Cutting Edge Race Report

Overall Time: 5:53:16 4th/8 in AG, 9th/29 gender, and a 2nd place trophy.
Overall summary: disappointment


Since JM and I decided to drive to the site that morning, I got up at 2:25am after about 5-6 hrs of sleep. This is becoming an issue for me: getting enough sleep. But that's another story. Got up, coffee, at a banana and a slice of cheese. While that breakfast seems crappy, at the time it made sense. I wasn't racing for 5 more hours! In retrospect I think I could have done better. It was hard to find the balance of safe to eat very early (that alone upsets my tummy), safe to eat before a race, and good enough to get me through the day. The disappointment here was the lack of "bathroom" duties. This stressed me, as my mind envisioned either an uncomfortable 2hr car ride or a porta-potty filled 2hr run. I was already packed so I headed out the door. Then realized I forgot all water bottles in the fridge. The first delay.

The second delay was I-64. It's slickery in the rain. I planned to be at JM's between 3:45 and 4am, didn't get there til a few mins after 4am. More disappointment. We pack up and head out, calculating the drive time, TA setup time, and how much time was on the clock. This added some tension, but I couldn't get myself worried about it. I just shrugged. Still not feeling the razor's edge for this race, but it was early and I was tired so I didn't worry.

The last few miles of the drive were on the course, and as JM put it "we'd be biking with the ducks". The roads were flooded in some areas! Arriving on site to rain and thunder, we started to hurriedly unpack and setup, but there was a 45 min delay. TA never closed, so we had more than enough time. During the delay I consumed a mini Lara, a Powerbar, and a bottle of water, with some Infinit--breakfast! And I found a Porta-potty--breakfast was over :) Took those 2 worries off my mind. At one point JM and I went for some sunscreen, another worry gone. The delay turned into a 1.5hr delay, we got in the water around 8:30am or so.

SWIM: 1.2 miles in 46 mins. 6th in AG. 2-loop clockwise swim, time includes a very short run up the beach. The water was 78F, the PERFECT temperature it seems. I could have skipped the wetsuit, but I was also fine with it. We had a few mins to WU, test the goggles, etc before the gun. Everyone was talking, laughing, and happy that the rain had tapered off enough for a race. I may have been unexcited, but I still wanted a race. But at the same time, I felt equally happy if the swim would have been cut. It was a knee-deep mass water start, and I positioned myself towards the middle/back of the small pack of only 130 or so. The first 20y or so we could walk/run so I did, using my arms to paddle me forward. This might have been a mistake, cuz my left shoulder had a sharp pain for the first 30y of swimming or so. The buoys were orange, but so were the men's swim caps, so I had to double-check a few times while siting to be sure I was seeing buoy and not cap. The caps were brighter orange I realized soon enough. Another worry gone. I had a quiet enough start, the kicks and bumps don't bother me much anymore. I settled in and just went buoy-hunting. Siting was great, swam straight, even effort, good breathing (aside from a few mouthfuls of diesel), and OK focus. But my arms were getting tired, not a great sign.

I had some trouble siting into the turnaround on the beach. I kept swimming along the beach instead. But that couldn't have added that much time. Run up the beach, yell out name/number, check the watch--22:50!!! What?!? OK so I had a slower first lap, we get to do it again. I took off, more mindful of not paddling so much while running. What took so LONG?!?! I felt better than 23 mins!!!??? I decided that without other swimmers around me and a good knowledge of the course that the 2nd lap would improve. It didn't, almost exact split times. The 46 mins includes a brief run up the beach to TA so the 2nd lap was about 44-45 mins. So I improved, but not that much. My calculations give me about 2:20/100m. Doesn't matter now, just get to the bike.

