Here is my race report:
I got a great night of sleep and was up at 4:15 am on the morning of the race. I had my bag packed the night before, had some peanut butter toast and a yogurt for breakfast and continued my consumption of water that I had put on hold during my 8 hours of sleep. Teresa arrived at 5am and we were on our way to Qwest Field. I was unusually calm and quiet.
When we got to Genesee, I knew I needed to get air in my tires, use the restroom and scope out the water. I did all three in that order. After looking at the water, I knew I could do it. There was no doubt in my mind and it felt so good to be confident of that. Headed back to my swamp of a transition area and proceeded to get my wetsuit on, boy that was a dream with my tri suit on underneath, it was the easiest time ever even being wet from the rain. Once I was suited up, we (Teresa and I) headed down to the corral. We joined the other hundreds of purple caps and waited for our turn to be herded into the start. I think we were the third group to make it out, which wasn’t too bad. I was still very calm and didn’t want to stop to think about why, I just wanted to swim. It’s our turn and we get to step into the water, Sally Edwards is getting the crowd pumped, I didn’t quite here what she was saying, I just wanted past that swim angel. Finally I hear the countdown and I’m off! I’m going and going and going and then realize that I’ve caught up to people from the previous wave, I would see feet in front of me kicking wildly and knew I had to pass her, so I would. Then the next set of feet and so on. I get around the buoy for the turn around and I am feeling strong. There are 2 girls who are swimming side by side so I decide to go between them and one is determined not to let me pass so she would swim hard for about 6-8 strokes then rest, so yeah, I passed her. I was steady and consistent and still feeling good, even when I got kicked in the face and got my goggles knocked off. I didn’t stop swimming and remained calm. I just closed my eyes (so I wouldn’t lose a contact lens) and as I would come up for air I pulled my goggles back down on my face. Of course I had water in them and wasn’t very successful on my attempts to fix that, because I wasn’t stopping. Oh and the girl who kicked me? I passed her. So the goal I set 6 months ago at that RTH meeting, I DID IT! I swam the entire way, and my time goal was 20 minutes and I did it in 18:20.
I am not as skilled on the bike as I’d like to be and gave myself 55 minutes to complete the 12 mile loop. Not very ambitious, I know, but I was ok with that for today. I did it in 56:59. It was treacherous to say the least but it sure was fun yelling out LEFT! LEFT! LEFT!
I really do have a wonderful bike; I just need to learn how to use it! The girls who were passing me on the inclines were the same ones I was flying past on the down hills. Tuck and fly! Right Ang?
By the time the run came I was feeling the fatigue, I usually drink an entire bottle while riding but with the rain, it was hard to stay stable, drink and put the bottle back; so I only got about ¼ of my drink down. I decided to gag down a GU and I squirted the whole thing in my mouth and it took me from my transition area all the way to the run start to swallow it without puking. I knew I was going to have to do some walking; there was no doubt about that. Toby told me to run until I couldn’t run anymore then walk until I got my heart rate down again. I didn’t trust myself to know when I couldn’t run anymore so I had to give myself time limits. Run for 5 minutes no matter what and walk for 2 minutes. 5 run walk 2, I did that the whole way including the uphill. My 5 minute run time didn’t run out until ¾ of the way up the hill and I wouldn’t let myself deviate from my 5/2 pattern so I had to run the hill. After the hill I had my last 2 minute walk and ran the remaining 6:31 across the finish line. I ran a total of 36 minutes and 31 seconds and walked for 12. My goal was to finish in 45 minutes and I did it in 48:31.
You know I could beat myself up for not making my 2 hour time goal, (sorry team I wagered 17 points on that), but I won’t. There is too much to be grateful for to beat myself up for 13 minutes and 12 seconds. There is always next time…
Thank you to Patty for being there at the finish line and straightening out my tank top for the pictures, you are great. Thank you Ang and Shaun for staying way past your finish time to wait for me, you are class acts. Thanks to all my RTH teammates who helped me keep my head up throughout this 8 month journey. Thank you RTB, for your support and for accepting me as one of your own. To all my coaches, Rick, Sharon, Toby and Patty, if you can turn me into an athlete, you can do it for anyone! And last but not least, thank you Teresa, I can say I honestly I could not have done this without you. You are my rock and you keep me motivated and you never give up on me even when I give up on myself.
My last race for the season, Black Diamond, will end where it all started, Deep Lake at Nolte State Park on 9/23. I can’t wait! Oh my, did I just say that? I sound like a tri athlete, oh wait, I AM.
