Tri for the Cure – Race day

4:00 am came WAY to early! But I managed to get up, took my meds (must be taken an hour before eating).  Luckily I had packed/laid out everything I needed, the morning went pretty smooth.  I stopped by the front desk to request a late checkout, luckily there was no issues.  We got in the truck and headed to the reservoir.  In the past early parking was at the high school which was nice and close (sort of) to the race, for some reason they changed the parking arraignments and the distance to the start doubled!  Jose and I went ahead of my sister.  I set my bike up in the transition area and then head out to visit with my sister and Jose and eat my breakfast.  My poor sister was almost in tears.  Turned out the bag with the food ripped and the bottle of Starbucks shattered on the ground.  She tried to clean it up so no one would damage their tires going over it. All I could do is laugh, it fit perfectly with the way everything to the start of the race!  My sister told me point blank if my body even twinge wrong to stop right there and call it a day. 

Finally the race started. I was in wave 14 so I had a little bit of time to wait.  When it was my wave’s turn I was in the back on the outside of the pack.  The horn blew and we were off.  I went through my normal open water panic; I stuck with the breaststroke until I could relax.  Once I calm off I went.  The water temp was a nice 76 degrees.  I was concerned about my hands (can’t handle the cold), but I had no issues.  I finished up the swim feeling pretty good (wish I had gum to keep the disgusting taste of water out of my mouth).  When I got out of the water I was a little… dizzy isn’t quite the right word, a smidge disoriented, I guess.

I calmly walked to my bike put my helmet on, put my bike skirt on, my bike shoes, grabbed my bike I was off.  I finally got to the bike mount line, crossed over it and then headed out (a lot of ladies mounted before they crossed the mount line).  I was trying a new nutrition on my bike, it was apple and banana fruit snack stuff, I took a mouthful and YUCK!!!!!!! It made me nauseous for a little while, but luckily that cleared up.  I need to spend more time on hills, but other than that, the ride went well. 

I got to the bike dismount like and I hopped off.  Again, calmly walked to my area, pulled my bike shirt off and put on my running skirt, threw my t-shirt on, pulled my socks on (toe socks with powder in them), shoes on and of course my hat.  I brought a water bottle (Nuun was in it) with me because I was on the thirsty side.  I took it nice and easy up the hill, once I got to the mile marker I started jogging a bit.  My left big toe felt like it was broken (it has been like that for a while), and I could feel my feet getting tender again.  During water stops I would grab a cup and squirt a bit of Nuun in, take a sip and discard the rest. I ran the last ½ mile, and I was able to pick up speed at the end with a comfortable finish.  My final time was 2:05:39. I was super slow, but it gave me the information I needed.

Things to work on…	Things going well…
Need to add weights back into my training plan	Hydration – Nuun seemed to work really well
Need to work on hills – bike and run	Swim felt great
Nutrition
Need to figure out what is going on with my feet

 

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~