T1: 2:50 3rd in AG. Peeled off the top of the wetsuit and ran to the bike. Sat down to get the lower part of the suit off and CRAMP in the left calf. It was from pulling on the suit and my leg. I just sat a few seconds--maybe 30?--and waited it out. It relaxed and didn't bother me again. Put on the aero helmet, sunglasses, shoes, started the Garmin and tucked it into my back pocket, and took off. No shoes on the bike because TA was muddy and I didn't want mud in my shoes.

BIKE: 56 miles in 2:50:03. 19.8mph and 3rd in AG. 2 out-n-back course in a T-shape. Flat, good roads that were still a little wet. A small amount of rain, nothing substantial. Still cloudy but sun working it's way out.

I took off on the bike with the plan of hunting down my AG. I knew there were 8 registered, so I put myself in 8th place and started looking. I passed one soon enough, 6 more to go. The theme music from the You Will Do This video started in my head. It was a fast cadence song, with energy and intensity. Maybe not the best theme music for right now, as it made me push a bit. Why did I leave the Garmin in my back? I had my overall time on the watch but no speed to gauge the ride. It was good and bad to have done this, in the end it wouldn't have made me faster. But I just kept wondering about it. Distraction!

I kept on my hunt. At one point I saw a tabby cat sneaking around a grass field. That was me--stealth hunter out looking for prey. With an IM theme song in my head. OK, not so much like a slow, quiet kitty. More like a fast, light, speedy cyclist. At least that's what I told myself. I wasn't quite feeling it, but my mind was looking for any inspiration. Grasping, in fact.

First lap in at 1:23, not sure if it was exactly 28 miles though. But it was encouraging--I was hoping for a solid sub-3hr and I was on my way there. I'd passed 2 in my AG in the first lap, meaning I had 5 more to go. I assumed they were ahead of me on the swim and not behind. 5 more.

The second lap drug on a bit. Around mile 35 I emptied the aero bottle of Infinit and moved plain water up from the frame bottle. I'd already consumed half a Powerbar. So around mile 40 I had a gel. All of 400 calories for a 3hr bike ride?!?!? What that really my plan? Did I think this through? NO!

At some points I wanted to sit up, but I stayed in aero. Another problem was motion sickness! It wasn't until mile 40 that I figured this out--I'm trying to hold my head different with the aero helmet. So I'd be looking over my sunglasses half the time and through the sunglasses the other half. And since they are prescription sunglasses...my eyes couldn't take the strain.

My mind kept wandering, and I had to keep refocusing it. Should I paint my aero helmet with a honey bee? RIDE! Were my feet going to hurt on the run? RIDE! What was the B&W cat doing in the ditch? RIDE! Look at all that flood water in the ditch. RIDE! To further the distraction, my arms were tired, my right IT band area hurt, and the seat was hitting me uncomfortably. The arms from the swim, the IT band from the new cleats?, and the seat from not spending enough time in the saddle yet this year.

I was also overfocusing on those 5 riders ahead of me. Around mile 30, a 30-yo woman passed me. Around mile 45 she was looking uncomfortable-moving around out of aero, clumsy turn arounds. SlowZebra. Passed her, and this boosted me a bit. This was getting out of hand--all this chasing. I could see the other women in the race ahead of me after the turnarounds, and try as I did there was no catching them. I gave up on this around mile 45 and just settled in to finish the ride.

T2: 1:22 2nd in AG. In and out. Put on socks, grabbed a hat and a gel. Go Go Go.

RUN: 13.1 miles in 2:12. 4th in AG. Pace just over 10m/m. This is where it all came apart. 2 out-n-back run, mostly paved with some gravel, slow easy hills, some shade. Sunny, no wind.

Loop 1. 1hr. I immediately knew I had problems, but I tried to talk myself out of them. I told myself that the 1st mile always sucks and that if I just wait my body will settle in to the run. The first mile went by and I sure as heck wasn't settled in. I had realized at the end of the bike that something was up with the run course--I was seeing runners heading towards the finish and I knew that couldn't be finishing the race in sub 4. I asked and found it was changed to a 2 out-n-back instead of one. Why this mattered, I don't know. But it did. I ate my caffeinated gel and waited for that to kick in.

