We scarfed down our breakfast with a goal of eating 800-1000 calories. I had a bowl of Cheerios with skim milk, a small yogurt (for some reason I’m a pre-race dairy girl), a banana, a bagel, and a protein bar. We left the hotel at 4:30 and dropped off our special needs bags (which were given to us at the half-way point on the bike and run courses). Then we went to the bike transition area (we had set up our bikes the day before) and went through body-marking and set up our food and drinks on our bikes and made our final little tweaks (this sport is perfect for Type A personalities). We added a few things to our transition (swim-to-bike and bike-to-run) bags which we had dropped off the day before, and then sat in the convention center and rested until about 6:20 am. At that point we made the walk down the spiral parking garage and to the lake. We dropped off our dry clothes bag and Brian and I made our way to the front for the swim start. Stacy met up with us at the front, and the three of us floated and waited for the pros to start at 6:50 am. After that, we had ten more minutes before the cannon went off.
I started my watch, and the race was underway. It was pretty aggressive at the front, but I managed to hold my own against the big guys. I tried to stay as close to the buoys as possible, catch a little draft, and keep my heart rate down. The course was two loops (really rectangles) and there were some major dog piles at the turns. I could actually feel the waves pushing me forward on the way out, so I knew that would catch up with me at some point. Sure enough, on the way back we had some serious waves. I just kept telling myself to relax and try to keep my stroke long (the wetsuit constriction tends to shorten the end of my pull). When I went into my second lap, I looked at my watch and I saw I was under 30-minutes, so I was on pace to swim under one-hour (which was my goal since it was a little conservative but would still give me a good lead heading into the bike). The second lap was a little easier since the crowd in front had thinned out a bit. I “lapped” some people on the second half of the second loop. I was turning into the home stretch when some guy clobbered me. The aggressive side of me took over and I pushed him underwater. At that point, my right calf seized up. I raised my right leg at a funny 45-degree angle, stopped kicking, and pulled my way in. I wasn’t too worried about the swim since I could push through it, but I was concerned with how the cramping would hold up with the bike and run still ahead of me. Fortunately, that was the end of the pain. My right calf is killing me right now and it hurts to touch it, but at least it didn’t bother me on the bike and run. I made my way out of the water, laid on the ground, and the strippers pulled off my wetsuit.
Swim Time: 59:26 (1:33 per 100 meters) – 1st in my age group and 72nd overall (out of 2,475)
The transitions on this race were rather long. After my wetsuit was stripped, I ran up the parking lot spiral to the roof, picked up my transition bag, and ran into the women’s changing tent. It was weird having a person designated to help me change. I was pretty warm after the swim, so I decided not to wear my arm warmers on the bike course. MISTAKE. I wore a sleeveless jersey, bike shorts, and socks. (Since it literally rained all day and the temperatures stayed in the 50s, I was way too cold.)
T1 Time: 9:54
I ran to my bike and proceeded down the spiral parking ramp. There was a big bump in the road where some volunteers warned us to hold our water bottles (which you can’t really do). My water bottles stayed in tact, but my gel flask fell out. The guy behind me yelled “S***!!!” and crashed… hopefully not due to my flask (there were other lost items in the road), but it was a definite possibility. I didn’t really know what to do, so I kept riding (bike karma might get me on that one). The bike course was a “lollipop” with a 15-mile “stem” and two 40-mile loops. We had ridden the three toughest hills, and I felt like I my training had prepared me for this hilly course. However, I had only ridden in the rain once, and I was very concerned about the ~82 turns and steep downhills on the slick roads. I was very conservative and used my brakes way more than I needed to. I had several low points during the bike ride – at mile 56 and again at mile 75. I had some problems with my nutrition. Since I was being so attentive to the road, it was difficult to find the time to reach for food, water/Gatorade, and electrolytes. I lost one of my two gel flasks at the beginning and I thought I had another flask in my special needs bag, but it wasn’t there. I had to eat way too many Clif Shot Bloks and I never want to see one of those gummy squares again. I went to the bathroom at mile 75 and that little break left me rejuvenated and I got my second wind going into the second round of the three biggest climbs. I lost my right contact lens six times, which meant stopping and getting off my bike. I went through three lenses and was able to find the lens on my sunglasses the other two times. The sixth time it fell out, I resigned to the fact that I’d just have to finish riding with one lens. That was definitely my biggest distraction on race day, and I’ve learned that it might be a better idea to wear prescription sunglasses on the ride (they even have a glasses table for participants to pick up their glasses after the swim). Another random thing that happened was when I got my picture taken but didn’t see a penalty card. I stopped at the penalty tent, figuring it was better to be safe than sorry. The volunteers were very nice and understanding, and they just wrote down my name and number and let me go. On a positive note, I was amazed that I was able to ride 112 miles on a very hilly and technical course and still feel pretty good at the end of it, considering my longest ride before that was 100 miles. There were lots of spectators on the three largest hills (including a cross-dresser, college kids offering grilled sausage, and some other interesting folks), so that encouragement helped a lot. The “stem” on the return home seemed to go on forever, but I finally made it back to the terrace. I dismounted my bike and walked into the transition area, and my legs were barely functioning.
