I finished! I almost drowned, I almost quit, I almost threw up....multiple times, I
peed my pants sweat profusely, but I did it and I loved every minute of it. I was told by two doctors the night before the race that I should not be doing it. Seriously? Who trains for 18 weeks to throw in the towel the night before the race??? Not this girl. Oh yea, and did I mention that somehow, some way I ended up placing 3rd in my age group in spite of all of the above? Bonkers! I know! I was completely taken by surprise when I saw the results posted. Crazy I tell you, just crazy!
So, let me rewind a bit and tell you about the day before the race. I woke up still feeling completely crappy. Dizziness, nausea, my sinus' and my ears still felt full and to top it all off my throat was feeling thick. I was pretty much down and out most of the day. I felt zapped of energy and pretty lethargic. We went out on the boat for a while but I needed to get off early so that I could make it to the Minute Clinic before it closed. At the minute clinic, the doctor listened to me complain and go through my list of symptoms and she simply said that she feels like I have something more than a sinus infection going on and she cannot clear me to race in the morning. She said if I wanted more answers that I needed to go to the urgent care immediately. Sigh. So, off I went but not before I bought some saline nasal spray and some cough drops. I went to the urgent care where I was seen by a doctor that I have met before. He comes across as pretty thorough and leans more towards a holistic approach rather than a here are your 7 prescriptions now be off with you(which I simultaneously adored and loathed at the moment). He ran blood tests for mono, elevated white blood counts, strep, diabetes and a few other things. We came up with nada. Nothing looked wrong. Ugh! He told me that based upon how I look and feel that he doesn't think I should race(he said he knows I will probably ignore him). He referred me to an ENT doctor and said "Good Luck tomorrow...if you race :)"
So, I headed home with full intentions to pack my race gear, down some NyQuil and get some rest. At about 11pm I finally went to bed knowing that I would race in the morning to finish this distance...nothing more, nothing less and that I was going to be A-OK with it.
I woke up at 5am and started to get ready. I was still feeling off but oh well, I had committed. I ate my standard pre-race breakfast, brewed some coffee and grabbed all of my stuff. Kristi, my training partner and neighbor, came to get me at 5:30. She should have been doing this race with me, but unfortunately she injured herself pretty badly five weeks ago and is in no condition to race. I was racing for the both of us. We made it to the transition zone at 6:15 and the energy was palpable. I just love the experience. Everyone is pumped up and ready to go. I found my spot immediately and started to set up. I soon realized that I had forgotten my chest strap for my heart rate monitor and also my GPS watch...major bummer. Oh yea, I also realized that I had left my spare tube for my tire at home as well. Things were just not going right. I told Kristi and she laughed and I just shrugged my shoulders. What will be will be! I was unusually calm considering all of the circumstances and I believe it is because I prepared myself to not race and just finish.
The Swim: My swim wave consisted of a lot of women. All female racers age 15-34 started together. We were the third group to go which means that we followed all of the elite athletes. I did my usual jumping up and down while waiting for the horn to blow to get my heart rate up(and so Kristi could see where I was). I had planned on trying to freestyle to at least the first big short course buoy even though I was still having vertigo pretty badly and my sinus' were all messed up. Upon my first stroke, I knew that there was no way I would be able to freestyle. I couldn't effectively breath out when my face was underwater and I started spinning immediately...ugh! This was going to be a long one mile swim. I started breast stroking and sidestroking but continued to experience serious dizziness. I couldn't figure out if my heart rate was exceedingly high, if it was the water in my nose & ears or if it was the fact that my body was just worn out that was causing me to panic. I started swimming toward a kayak with every intention to quit the race. They announced that if you are in trouble in the water you need to take off your swim cap and wave it in the air so a kayak will come to your aid. I grabbed my swim cap, twice. I was almost to the first large Olympic turn buoy and I had managed to calm myself down enough to make a clear decision. I chose to continue with the swim, not give up and take my time. By the time I had turned right past the second large buoy I was calm and began to freestyle again without issue. I decided to breathe every stroke instead of every three and managed to negative split my swim. When I stood up out of the water, my world tilted again and I was thinking how in the hell am I going to manage the rest of this race feeling like this. My best friend Sara and Kristi both said that I did not look good coming out of the water and they both knew that I was in trouble. I normally sprint up the beach all the way to the transition zone but this time I walked. I didn't start running until I was almost into the transition area. I kept thinking that this race has already been completely different than every other race I have done thus far.
T1: I got to my bike and slowly put on my bike shoes, helmet and sunglasses. I was very very dizzy so I had to take my time. I took some GU because my energy was so zapped before I even got into the water that I was completely spent by this point. I grabbed my bike and ran out to the mount zone.
