I learned a lot about myself at this race - I can be very stubborn and very single-minded to finish what I start, even when others don't quite agree. I also came away knowing what I want to get better at during the off-season and even a couple of ways to make that happen.
Because of the size of the race you have to check-in and rack your bike in transition the day before. This was a first for me, and I wasn't too happy about leaving Oz outside all night. I was even more unhappy when it started thundering, lightening and outright pouring during dinner. Thank you Jana Richtrova for reassuring me that Oz would be ok.
Race morning I woke up and got ready to head to transition at 4:45 am (thank you Beth Adams and Emily Clement for your hospitality) and Beth and I headed to Ellacoya State Park. I was nervous but didn't feel overly anxious. That didn't last long... once we parked and I headed to transition I started to get really overwhelmed, there were so many racers. This was the first time I've done a large race.
The Swim: 1:08
I was in the first wave after the pro men and women. This should have been good for me because I didn't have to wait around long in my wetsuit to get started. The horn went off and my wave started. I had a really, really hard time - the buoys looked so far away and Lake Winni looked so big. I could barely go 4 strokes without needing to tread water. I wasn't getting hit by other swimmers I was just in over my head race skill-wise. Slowly, very slowly, I made my way from one buoy to the next, stopping frequently. At one point, Beth swam up beside me to check on me and offered to stay with me until the end. I thanked her and told her to swim her race.
After Beth left and I was on my own again I started to think about my bike - silly I know but I kept telling myself that if I didn't finish my swim, I wouldn't get to ride Oz and I love riding my bike. And poor Oz sat out in the rain all night so I could have my ride.
When I made it to the first turn I started to get into a mini-rhythm and was moving, still slowly, buoy to buoy. At the second turn as I headed to shore I looked at the shore and saw a house, from there I tried to pretend that I was at Walden Pond and headed to the house. It took a long time for me to reach that house. When I got out of the water I was estactic and drained and looking forward to my ride.
Wetsuit strippers... can I get an Amen!!! That was wonderful!!!
The Ride: 4:23 (Actual 4:03)
My ride started out really good and I felt very confident that I could do this ride in the allowed amount of time. The thing that I really needed to be cognizant of was my hydration and nutrition on this ride. It was a really hot day and on the hill portions I knew I was going to be working really hard. Because of my balance issues, letting go of my handlebars to grab my water or nutrition has been a challenge and one that I have been working really hard to overcome. I approached the 1st aid station slowly so I could check out the set-up so I'd be ready for the next one.
I had lots of riders going by me (read - flying by me) but I resisted the urge to try and keep up and stayed within myself and my race plan. As I approached the 2nd aid station I prepared myself to dump one bottle and pick up a gatorade. Success - I felt pretty proud of myself - I know, it doesn't take much.
The aid station was also the turnaround point of the course. There is a short, steep little hill as you come around the corner. There was a guy walking his bike up the hill who decide, just as I reached him, it was a good time to remount his bike and pull out - I managed to avoid him and did yell out "seriously dude" then grabbed a bottle of water and rode off from the aid station feeling pretty pleased.
The second half is a false-flat as you head back to Lake Winni so I settled back in, watched my power/pace and made sure that I was following my nutrition plan. When I hit mile 40 I knew that the last series of hard hills would be coming soon so I had a GU and planned to have water when I turned onto Brown Hill Rd. Because I had ridden the course before the race I knew that Brown Hill Rd was relatively flat so it would be a good place to drink. I made the turn and reached for the water bottle. The bottle was slippery and I tried to keep it from falling and the next thing I knew I was on the ground with a mouthful of pine needles and dirt. My front tire had caught a rut in the road and everything happened so fast that I didn't even realize I was going to crash until I was on the ground.
Another rider stopped to see if I was ok and before I could even catch my breathe the police were there, and the bike mechanic/sag wagon and then an ambulance. I conked my head, had some pretty good road rash on my shoulder and a pretty good cut on my knee (which had just finished healing from my fall Memorial Day). I think I frustrated the EMT's a bit because I was not ready to end my day. First they wanted me to go to the hospital, when I wouldn't do that, they thought I should take the sag wagon back to Ellacoya. I very nicely told them that I done most of the hard hills already and only had the one snotty hill that was around the corner left and I wasn't going to stop. They cleaned me up and bandaged my knee. I told them I would stop if I felt dizzy or anything else. While all of this was going on the bike mechanic checked out Oz, fixed her seat, which had twisted, and said she was good to go too!
Off I went. I made it up the 'snotty climb' and there was a bit of satisfaction that there riders walking up the hill and I was able to make it up, even though I'd lost some of my momentum. Shortly after that climb there's another steep little hill that I was climbing and there were a couple of people walking their bikes up but this pair had a friend in a car driving beside them. As I got closer to them I thought the car would leave so I just kept making my way up the hill. It got really obvious as I almost reached them that the car had no plans of moving so I started yelling at them - MOVE,,,,, PLEASE....MOOOVE!!! They finally got the message and go out of my way. The rest of my ride was uneventful, I enjoyed the downhills although I was a little more cautious then I had been previously, probably because of my fall. I continued to follow my hydration and nutrition plan and even managed to grab my back water bottle and put it back without the bottle or me falling - woohoo!
I was glad to see transition and the dismount line and knew that the hardest part was to come.
The Run 3:30
Heading out of transition I knew this was going to be ugly. It was really hot and humid. I tried running/slogging through the first couple of miles but it became apparent really quick that I was going to walk or not finish. My knee and my head hurt whenever I tried to run. As I finished the first loop I saw Beth, Jerome and Jane and talked to Beth for a couple of minutes. I had a couple seconds of tears when I realized that my time wasn't going to count because I was going to go over the 8 1/2 hour limit but then I saw a butterfly and knew that it would be ok... I just needed to toughen up and finish.
The finish chute - I was so glad to see the end and I cried - again - but this time because I had fought really hard for my finish and my medal.
Finish Time - 9:11 (this includes the 20+ minutes in the ambulance)
This was a tough day and having my team mates and friends shouting out encouragement kept me going and fed my heart when I started to get to much into my head.
