Triathlon season has started! Woohoo! Parris Island is the first race of the season and I can't believe it has already come and gone. This race is going to be renamed the "Puke and Place" sprint triathlon. =)
I headed down to the coast Friday afternoon with Nicole and Jeff. Quite an interesting ride down, as I got all sorts of questions from Jeff about nursing school and the stuff I was learning ... yes, I really did learn how to put catheters in! Friday evening was nice and relaxing. We did the usual check in at the race site, raid the BiLo for Diet Code Red, eat at Outback and then go back to the hotel relax. Well, I hadn't cleaned my bike in, oh lets say a really, really long time. The front of it was plastered with bugs and gel, so I had my work cut out for me that evening. Eventually the bikes were shiny, chains were greased, bike computer were working, water bottles were filled with NUUNS, clothes were laid out and then it was time to try and unwind and actually sleep. None of us had the normal racing jitters so unwinding didn't really seem to be a problem!
Alarm goes off: "Guess what? we are racing today!" Nicole says ... like I had forgotten or something. ;) We picked up Eric at a hotel down the way and then we were off to the race site. As we drove we stopped to try and take some pics of the awesome moon, but it didn't work to well. Thankfully, we got our normal parking spot, right next to TA and we were all set. Stretched, rode the bike to make sure everything was in working order, set up TA and than just waited for the start.
It had turned into a beautiful day. The sun was out, there wasn't too much wind and the temperature was perfect. The swim was in the marines training pool. 500meters. As we all lined up, people were telling others to just tap them on their feet and they would get out of the way so they could pass (yeah right, that never works). I told the guy beside me, "hey once we start, it's a race. Don't worry about being polite, if I get in your way just plow over/around me ... I won't take it personally." Sure, you try and not kill someone, but when there are 4-5 people across in one lane, someone is bound to get hit or kicked.
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!" And I was off. The swim felt great. Up until about the 350 mark I was able to push it pretty hard, passing a few people here and there. From then on there was crazy congestion as about 6 of us got bunched up on 2 different people. We passed one, and then bang there was the next one. (People really need to think more before they put in their swim times!) I make the turn at the 400m mark and I pass the last slow girl in my way. Then it was another 100m all out sprint to the ladder. I got out of the pool w/o anyone passing me, yay! As I ran out of the pool and onto TA I rip off my swim cap and goggles. The adrenaline is pumping and I don't even feel the awful gravel under my bare feet as I run to my bike. You can tell it's the first race of the season b/c I'm a little rusty on my TA skills. I throw on my helmet, sunglasses & struggle putting on my socks/shoes and end up w/ a T1 time of 1:15. Then I'm running w/ my bike out of TA and onto the bike course/mounting line.
This bike course is crazy flat, so I was expecting a great time. It didn't quite happen like that. CAUTION: It's about to get a little nasty. From the instant I started pedaling I was throwing up. No, I had not taken in any drink or gel yet on the bike. Whatever this was, it was from breakfast and the swim. YUCK!! I'm out there thinking, "Seriously? This shouldn't be happening. What is going on." Since this course is flat, I am ... of course ... in my aero bars. Does that help things? No. So I ride and try not to get worked up about the liquid and chunks that is an almost constant flow out of my mouth. I knew I needed fluids, so I tried to drink some ... yep, you guessed it. It instantly was all over my bike again. "This is stupid" I start to get aggravated at myself, as if I could change the puke. My bike starts to slow & I could tell I didn't have the power in my legs like I should have or wanted to have. "This is a race, it's supposed to hurt. Just keep pushing." Somehow, drilling that into my brain didn't make my time any faster. I guess it just kept me from getting even slower though! Back to T2. Another slow T2 time of 1:14 as I switched shoes and tried to gather myself after all the puking. And I'm off again. This time for my favorite part!! ... uh huh :/
The run course was also flat. By this time the sun was completely out and it was starting to really warm up. I focus on my form. "Hot potato, hot potato" keeps going through my head as I try to keep a fast cadence. I was holding it, and some type of a rhythm. "I'm going to get through this." In no way did I actually feel good. Come on, its a sprint. Feeling good is for afterwards. Well I'm glad I thought that, b/c after the turn around I started to fall apart. The no fluids was catching up to me. I know some people do that all the time, but they also usually train like that. I train with fluids and nutrition, so when I didn't have it in me ... my body didn't like it. That last half mile was pure agony. I probably would have crawled to the finish if Nicole hadn't come back out on the course and found me. She caught me walking. Yes, I was walking on a SPRINT! I was dead. She got me running again. We came around a corner and saw some people we knew, I was grunting & she says "Don't you dare let them see you walk!" ... hahaha! I can laugh about it now, but boy was that not a fun place to be at that time. I finally stager across the finish line, which seemed like miles and miles away.
Puked and Placed people!! Yes, my time was 2min slower than last year, but I still managed to place 2nd in my age group. It was definitely a memorable start the the triathlon season.
PowerBar and NUUNs ... although you didn't stay in my belly for the race, you did help me w/ my training. And, TriSports.com, I love wearing your name! Thank you sponsors!!
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