And for your reading pleasure, I give you, the story of Courtney and Patriot's Sprint Triathlon.
Many of you know that I am by no means a sprinter or short distance athlete. I guess a sprint triathlon is still considered by a lot of people to be an endurance event since it lasts about an hour. While most people are like Yes! Sprint Triathlon! I can do that, when I think sprint triathlon, I have very little desire to participate. For me a sprint triathlon is just pretty much going balls to the wall for an hour. I would so much rather put out a hard effort for 2.5 hours. Anyway, since Patriot's was part of the MACTC series, I knew I had to do it. Plus it was on the same course as Jamestown, and I loved that race!!!!!!!!
Pre Race
I worked packet pickup on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning before the race. Since this race was a team race, I ended up traveling with my girl Erin (SHOUTOUT TO MY NAVIGATOR/DJ/BEST FRIEND) since she was racing too. We left on Saturday morning after a night full of sober driving, froyo, and Gossip Girl. We ended up hanging out at my house for a little bit before we had to drive to packet pickup. My mom needed us to clean out the fridge for her, NO PROBLEM! So we feasted. It was great.
I actually didn't ride or spin or anything on Saturday, even though thats what I usually do before races. I just wasn't feeling it for some reason. I guess my legs were still a bit tired and I didn't want to push it too far. So we ended up spending the night at my house. We went to bed at 11 and had to get up at 3:30. UGH. Good thing I don't need sleep to function.
I got to the race in the morning, set up transition, and went on a short warm up right before transition closed. I got super nervous because I did NOT feel good. My legs were heavy and I couldn't get my legs to turnover. Not the way I wanted to feel right before this race. But whatever, I couldn't get bad thoughts in my head. I had to do this and had to do it well.
SWIM
Oh my goodness. Now this was NOTHING like the Nationals swim, not crazy girls kicking me in the face. No punching. No wrestling. No 3 foot waves. But it was a tough swim. the current was really strong so I felt like I was constantly being pushed way off course. I was able to keep a pretty straight line... I think. I never looked up and thought "OH SHIT I'M SO OFF COURSE." The water was about 80 degrees and a lot of people were complaining about the water feeling like bath water. [Guess what guys, the water at the pool in the gym at school is like 83. EW! COOL THE POOL, COOL THE POOL!] Anyway, so it was a good swim overall. Just a little slow because of the current. I was so glad to hear that everyone else's swim was slow though.
BIKE
So I come out of the water and I know there are a few girls in front of me. I am just not sure how many and how far. I passed a girl running up to transition and held her off. I knew I needed to catch some chicks on the bike and I didn't have a ton of time to do so. I also came out of the water with an guy from Georgetown. Long story short, we leap frogged like CRAZY the entire bike. I started to get a little frustrated/nervous about blocking/drafting. I didn't want to slow down. I had business to take care of and girls to catch. My legs burned quite a bit for the first 3 miles or so. I just couldn't get to a place I felt comfortable, relatively speaking. ****This is where the prayers kicked in, along the lines of, "God, please give me the strength to do this. My legs hurt. God why do my legs hurt so bad? Can you please just take away this pain?" And I'm telling you, God's the man. He takes care of me. He loves me! He wants me to be happy, but He also has a plan for me that I think is just amazing!***** Then I saw a girl, check. Then a little while later I passed 2 more girls. All I saw were boys in front of me! So then one of the guys from my team passes me right before the turn around. He tells me I have a Navy girl a minute back. Oh heck no. I am not backing down. I crushed it home. I knew I had to just go for it. Luckily my new saddle still rocks and I never want to get out of my TT position. I am extremely comfortable and happy with it (thanks Les and Connie for the recommendation!) One of my competitors from Tech passed me with about a mile to go. I know she's a faster cyclist than I am, but I'd say we could run about the same speed. So I saw her and someone yelled "you're the second woman!" Holy crap! No way. So I get this big stupid grin on my face and am like "Courtney, you have 25 minutes left. Leave it here." I promise myself I'm not going to let Tech out of my sight.
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| That's my "I'm on a mission" face. |
RUN
I am in transition and the announcer is like "here comes Courtney! She is the 3rd woman. She's putting on her shoes, she's got her race belt, she's off!" I totally felt like a badass, but then I'm thinking crap, 3rd place. Not good enough. And now I have a terrible side stitch and I'm totally gonna puke. I have so many people yelling at me to go get these girls. My teammates, my mom, my friends. So, as soon as I saw Tech pass the girl that was in front, I knew I had a shot. I kicked it into gear and ran my heart out. I kept glancing down at my watch and I was in the 6:40ish pace. I can do this. I passed the girl that was now in 2nd with about a mile left. I was getting so nervous that someone was going to sneak up on me though. I am still lacking some confidence in my run. I'm definitely not as fast as I used to be. I just kept my focus in front of me, looking back doesn't help anything. I dropped my pace and went for it. Anyone can do anything for about 8 minutes. I saw my mom right near the finish line and ususally she tells me there's someone behind me and that I have to pick it up. She just said "Go Courtney!!" when she saw me. So in my mind I'm like holy shit there's no one behind me or holy shit there is someone there and she didn't want to freak me out. So then I started running even faster. Finally, I got to the finish line. I had come in 2nd! And I didn't puke!
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| This is me...leaving it on the course. |
This race was a pretty big deal for me. This was the bestI have ever placed overall in a race. I am waiting for that 1st place overall finish. I know it's coming. But when? I know it takes time. Patience. I will get there some day. I have an amazing support group behind me. My mom, dad, sisters, doctor, coaches, and friends. Everyone is there one hundred percent. Even when I am a total jerk. So I thank you all for all that you do for me. I could not do it without you.
So where does this leave me with Collegiate Nationals? I just need to rack up as many points as I can. I will be doing a race in Wilmington, NC then the MACTC championship race. I am looking forward to my final 2 races of the season. I can't wait to go to Wilmington and stay with my grandparents! Definitely going to have to beach it up while I am there too!
As always, thanks for reading and your support! It means the world to me:)
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Colossians 3:17
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