lookingforsunshine
it never hurts to keep looking for sunshine
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2021
Chicago Olympic/International Distance Triathlon Race Report
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Feel free to read this novella if you want to hear about my weekend of misery. This race report is way too long but it was cathartic to get this all out.
Well, doing an Olympic distance triathlon the day before the start of the semester is not something I recommend... TLDR is that I signed up to do this race in 2021, got my university teaching job which would have been the day after the race, decided I couldn't do a race out of town the day before a brand new job, and deferred to this year. I still started the semester the day after the race, but I figured I was more acclimated to the job at this point so I would just go for it. Not great decision making on my end.
I have done a 70.3 in 2016, but I was too slow and they took my timing chip less than a mile from the finish. I still crossed the finish line and got my medal though. I've never officially done an Olympic distance tri-- mostly out of fear for the swim. My 70.3's swim was only .3 miles longer, and it was in a river with a current. I have signed up for many Olympic distance triathlons in the past and switched to the sprint or even DNS. Completing a race of this distance is on my 40 before 40 list, so I decided this would be the time I was committing. Mostly, I was very excited about the bike course.
The Training
I trained with a local person who posted in Facebook that he was exploring triathlon coaching and was taking on a few athletes for free over the summer. He uploaded our plans into Training Peaks week-by-week. As far as I know, the plans were the same across all of us. It was mostly each discipline twice a week plus the occasional yoga or strength. Some things I loved about this training cycle: we did a weekly track workout every Wednesday as a group, which I LOVED-- and I have noticed it has improved my running a lot. The plan incorporated A LOT of brick workouts (running immediately after biking), and I have gotten a lot better at not having jello legs after the bike because of them. The swim workouts weren't just "swim 1500 yards" which is what I had used before-- they included drills, broke the workout down with specific goals, etc. I found having more structure to my swim workouts to be helpful.
The Weekend
I drove to Chicago on Friday night. I stayed at the Chicago Hilton in downtown Chicago, which was the host hotel for the race. I did not get there until about 8 or 9 PM. I grabbed some food from a hotel restaurant, ate, did some teaching prep work, and went to sleep.
I had a thousand nightmares in my sleep and did not rest as well as I would have liked. On Saturday I woke up, did my shake out workout in the hotel’s fitness center (a 20 minute bike and a 15 minute run). They had a Peloton which was great, and then a mini track that I ran around. I went back to my room, showered, and ate the most pathetic PBJ of my life. That cost $8. So disappointing. I then headed to the race expo which was in the hotel to pick up my packet, check out the booths, and attend the athlete briefing meeting. My bib number was 1307 which was my two fav numbers! 13 & 7. Nothing eventful here except at the athlete briefing meeting, I was sitting on an aisle seat. A couple came in late with their baby in a stroller, and put the stroller next to me. The baby was watching some video WITH SOUND ON. And they put it right next to me! I was very annoyed because I could not focus on what the race director was saying and contemplated moving to a different seat, but then the baby started crying and they left.
After the meeting, I got my bike and walked to the transition area to drop it off so I would not have to deal with it in the morning. I also just wanted to get my bearings on everything. The transition area was about 1.3 miles from the hotel, and I got lost trying to find it— accidentally going to the swim start— so I probably walked over 2.5 miles trying to drop off my bike. I finally figured it out, chose a spot for my bike, and figured out the layout of the area. Bikeless, I then got a snow cone because I was hot as hell. I had made an appointment to get my hair braided so I walked to that place— another 1.3 miles or so. Then after that appointment I walked about another mile back to the hotel. So much walking!!! It’s like I was at Disney or something. On the way back to the hotel I stopped at an Italian restaurant that was WAY too fancy for what I was wearing and asked if they did takeout. I sat at the bar, feeling very out of place, but ordered a great meal of pasta and bread to go. I devoured the food back at my hotel, worked a little bit more on teaching prep, and spent way too much time trying to organize everything and get it ready for the morning. I had to check out of the hotel because I wasn’t sure I’d be back in time which meant packing up everything. I also applied the race number tattoos and drank water with a Liquid IV. I stretched and did a guided meditation to try to relax before bed.
(Image description: Two stale pieces of bread with the most mediocre serving of PB&J possible on one of the slices. Who made this and thought “yes! This is good.”????!)
The Race
I set my alarm for 4:00 am, knowing my wave started at 6:30 am. I did not sleep great and woke up so anxious and nauseous. My mantra the whole weekend was move slowly, don’t stop, so I got out of bed and got ready. I attempted to eat a pop tart right away but had absolutely no appetite and could hardly stomach it. I think I was able to get down about half a single pop tart. I stopped at the front desk to check out and check my luggage and then began the walk to transition so I could set up everything and pump my tires. I made small talk with a woman walking near me which helped distract me and calm my nerves. It was obviously dark outside still, but there were a lot of lights everywhere.
