Y Freedom Triathlon Recap

So, I just realized I needed to get this one done before the next race.  I think I have a problem.  That being said, I have done this race for three years now.  I love the race and I love the meaning behind the race.  It is in place to honor the men and women who give us the freedom we enjoy each and every day.  There is a banner that you can personally thank someone for their sacrifices.  I have put a friend of mine's husband's name on there every year I have run the race.  So they offer three days of packet pickup and I chose the one closest to me.  When I get the bag I realized there is not a visor (creature of habit much?) but a really sturdy backpack this year.  New gym bag!  =)  My oldest went on a trip for a pole vault meet about 4 hours from us so I was not able to go with her.  I was bummed but she kept me posted so that helped me remain focused on my race.  I got my stuff together (which is getting strangely easy to do) around 10 pm or so.  My transition is so bare bones now, there is not much to pack.  I watched some TV with the littlest one and fell asleep waiting for the call to get my oldest.  I picked her up just before 1 am and then tried to get to sleep.  I know I saw 1:30 am and knew I had to be awake at 4 am so I tried to get some rest.

That alarm does not care who you are or what you did the night before.  It goes off and wakes you up.  So there's that.  My stomach had been feeling squirrely the night before, but I had chalked that up to being woken up to a text message and the fact that we all have allergies or a cold or something.  Went through the normal routine.  Potty, dishes, made some breakfast, potty, switched and folded some laundry, potty.  Packed up the car and checked my bags.  Got dressed and then ate.  The stomach was still a bit weird, but that is normal for this hour.  Took my customary immodium with my breakfast (the just in case dose) and went to the bathroom one more time.  (Figured out the tummy trouble was due to a new food I ate a day or so before- will not be having that again).

The drive to the location was not very long (less than 30 minutes) and the morning was pretty muggy.  It was already saying 80 degrees on the car, but that would be cooler than what I had been training in (noon-ish time for the past few weeks) so I was stoked!  I would like to apologize to the poor car that was following me into the parking lot.  We ended up taking the scenic route to get a spot.  I got parked pretty close to the front of the lot and was ready to go.  Got my bike out and my bag.  Topped off the tires before starting my walk over.  My clips are on the pedals and in the way again and tried to drag the ground.  Not normal for me, but oh well.  Moving on.  The walk over to the site is about 5 minutes or so.  This year it was pretty quiet.  There was a dad and his daughter walking in front of me.  She was racing.  I love to see the kids out there!  It is so awesome!  They are talking back and forth and then I hear, "Did you pack your water bottle for the bike?"  She tells him it is in the bag and as he turns to look for it, he pops her in the head with the air pump that is sticking out of the backpack.  It was not hard, but she let him know.  That was about the most eventful thing that happened on the walk over.

Got in line for body marking and to get my chip.  This went super smooth.  Love this race!  Got into transition and there was a man helping everyone find their racks.  They have the spots numbered so you do not have to compete for rack space.  Thing is the bike on the other side of me was pretty far over/close to the bike next to them.  This did not leave much space for my tiny bike.  Not to mention the other bike did not touch the ground so it was wobbly.  Mine usually does not touch, but today it did!  Yay!  As I was trying to decide what to do, I remembered someone else's recap where she moved a guys stuff over and he may or may not have emptied her water bottles.  I still had to scoot it over a smidge so I could fit my bike in at all.  Got my transition set up in record time as they were called transition would close in 13 minutes (or something like that).  Put on some sunscreen, talked to some friends who were racing, gave them some safety pins and got more for me...then tried to walk over in my flip flops.....duh!  Took those back to my spot and headed over to the pool.  I was trying to decide if I would go it sans shoes again.  I walked part of the beginning of the run and decided those rocks in the asphalt would not be friendly on the run...so shoes it was.  Glad I did since the running path with the little gravel was much longer than I remembered it to be.

