AG Nationals Race Report Part Deux

Here I am just after finishing the swim. It must be post-slip, since the slip occurred while I was still ankle deep in water.  As previously mentioned, I experienced a massive wave of disappointment when I witnessed my swim time. Still, I'm taking it as a good sign that the two caps in back of me, one green and one pink, are caps from previous waves. That must mean I'm actually super fast, right? (Either that or those folks it the green/pink are reallllyyyyy slow--but let's just say I'm fast, shall we?)

Onto transition.
I got there. It happened. Not very fast.
The one problem I had was that my sunglasses broke as I was running out of transition. I hadn't put them on yet, and a lens popped out, probably because I crushed them by accident with my super human strength. Or the glasses were cheap. Or both. My friend Carrie, leaving T1 at the same time, alerted me to the lost lens. I didn't go back for it... but LATER I  found out that Janda had seen me lose it while spectating, and he reached into the fray to retrieve it. He gave it to me after the race. Thank you, Janda!

So, it was a sunglasses-less ride. I briefly contemplated wearing them with the one lens. That combined with my double-padded breasts would make for some good race photos! I decided against it, though, which was likely a good choice given that one eye in darkness and one eye in brightness might make me feel kinda trippy.
As is, my bike race photos turned out rather silly. What was I doing with my face? Trying to be coy? Also, I still look flat. I can't imagine what I'd look like without the pads! (Actually, I can imagine it since I didn't wear padding at IMLP, and have the pictures to prove it. ) Anyway, at least it looks like I am enjoying myself! (Perhaps that's why my average watts are some much lower than I had been shooting for, hmmm?)

So the bike. What is there to say? When I left T1 and finally was on the course I saw Andy. He yelled that Ange and Tracy were only a little ways up and Carrie was just barely ahead. I knew this, but it is always nice to hear it, and always good to see him, too. So that was a boost. Then I saw Kurt, who yelled, Good Swim! which also was good to hear given that  I felt my swim had sucked and I was ashamed of it.

For the first five minute a girl in my AG in a one piece tri suit designed to look like a spider web kept passing me and then dropping back. I found the suit oddly disconcerting. She appeared almost non-human in it-- like a small spider-woman-- a real live character straight out of a comic book.  I had to resist the urge to slow down to ask her where she acquired such a get-up.  Finally, though, I had had enough of her back and forth antics, and sacrificed my VI for a bit and rode extremely hard to get away from her.

After that I remember only that I was frustrated that although my watts looked pretty good I wasn't going very fast. I reasoned it must be a headwind, though I wasn't sure. Were we going slightly uphill? Thank God for the power meter in cases like these, where my speed is slower than I think it should be. My watts were where they should've been, so I resisted the temptation to believe that my slow mph was due to my being out-of -shape, just slow, pathetic, etc... I just rode and reasoned that if I blasted any harder than I already was (and I was definitely riding hard) I would be screwed later. 

After a 180 degree turn (during which I felt the need to un-clip and put my foot down so as not to tip over--. DEAR GOD I need help in bike handling....) Anyway, after the turn my speed picked up considerably even though my average wattage remained the same, so it really must have been a case of a headwind early on.  During the second half of the bike I felt both strong and light, and most importantly after my race at IMLP, I felt psyched to be racing. The only annoying moments came at the end of the ride. The last half mile of the course was clogged with riders and the shoot to the finish was so narrow that there was no passing and the pace was really slow. (Like 13 mph slow. No kidding.) I lost time there, but I tried to just chill and not get pissed. Everyone had to slow down, right? This was confirmed for me when I read Ange's post and realized she experienced the same problem upon finishing.

When I got off the bike (awkwardly, I will add) and ran into T2 we went over a black mat. The volunteers yelled again, "It's slippery! Careful!" And so of course, I slipped again, this time right on my ass, my bike on top of me. It was comical, and luckily not painful... but still.... another slip? arghhhh.
Luckily I did not slip again for the rest of the race!

The run began with a rather large hill. Strangely, I liked this. It did not allow me to take the run out fast, which is pretty characteristic of me.  After reaching to top of said hill, the course flattened out and remained flat. The potential for a fast run time: very good. The problem: I had no confidence in my ability to run fast. My first miles were somewhat effortless and sub-7, which I found both surprising and disconcerting. Would I blow up?  I hadn't run a sub 7 mile since... since..... since.....forever!  All that IM training with only a few bursts and NO sustained speed.

At mile 3 I started to feel a little empty and weak. I knew I needed fuel, but as is so often the case when racing, the effort involved in reaching into my back pocket for a gel seemed way too great. I only had three miles... three little miles....I would just hold on...

By mile 4 I finally convinced myself I was being an ass and pulled the gel out. Thank God I did. I got my zip back after another half mile. Too bad I had waited so long. How stupid can I get? Will I ever LEARN?  Argh. My sub 7 pace had slowed to a just over 7 min. pace. Grrrrrr..... and at mile 4.5 who should pass me? A girl with a 44 on he leg! Of course! I was able pick up the pace, but not pass her back. I learned later she ran a 40 minute 10k, so it wasn't my imagination that she was really hauling when she passed me.

With a half mile to go I saw Andy who yelled. LEAN! and Use your arms! (Later we talked about my absolutely atrocious run form. Another area I need to work! And soon!) Then Kurt saw me and yelled to pick it up. Pick it up! Go! And I tried! I did!

 Here I am close to the end. I LOOK HAPPY. And that is how I felt, even though I wasn't some speed demon. My race had gone relatively well, and I felt good, and I was having fun. I needed that. I really needed that after the fiasco at IMLP. Thank you to the almighty gods of racing!

I finished in 2:20:39. That's a PR Oly for me! My swim was 25:19, my bike 1:09:20 and my run 43:40. I finished 16th out of 108 in my AG, but in my mind that is actually 15th, b/c Olympian woman was in my wave and captured first, of course. Ange was sixth, Carrie was ninth, Tracy was 14th. I did not beat any of them, my good friends, :) but HEY! I'm proud to be even a little close by! And as I said, I had a great race--I had fun. AND THAT had been the goal here.

After the race I continued my weekend of socializing. I sought out everyone I knew and chatted and chatted and basically would not shut up. I had the best time with my new fried Rebecca. She is hilarious--nearly as funny as me--which is hard to achieve, of course. Andy and I went back to the hotel, got cleaned up, and then went to meet her, her husband, Tim, Kurt, Amy, Roger and Rebecca's friend John for drinks. Fun! I also got to hang out with Rocco, Rebecca's awesome yellow lab. What a good boy he is...

Later Andy and I got dinner and drinks to celebrate our 12th anniversary, which was the next day. 12 years, folks. I know that any of you married friends know that 12 years is definitely an achievement, and not to be scoffed at. I'm proud of us. After dinner we met Kurt, Catherine (of winning fame) and Carrie and her husband Tom out for drinks. Ahhhh.... a big weekend of socializing for sure! I loved it!

This week I'm back to Ocean Park with Alina. For Jordan's tenth bday on Wednesday we went to Funtown (a local amusement park). It was a great day.

The whole crew, minus me, of course... Sam, Jordan, Noah, Ethan, Maria, Alina, Dara, Lara, Alanna.

Dara and Lara

Watching the big kids on the Dragon's Descent

Dara and Lara on the Frog Hopper

Jordan and Maria being silly
One last week of summer....
(including one hurricane traveling up the coast....)