This race was a warm-up for the Kansas 70.3. Conditions were quite chilly for June. The temperature while setting up for the race was 61 degrees and by the time we got to the run the temperature had fallen to 49 with a misty rain.
It was good to get out and race again and dust off some of the mental cobwebs. I remembered to bring all of my gear, but somehow left my common sense at home...
The race was a "Best of the U.S." (BOUS) race, so there were a lot of fast athletes there. They combined the BOUS and the elite wave for the swim start. Somehow, at the time, to me, it made sense to line up near the far buoy as it appeared that I had a straight shot out onto the swim course. Never mind the fact that everyone else (except the other 2-3 guys who lined up with me), were starting closer to the other buoy. They started the race and I worked at swimming fast. Somehow, I swam to the right a bit, hit a sandbar, and had to dolphin dive 4-5 times and then angle to the left to get back on course. It was terrible! Lesson learned: start in the pack and stay in the pack. I ended up swimming the entire race alone and exciting the water quite a ways from the lead women.
According to my race plan, I rode HIM watts on the bike course, which felt pretty hard to me. I had a difficult time catching my breath and pushing that hard, but I achieved my goal watts. It was really cold and by the time I got into transition, I couldn't feel my hands. I tried to take off my helmet, but really had a hard time given the frozen fingers. I asked a volunteer if they were allowed to help me, but they said they weren't sure, so we didn't risk it. I contemplated running with my aero helmet on, but figured that would not be too cool. Eventually something clicked and I was able to get my helmet off. PHEW! I headed out on the run course.
I ran the first mile with another woman and both of us remarked how we couldn't feel our feet. She seemed fairly distressed about it. I encouraged her to keep going and told her that after 2-3 miles I thought the feeling would come back. I cheered her on a bit and then dropped back as I needed to stay to my "training" pace for 4 of the 6 miles of the run. It was quite weird to sit back and not race the run. I enjoyed the scenery and cheered people on. Even the spectators commented on how I was one of the only athletes smiling on the course. I finally reached the 4 mile mark where I was allowed to "let 'er rip" for the last 2 miles of the run. I picked it up, but had a hard time "letting 'er rip" like I thought I could.
I finished the race 9th OA, which was ok considering my disasterous swim, my HIM paced bike, and my relaxing run. I was not a fan of the weather and would take 98 degrees, sunshine, and humidity any day over 49 and misty rain!
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