Pre-Race:
Got up at 3:30am and rolled Britney into the car to leave by 4am. The drive to the race was boring at its best although I was slightly concerned when I started hearing little ‘pings’ on the windshield while I was driving…no, not rain…bugs…and lots of them.
Got to the race site, checked in, used my awesome new transition bag (which held EVERYTHING), set up my spot and returned to the car to wake the Better Half up before hanging out for a while.
Swim:
The swim was a point to point –ish swim, so we were bused to the start on the other side of the lake. The water temp: 60* which in water terms is f-ing cold! Good thing I got there early to ‘warm’ up…I was worried my face was going to freeze!!
As soon as I hit the water, I knew it was not going to be a good day. Things weren’t flowing and I couldn’t find my stroke (apparently I forgot to pack that in my awesome bag). Sighting wasn’t too bad, but I had issues with the goggles fogging up so I had to stop a few times to clear those out.
Apparently my TV show viewing habits have decided to follow me everywhere, although they aren’t welcomed to. While I was swimming in the lake I kept thinking I saw a floating arm or would run into a floating body…it made for some really distracted swimming! (I’m a fan of NCIS)
Finally got to shore, up the ramp and on my way for the long run/walk to transition.
T1:
Nothing interesting, peeled off the wetsuit, strapped on the shoes and was ready to roll…kinda.
One slight problem…I may or may not have practiced getting on my bike in a race situation with the new water bottle cages on the back of my seat and therefore I may or may not have knocked off one…or two of my bottles.
Bike:
I don’t even know where to start about the bike…it was a ‘simple’ out and back route, with one major hill…no biggie, right?
WRONG…let’s start with the least of my problems…the bugs. In my mouth, on my face, in my clothes, everywhere. (Later that night I even kept seeing them and feeling them on my face while I was falling asleep).
Then we’ll move to problem number 2…Twister Hill…complete with it’s own welcoming sign at the bottom of it (which is NEVER a good sign). Turns out, I’m not ready for a big kid bike with only two gears on the front ring…I need that third smaller ring. At some points it would have been faster to walk the bike up the hill than it was to ride it.
Finally…there was the nastiest, filthiest 4 letter word in a triathlete’s vocabulary…W-I-N-D. Tail wind for a total of 8 miles, head wind for a total of 8 miles and crosswinds for the rest. Let me explain the winds…no breezes, nothing to cool you down. The tail winds gave me a 20+ mph average, the crosswinds required a tilt on the bike into the wind so I wouldn’t blow the other way, and the head wind…oh the head wind. 30-35 mph in your face, which pushed me to single digit speeds at several points. Unfortunately, the course ended with head winds, I think the last 5 miles took me 30-35 minutes.
T2:
Again, nothing special although there was a guy sitting on the grass in front of my spot in transition since the Sprint distance was finishing up while I was getting off the bike. Not cool to have Transition open while people are still coming in from the bike!
Also at this point, most of the people were already on the run course so apparently the volunteers decided it was time to head home so I made a wrong turn or two trying to find the course…not cool.
Run:
My legs were so shot by the time I got the run, that all I could do was run/walk/shuffle to complete the 6.2 mile run. When I headed out on the course and couldn’t quite catch my breath, I decided just to forget the time thing and get to the finish line in one piece and not take a DNF.
Mentally, I was a broken woman…the wind had gotten to me so much and I was just so frustrated that I just wanted to finish and get the hell out of there. I wasn’t having fun and that is the key aspect of this hobby for me. I know I’d still be in it in the long run, but if I’m not having fun, I just want to get home.
Finish:
I’m just going to give you 6 digits and let you make the final conclusion. PR: 3:04. Bluff Creek: 3:37
Pictures and more conclusions to come later when I have more time to cool down.
Hang in there Maria. Your next race is gonna go a LOT better!
ReplyDeleteDon't be down on yourself - you got all the worst conditions thrown at you and still toughed it out. These are the kinds of race days that make you mentally tough and make the good races so appreciated! Great job!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry your race didn't go as well as you would have liked. We all have bad days and bad races...I think it's just part of this crazy sport. But, you should be proud of yourself for pushing through the hard times and finishing!! For what it's worth, I HATE wind too...it just sucks...just plain sucks!
ReplyDeleteAlot of things popped into my minds.
ReplyDelete- First, yes YOU are ready for Frankie, it was your first race on a TT, it gets better, you DONT need a triple crank on your TT, you are a good enough cyclist with out it.
- This race, it is a success, might not feel like it now, but it is, you FINISHED, alot of people would have packed it in and called it a day, YOU didnt. File this race under Mental Toughness in the training category, this race will set the tone for the rest of the season, you will have better races because this one made you stronger. Other races on great weather days will seem soooooo easy.
Take a couple days off and do some easy work outs, your are going to have a stellar year
PS I would have tossed my bike on the guy sitting in my spot, teach him a lesson.
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You may not realize it now but you probably gained more mental strength from this tough race than you would have from a race that went well. It'll pay off someday in the future, I'm sure. Great job finishing!!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry this race didn't go how you wanted it to, but from what I can see you did freaking awesome. That is some huge mental toughness you had to reach for girl, and you should be proud. It isn't always about the final time - it is about the way you were able to push through those nasty hills and brutal wind AND THEN run a 10k even though your whole body was wanting you to stop. Way to get that run done on used up legs and pushing through. You are freaking awesome.
ReplyDeleteI'm so damn proud of you for finishing that tough race! In my opinion, the decision to not DNF, speaks volumes about your spirit and drive. Now, about the fogged up goggles. Do u spit in them? I spit in mine before every swim and no fogging up whatsoever. I know, gross but it works!! I thought of you on my ride this evening as the effin' WIND was a biotch and a half. At one point i dropped the f bomb b/c it was so brutal. We all will have a bad race, you got yours out of the way early. What's next?
ReplyDelete