I’ve been meaning to write this since Monday morning, but with packing for the move and trying to recover from Sunday’s race, well I just kept putting it off. The delay was probably good in that I’m not quite as emotional as I was earlier in the week.
When I scheduled this race I told coach I didn’t want to put any pressure on myself this year with the longer races, I just wanted to enjoy myself. Then reality set in, and as my training continued to improve I set some lofty expectations. I’ve had the time of 5:45 stuck on my refrigerator for weeks if not months. Despite the distractions from home, I thought I could make that time, and had a shot at my coaches prediction which was in the 5:30’s.
Fortunately with all the distractions, I didn’t get as worked up about the race as in the past, not until race morning. At that point I lost my water bottle in a porta-potty 2 hours before the race, and forgot to grab my pre-race gel. I entered the water thirsty and one gel behind – not real smart in hindsight.
The swim
My plan, that I formulated upon entering the water, was to start near the back of the pack to avoid the mass of bodies, and then take it easy on the swim. While I had a time in mind, there is no way to monitor that in the water, so I figured I would take it easy and conserve energy for the rest of the day.
For whatever reason, the first 300 meters were particularly rough. I don’t know if it was because I was near the back, or there were more people in this wave, but I couldn’t get away from people no matter what I did. I was punched in the side of the head and had to stop and reseat my goggles. I bit later I was kicked in the head so hard I actually saw stars. I always thought that was something only in cartoons, but believe me it really happens!
Regardless, I did my best to stay out of everyone’s way, and just kind of cruised along. I counted buoys to give me something to do, and focused on my stroke. Several times I told myself to slow the stroke rate and get a solid catch/pull. It didn’t work as well as I wanted because of all the bodies, but I tried. In the end I exited the water 2.5 minutes faster than I’d ever done before. Maybe the masters swim class is working!
As I got out of the water I saw the strippers (the wetsuit kind!) and headed over. We struggled a bit to get my feet out, but then I was up and running when I saw my cheering section. I had to pop over and give them some high fives. I remember my Mom’s hands were full of cowbells so I missed her. I don’t think she missed out again!
The bike
I got in a quick transition and headed out with my bike. I remember David, my brother in law, running alongside me in transition yelling “you’re two minutes ahead of schedule!” I don’t remember telling anyone what my schedule was, but it was a nice confirmation of what I thought – so far so good!
As I expected there was a headwind on the way out. It didn’t matter, I just started going and watching the miles count down to the turn around, all the while keeping my foot on the gas. My back was getting tight and I wanted to stretch, but I figured it would be better to wait on that until I had the tail wind. For the record, my bike computer said the turnaround was .8 miles too far out. That wouldn’t matter since everyone was doing the same distance, except I was racing the clock and that meant extra time 
I expected to really pick up the speed on the way back with the wind at my back, and while I was faster it wasn’t nearly as much as I thought it would be. I was starting to tire, my back and neck hurt, I was getting saddle sores and I needed to pee. While all of this conspired to slow me down, and I was generating much less power, I managed a negative split. By my calculations I was about 5 minutes ahead of schedule! I didn’t get an update from David, but that’s what I thought.
The run
Another quick transition and I headed out for the last leg. I took the long way out of transition so I could say hey to my family. I was feeling pretty good at this point. I kept a pretty close eye on my pace as I know I tend to come off the bike too fast.
The course was three loops with a lot of turns. I didn’t pay enough attention to my pace as the first loop was much faster than I wanted or planned. Fortunately I didn’t realize this until reviewing my splits the next day. I passed my family feeling pretty good and was surprised that somehow I’d missed the loop through the airport and expected to start the next loop right around the corner. Then we veered off to the right and headed out onto the tarmac. That was absolutely the worst part of the course. The heat coming off the tarmac was brutal, there was no shade, no spectators to cheer us on, nothing but sun and lots of wind.
By the second lap I was walking through the aid stations so I could dump water over my head, ice down my shorts and grab a swallow of water. I was carrying water with electrolytes, but somehow that wasn’t what I wanted. By the time I started the final lap I was really hurting. Aaron from Team RWB walked with me a bit to see if I needed anything. A lot of things went through my head but we agreed that all I really needed was for the race to be over.
The walks at the aid station grew longer. I tried some coke figuring it couldn’t make things any worse and it didn’t, though I’m not sure it got any better. I took a gel, which almost came right back up. I pulled over to get sick when some spectator told me to keep going, one step at a time. Ok, I thought, I’ll get sick somewhere else. That didn’t happen, but I also didn’t take in any more gels.
When I saw my family near the end of the last loop my tank was empty. I stopped and talked. Someone poured water over my head and I just stood there with my hands on my knees. A check of the total elapsed time compared to the remaining distance told me I couldn’t reach my goal unless I ran 8 minute miles, which I knew was impossible. In hindsight I think my math was off, and if I could have just sucked it up and run from there on out, at any pace, I might have made it. I didn’t though.
The last trip through the tarmac was brutal. It was really hot by now. The few volunteers were also tired and sitting down eating/drinking. I talked to a couple of people who felt like I did. I offered them encouragement as they walked and tried to no avail to get them to speed up and walk with me. One of them caught up to me, running, tapped me on the back and said “let’s go”. I fired up the engines and ran with him, then he fell off the pace. I could tell where the finish was and just kept running, and finally crossed the finish line. I was pretty out of it. I had no idea of my time, let alone what the people were doing as they tried to hand me water, a medal and remove my timing chip. The people who fussed at Lance for ignoring his daughter have no idea how muddled your mind can get out there.
I remember
There are things that I remember, but aren’t really sure where/when they happened. Like the swimmer who swam over top of me, or the cyclist who refused to drop back when I passed him. More importantly I remember lots of support on the run. Once I spotted my family I kind of knew where to expect them, but several of them appeared out on the course at different locations. Natasha was there, cheering me on and encouraging me to run, as were several of my RWB team mates.
In the end I finished with 5:47 and change. Two and a half minutes slower than I wanted, and slower than the qualification time for Nationals. I was devastated, and sat down to allow myself a few tears and a brief pity party. While I’m still disappointed I am now able to look back and see where I need work, congratulate myself on a 21 minute improvement on my previous best time.
The best news is that my run was a total disaster. If I can put in a run like I should be able to, I will knock another large chunk of time off my PR. I need to update the time posted on the refrigerator!
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