Whew! What a weekend.
Let’s back up—earlier last week, I received official word
that the sprint triathlon I was doing on Sunday was going to be a duathlon, due
to poor water quality. Well, hmph! After having my own little pity party, I
decided to suck it up and race anyway—after all, when else am I ever going to
choose a duathlon over a triathlon, so may as well make the best of it and try something
new!
I continued my schedule as planned; because of the race, my
long ride (actually, it was a long brick) was pushed back to Friday, and long
run pushed out to Monday (today), leaving Saturday with just a quick speed
workout and nothing but the race on Sunday.
So I got on the bike on Friday and……..no.
I had woken up with a sore throat for the last few days but
was general feeling pretty OK…but as soon as I got on the bike, it was a big
NO. I was having trouble barely keeping
any speed, I had absolutely no spark, and most of all, my head just wasn’t in
it. I didn’t want to be on the bike, and I didn’t even want to try to go any
faster. My heart rate wasn’t very high,
but any time I tried to put in any effort, I felt ridiculously out of
breath. I finally called it at ~3 hours
(instead of 3:30) and decided not to do my run off the bike. Just..no.
I wrote some notes in my training peaks log. Shawn must have seen it. Woke up Saturday morning to a text saying “no
training today..REST!!” After a little back and forth grumbling…I gave in. And slept.
And slept some more. And then
finally dragged myself out of bed, to the couch, where I totally vegged out for
another couple of hours. By the time 1pm
rolled around, I realized I was actually feeling…ok?? Not cured, but definitely better than I had
felt in the morning. I was starting to
think about other things I could do that day, which was a good sign. So I showered and dressed, which made me feel
even better, and headed to packet pickup.
I guess I’m doing this thing.
Once there—it was a mess.
They were talking to one guy, making it sound like he was getting a
refund?? After making it very clear that
NO refunds would be granted. I was so
tired of the back-and-forth at this point that I didn’t even want to consider
that as an option, and just let it go. But
I did hear the lady say something about a 1.5 mile run first, to the guy in
front of me. When it was my turn, I
waited to hear what she told me..but she basically just gave me my packet and that was that. So I asked, since the email had stated it was
a 5km run first…and she proceeded to tell me yes, all the sprint registrants
were automatically changed to a duathlon which was a 1.5mi run to start with—but
if I wanted, I could change to the full duathlon (that was already scheduled)
and that would be a 5km run to start. I
asked if I had to decide then, but she said I could change in the morning. So, fine.
Texted Shawn and thought about it.
Honestly, a 1.5 mile run before the bike sounded better (especially if I
wasn’t feeling 100%!) but now for the last few days I had been alternating my
thinking from a swim first, to a 5km run.
And now I had to change it again!?
So I went and got a doughnut.
And then generally didn’t think about it. I spent the rest of the day relaxing, working
on things around the house, and by the time dinner rolled around, I was more
than happy to go meet Mac, Mic and Kyle and hang out and generally felt better
than I had in a while. Apparently taking
a full day to REST is actually really good and helps you get better
faster! ;)
By the time I got home and was packing my things, I was
more-or-less resigned to the 1.5mi run to start. For one thing, it would be one less thing to
worry about in the morning. And besides,
why did it need to be any longer? And I
knew I would start out running too hard, so may as well do the shorter
distance, where hopefully going too hard for 1.5 miles would do less damage
than going too hard for 3.1 miles…right?!
Logic!
So I packed my bag (very empty and seemed very odd to not
have swim stuff… I was convinced I was forgetting things?!) and that was that.
Anyway, that’s the big long story about the build up to this
silly little race.
Race morning. Early alarm.
UGH!
But on the plus side, as I rolled out of bed, I realized
that…I felt ok. I was sleepy and my nose was a little stuffed up but NO sore
throat and…I mean, it was fine. I heard some
branches on the side of the house outside.
Huh. It must be windy.
Got dressed. Gathered
things. Wandered the house a bit. Finally headed off to the race. It was odd going alone, with Allen being
gone..but oh well. At least this was a
small local race that I’ve done before, so I knew the logistics and didn’t feel
like I really needed “help” with anything.
Only a few other cars were there when I got there. A good sign.
I got to the transition area, and only a few bikes were there. All right where I wanted to be, but there was
an open spot next to the bike out, so decided to take that one. Briefly considered taking the second spot, to
be closer to the…other entrance/exits?? My
spot seemed so far away! Wait, where do we run in after the first
run?! It was all very
confusing. Decided it was fine, and left
my bike where it is. This whole thing is
silly anyway, it’ll be fiiiiine.
Remember that wind?
Yeah….it was windy here, too.
Like, really windy. After racking
my bike to claim a spot, it was approximately 5:15am, and the race didn’t start
until 7:00am. But it was so windy that my bike was swaying on the rack,
threatening to knock it over, and I really didn’t want to unpack anything
else. I didn’t want things flying away!
