So what update would be complete without a weather report? Gotta love that two weekends ago it snowed. Last weekend we had 40 mph winds and I stayed upright on my TT bike, and this weekend it rained nearly nonstop.
LUCKY for us it stopped long enough for us to have this Du. This shamless steal from Steve in a Speedo ( in the funny shorts) shows the only dry pavement we ran on. The rest is mud. Seriously. I was going to wait to see if any pics showed up bc there were people taking pics but who knows if they will share them. So i am tucked in here under Thad's elbow( Thad has a GW skinsuit on) I have a visor on. Ha, wishful thinking.
Then the rest of the run was on ballfields and in and orchard and well it went something like this "SPLISH SPLASH SINK SOG." I brought two pair of shoes and really why bother? I just realized as i came into T1 that there was no need to ruin two pair of shoes. So onto the actual race. My goal here was twofold. 1) Try out a new pre race nutrition plan and 2) Go as fast as i can. Honestly I didnt look at my paces or my computer on the bike once. I just rode as hard as i could and ran as hard as i could. Which during the 1st 5k sorta had me thinking "THERE IS NO WAY" i can ride hard after this. I was shelled. I came in 7th or 8th woman. I am not sure. I Was in and out of T1 in a heartbeat.
On the Bike i passed one gal who is in my AG after we danced around for a few miles, and on a descent ( thank you Sub 9 disc) i just kept going. I knew that in order to possibly stay ahead of her I had to really really dig deep on the ride. She is a faster runner than i am, so i figured i would either dig such a hole that i would get passed on the 2nd 5k or i would create enough gap to hold on. I had no idea which would turn out.
Tom was racing too, and he passed me about mid ride ( 28 K) but i kept him in sight. I was having a good ride, the disc was awesome and i had a 303 on front bc i sometimes get thrown around if i have a deeper front profile. All good.
CAme into T2 with one girl who was way younger than me ( hello 27yo) and just figured i would get in and out as fast as i could. The 2nd run is lonely.I knew Julie Hull was about 30 sec up and i saw her, as was Jen S, and even though i got closer i was still pretty much alone ( and hoping to not get lost) last year i missed a turn, This year i just was DYING. I really had no clue how fast i was going and i just figured as we hit the out and back sections i didnt want to see who was coming. I sorta could tell that the silouettes were men not women. But at the same time i was redlining so i had nothing more so figured i would just keep motoring on.
This hurt BAD. When i finally got up the STEEP hill and the 200 Yard track run i sorta thought I wasnt going to get caught but distances are deceiving and when Marta said "keep digging" I got afraid there was someone back there. There wasnt and in my glory we got to run down the tenniscourt sidewalk ( not on the tennis courts, that would have been awesome) up to the finish chute. Now had they had a bonus " serve a tennis ball into the ad court" for a 30 sec bonus i think i could have challenged for 1st place :)
So i barely out ran Ann who is super fast and super nice, but i know she will be riding alot and getting stronger. WE have ALOT of fast 45+ women up here, Dang. Well and 40+ Women too. And well, everyone is fast! I missed the podium by 30 seconds and got 6th OA and 1st AG, which truth be told really made me happy.
Tom was right behind me and once we get him to not have a seat in T1 and T2 i am sure he will be ahead of me.
He told me to revel in my victory, but honestly? I am happy but i just go out and do the best i can and whatever happens happens.
I realized this summer that while i say "oh this summer is for fun and i dont really care how i do," of course i do, but i am not ready to act like a PRO. I want to eat well, rest alot and remain injury free, but i want to keep this in context of my family and friends. I am drawing a huge amount of fortitude and strength from Rich right now. He was egoless and he never complained. He raced GW last year and i still can see him doing the jig around the track ( really) and waving before he had even finished. How Selfless can one be in dying? I hope i dont need to experience that again anytime soon but it sure has made me feel that i am a heck of a lot stronger than i knew. And i dont mean in triathlon.
Big Picture is this is fun. I know you may think that redlining and feeling like you are going to die isnt fun. But I like this sport not so much for the races as for the comraderie, the strong women in my AG ( darn you!) and for the Gear West Family i have. And I like to see how fast i can go. This year there is no IM, which I have been struggling with, but at the end of the day I am happy with that decision.
Being a homeowner has challenged me enough, leaks, swimming pools, yard people that decide a day ago they arent in business anymore meanwhile the dandelions are setting up shop. At least the Box Elders have a month or more till they come out.
Thanks for reading, will post pics if i get any! And i did, read on!