The Bike: I love biking. It is my favorite part of doing triathlon. There was an initial climb to get out of the park onto the main roads. I got into aero position and settled in rather quickly. I did feel like throwing up almost immediately. I am not sure why this happens to me(it happened last time as well). I think I either need to not eat before my race or just know that I am going to feel nauseous. Since I did not have my heart rate monitor, I had to guess where I was based upon training and feel. When I train I usually stay between 18-20 mph on the bike. I had my bike computer setting showing my mph so that I could be sure I was at least spinning at a normal speed. You can imagine my surprise when I looked down and saw between 20-24mph for most of the race. I realized that during a race I rarely take in my surroundings like I do during training. I was betting that this course really was as "beautiful" as they claimed it to be but I was simply going through the motions. There were quite a few rolling hills and since I had never checked out the course, I was surprised every time. I spent most of my time watching my speed, drinking water, picking out a person ahead of me and determining when I could pass them and hang on to my lead(which I did several times). What cracks me up is the super serious racers who you can hear coming because they always have disc wheels and they sound like a freight train as they approach. I always say something to these races and they never, ever reply back. It really cracks me up. I was thinking about saying something completely off the wall just to see if one of them would respond, but I didn't :) As I was nearing the end of the bike portion I started mentally preparing myself for what I consider to be the toughest part of the race, the run. I tried to conserve my energy, stretch my legs and drink a lot of water in the last few miles. When I was coming down the hill into the park I could hear my family and friends cheering for me before I even saw them. It is so awesome to have people there to support you...it makes a big difference. I ran to the dismount line and managed to half run to my bike rack.
T2: I took off my helmet, sunglasses and shoes. Threw on my socks and tennis shoes while chatting with Igor(guy who's bike was racked next to mine whom I spoke to before the race started). I grabbed my visor and my race belt and started running out of the transition zone. I saw my cheering section immediately and I got to high five my kids as I ran by!
Avery took this photo and it cracks me up because I am pretty sure I was crossing my eyes at the time!
The Run: The course went through the park and out along the main road. It then would wind through some neighborhoods and back out onto the main road. I felt like I was keeping up a good pace for most of the run. The people doing the long course had to do this loop twice, so as I passed the turn that puts you back into the park to finish I was feeling wonderful. I thought, wow! You just did 3.1 miles and you are doing awesome. Then, I had to climb a hill to start the second loop. I felt all of my energy start to go away and I was thinking oh crap...here is where I bonk. I was getting goosebumps all over my body continuously. My mouth was so dry that it hurt to swallow. I made a point to stop at every water station and walk while drinking to try to rehydrate. My calves were extremely sore and I felt at one point that my legs were just going to give out. Somehow, I managed to keep going and when I ran back into the park I was so glad to almost be finished. I got into the gauntlet toward the finish and started sprinting. I ran using everything I had left. I crossed the finish line and almost threw up. This to me means success. I laid it all out there, pushed myself right to the edge of puking and I survived. Yahoo! You think I'm nuts right?
It was a fabulous race. I was very glad that I still did it even though I was not feeling 100%. Kristi, Sara, Chadd, my kids, my sister and my nephew were all there to hug and congratulate me after my finish. My nephew was the most impressed...can't you tell?
I got my post race food and gave most of it to the kids and Sara. Banana's and water are all I can handle post race. I got to talk to a lot of people who I recognized from Lifetime, from other TRI's and also from out on the course. It is so fun to connect with people who obviously love this as much as I do. Sara and I stood in line for the race results. When they printed, they were all funky. I knew my swim, bike, transition time and final time but my run time said 2:11 (I can tell you it did not take me two hours to run 6.2 miles :) So, I was confused as to what that time was. The results also did not have rankings or any stats like that. We hung around for a while and I wanted to watch the awards. When I saw people swarming where the results were posted I went over to take a look. You can imagine my surprise when I saw that I placed 3rd for my age group and that I would be receiving an award! I walked back to Brooke and Sara and said, "You guys? I got 3rd place!" They both started cheering!
The award is this handmade bowl with a maple leaf and the date of the race on it. It is very neat.
The girl next to me is Heather Huseth. She won 1st place both this year and last year for our age group. She is also doing Ironman Madison next weekend which is so impressive!
They had a special service to get your medal engraved which of course I had to do! I think that it is an awesome idea and I wish that more races offered things like this.
I was so impressed with this Triathlon from the course, to the way it was run, to the racers and the sponsors. I would recommend this race to anyone and I will certainly do this course again in the future. I am proud to say that I have finished an Olympic distance triathlon and I cannot wait until next year when I will step up my distance once again. It is amazing what you are capable of if you put your mind to it.