I got a great night of sleep and was up at 4:15 am on the morning of the race. I had my bag packed the night before, had some peanut butter toast and a yogurt for breakfast and continued my consumption of water that I had put on hold during my 8 hours of sleep. Teresa arrived at 5am and we were on our way to Qwest Field. I was unusually calm and quiet.
When we got to Genesee, I knew I needed to get air in my tires, use the restroom and scope out the water. I did all three in that order. After looking at the water, I knew I could do it. There was no doubt in my mind and it felt so good to be confident of that. Headed back to my swamp of a transition area and proceeded to get my wetsuit on, boy that was a dream with my tri suit on underneath, it was the easiest time ever even being wet from the rain. Once I was suited up, we (Teresa and I) headed down to the corral. We joined the other hundreds of purple caps and waited for our turn to be herded into the start. I think we were the third group to make it out, which wasn’t too bad. I was still very calm and didn’t want to stop to think about why, I just wanted to swim. It’s our turn and we get to step into the water, Sally Edwards is getting the crowd pumped, I didn’t quite here what she was saying, I just wanted past that swim angel. Finally I hear the countdown and I’m off! I’m going and going and going and then realize that I’ve caught up to people from the previous wave, I would see feet in front of me kicking wildly and knew I had to pass her, so I would. Then the next set of feet and so on. I get around the buoy for the turn around and I am feeling strong. There are 2 girls who are swimming side by side so I decide to go between them and one is determined not to let me pass so she would swim hard for about 6-8 strokes then rest, so yeah, I passed her. I was steady and consistent and still feeling good, even when I got kicked in the face and got my goggles knocked off. I didn’t stop swimming and remained calm. I just closed my eyes (so I wouldn’t lose a contact lens) and as I would come up for air I pulled my goggles back down on my face. Of course I had water in them and wasn’t very successful on my attempts to fix that, because I wasn’t stopping. Oh and the girl who kicked me? I passed her. So the goal I set 6 months ago at that RTH meeting, I DID IT! I swam the entire way, and my time goal was 20 minutes and I did it in 18:20.
I am not as skilled on the bike as I’d like to be and gave myself 55 minutes to complete the 12 mile loop. Not very ambitious, I know, but I was ok with that for today. I did it in 56:59. It was treacherous to say the least but it sure was fun yelling out LEFT! LEFT! LEFT!
I really do have a wonderful bike; I just need to learn how to use it! The girls who were passing me on the inclines were the same ones I was flying past on the down hills. Tuck and fly! Right Ang?By the time the run came I was feeling the fatigue, I usually drink an entire bottle while riding but with the rain, it was hard to stay stable, drink and put the bottle back; so I only got about ¼ of my drink down. I decided to gag down a GU and I squirted the whole thing in my mouth and it took me from my transition area all the way to the run start to swallow it without puking. I knew I was going to have to do some walking; there was no doubt about that. Toby told me to run until I couldn’t run anymore then walk until I got my heart rate down again. I didn’t trust myself to know when I couldn’t run anymore so I had to give myself time limits. Run for 5 minutes no matter what and walk for 2 minutes. 5 run walk 2, I did that the whole way including the uphill. My 5 minute run time didn’t run out until ¾ of the way up the hill and I wouldn’t let myself deviate from my 5/2 pattern so I had to run the hill. After the hill I had my last 2 minute walk and ran the remaining 6:31 across the finish line. I ran a total of 36 minutes and 31 seconds and walked for 12. My goal was to finish in 45 minutes and I did it in 48:31.
You know I could beat myself up for not making my 2 hour time goal, (sorry team I wagered 17 points on that), but I won’t. There is too much to be grateful for to beat myself up for 13 minutes and 12 seconds. There is always next time…
Thank you to Patty for being there at the finish line and straightening out my tank top for the pictures, you are great. Thank you Ang and Shaun for staying way past your finish time to wait for me, you are class acts. Thanks to all my RTH teammates who helped me keep my head up throughout this 8 month journey. Thank you RTB, for your support and for accepting me as one of your own. To all my coaches, Rick, Sharon, Toby and Patty, if you can turn me into an athlete, you can do it for anyone! And last but not least, thank you Teresa, I can say I honestly I could not have done this without you. You are my rock and you keep me motivated and you never give up on me even when I give up on myself.
My last race for the season, Black Diamond, will end where it all started, Deep Lake at Nolte State Park on 9/23. I can’t wait! Oh my, did I just say that? I sound like a tri athlete, oh wait, I AM.
1 comment:
Congratulations to you!! I think I saw you on the run! Again awesome accomplishment!
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