SEPTEMBER 12, 2024
Atlantic City, BABY! It has been a warm day and a warm welcome to Atlantic City, NJ for the Age Group Nationals. This weekend I am doing two races – the International on Saturday and the Sprint on Sunday. Jen, Kitty and I drove up on Thursday. We left Wilmington at about 6:00AM and arrived at packet pick-up about 3:30PM.
Check-in was super easy and we got a lot of goodies in our swag bag. Cute run hat, Ka’Chava chocolate protein, a goggle protection bag, a bike saddle cover, QT tape and quite a few other samples of my favorite triathlon products. We did a quick round at the expo (which was so much better than an IRONMAN expo) – including a fun stop at the CHALLENGE DAYTONA + CHALLENGE MIAMI booth. The pair that were there were super chatty and fun and I definitely want to do this race next year.
Jen and I broke up with Kitty (who had caravaned with us the whole way) as she headed to her hotel and we headed to ours. Jen and I are staying at the Ocean Resort and Casino and oh my goodness it is a beautiful place to be. We are on the 48th floor and the view is amazing. Our ears pop every time we ride the elevator. We got settled – which took a while because it took a few trips to get our stuff from the car to the room – and finally headed down to the casino.
We played some warm-up games (bubble CRAPS and video roulette) and went to dinner in one of the casino restaurants. Afterwards, I finally ended up at my first BlackJack table. I told Jen I only wanted to play one hand so I played my $15 and won that hand. I played again and hit blackjack. The rest of the round was only a little down and plenty of up and I ended up winning $75! We stayed up way too late – but it was a great start to the weekend.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2024
This morning, we woke up a little….um…… groggy. But, I wanted to get some fresh air and a little run in. We headed out for a three mile walk/run down the boardwalk. I scoped out the run course for the races and Jen scoped out where she could find casinos while I am out running. I was excited to see the Steel Pier and to see all the action on the boardwalk – even at 7:00AM.
We changed clothes and went to the casino for “free” coffee – which technically cost me $14 because I lost at roulette. The coffee in the casino was also not as good as if I had just gotten a $4 Starbucks Pike Place. I did not want to lose any more money so I headed upstairs to take a shower, eat breakfast and get a little work done. Jen wanted to go check out the closest casinos and I had a little time to myself to prep my bike and do a little work. I actually took a nap before noon! We met for lunch and, although my deconstructed chicken sandwich was exactly what I wanted, Jen won lunch roulette with fried chicken and jalapeno waffles. We were served a sample of the smoothie of the day – pina colada – and made a plan to get over to Bader Field for bike check-in then visit the Resorts Casino before dinner.
Bike check-in was easy. I met a nearly-local woman (Hi, Heather!) who introduced me to her bike (Bonjour, Madamoiselle) and we chatted about IMNC, Ironman France and other miscellaneous race topics. My favorite part about transition at a USAT event is the number of officials. They are all around to lend a hand, help you follow the rules and have a seamless experience.
I patted Lanakeli good-bye and Jen and I headed back to our hotel. I went to the food court at the casino and ordered a salad to go. I headed up to the room and had a picnic on the floor of our room to watch the sunset and pack my gear for the morning. I made it to bed around 9:00PM and was so excited to chill most of the night.
Picnic in my room to organize gear and get to bed early while Jen plays casino.
The alarm sounded at 4:00AM on Saturday morning. We made it to the car and out of the parking deck by 5:00 and made it into the parking lot by 5:30.
The craziest thing about this race is that each age group gets their own wave start. That means there are 20 waves. The first group started at 6:30 and the last group – which was my group – started at 9:10AM. Unfortunately, a light fog at the start turned into a heavy fog about an hour into the morning and race officials (rightly) delayed the remaing groups. But, that meant my group started about 20 minutes later than planned. Jen and I had about two and a half hours to spend at the race site waiting for my start. I ate some breakfast and we tried to nap, and eventually it was time to suit up.
We headed to the swim staging area and watched Kitty finish her swim. I met up with some Coeur teammates, hugged Jen goodbye and headed down to the start chute. The water here was very similar to home – in fact much of the race was like racing at Wrightsville Beach. It was salty and brownish green today and the temps were much like Banks Channel. We swam to the start line about 100 yards from the ramp and I did some water aerobics moves as well as swam back and forth along the line a little to get warmed up.