Mingled around in the pool area waiting for it all to get started.  Ate my banana and some of the turkey I brought (habit food) and went to the bathroom.  They did the star spangled banner (which was weird to do while standing in the bathroom), said a prayer and gave thanks to the men and women of our armed forces.  It is so nice when the race is for something.  =)  My number was 292 which meant I would not be in the water until close to 7:25.  With the pool swim you are seeded in every 10 seconds.  So I chatted with some of the people near me.  When number 170 went into the water I visited the bathroom one more time.  After that I put my ear plugs in, head band on, and then my swim cap.  At that point I am essentially deaf so I just hung around.  I did however learn about triathlon relay rules just before getting into the water from one of the volunteers who normally does the race.  I got in the water and took off.  I reminded myself that I needed to keep a long and smooth stroke.  The first 50 meters went off without a hitch.  Touched the wall, went back down in the same lane and pushed off hard.  Just over half way down the next length, I realize I am seeing bubbles from the guy in front of me.  Great!  He makes it to the wall and pushes off.  I stop to catch a breath and push off going under the rope and into the next lane.  About half way in I catch bubbles again.  I am not quite fast enough to catch and pass him, plus it is two way traffic.  Catch my breath again and push off hard.  Just under half way I get bubbles again...this time they are actually rolling over my face.  I think of the Nemo reference.  Marlin: The question is Dory, are you hungry?  Dory: Huh? Hungry?  Marlin:  Yeah, cause you're about to eat my bubbles!  Anyhow.....Push off and under the rope again.  This time I catch his bubbles even faster.  And for the first time ever in a pool....I touched someone else's feet!  Then I touched them again.  We were fairly close to the end so I am thinking that is why he did not move over....So we have one length left and I decided to stay the course.  More bubbles but I did not touch him again.  There are steps to get out of the pool and then it was time to run to transition.

I felt pretty good coming out of the swim.  I normally am dying when I get out but not this time.  I also did not need to rest as often at the ends (or I did not- I think I was trying to catch the guy in front of me).  As we came into transition they were handing out water.  Really wish I would have taken it then, but figured I had water on my bike.  Run the distance into transition and see my yellow plastic lei on the end of bike rack.  Between that and my bright yellow towel I can find my stuff now. (I lost my spot coming in from the bike one time at a different race.  It was a long line of racks and not the normal set up where you can count and I wasted a good bit of time looking for my stuff).  By the time I was in transition I had peeled off the goggles which were in the swim cap.  I had taken off the headband and had begun to pull out the silicone ear plugs.  All got dropped on the towel and I sat down to get on my clips.  I do not wear socks so that is one step I do not have to take anymore.  Stand up, get the gum from my helmet, put on the sunglasses, and then the helmet.  Strap my helmet and then whip my bike off the rack.  Record time (or at least it felt like it).  Then I run for the exit from transition.  Get to the mount line and realize I really must at least practice getting those clips in and I need to remember to set my pedal up for getting the first shoe in.  Start to pedal off with just one completely clipped in.  No biggie I am used to doing that.  I realize I am already going to have to pass someone.  I say, "On your left" to let her know I was going to be passing her.  She looks back over her shoulder and begins to pull to her left.  I am thinking, "Oh my God!  I am going to crash right here!"  I say, "No!  I am going on your left!"  We miss each other and both stay upright.  That would have been a long finish to a short race with scraped up elbows and knees because I would have finished.  The ride is the same course as years past so I knew where I was and about how much farther I had to go.  This is a good and bad thing for me.  Good for pacing, but bad because I know how much farther I have to go.  This is where the time on the spin bikes at the gym seems to be paying off.  You do not ever coast on them, so I do much less coasting when I race.  I have learned how to push through the burning quads and the not wanting to pedal anymore.  About 2/3 of the way through the ride I see a friend of mine who came out to see the race.  She lives close by so she walked down and waited for me to pass.  That was so awesome!  It was a boost that I really needed at that point.  We pass the entrance to the site (just on the other side of a divided roadway) and make a U-turn just before the end of the ride.  I get stuck behind a man and at first decided I would just stay there since the U-turn was coming up and I suck at turning.  Well I realized this was dumb and passed him with plenty of room.  Pushing through I did the last straight away and turned into the park.  This is where the photographers were laying on the ground getting some awesome shots.  In my picture I am smiling.  Not because I wanted a good photo, but because I had thought of some witty things to say like "Laying down on the job." and whatnot.  But I decided I was not going to say them.  We get to the dismount line and I am ready to get off the bike.  I did not have the panic of which foot to unclip first like Silverlake so that was nice.  Just before the line I got off.  Run the bike into transition and find the yellow that is my location.

