Or yes, I am still training/racing even though I'm not blogging. I'm not blogging because my husband had a vertebral artery dissection, was in the hospital for 3 days, and is now at a high risk for stroke for the next 3 months. Ok, so I wasn't training while that went on. But I'm trying for back to normal, here. (PSA re: VAD to follow, I hope!)
So, around New Year's I convinced my 'rents to come into town to spectate at their first tri, my first tri of the season, the CB&I.
4am on race morning came early, as always. I managed to empty my belly 4 times before we left the house, and another two after we got to the race. We left the house at 5:15, arrived to transition with plenty of time for me to set up, find the bathroom, set up some more, bathroom again, talk to P and Mom and Dad, and wait some. I brought my bike to check-in the night before, where the lovely dude from Bikeland fixed the grumpy shifting that wasn't wanting to go from the middle to the large chain ring, and where I was asked, as always, "Have you crashed this thing?" YES, people. I am a total spaz. The bike has scratched paint, a missing shifter-cover, and is slightly bent because I crashed it. Moving on. Thanks to the dude for fixing my girl!
Anyways, my wave wasn't taking off til 7:24, so we wandered down to the water to watch everyone else's. I hung out with the family until about 7:15 when I lined up. I had swum at the practice swim the weekend before, so I knew the water was cold, and remembered how not to freak out, etc. Good thing. It was srsly cold.
I lined up about 3 people back as close to the bouy line as I could. I took a good line, and I was glad for it. I felt like I was only passing people. I wasn't passed except by the fastest people in the wave following. I don't know why the swims always seem to take so long... Out of the water in 11:07. Faster than last year, but not in the 10's as I had hoped.
Out of the water and into transition. Tried something new this time: put a hand towel at the end of my towel. Used it to quickly wipe my face, then bent over and used it on the tops of my feet. Was really pretty effective. Put on my Drymax socks (I definitely like these better than my Asics for triathlons), bike shoes, helmet, skipped the sunglasses because it was so overcast, and I was off!
Ran to the mount line, then wasted probably 30-45 seconds trying to get on my bike. Even though I had set the pedals before the race, they were moved, so I was shaking, trying to edge forward, trying to clip in... (total spaz). Finally I took a deep breath, consciously told myself to calm down, managed to clip in, and then caught my biker ass-pad on my seat. Rode out of transition with my bike seat-nose up my butt, telling myself if I could just get my left foot clipped in, then I could stand up and get my ass on the seat. I was seriously graceful. Not humiliating at all.
Anyways, once I was finally aboard my bike, it actually went shockingly well. I was passing people this year!! Not a lot, but, still! I averaged over 17 mph. It was pretty windy, but I just tried to spin it out when I felt bad. My arms still bothered me a bit - I get stiff, my shoulders ride up and I have to remember to relax them, etc, but I'm working on it. The bike really seemed pretty much a non-event. I rolled in just under 53 minutes later, knowing I beat last year's time. What more could I really ask for?
Ah, I could ask that they not make the bike-in run any longer. I am astonished that my T2 time is faster than last year's. It is really a tribute to the Yankz, because I had so much farther to run with my bike to rack it I figured I'd have lost any gains I made...
And out I ran. Couldn't get my Garmin going right - whatever, didn't care. Just keep the legs moving. And the legs didn't want to move. I felt pretty terrible. Pretty quickly fell into the "just keep running, only walk the water stops" routine. Which was successful for me. I did only walk the water stops. But I didn't feel nearly as good as I wanted, nor did I run as fast as last year. It is ok, and I'm not beating myself up over it, but it wasn't what I wanted. I think there were a few factors in play: 1) I have decreased running speed this year. That is no secret. I am not as fit for speed as I was. 2) I have decreased running fitness this year. I've been lucky to run 3 times per week since the marathon. I've been working on my bike, etc. 3) It was pretty warm, and super humid. I am NOT acclimated to that yet. It didn't hurt my swim or bike, but I really felt it on the run. And finally, 4) I think I mentally checked-out there a bit at the end. That is my own fault. I didn't have fight in me.
Overall, I'm pleased with this race. I went faster than last year. I went faster in 4 of the 5 split times over last year. I'm not thrilled with my fitness, but that is my own fault, and I still need to get a little of my mojo back. I'm working on it. I was hoping that this would help me solidify my Fall racing plans, but I'm still pretty up in the air. I'd definitely like to get a few Oly's under my belt this season, though. And I'm starting to think that maybe the fall running season should focus on doing half marathons faster, and then start looking at maybe the half iron down at the Lone Star Tri festival??
I'll publish the official splits and compare them to last year in the next post, when the results website is working!
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