I picked a tough race as my first one back. I went in knowing it was a hard one and I didn't care. I figured the timing would be good (Liam would be 7 months old, so he'd be fine). Since I've tried twice already to get to this race, I really wanted to do it this year.
All of the pre-race activities were easy-breezy (the hotel let us check-in early, we got some rest, and did a test swim at the lake). Packet pickup was done in about 10 minutes (max). We even got to bed at a reasonable time.
Race morning started out really well too. Kris said that traffic could get pretty backed up since we'd all be funneling into one parking lot, so we left early. I guess we got there before the bulk of the participants because it wasn't too bad. Aixa spotted Jordan Rapp as we were waiting in line to park. (Wow, he's just like us - no helicopters dropping off the famous people!) We got to our parking spot and Aixa stepped out into some thorns. Kris (I think) said we should change into our running shoes so we didn't get giant thorns in our feet. As soon as I heard "change into running shoes" I let out a giant F-bomb - I HAD FORGOTTEN MY RUNNING SHOES IN THE HOTEL! Luckily, one of the guys in the car next to us heard my freak out and offered to lend me the pair he was going to walk around in. Dawn and Trent were both already on their way over to the lake, so I took TJ up on his very generous offer. Even though they were a half-size too small, I really didn't care because I'd have shoes to run in! He got my phone number so we could coordinate returning the shoes to him. He recognized the area code as San Antonio - he's from SA too. Turns out, he's a member of the Britton's tri team. Perfect! Now if we missed each other after the race, I could easily get them to him back at home. PHEW!
We got into transition and all set up. When I got to my spot, I realized I had brought the completely wrong transition bag. Instead of my usual backpack, I brought an old Lulu bag. Well, ok. I just had to make sure the straps were stuffed into the bag so my pedal didn't get caught in them (worked just fine actually). After setting up our transitions, we headed to the water. We just barely made it. We thought we had more time before our wave, but we had only a couple minutes and had to elbow our way through the pack of guys that would be coming up on us. I got to my place on the beach and like 30 seconds later they sent us off.
For the first time in a swim, I started to freak out. I had lined up where Dawn has always told us to - the front of the pack in the middle. As I started swimming, I immediately had people swimming over me and the washing machine started. Even in IMAZ, the swim didn't freak me out this much. I kept having to pick my head up out of the water to cough out water. I eventually did some side stroke. I could feel my breathing get choppier even though I was trying to slow it down into a rhythm. I eventually found some open water at the second buoy and I was able to settle down. The rest of the swim was pretty good, nothing crazy bad or crazy good. I checked my watch as I was making my way into transition - it wasn't a bad swim time!
After getting all my bike gear on, I made my way out past the mount line. I had some trouble clipping in (should've gotten those cleats replaced before the race), but I eventually made it. Pretty much immediately out of transition, you have an uphill at 6+% grade, a downhill at 8+%, and then another up at 6+%. Those are the biggest hills in the race, so once I made it up them, I knew I'd be able to do the rest just fine. I settled into my groove as Coachie had directed and started to break up the course into sections. The bike was windy and hilly and flat and I LOVED IT! I was keeping my HR in about the same spot (middle of zone 3) and just doing what I could do. I'd slow down into the wind and up the hills. With a tail wind or down hill, I was pushing myself to keep my HR right where it was supposed to be. I kept thinking "FREE SPEED!" and just pedaled. I tried to stay out of everyone's way and just keep focused on my chunks of the course. This is supposed to be a super hard bike course (and it is) and I wasn't sure what my legs could do, so I went into the race without specific time goals. When I saw I was going to get close to a 3-hour bike, I was stoked!
After that great ride, I was ready to get onto the run to see what I could do. After a fairly uneventful T2, I took off on the run. Dawn had said to keep the first 3 miles in the park at a warm-up pace since we didn't know how my run would go. (Side note: I hadn't run more than 2 miles in the previous 2 weeks because I thought I was getting a stress fracture. Turns out, I was ok.) As usual, my legs wanted to go much faster off the bike than they are supposed to. The first mile was way off warmup pace so I actively worked to slow down. The second mile was better. By the time I hit mile 3, I was just trying to hang on. I had already started to walk, even outside of the aid stations. I had so much fluid in my tummy, I was really struggling. I took that first gu and tried really hard not to throw it right back up. I succeeded in keeping it down - go me! Dawn saw me right after the 3rd aid station and yelled at me that Kris was in 3rd (YAY!!) and to run up that first big hill. I ran around the corner and up the hill as far as I could, but I ended up walking about half of it. I told myself I'd keep running on the next one. Hill after hill, mile after mile, I kept telling my legs to keep running. Unfortunately, they didn't. My mind just couldn't overcome those pesky legs. I kept getting water and powerade in, but I could only manage one more gu at mile 6.5. I don't know exactly what was happening, but I was so frustrated. I'd been doing so good on my runs, I should've been able to keep running. I felt like my mind was strong enough to keep me going, but I guess I was wrong. My mile splits were much slower than my training runs were. I thought no/low humidity was supposed to be helping me?!
I wanted to enjoy the run course (even though everyone says it's boring and not pretty). I just couldn't. I had a horrible face of pain the whole time (see below).
At about half a mile to go, I was passed by a guy and a spectator yelled "Are you going to let him beat you?!" I yelled back, "I just want to be f'ing done!" I realized what I said (sorry Mom, that's 2 f-bombs) and apologized. He told me something like, "Well, you're almost there. Just keep going!" Normally I'd try to kick it in to the finish. There was no kick. There were tiny little "thank yous" and waves at the spectators cheering me on. I was really just trying to hang on and finish.
When I finally crossed that line, 2 med tent volunteers came over and asked me how I was doing. I said "I don't know." They asked me if I needed an IV. I said "I don't know." They led me into the tent and promptly gave me an IV. I heard Kris about 3 cots over and saw Trent. (What?! I never even saw him pass me.) I yelled and gave Kris a huge "Congrats!" Aixa came over (she had her own 3 IV bags earlier - BOOOO!) and gave me a hug. I was just sitting there and staring at nothing while that IV dripped. I don't really know if I NEEDED that IV or not, but I'm really glad I got it.
After all the missed workouts, the too-small shoes (they actually worked pretty well), the crazy washing machine, etc, I ended up with a great time for that course. And even after everything that happened that day, I already want to do it next year. Now my goal is one of those fabulous buffalo trophies. And to remember to bring my running shoes...
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