Two miles in and I still wasnt feeling it. By now I was on a rocky section of the course, and my feet started to HURT fast. To the point I just wanted to walk. Soon enough off the gravel and back to paved, and again I tried to convince myself to relax. No dice. My HR was through the roof! I could run, but it was so damned exhausting. So I kept slowing myself down with no success on bringing the HR down. At the first turn-around I grabbed a sponge and still tried to settle in. I was taking water at every stop and absorbing it. So hydration was going good at least.

At mile 4 the 30-yo woman passed me. I told her she looked strong, she said I killed on the bike. Back on the gravel, I though I could cry. Why did both feet hurt so damned bad??!! The orthotics weren't this bad in training! This just ramped me up. The fact that I couldn't run just crushed me. I wanted to quit. I wanted to just throw it in and walk away. I wanted to cry. And I kept looking behind me for the next woman to pass me. But I wouldn't quit. I'll never quit. That's one of my problems. Death Before DNF.

Loop 2. 1hr 12 mins. Dizzy stop at a porta-potty (good hydration!) and part of an orange at the 6mi station. Amazingly enough, I perked up after this! I made myself run at least to the next aid station before I'd let myself walk. At the 7mi aid station I had a gel. By the 8mi aid station I was struggling again. My feet felt much better for some reason (they still hurt, just less so) and I was more relaxed. I might have been going slower too. By the turnaround, I had buddied up with a guy on the course that I was leapfrogging. Chaz. I tried to stay with him, and him with me. By the mile 9.9 turnaround, there were 3 of us in a loose group. I learned at mile 10 that the 3rd guy processed drug samples from my county back home in IL. Needless to say, this was the best part of the run.

By mile 11.5 my friend and I had parted ways. He was feeling stronger and was ready to finish his first ever HIM! I was not so strong. I was looking for JM, I knew he was ahead of me somewhere. This buoyed me a bit, I'd been seeing other club members all during the run but so far 2 of them were looking pretty sick (additionally the 30-yo woman was looking sick last I saw her too). Add me to the list. I found JM around mile 12. By this time, I had an awful diaphragm cramp, I started holding my breath. I came up behind JM and wanted to pace with him, but I couldnt catch him!!! I could only stare at his back while he moved away from me. I HTFU'd and worked to catch him. I tried to talk but it just wasnt there. I had to finish this NOW. I blocked it all out, the pain and discomfort, and headed for the finish.

FINISH: At the finish, they took one look and grabbed me. As with Redman, 2 volunteers holding my up by the upper arms. They took me to a shade tree and handed me water. I was fine, but dizzy and sick. And surprisingly cold. I drank the water and then wished I hadn't. It just sat in my tummy, and now I wanted to vomit. I trudged back to the TA, and just wanted to die. I suppose there's 2 ways I can look at this. 1) I left it all out on the course; or 2) I'm going to kill myself someday. I'm going with option 1.

Overall, I was the 9th woman out of 27 or so. Compared to that, I had a good race, a top 3rd percentile finish aint too bad. So why am I disappointed? I had hoped for better. I'd hoped for a sub 5:40 race. I'd hoped for a strong run, maybe even a PR run.

But in all reality, I wasn't trained properly for such a race. I just finished base training, meaning that I'm trained to go 5.5-6 hrs at a reasonable pace. Not 5.5 hrs at race pace. The delays, weather, and days leading up to the race added up and took a toll on me.

Excuses. HTFU!

I went into this race with no edge, so I had no edge for the race. I wasn't trained for a fast half, so I didn't run one. I didn't eat enough. I didn't have my orthotics fixed. I don't have my swim fixed. Face the reality. This was a tuneup race, a check of systems, a chance to expose these flaws and FIX them BEFORE Pigman! In that, it was a good race.

But that 2nd place AG trophy I won (because 2 women in my AG won OA's) feels hollow.