 4:30 drop off at the Cape May Ferry terminal. Check in was slowed by the homeland Security screening (with dogs) to be sure no bags were carrying prohibited items. There was additional screening upon boarding the boat. The boat steamed out one mile and anchored. After a safety briefing , athletes filed to the bow and made the 11 foot plunge into the water. FUN! However, the 4 knot outgoing current quickly swept swimmers away from the finish line and out towards Delaware. A dozen kayaks were sent to corral those who went off course, including one swimmer picked up by the Coast Guard.
After about fifty swimmers were in the water, The race director stopped anyone else from entering so he could give guidance to “swim left straight towards shore,NOT towards the finish line” so that’s what I did. The 64 degree water was fine in a wetsuit and after 300 yards of getting tossed around I found my breathing cadence and let the tide help me. I had a very fast swim (1:22/100yds) as did most others, emerging from the swim feeling fairly fresh . The 200 yd trot through soft sand made me forget about the easy swim. I was one of the early starters, so I knew the closed road, flat bike course would be my chance to push. Once I got out of the 500 yd no passing zone, I pushed fairly hard. The two loop 23 mile course was flat except for the bridge overpass which we climbed and descended twice. I was full out 22mph for most of the first loop and felt good. As I made the turn to start the second loop, the slower Olympic and faster Sprint distance racers wet coming out of transition m, clogging the road. This made it hard to go wide open, since many cyclists did not stay to the right until I yelled out “on your left”. In any case I finished the bike with a 20.25mph pace for the loops, and overall 19.6 mph pace when the entry and exit lane portions were included.
As is usually the case, the run course separates the podium finishers from the rest of the pack. I knew my run fitness was marginal, and that proved true. The compounding factors for me were 1) my aggressive bike effort really worked my hip flexors and shut down my glutes when I started the run. I tried to compensate by doing 50 yds of walking lunges, but that didn’t do much good. The more serious limiter was that the race director re- routed the 5 mile run course to travel over 1.5-2 miles of sand. This was VERY tough to run on and my left calf and hamstring seized up. Bottom line is that I walked ALL of the beach sand portion and trudged the rest.
Summary: 2:54:00 time, finished 8 of 14 in my age group. I gave back 3-4 places during my run, but that’s the way it goes in triathlon.
The great news is that all seven of our group finished, with the two women earning podium spots. Our club took first in the woman’s 55-59 age group and 3rd in the women’s Athena group.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but it was kind of a unique event.