You know what they say... We make plans and God laughs.
In this case in particular, it was the weather gods.
I showed up Saturday morning so excited to kick a$$. I arrived at 5:45, set up my stuff, posed for the team pic, and waited for my wave to begin (over an hour after the first wave went out). It was hard to take a sprint seriously at this point... Not to knock anyone for doing a sprint. It's definitely an accomplishment, but since I have a number of longer races under my belt, a sprint is so SHORT in the grand scheme of things... much less high maintenance than races that require a MEAL to be packed. lol As long I have what I need to swim/bike/run, I can handle anything else. But I digress.
My swim was great. I was passing people! I finished in 12:52. My bike transition was superb. Fastest transition ever. I grabbed my bike, started heading to the course, and as there were ten of us waiting to get going, I asked what the hold up was. All the volunteer said was, "that," and pointed behind me.
"that"
"oh."
My heart sunk as they closed the course and canceled the race. Oh well. At least I still had the olympic the next day.
After the pouring settled down, I made my way back home.
The next morning, I returned to do it all again, times two.
Everything went smoothly in setup. I enjoyed chatting with Michele Herman while I waited for my swim wave to start (over an hour!). I was not happy about starting the course so late on such a hot day, but what are you gonna do.
The swim was awful. I was clobbered repeatedly. Washing machine after washing machine after washing machine. People grabbing me, swimming over me, swimming into me. It was relentless. After the last turn buoy it finally opened up and I got into a rhythm. Final swim time sans wetsuit 39:58
Transition to the bike was awful. If my race experience were turned into a movie, it would be called Lost in Transition. I spent minutes wandering around, confused. I couldn't find my bike! Then I realized I went to find it where it would have been the day before. At this race, I was in a completely different section. The run to bike mount was also a disappointment... at least a quarter of a mile run on soggy grass. Not desirable when in bike shoes. The bike itself was ok. Nothing crazy impressive. The course was shortened to 19.5 miles due to a drunk driver knocking out a telephone pole on the course. Bummer since it made it tough to compare to previous times. But it did make for an artificial PR! Also, looping through the college destroyed my speed. I was happy not to have to make two loops of the course anymore though. One less thing to think about. I was sad to see that on such a flat course, I was not as fast as I was at Eagleman. I did I great job hydrating. Final bike time 1:07:36
The run was ok. It was warm, but the heat didn't seem to have much of an effect on me. I actually got chills a few times as if someone turned on the air conditioner and I couldn't help but notice a slight breeze come by here and there. I enjoyed the icy washcloths on my neck and for the last mile, I found a new friend to run with. We were giving each other pep talks. I didn't let him quit and at the end, when I was hurting and spent, he didn't let me quit either. I sprinted the finish and passed him, then went directly into the cold shower. Final run time 1:08:07
Final race time 3:04:30 55/81 Next year, I hope to break 3 hours at this race.
