Super Sprint or Super Bust

Woke up early this morning.  Never seem to sleep so well the night before a race.  I felt okay but know that I was going to sleep on the drive.  It was a sunny morning, with a little chill in the air. Somewhere along the 416 I ended up in the land of nod until we were about 5 minutes outside of Brockville.

My darling husband helped get the bike out of the vehicle, and down to the transition area we head.  I am feeling great.  Not rushed, not nervous.  Managed to see all the triathlon peeps, Jill, Richard and Kevin.  I get my kit and chip and I am good to go. Instead of hanging out in line for the porta potty we head over to the marina area and head to the water to watch the Olympic Race come out of the water. 

The entrance and exit is on a boat ramp, covered in slimy stuff.  In on my butt I go, and swim over to the buoy.  It looks far and maybe I start to feel a little pre race jitters in the water.  Next thing I know it is time to start.  I get a good pace, so much so I almost swam over my buddy Jill, when I saw a guy with his arms flailing and he was panicking.  I stopped to make sure he was okay and he wasn’t. I got him on his back and calmed down and a lifeguard came to get him to safety. About three strokes later, another guy starts to flail and so again I stop and he is doing the same thing.  Throwing both arms over his head while on his back, making him sink.  He kept saying he couldn’t do it.  I assumed it meant swim, you would think so no??? Got him calmed down, swam over to him and in his panic attack, he charlie horses my right quad.  When I told him he had to go to the boat to get out and that he wouldn’t finish the race, he tells me he is going to finish, just wants some help to the end of the swim.  Really!!! Seriously!! I left him on his own!

I finished out of the water 5 minutes later than I wanted.  As I walked through the transition area, I was so frustrated that I couldn’t get my wetsuit zipper down.  And off to the side is Marc, so he unzips me and off to my bike I go.  Funny how my hubby always shows up when I need some support and love!  All unzipped I get to the bike and ready to ride the dreaded bike ride!!!!  Was so wet, couldn’t get my socks on and my quad was killing me from the second swimmer.  So I head out barefoot in my running shoes, with my bike shorts and wet swim suit. Less than 200 metres into the ride, I hit a hill and remember what Brent said.  Stay in hard gear and drop down only when you can’t peddle.  Woo hoo I made it up the hill.  Thanks Brent, I owe you a bacon something or other for that coaching advice!

Then the road was no longer closed.  Open to local traffic.  This would mean cars were coming by and some at a nice clipping speed.  If there was a shoulder I could ride on I would, just to avoid the breeze from the cars.  Some were very respectful, others were not!  But that is what cyclists have to deal with regularly. There were quite a bit of downhills!  With every downhill there is an uphill in the return. Then the 2K of graded pavement, again, there is a turnaround so it’s going to be another 2K of graded pavement. That was the worst 4K or so of a pavement ride ever, made me think about packing it in, but then I didn't know how I was going to get back so bike on I did.  So glad I had my daughter’s hybrid bike.  So much vibration and jostling, it was a little painful on the shoulders, neck and gooch and it made me forget all about my leg pain! I passed nobody on the ride and I was okay with that, I just had to get through it.

Then I made it to the transition and carried on to the run.  It was a slow slow run.  Thankfully my hubby was there to cheer me on.  I was losing power so figured I should refuel with my little jellies.  Much better than Gu!  Around the 1.5K marker I was feeling better and picked up my pace a bit, but then the left calf started to cramp up and the right quad was not working too well. So I slowed down and kept jogging.  It was a beautiful run, great scenery, lots of shade.

A tradition that Marc and I have on any race is that just before I reach the end, he shows up and I get my finishing kiss.  It was a welcomed kiss and as an added bonus, Marc ran with me for about 100 metres then I finished the last 10 metres on my own.

I was glad it was done and over with.  I had not trained for this race, it was a spur of the moment that I decided to do with some coworkers.  Jill and Kevin both won gold in their divisions and Richard and I finished.  It wasn't a super bust, because I finished it and all the triathlon buddies were smiling at the end. I finished in my predicted time, so I am okay with the results and know I can do better.  And that is what drives me to want to do the next one on the September long weekend, yet I know that I need to focus on my running for the ½ marathon in October.

Decisions, decisions.  We shall see how I feel after a massage and 10K run this week!