But, now its time to talk race.
Day/Night before:
I knew that it was going to be a HOT, HOT race. The pre race report said that he water was 86 degrees! WOOWEE...I knew swimming in that nasty hot pool at school wasn't a total waste. I knew I was going to have to hydrate like crazy. I went on a 45 minut easy bike ride Friday morning and was sure to drink a full water bottle. I went to the pool and laid out for a bit. I drank a sport bottle of gatorade and alternated with water, I think was 20 oz? I learned it is very important to alternate between water and gatorade to keep the electrolytes in balance!
For dinner, I had a little more than half a breast of rotisserie chicken with a small salad and mashed red potatoes... lots of mashed red potatoes. And a small bowl of cereal right before I went to bed. I make sure the label says "Gluten Free" if it is the day before a race.
Unfortunately, I could not fall asleep for the life of me. I got in bed around 10:30, but didn't fall asleep till well after midnight. Around 12, I went downstairs and told my parents I couldn't sleep and that there was no way it would be safe for me to drive two hours to the race in the morning. My mom responded, "Can you just blow off the race?" WOMAN ARE YOU CRAZY?! NO! I woke my dad up at 4 and he said he could go with me! FOR THE WIN. I slept the whole way to the race.
Pre Race
I was up at 4:05, put on my tri suit and wrote down my bible verses to help get me through what I knew would be a tough race,
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| "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" |
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| "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans for hope and a future.'" |
made my oatmeal, and poured my cup of coffee. I also prepared all of my hydration for the race.
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| 2 white bottles for the bike (1 water and 1 Gatorade), 1 water and the rest of the Gatorade for the ride up, and of course my coffee. I drink about half of that cup before races. |
I ended up getting to the race so early, Google Maps said the race site was 1:46 away, so I just told myself 2 hours to give myself extra time to get lost and for lines. I wanted to be at the race at 6:30-6:45 since it was an 8 am start. Well, It only took us an hour and a half. I was at the race site at 6:15. To be honest, it was awesome getting to the race early, I racked my bike where I wanted it had time to do a thorough warm up (10 min ez bike, find out gearing I need to be in out of transition and 5 minute run + drills and stretching), and had time to clean off my wheels since transition was in wet, freshly cut grass.
Bad news: I forgot scissors to cut my bike number
Good news: I remembered to take a picture of transition!
Gotta love Blackberry pictures! Look how much room I had, my rack was so empty!
Swim.
Now, I don't have any pictures yet of the swim, but I can tell you it was definitely one of the most memorable swims I have had. This girl was such a jerk. I know open water swims are tough and people are mean, but I have never had someone deliberately try and push me down and get me out of the way. I'm already getting angry just thinking about it. SHE PUNCHED ME! What the heck. We swam together the whole way. I think she ended up getting 3rd overall, so I guess she is a good athlete. I was so frustrated though. Nothing much else to document on the swim. It was hot and slow. ick.
Bike.
This is where the race got interesting. I had a different goal for this race than I usually do. The idea was not to kill the race, but to spin hard and fast up the hills and recover the downhills. It was hard to let people pass me down the hills, but I knew I needed the recovery after pushing the hills. It was a freakin' hard bike, but I did hit about 40 mph going down hill! That is definitely new for me and am super proud of myself. Time to face my fears and have some fun! Confession: I am slowly but surely becoming an adrenaline junkie.
Run.
Holy cow. This run was intense. Huge hill out of transition and rollers the rest of the way. Same mentality/strategy as the bike. Power up hill, recover down hill. I passed people during this race on the run. That is such a huge step for me after the stress fracture. I had zero pain in my hip during the run, just a little IT Band tightness. However, I don't feel too tight this morning. Awesome. I love running without pain. The number one problem with the run was how hard it was to pace because of the hills. My times were all over the place.... seriously 6:34 one mile, 8:30 for another!
All in all, a good race, a hot race, a tired legs race, a tough race, and ready for a taper.
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| Poor quality blackberry photo. The girl who got second was a stupid fast runner! |
Swim- 25:36
T1- 1:05
Bike- 1:15:31<< like I said, tough bike
T2- 0:46
Run- 47:23<< OUCH
First in Age Group.
Eighth Woman overall.
Not too shabby.
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