Preperations begin...I think. This time I wasn't freaking out about carbs, protein, and hydrating all week. I kept having to remind myself to drink more water and gatorade. Friday night I went to the RTC open water swim and felt good afterwards, not great, but good. For some reason I kept worrying about sighting during the practice, but I was thinking that I was doing okay. Afterwards we headed down to Joe's Inn for some carbo loading with friends. Saturday Snells and I made a day of visiting the race site, packet pick-up, quick tire chaning instructional, and a pig roast for dinner - where 2 beers went down so well we went home at 7:30 to get ready for bed!
4:15 am. Alarm clock goes off. Clearly I hit snooze. again. and again. Margo was picking me up at 5:15 so I finally got out of bed around 4:30. Everything seemed packed and we were off to the race. In just a few short hours, Snells would be a triathlete! 
We pick our place in transition, get our chips, and body marking. Make our way back to the car for some forgotten items and it's already time to head down to the dock. We sit around in the chill morning air watching the other waves take off. 
We pick our place in transition, get our chips, and body marking. Make our way back to the car for some forgotten items and it's already time to head down to the dock. We sit around in the chill morning air watching the other waves take off. 
TIme to dip on in and take our place. 1. 2. GO! I start swimming reminding myself not to go too fast and tire myself out. I am having a hard time finding my rhythm. It's just not feeling like a good swim. I tell myself it's only about 100 meters in - i just have to feel it out and get in the groove. Around 200 meters I realize there is no one swimming around me. Am I that slow! I pause and look up...everyone is in a pack over to my right..oops so are the bouys...which should be on my left. I veer to the right to try to get back on course. I get back int he pack just in time to get a good kick to the rib...minor water swallowing and coughing. it happens. finally the turn around. as i turn around the booy i am passing this guy who gos off to the right. i am laughing in my head at him - heehee...he is in the wrong direction. do i tap his foot? nah- there are kayakers to tell him. hmm i am once again swimming alone. oh wait - the swim exit is over there...that guy was going the right way - d'oh! on my way out of the water i spot snellings and give her a shout out in the confusion. so after some additional mileage, my first open water swim is dunzo. (estimated time - 16-19 minutes, actual 22:58 13th plc)
I run down the path to the transition and after geting my land legs I swithc the shoes and take off on the bike. as i am exiting the transition area my bike wobbles some - that could have been bad haha. hang on to that thing, favreau! (estimated 2:00, actual 2:20 6th plc)I start the bike and i just cannot get clipped in!!! so frustrating. then i realized when i did the tire changing instructional i had move it to...my hardest gear!!!!! i pushed the pedals around with my jello legs to change gears...ahhh much bettah. i get in the groove and am off. mary jo and sandee pass me - love em! the first hill comes and i am feeling good...but here are 4 people stacked right in a row in front of me...uphill. if i pass one, i have to pass them all. ok here goes - to your left, to your left, to your left, to your left. wow. go favreau. good first hill. keep up that and this will be a good ride. a mile later i realize that my pace is slow, but my legs are tired. i tell myself to just spin it out in a lower gear and find my groove thang. finally i reach the turn and the hills begin. i am doing alright, pass one guy back and forth a couple times talking to each other as we pass joking that we are having our own tour de france. then comes the BIG hill...dum dum dum. i trudged up in rather easily in practice..this time...not so much. I went up it and pasesed a few people, but was only going about 8mph. yikes. then the turn around, time to go back down the monster hill...weeeeeeeee! there are tears streaming from my eyes from the blazing speed - i jsut soak up this feeling and pedal away. the ride back was good with a much higher pace. turn into the park and stop! car! stop! the police officer is yelling at this car that didn't stop like he asked to and almost nailed me - whew that was close! i pull back into transition and get ready for the run. (estimated 1:02:00-1:07:00, actual 1:08:42 16.4 pace 10th plc)
T2 is a quick shoe switch and helmet off! i'm in and out - nice. (estimated 2:00, actual 0:59 10th plc)
I head off to the woods for the trail run. I heard it was a gravel path, not bad. we practice on a gravel path often. as i turn in this is an awfully narrow path. turn. turn again. wait turn here. omg i am going to get dizzy! there are volunteers everywhere pointing us in teh differnt directions. i am having a hard time getting my running legs with having to focus on turning every 10 yards. and with the path being narrow it's hard to pass people b/c people are coming in the opposite direction. not a fan of this run AT ALL! i jokingly tell my volunteer friend to leave me a trail of bread crumbs so i can find my way back out! i begin singing in my head "over the river and through the woods to the finish line i go" on the way back in we have the jump over a downed tree ont he diagonal. as i am coming up on it i tell myself to just jump over the thing and keep my momentum going. if i eat it, then i will look tough. if i make it well then i made it. i jump...and i made it. i'm like hmm...like a hurdle. i always wanted to do those when i thought about running track in high school. the end is nearing and i pick it up. negative split, just for grandy (she is having a baby while the race is going on after all, this was leat i could do for her). i see the people ahead out fo the woods and kick iut up a litle more. i hear jenn and adam, then the group of trigirls, erin on the mic, then my friends barrett and sam and margo's family at the finish! yay! (estimated 28:30-29:30, actual 30:19 9:46 pace 12th plc)
Overall
estimated finish time 1:52:00-1:59:59
actual finish time 2:05:15
age group 12/21
females 64/110
overall 196/253
so how do i feel? alright. i have a bad habit of beating myself up for not being faster. i know that comes with time and i finish in the middle of the pack. i felt alright endurance wise. my muscles were defintiely talking to me at times. i need to focus on my workouts and make the most of them. i have my first open water race under my belt an dmore lessons learned. as my brother said - you take something away from every race. this time i take away sighting!
and i am going to give mother nature a shout out for the beautiful weather! thank you!
next stop: timberman short course.
5 comments:
i know you're not happy with your results - but seriously - you looked awesome out there! i couldn't have done this without you and i get all emotional when i really start thinking about it! can't wait to keep on with the training this summer on the way to patriot!!
Fave, Awesome Job! You rocked this race, don't feel bad about it for a second!
Don't forget, your goal in a race: FUN! I think you suceeded.
You did VERY well yesterday! I was proud of you! Snells too, but I'll tell her on her blog :-)
Fave - You had an awesome race! Many people (including me) would trade anything for those times! It is only your second triathlon - and you are doing great!
You are WAY too hard on yourself baby. You are FAVULOUS and you had a great race!
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