Threw my bike on the rack, helmet off, clips off, Vibrams on (not as hard as I was expecting them to be), visor on which always involves a small battle with the sunglasses, and then the running number belt on.  On wobbly legs I make for the run exit.  They have water there and I take two.  I did not drink enough on the bike and am beginning to feel it.  I take off after a small drink and some water down the back of my neck.  I am passing people which is what seems to happen.  I tend to go out fast and then settle in to my pace.  I can feel the rocks through my shoes and am so glad I opted to wear them this race.  Pat myself on the back for not being stubborn.  We get to the bridge which I know is the entrance to the running path with the gravel cover.  This is the "hardest" part of the run for me.  Between the off-road feel and the hilly terrain it is so unlike what I train on that it is a challenge.  It is also longer than I remember it being from the past two years.  Refer back to my water comment from earlier.  So I get through this and we are back on solid roads.  I pass a couple of more people and have already spotted the guy I was going to race.  ;)  I ended up catching up to him as he checks his watch.  I asked him what pace he was running and he told me he had no idea.  MMKay.  I thought it was his Garmin he was checking.  My bad....we head a little farther down the road side by side.  Sprinkler central is coming up.  There are people in the neighborhood who put sprinklers out for the racers every year that I have done it.  They are so magical and welcomed.  This is the first water station.  I get my two cups and the guy I am racing gets ahead of me.  That just will not do!   ha ha.  I get a bigger drink than normal and pour the rest down my neck.  At this point the cloudy morning has changed to a full sun event.  Yay!  Yeah not really.  I take off again and just begin to listen to the sound of my feet on the pavement.  It is soothing.  I catch up to and pass the man I am racing and he says, "You again?".  Yep you are getting beat by a girl sir.  he he.  I decide at this point I am going to stop at the water stations only.  This was going to be a good race.  Come upon a volunteer with a pink tambourine and she is cheering something about keep going and how great we are all doing.  This was a nice pick me up and I could not disappoint her. I mean she was cheering for me.  =)  So I pushed on.  Good and bad thing again is knowing how much farther you have to go.  It did me in on this run.  Next water station came.  Got my same two cups and took a smaller drink then poured the rest down my neck.  I did not walk as long this time since I was going to kick this race in the pants.  Well just after the water station we make a turn and then you can hear the finish line.  I told myself, "Self (cause that's what I call myself), you've got this!  Don't you walk again!"  Yeah I must not listen very well.  I did push a short distance after I wanted to walk and despite my reminders that this was a freaking race you idiot, don't walk again....I walked again.  I was getting nauseous and had drank a little more water than I should have.  I did not walk long but it was still walking.  I made it to the end of the road running and the last turn before the finish line was done.  There were some guys there cheering us on.  I could not believe it!   I wanted to walk again!  What the HELL!!!! I was mad at this point and it probably looked more like I was going down.  I would start to walk and then make myself run.  I did walk once more but then decided I had to run in.  I have never walked in during a race and today was not going to be the first.  My friend could be there.  That would be embarrassing.  People lined the last 0.25 miles and were cheering you on.  Things like "finish strong" and "nice stride".  If they had just seen me walking they would not be thinking that is what was going through my mind.  I can see the finish line.  Normally I would do the uncoordinated "sprint" in and over the line, but I was spent.  I ran, but did not feel like I had sprinted.  Sure enough my friend was there.  It was so nice having here there.  We chatted for a while and then she had to get home.  I wandered around and tried to find the results.  I could see that I finished in the top 100 of 400+ so there was that, but it was not put out by age group and the results were not all visible.  I got a massage and a banana.  Then I could get my bike.  I collected all of my stuff up and parked my bike while waiting for awards.  It got to my age group and they called me second place.  I found someone to take my picture on the walk up and that is when I hear him say, "And she beat Sarah by 1 second!  Nice kick ladies!"  My brain immediately goes over what I should not have done...all that walking!  I am happy with second it is the one second that kills me.  ;)  I get my bike and head back to the car.  What a day.  Turns out she beat me on the bike and T2.  We were overall evenly matched.  I did better on the run and T1.  The swim was almost the exact same time.  Overall it was a great day!