This year marked year number 4 for this race and it is to be the last year. With my sisters ending their college education there is no way I would drive 6 hours to race a sprint tri. But of course it was much more about spending time with friends and family. Enjoying college life even at age 39 with a sprint tri thrown in for fun.
Ha, did I say fun? This was not fun, at all. I realized the other day that I don't find racing fun anymore. That is not a good thing. How to get the fun back is back on the top of my list. What's the point in doing these races if your miserable? I need to relax, calm down and breathe. I need to not worry about what might happen and just enjoy what does happen.
I get terrible race day anxiety and Sat morning was no different. You would think after 3 years of doing the same race at a distance that should be easy for me would not cause such stress. I couldn't eat, I paced, I waited for the car to get packed and headed the whole 1 mile to the recreation center where the pool swim is located. Picked up my chip and headed to transition. The weather, did I mention the weather? Crap is what it was. As I set up my stuff in transition I had to make the decision to bag most items to keep them dry or to risk leaving them out and hope the rain would hold off. I decided better safe than sorry. It added time to transition but at least when I got back to transition everything would be dry.
With a temp of about 50 you would think perfect. Wrong. It was 50 but with 20-25 mph winds, rain, hail.
After what seemed like an eternity we were called out to the pool. With my Dad behind me off we went. I took my sweet time for the first 100m just to make sure my breathing stayed under control. I passed a few people and by the time I hit 150m there was no one in my way so I sped up slightly. With a swim time of 8:48 plus running around the transition area before hitting the mat the time was 9:22.
It was now raining. Socks, bike shoes, shirt, jacket, sunglasses, helmet, bike. Off I went. This course was new this year. Hoping it could never be worse than years past, I would be wrong. This by far is an extremely challenging course of 12.8 miles. There was really no flat parts. I would say 2/3 were uphill and the other third a combo of flat and very steep downhills. With the roads being very wet and rain pelting you and the wind knocking you around there would be not much time in areo position. It was a matter of just getting through it. With a time of 50:52 I was not very competitive on the bike.
My husband told me prior to the race that he wanted to run with me. The run portion is a basically flat 5k through campus. However it seems to be one of the hardest 5k I've done. It seems to take forever to get to the 1/2 way mark. This year was no different. I had to slow my husband down at the beginning as I still had my bike legs attached to me. The first 1/2 mile, torture. I wanted to walk so bad. What's funny is you have no concept of how fast your running after you get off the bike. It felt like 11 minute miles at first then to 10 then to 9:30. Then at the end I figured I hit about a 9:15 pace. In the beginning of the run my husband pulled me through by the end I was pulling him. We both were ready to stop! My run time was 28:37 a pace of 9:12.
I ended up with a total time of 1:32:02. 53 seconds faster than last year. It's not much but since the weather was horrible and the bike course harder any improvement is great. I was hoping to hit under 1:30 but it wasn't meant to be. Had the weather been right I would of hit my goal.
Some of you may know I that had another very specific goal that day. To beat a particular guy whom shall remain nameless. Last year I had the same goal and he beat me by 53 seconds. I was determined that wouldn't happen again. However I was told the night before the race that he was not registered and wouldn't be there. Smart man. Had he shown up I think not only would I of practically killed myself to beat him but others were in line to give him a piece of their minds too. So with my 53 second faster time this year. We tied. Really??? Tied?? Guess I'll never have the chance to chick that 22 year old guy.
Typically I am wiped after a race. Stomach in knots, can't eat, drink and am miserable. Again no fun. This time I tried something different. I ate IMMEDIATELY after the race. I ate a doughnut and had a big glass of OJ. My stomach flipped and it was opposing the food but I forced it down quickly. After a few hours and lunch I was back to normal. YES!!!! I could actually enjoy the BBQ my sisters had with friends and family that afternoon, yes even in the rain. Played some games, ate lots of food, had some beer.............good times.
Kudos go out to the family who stood outside in the rain probably colder than I was since they weren't racing. To my sisters and friends for being involved with the triathlon organization. To my oldest who volunteered his time for a total of about 9 hours in the crappy weather to help out the racers. To my husband who kindly ran with me. I think I may want him to do that again. How about the 13 miles in the 1/2 ironman? To my Dad who keeps me doing these races.
Special mention to Kristy my sister.............she was the one who made sure every racer had a medal this year. So after 4 years I now have included a Miami University Student Foundation Triathlon medal to my rack.
This year it's all about the medals.
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