Within minutes we were off! I wore my FORM goggles and was able to hold a pretty good line for the entire race. The first 300 yards were a little sketchy, but after the first buoy, things were pretty quiet. I felt like I had plenty of clear water. There was a spot on the way out where I grabbed a few handfuls of seaweed with my catch and a few times I stuck my hand in what felt like jellyfish – but nothing stung me or stuck to me. I had an amazing swim. I was aiming to finish in about 30 minutes and my time in the water was 25:00. My official swim time was 27:46.
My transition took forever. I forgot how to do it. It took nearly four minutes. As I was rolling my bike out of transition, my Garmin computer registered an incident. The field was so bumpy that my Garmin thought I had fallen! Neal and Jen were getting notifications that I had been in an accident. Fortunately they realized it was a glitch.
The bike was (again) just like home. I’m glad I have been training a little on Highway 421 because the ride was an expressway. Fortunately, we had an entire lane blocked off with cones. It was 24 miles of protected roadway. I know this will sound crazy, but it reminded me a little of Kona. The winds were a little crazy: from the right side headed west and from my left side headed east. Plus, the feeling of being the last person on course came back to me as well. I handled it (mentally) a little better than I did in Kona and I was pretty proud of that.
The last miles of the bike were into the headwind and it was a little frustrating, but overall, my bike was great. I averaged almost 18mph and I felt good almost the entire time.
This was one of my favorite run courses that I’ve done. We ran out of transition and headed towards the iconic Atlantic City Boardwalk. It was classic Yankee cheesey. We ran by all the crazy shops, casinos and restaurants that you would expect on the Boardwalk. Plus, it was packed with people strolling, cycling, rickshawing, tram riding, roller blading, break-dancing and more. There were so many weird fashions and all shapes and sizes and walks of life. And it seemed like everyone was smoking weed. I am pretty sure I got a contact high.
One of my favorite parts of the course was that we actually did a jiggety jog on the beach for about 50 yards. They covered the sand with mats and sent up out one exit and back onto the boardwalk at the next exit.
I realized after my White Lake races that I like someone to chase. I tried to set my sights on runners ahead of me and pick them off if I could. I set my sights on a woman wearing a kit with stars and stripes and although I wasn’t able to catch her, I stuck with her for most of the race. One of my favorite parts of this race was seeing the Team Coeur 2024 girls all over the course. I have “met” a lot of them on facebook, but seeing them IRL was special.
The best part of the day was actually the not best part of the day. Jen and I had a perfect plan. She brought her hybrid bike up so that she could pedal around before, during and after the races. On both days, she was able to meet up with me on parts of the run course. I would be running and hear her voice about 300 yards away. I would hear: Beth ANDROOOOOO!!! Or MEOW!!! Which would crack me up.
I forgot what to do here. I can't get out of my wetsuit and my cap is still on. Help!
I bet that if you look at every bike race picture my helmet is crooked.
She was able to see me at various points. My goal was to be running (not walking) every time she saw me – because walking is so much better than running. Anyway, after the race, the plan was to ride her bike back to transition to get my car and gear at Bader Field and head to the hotel. It was a perfect plan….until it wasn’t. I made it over to Bader Field on the bike in no time and collected all my gear off my bike and headed to the car. I had filled my red bag with snacks and my water and phone….and somewhere in the process….even though we said the word KEYS five thousand times….there were no keys in the bag. I looked in the tool bag on the back of the saddle. No luck. I called Jen and sure enough, they were still in her back pack. Fortunately, USAT was running shuttles from the finish area to the race start and she was able to catch one over. It was great timing and other than the fact that I was hungry and still in wet clothes, it was all good.
About halfway into the run. I can hear the finish line festivities happening.
[An aside: while I was headed over, I passed the best dressed homeless person I’ve ever seen. His hair was slicked back like Elvis. He was tan and wore a blazer with what looked like an ascot scarf around his neck. There were many lapel pins on his blazer and his backpack looked quite….dapper. He was catty-corner at an intersection where I stopped for the light. As he walked across the street, he looked at me and pointed and asked loudly: HEY, LADY!! WHEN IS THE RETARD PARADE OVER? I laughed and realized how ridiculous I must have looked – and I wasn’t even on my tri bike. I was wet from sweat and swim, had on a bright yellow helmet, oversized grey tee shirt, finisher’s medal and pink shorts. Any minute now! I shouted back at him. I swear I’m the last one! He laughed and flipped me off.]