So I wandered a bit, went to the bathroom, went back and sat
in the truck for a while. Checked back a
little later. A few more people were
there…finally set my stuff up but it took a whopping 30 seconds because, guess
what, all you really need to lay out are your bike shoes, and
helmet/glasses! It was so
weird.
Things were very disorganized. This was my third time doing this race, and
this year was very noticeably less organized.
They were just setting up tents and the big finish arch about 10 minutes
before the start. They didn’t even do
body marking. All so weird. My parents arrived at around 6:30, so they
milled around with me. It was good to
have someone to talk to.
After a brief meeting, where they confirmed race distances
and did an awful job trying to explain where the course went for the first run,
and where to run in/out/etc… We lined
up. I figured I’d just follow people and
figure it out, since it was even more confusing trying to decipher what they
were telling us (plus having multiple races with multiple distances going on at
the same time was just…bad).
It started like a run race, of course…I put myself way up
front. Like, maybe 3rd or 4th
in line, but there were only a few people across. The guy next to me started chatting for a
while, asking about the course, etc. After
a lot of delays, we very suddenly—were off!!
Run 1 - 8:06
Yup, immediately went hard.
I knew putting myself in that first group would do that, but I knew I needed
to be near the front, not stuck behind people that put themselves too far
ahead. It worked out alright. I stayed with a couple other girls, trying to
pace myself off of them, a few steps behind.
Another girl came barreling down on us, and I (and they) let her go…. The
turn-around came very suddenly—at just over half a mile! Huh? This
is less than a 1.5 mile run…. Oh well,
no complaints. Started heading back to transition,
trying to keep up the pace, which by now I was very much feeling.
Of the two girls I was pacing off of, one split off and went
ahead, while the other slowed down a bit.
I passed her, and tried to keep running strong. She had a funny gait,
but it felt good to pass her since I’m a jerk, and she had been bragging at the
start about winning some award in a 10k last week. Whatever.
I started wondering how I would feel getting on the bike—I obviously do
NOT working that hard when I swim! I was
already breathing hard and my heart rate was sure to be sky high.
Well, time to find out.
Because just like that, the mad dash was over. I saw my parents there yelling for me, and
raced into transition as the 3rd female.
T1 – 00:31
Turns out, we ran in to the bike out! Which means I ran in, and my bike was right
there in front of me. I threw off my
shoes and hat, shoved my feet into my shoes (riding with my socks so I wouldn’t
have to mess with them later—WEIRD), threw on glasses and helmet and..oh wait,
that’s everything? Ran another couple
feet to the bike out and I was OUT of there.
Bike – 45:42
The mount line was….non-existent. There was a big line of cones right after a
turn to get out, so I thought that’s where it was. I was following some other guy. Struggled to get on the bike, very
ungracefully. Wasting time. Then someone yelled at me and pointed saying to
mount over there. So I got OFF the bike,
ran over, and got on AGAIN, and then struggled very ungracefully again. I don’t know what my deal was. Oh well, whatever. Now that I think about it, I wonder if that
was how we were supposed to get on the bike??
Maybe we were supposed to go around, through the parking lot? I don’t feel like it was that confusing last
year. I don’t know. I was on the bike and it was time to see what
would happen.
This bike course is stupid. Seriously.
And yet, I always want to race it again and think “nah, it’s not that
bad! I like it!” I think because in hindsight I realize I have
one of the fastest bike times on it. But
racing it, I ALWAYS start cursing it and swear I hate it and will never do it again. The entire thing is uphill….except for the monstrous
downhill. But the downhills are super
steep and scary, and I swear they are shorter.
Like, there is more up than down, I don’t know how it nets out!
Anyway, it very fittingly starts out with a loooooooooong
climb. And it’s really not that gradual,
I mean it’s a pretty decent climb. And
it goes forever. And then it turns and
gets steeper and KEEPS ON GOING. It’s
just stupid, really. Anyway, I was
caught trying to go hard/smart, while keeping my heart rate under control, but
of course it was already super elevated from the run…bleh. Tried to drink some water but I was breathing
so hard it was difficult. Managed about
2 sips. Keep..on..climbing..go..faster..Rosanne!!
I didn’t really know if I was the first female. I had my eyes open, and tried to pick people off. I realized my transition spot was in the
perfect place, really (better than the spots I had wished I had, earlier!) and it
dawned on me that I may have actually gotten OUT of transition before the other
girls….huh.
Then finally, there was a downhill. I went barreling down, stayed in aero…and
another girl went blazing past me.
DANGIT. So there is now at least
ONE girl ahead of me..and how is she so fast downhill!? I stayed behind her for a bit, trying to
gauge her and how she was riding. She
was strong. But I was gaining on her and
as soon as there was a slight incline, I easily passed her. The course wound through neighborhoods, etc
etc etc…finally we reached the big, terrifying descent that would take us back
to Juanita, where we would start our second lap.
