This week was a recovery week for me, so why not do 3 races in 8 days??? Seriously, I decided to sign up for this one the day before to try out some new nutritional products (First Endurance - EFS drink and the Liquid Shot gel) to see if they would help with the stomach issues. I also wanted to try out a different seat on my bike (John Cobb) before making a final decision as to what to purchase (Cobb vs. Adamo).
So, we got up super early (yet again) and headed south in a thunderstorm. I changed up my breakfast routine and drank a 12oz bottle of EFS with 3/4 scoop of pre-race in it on the way there. Luckily the storm went away and we were able to start the race on time.
The announcer commented that there was an abrupt drop-off from the shore going into the swim, but I didn't realize it was THAT abrupt. I ran into the water and foop! fell of the ledge. I went from the first row of swimmers to middle of the pack just like that! Over the course of the swim I managed to catch back up and ended up coming out of the water 3rd.
I ran into T1, found my bike easily, but got stuck in the legs of my wetsuit (a little bit). Finally I grabbed the bike and ran it out of transition (the long way). Oh well. Anyway, I got on to the bike course and rode fairly strong. Around mile 5, a woman went flying past me. (She was the one who went on to eventually win the race). She was really strong. There was no way I could hang with her, so I just stayed on my pace and did my own race. I had an Liquid Shot gel and a swig of EFS drink about 55 minutes into the race. Overall, the roads were good considering the earlier thunderstorms, and the wind wasn't too bad.
I came into T2, switched to running gear and got onto the run course. Right away my stomach started sloshing and I thought, "Oh no...". I ran faster than I thought I would, considering the slosh, for the 1st mile.
I backed it off some for the 2nd mile as the slosh continued and a side stitch started. Matt was cheering around the 2.5 mile mark and yelled at me to breathe. I did and it helped some. I continued to exhale every 6th stride on my left foot, but also threw in a sigh/cough/deep belly breath in occasionally and this seemed to help some. The slosh eventually went away around mile 3 and I continued on with only the side stitch to deal with. I tried to think about my breathing and my running form and this seemed to help too. I managed to run it in without too much of a problem and was happy with my finish.
Swim - 22
Bike - 1:09
Run - 43
2:18
3rd Overall Woman
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