Bike Time: 7:58:19 (14.05 mph)
I took my time in the second transition area. Fortunately I had another spare pair of lenses in my bike to run bag, so I immediately cleaned off my hands with a wet wipe and put my right lens in. I was so excited to see again! A volunteer helped me change and I put on my running shorts, dry socks (which I had been looking forward to for about five hours), running jersey, long-sleeved shirt, gloves, etc. I immediately ran to the bathroom, which was a trend that continued throughout the run. I shuffled off onto the course and was amazed that I was actually able to run. There were lots of spectators on the first stretch of the run, so that got me excited. I ran the first six miles at about a 10:30 pace, and then I started incorporating some walking from miles 6-11. Fran found me and ran with me for two miles, so that helped get me going again. My first half was 2:47:54 (12:49/mile), which included numerous bathroom stops. Brian lapped me on the two-loop run course, so I talked to him at the beginning. I also saw Stacy, Chuck, and Ron. That helped keep me going, because we were all in this together. The hardest part about the run course was turning around at mile 13 and heading back out on my second loop while others were finishing. At about mile 15, I knew I was in trouble. From that point, I walked a majority of the remaining 11 miles. I felt very light-headed and I just kept telling myself to put one foot in front of the other. At one point I was hallucinating and it looked like there were worms crawling all over the sidewalk (and then I came to my senses and realized they were leaves). Fortunately I found someone to talk to for the last few miles, so that helped keep me sane. For those of you who tracked my race, it was apparent how much slower my second half was. I was seriously calculating how every minute under 20-minute mile pace would be a minute under 16 hours. At mile 20 or so, one of the volunteers started yelling at me because it was pretty apparent that I wasn’t “all there.” My second half was 3:38:26 (16:40 per mile), which was almost an hour slower than my first half. I was just so excited to approach that finish line. I turned the corner onto the main drag and there were spectators jam-packed behind the barricades leading into the finish line. Of course I started running, and I was just elated. I crossed the finished line with a huge smile on my face.
Run Time: 6:26:20 (14:44 per mile); Overall Time: 15:44:40
Several volunteers held me up (they prevent people from falling over and fainting) and I walked around, got my finisher garb, and got my picture taken. Sandra walked with me to the convention center, and I met up with my training partners who had finished. I was so happy to see them. All of us finished in under 17 hours, which is an amazing feat considering the weather conditions. Chuck (our swim coach) actually towed Shawna on the swim portion since she couldn’t swim by herself due to her broken wrist and elbow. They each wore a belt and tied a rope to the belts (the officials approved this beforehand). They finished the swim in 1:26, which was pretty good! I was so impressed that Chuck offered to do that, and Shawna somehow managed to get through that insane bike course with her broken appendage.
Brian – 11:43:15
Stacy – 12:57:17
Ron – 13:17:04
Shawna – 14:43:39
Me – 15:44:40
Barb – 15:49:13
Chuck – 16:03:53
Dee – 16:05:04
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