I hate that descent.
It’s long, it’s steep, it’s windy…ok it’s really not that bad, but you
pick up a lot of speed fast, and it really scares me!! I went as hard as I could, just on the edge
of being uncomfortable (ok, I’lll admit it, I was past the edge of feeling
uncomfortable but…whatever). And
suddenly again, the same girl went absolutely FLYING past me, as if I were
standing still. I let her go. I don’t even know how I could have sped up to
go that fast, even if I wanted to (and I did NOT want to).
Last few stretches and turns to start the second lap, again
slightly uphill and then some flats…and I was catching up to her. I didn’t really want to play this game of
riding scared the whole time, and passing back and forth, but I also knew I
couldn’t just let her go. By this time,
I had a hunch we were probably 1st and 2nd female, since
I didn’t think anyone could have been THAT far ahead of us. And we did have that giant hill about to start
again…so right after rounding the corner to start the second lap, and right as I
passed my parents who were absolutely SCREAMING my name, I went for the pass
and barreled by her (after a quick “you are fearless!!”).
Which meant I had to attack that hill HARD, because I wanted
to put as much space between us as possible.
I know I was slower this lap, and by now everyone else was on the course
so I was passing people constantly. I
tried to keep my mind off of it and stay positive by telling people good job as
I passed them. I kinda felt like a jerk,
since I didn’t want them to think I was full of myself…but I reminded myself I was
(likely) the first female at this point, and they probably could tell I was on
my second lap, and when I was first starting tris, if I had a leader tell me “good
job” while they were racing and I was struggling up a monster hill, I would have
appreciated it! So hopefully they took it
as a good thing, not a bad thing. I
really was impressed by a lot of them. I
was hating the hill, and iknow they were too!
Anyway, I kept pushing.
The wind had picked up even more, and by the time I reached a few spots I
could be in aero and make a difference…I kept having to sit up. I got blown over so hard one of the descents, I
honestly don’t know how I didn’t end up on the pavement. It got worse and worse and by the time I got
to that last, scary descent…I just wanted to be off the bike because at least
there was less risk of getting (seriously) hurt if you get blown over running,
than while you’re going 40mph downhill on a bike!
I really, really expected the fast girl to catch me again,
but I must have put enough time between us on the uphill. I motioned to the guy in the parking lot I was
coming into transition, and there was an eruption of cheering and applause,
which made me about 99% positive I must be the first female coming in…but still
couldn’t be totally sure.
T2 – 00:39
I came into transition, again, the same place I biked
out. I totally scored with my bike
placement! There were only a couple
other bikes there—including a couple on my rack. Shoved my feet back into my shoes, but I didn’t
sit down (maybe because it was pavement?), which was weird for me… I wish I did
though, because it was harder to get my shoes on and I shoved the insert a bit
in my right shoe and got all wrinkled, but THANKFULLY it sorted itself out by
itself. As per usual, I DID leave my
helmet on until the last possible second.
I swear, one day I’m going to run out with my helmet still on. Even running through transition to the run
out, I immediately felt my legs. Oh
boy. This was going to be rough. Shoved my hat back on as I ran out, and saw
my mom right at the exit of transition.
Run 2 – 22:06
The guy in front of me looked confused, and turned around,
thinking he was going the wrong way.
Nope, keep going, buddy. I’m glad
I knew this part of the course because apparently a LOT of people were confused and I think some
people accidentally cut the course just a little, missing a turn etc. Oh well, not a big deal. In the past they had a little aid station and
volunteers directing there, so not sure why they weren’t there this year.
Just a few second in, I felt my heart rate strap sliding
down. I tried adjusting it a little, but
it was all just annoying me. I knew my
heart rate would be crazy-high, it’s not like I was going to change anything
based off of it… so I quickly took it off, hoping maybe I’d see my parents
before leaving the park so I could toss it to them…Nope, but I did hear a loud “GO
ROSANNE!!!!!!!!” and looked to my left, and saw Francis and Crystal! Split second decision, and I yelled “hey can
you take this!?” and flung the strap their direction as hard as I could,
without waiting for an answer. Hah, hah,
hah! Now you have to pick up my gross,
sweaty heart rate strap! Oh well. But, now I knew Francis was there and gosh darnit, he won’t let me live it down if
he sees me start the run as the first female, and don’t managed to win the darn
thing.
The guy in front of me was juuuuuust a little too fast. I wanted to pace off of him, but he slowly,
slowly, sloooooowly broke away. I let
him. Once on the boardwalk, I found
myself settling into a rhythm. And I was
thrilled! It was a hard rhythm, it was
fast, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold it indefinitely—but I thought I could
hold it for at least a 5k. And it was a rhythm. I have very, very much been lacking a running
rhythm lately, and I think that’s why I’ve been struggling to I push the
pace. But there I was, in a solid, hard
rhythm right on the verge of my ability. Breathing hard but manageable. No burning chest. I could do this. I was content.
