**I wish this post was full of awesome race pictures. My photographer was otherwise occupied trying to take care of our children. I am still not willing to pay $26 for three not-so-great digital copies of my official race photos.**
Last weekend was my big race. I went back to Show Low to take another shot
at the Deuces Wild Festival – Olympic Distance Triathlon. You can read about the fiasco last year here.
When I completed this event last September I was so totally
defeated and miserable. I wrote off ever
doing the event again. Apparently there are times I have
moments of insanity. I jumped at the chance to do it all again when I won a free
entry. I won the entry around 7:30 p.m.
on February 11, booked the cabin before 10:00 p.m. on February 11, and was in the pool for my
first training day on February 12. I was
motivated to say the least.
My training was consistent and I saw improvement. It is amazing what happens when you have a
plan and actually follow it. Most of my
motivation was based on fear. I knew I
did not want to go back and make the same mistakes the second time around.
I managed to miss very few training sessions. My swim felt solid. The bike is not my strongest event. I am very little confidence on the bike and
often feel like I am faking it. For
whatever reason I just can't seem to find speed. However, I knew my times on the bike were
getting better and my long rides of 2+ hours were manageable. About six weeks ago, maybe more at this
point, my shin splints decided to transform into a mild case of plantar
fasciitis. My running was great up to
Sabino Canyon in early April and since then I just haven't put down the mileage
I needed. I wasn't too concerned about
my run. I felt confident that I could cover the
10k even if it might not be fast or pretty.
On Thursday the family was off to Show Low. My kids and husband absolutely love it up in
the cabin. I was just happy to be on my
way. No more training and no more
thinking. I was just ready to get it
done.
Friday was relaxing day.
I slept in and then went out for a 15 minute run and 20 minute ride in
our little cabin neighborhood. I was
really just screwing around making sure that I could breath and turn my legs
over on the run and that my bike was in decent working order for the ride. Everything seemed well. Oh, except for my stomach. I had a terrible attack of stomach pains when
I finished my little workout. It took a
little over an hour and a dose of Pepto to start feeling better. I didn't eat much throughout the day. For some reason I had no appetite. It could have been nerves but I felt pretty
calm. Maybe it was a stomach bug.
At packet pick up I headed down to the infamous boat ramp to
test the water. Rumor before the race
was that the water temp was going to very, very cold. It seemed alright to me. I let that piece of anxiety go. Everything was falling into place to this
point.
I had late dinner on Friday and didn't eat enough
carbs. My poor appetite before races is
something I need to work on. Everything
was packed and ready to go by 9 p.m. and I was off to sleep. I actually slept quite well. I woke up at 4am and lay in bed for a
bit. I was up by 4:45 getting everything
together. By 5:00 my stomach bug was
talking to me again. Down went a second
dose of Pepto. Unfortunately I did not
get to eat any breakfast. I tentatively
got a banana down and hoped for the best.
I got to my transition spot without any issues. This year the racks were assigned. I love assigned racks. It means one less thing that I can stress out
about. I found my spot and started
unpacking. Everything felt a little
chaotic but I just kept telling myself that I was overthinking it. My attitude was very “whatever” at this
point. I went off to find my timing chip
and complain some more about the parking situation (that is another story
entirely). I felt really calm. I was scary calm.
My thought on this uncharacteristic calm is that I had
over thought everything. I spent each and
every training session visualizing the race.
By the time I got to the race, I had thought about everything I could
possibly come up with and I had trained for it.
Either my training was going to pay off or it not but this event was going
to happen. I couldn't finish any worse
than last year.
We had to clear the transition area more than an hour before
the event started. This kind of sucked. It meant no jogging warm up. Instead I hung out with friends and leisurely
put on half my wetsuit. My husband and
kids were able to hang out with me for a few minutes and stand in line with me
for the potty. My mind was not on the race.
With only about 15 minutes to the start, I needed to try to
get on my wetsuit sleeves. I had planned
and practiced for my sleeveless wetsuit.
It is so much more comfortable and I had hoped for warmer water
temps. The cold temps meant long
sleeves. I put them on crooked the first
time and nearly lost it. It was
claustrophobic and totally uncomfortable.
Picture Ralphie in his snowsuit.
My breath got shallow and my head started to spin. Tears welled up in my eyes as I struggled to
take it off and put in back on. My good
friend Jen was there to help me out. I
think she saw the panic and told me to just breathe and that I was the calm one
at this race. She set me right and I am
so glad she was there. We walked down to
the water to acclimate before the start.
And we were off.
I am happy to report that this event was totally
uneventful. The swim was fun. I was able to maintain my breathing and
settled into my pace nicely after a few hundred yards. I came out of the water with a clear brain
and no cement kicking. I waited until I
was at my transition spot to check my swim time. It was 5 minutes faster than I had hoped for.
When I got on my bike I realized the setting on my Garmin
were all wrong. It would not tell me my
distance. Luckily I had done the race
before so I just let it go. I knew where
I was going and what to expect. I kept
track of my nutrition and stuck to my plan.
The ride was excellent and I finished that 5 minutes faster than I had
planned.
Then there was the run.
This run seems simple enough but for some reason it just wasn’t. I didn't run more than ½ a mile before I had
to walk. You know that running dream
where you completely forget how to run?
I was trying, I was really trying but my legs and lungs and arms would
just not work together. It was hot. It was the hottest 83 degrees I have ever
experienced. I was dehydrated and felt
like I was cooking. I left transition at
the 2:19 mark on my stopwatch and had this amazing feeling that I could finish
this thing in 3:30. That would only take
a 1:11 10k. My current 10k is 1:04. I had such hope.
I whined and walked and jogged and walked and whined for
1:25.
I finished the race and I was a bit delirious. There are so many things that I could have
done differently but in the end that was all irrelevant. I finished the race and did the best that I
could. I'm happy with that.
My training paid off.
Getting out there and getting it done every day was the only way that I
could put this all behind me. My racing
season this year has been amazing. There
were so many races last year that left me feeling let down (Tinkerbell, Deuces…)
so that I just wasn't motivated to keep racing.
This year has been redemption from that dark place. In the a week since conquering Deuces I have
signed up for the Women’s Half Marathon in Scottsdale on November 3rd
and the TriRock San Diego on September 22nd. J
I’m excited to get back out there.
“We all lose sight sometimes,
but when we find our way again we are not only 2x stronger but we can see where
we need to be, where we should be, and most importantly we understand why we
are not there already.” – Ian Warner
