Scott and I had registered for this race a few months ago. Atlantic City has NEVER had a triathlon, so we were excited to try a new race. Luckily Grandmom Reedell took the girls for a weekend at "camp grandmom" and Scott and I headed down to AC on saturday for packet pick-up. The rain was falling nicely, but it didn't stop us from going shopping at the outlets and even did some gambling (good job to Scott for winning at the slots). We then went to Ocean City (where we were staying that night) and enjoyed a nice stroll on the boardwalk and at those all important "pre race french fries"... ok, not the best pre-race fuel, but they sure did tast FABULOUS!!
We were up nice and early, left the house at 5:00am, parked at the casino, walked into Boardwalk Hall (this was our first time having transition inside a builidng), got our "stuff" set up, and headed up the boardwalk to the start of the swim. We were advised that the swim was shortened frm 1 mile to .6 miles and changed direction bc of the current. As we walked up you could see the white caps... yes, big waves. I was a little concerned, but figured the race officials would not allow us in if they had any questions. Finally it was race time. Scott's wave (the light blue swim caps) was first. There were about 80 men in his group. They had to swim out to the first bouey, then turn right and swim parallel to the boardwalk the .6 miles to the last bouey then exit the water. They ran into the water, and very quickly, many were being tossed around by the waves. Within 10 minutes (or so) 50 men had to "rescued" and brought back to the beach. At that time they took their race numbers, and they were disqualified from the rest of the race. They started the next wave, and it became evident that the waters were TOO rough to make this swim possible, so they cancelled the swim immediately. There were a handful who made it out and actually did the whole swim - cudos to them!! We then all walked back to boardwalk hall, and were told, we would doing a "time trial start" for the bike. They would have 5 bikers take off every 5 seconds, out on our 22 mile bike ride. It was cool bc it took place on the AC expressway. Traffic was stopped, we rode through toll booths (they didn't make up pay thankfully), and although it was flat, it was SUPER windy. We then got back to boardwalk hall, changed into our running gear and we were off on the 6.2 mile run. It was another VERY flat, but windy 6.2 mile run. But in the end, both Scott and I had GREAT times, on our bikes and run, and can't wait to do it again next year!!
And it was a fantastic way to end the triathlon season - I got second place in my division... was behind 1st place by 2 minutes and beat third place out by 18 minutes... but best of all, I felt great, had a great time doing the race and am VERY proud of my accomplishments!!
After packing up, we headed back to Ocean City to clean up and then enjoy the boardwalk for a bit. It was great to spend some time with just scott.... which doesn't happen too much these days... Of course it was short lived bc I had to drop him off at the airport on the way home, so he could go to florida for the week. But at least we had a fun weekend doing what we love - racing!!!
all finished the AC International Triathlon - oh yeah!
taking my place on the second place podium
sprinting to that finishline
the waves... yes, this is why the swim was cancelled
the air show in Ocean City....
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