I did see two girls come into view ahead of me. But…..I quickly caught them. They weren’t going super-fast, and they weren’t
really wearing tri kits and – forgive me if this sounds fully of myself – but they just didn’t really look like they were
triathletes. What I mean is, they were wearing
running shorts and tanks, hair in high ponytails, that kind of thing. Hm. I
tried to remember what the other distances were like, I wasn’t sure if anyone
else should be on the course? I found it
hard to believe they somehow ran and biked faster without me noticing. But whatever.
I passed them. Wound through the
park and into the neighborhoods.
Excellent! Making progress, and haven’t
been passed by anyone yet!
Soon, I saw a bike on the return, leading in the overall
leader. And, hey!! That’s the guy front the start line that I
was talking to! I smiled and waved as he
passed, and he did the same.
And now, I was getting a view of everyone in front of
me. I should have counted, but I was way
more concerned about whether or not there were any other girls in front of
me. None so far. I was getting closer and closer to the turnaround….But
first I had to go up the GIANT MONSTER HILL.
Ok so it’s not that long…but it’s a wall. Every year I know it’s there and I know it’ll
surprise me at how steep it is—and once again, I looked at it in
disbelief. We have to run up that thing?! Baby steps, baby steps, didn’t push it just
got up it. Phew. Somewhere around here, I think one guy did
pass me. Hmph. Oh well.
I knew the turnaround was really, really soon now….
….and there was one girl, running back towards me. What?!
Wait. That was the girl I passed
during the first run, the one bragging about her 10k award. The girl with the really funny gait. Again, I racked my brain trying to think of
what other races there were or how she could have possibly gotten ahead of me
since I was on the bike before her, and I knew she didn’t pass me on the bike….
Got to the turn around.
It was a net downhill now. And
shortly after, I saw the next girl behind me. The same girl from the bike. We smiled and exchanged quick hellos, and
then I promptly tried to kick it up. If I
was able to push a bit, I knew she would too, and I didn’t know how much she
had gained on me (if any) during the first half. I had a little bit of cushion, she wasn’t
right on my heels…but it was probably only about a 30 second gap so I could NOT
slack now.
Running back down that stupid-steep hill now... PAINFUL.
It was about as painful to run down than up, since it was sooo
steep. My legs were just about done and
were not very happy about that. But I wanted
to gain as much speed as I could so I tried my very hardest to take the free speed without
falling over.
Started making it back to the park, and started seeing more
and more people, including some other girls. I was also starting to get nods and “good job!”s
from people, and one girl finally gave me the definitive #1 sign and I knew I had
it. Just…keep…going.
Except there was that one girl ahead of me still that
maaaaaaybe maybe I don’t know…..
On the boardwalk, I FINALLY CAUGHT HER. At around the same spot I passed her earlier
that morning. I knew this last mile was
looking to be my fastest, and was now running a sub-7:00/mi again. I just needed to get out of the park, round
the corner, get to the parking lot, and make it to the finish line. I didn’t want to look back and see where the
other girl was, but I was terrified she would pass me at the very end…
Finally, finally, FINALLY made the last final turn into the
park, and alllllll the cheers told me I really, truly, without a doubt was the
first female to come in. I saw Francis
and Crystal there still, plus a ton of other spectators who seemed genuinely
happy to cheer me on! So cool. I was way too out of it crossing the line
just wanted to be DONE, so got over the line and…..YES! The announcer said my name and finally
confirmed it—the first female finisher!
The finish line was just as unorganized, I kinda stood there
like “ummm now what” and finally figured out where to put my chip but of course
couldn’t get it off myself because hello, I just ran my little heart out...finally
someone noticed and ran over to help me.
Hah, oops.
The next girl came in about a minute after me. I went over to congratulate her and again
tell her how she was crazy to go that fast downhill on the bike! She asked about the other girl as well, and I
finally learned that there WAS a shorter distance—the runs were the same, but
the bike was one loop instead of two. So
THAT’S what that other girl was doing, and suddenly it all made sense.
Anywayyyyyyy we waited forever for awards. It got windier and windier. The finish line arch started to blow
away. It was all crazy.
In all, I’m really happy I still raced—I don’t like to back
down, and just felt bad not doing it just because it wasn’t what I wanted. It was a great opportunity. I’ll likely never do a duathlon again (didn’t
really feel like a race… I mean I raced it, but it just felt like a short brick
workout with a super short, intense warm-up run)..so it was a good thing to try
J I also really, really need to learn to swim
faster.
Total Time: 1:17:02
1st Female
Overall
12th
Overall
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