I got to transition and set up. It was pretty tightly packed in there. I put air in my tires and let some people borrow my bike pump. I slowly tried eating a protein bar and was drinking water with liquid IV. Once I was set up I made my way to the swim start, which was a little over a mile walk from transition. The sunrise was beautiful but the water looked choppy which made me nervous. I went to the bathroom, tried to force feed myself as much of the protein bar as I could, and did a warm up in some grass (sun salutations and dynamic movements). I then put my wetsuit halfway on, ate my banana and some sports beans, finished my water, and lined up with my wave. I placed myself in the very back. The race had a time trial start where 6 athletes entered the water at a time, about every 5 seconds. As we walked up, I went to zip up my wetsuit and realized I put it on backwards like an idiot. Luckily it’s a little big on me so I was able to remedy this problem quickly. I don’t know why no one said anything when I put it on in front of hundreds of people…
The Swim: 1500 meters (.93 miles)
Official Time: 51:07
Watch Time: 51:12
2359/2456
Before I knew it, it was time to start the swim. I did a few rounds of 4-7-8 breathing and felt very nervous. As soon as I entered the water, I started panicking. The water felt very very cold, and I was trying to swim with my head under but could not do it for some reason. I swam a little bit without putting my head under but knew that wasn’t sustainable. I then tried a few strokes on my back but I am not good at backstroke. So I flipped over and just tread water for a moment. I was so scared that this would be it for my race. I had no idea how I would swim that far like this. Treading water helped calm me down though, and I was able to start swimming my normal front crawl. A nice thing about the Chicago triathlon is that the entirety of the swim is parallel to the swim wall, which made me feel safer. I can only breathe on the right, so for the first 375m stretch I would look up and see all of the spectators which was cool. It also really felt like I was making progress because I could see movement since I wasn’t just looking at vast open water. I made it to the buoy turn around, and my breathing now had me looking out into Lake Michigan and the sun. This was where the lifeguards were, though. There were a lot of people who would stop at the lifeguard kayaks and hang on for a break. I am really proud of myself that despite how SLOW I went this entire swim, I never stopped once I got going. I was in the groove, but on the second half of the swim the water got pretty choppy… not necessarily splashing in my face but a lot of waves which I have no practice swimming in. It took a lot out of me. I had a few people run into me because I was so slow but nothing too scary. I would usually just stop and get out of the way and then resume swimming. Another challenge was that my foot kept cramping during the swim, which was scary. I don’t know if it was because of the cold or what. I would try to stretch it out while swimming but never needed to stop. FINALLY I made it to the swim exit! I looked at my watch and was very happy I had finished under an hour even though my time was still extraordinarily slow. Mostly, I was just proud of myself for making it through the swim! I had conquered my fear.
Transition 1
Official Time: 10:57
Watch Time: 10:58
2079/2442
There was about a .25 mile run from the swim exit to transition, plus getting to your bike and out of transition. The race carpets this run though which was SO NICE. I have very sensitive soles (and a sensitive soul, but there’s nothing they could do about that). Unlike my super sprint where I ran my transitions (and good thing because I won my division by 3 seconds!), I knew I was not going to be remotely close to winning anything here and just wanted to finish the day. So I walked the transition to try to calm down, get water out of my ear, etc. Got my wetsuit off, put on my helmet, socks, bike shoes, and sunglasses & was on my way! I wish I had taken the time to use my new runner goo and to put on toe socks which I have been using to try to prevent blisters, which are a serious problem for me (I get them on the sole of my foot). But I didn’t.
The Bike: 40k (24.8 miles)
Official Time: 1:39:22
Watch Time: 1:39:09
2235/2456
As usual, I started the bike feeling great. I knew there was a slight hill coming out of transition so I got into a lower gear and felt like I flew up it. I had selected this race because of the bike course and was looking forward to it. The course starts with an out and back on Lakeshore Drive, which is completely closed to traffic. I thought I would have more lake views than we did. I noticed immediately that my watch was off because it thought I had gone a mile in like 2 minutes which I definitely hadn’t. Probably GPS problems because of the buildings— I had seen @DopeyBadger warn about that in a post about the Chicago marathon so I was expecting it. I knew I would definitely lose GPS when we went into Lower Wacker so I just planned to keep an eye on the cumulative time. So, I know I was not going the 21 mph my watch said I was for the first 7 miles but I definitely felt speedy (it was more like 17.5 mph according to the results)! I was passed a lot but did not pass that many people. I also noticed the people who were coming back did not seem like they were flying… so I assumed my speed came from a tailwind. And I was right. After the turnaround it was all downhill from there (except not downhill, and windy). I don’t know why I didn’t assume the WINDY CITY would have headwinds and waves but there ya go. I kept pedaling but felt a lot slower and just also felt tired. It was getting hot, I could hardly eat my nutrition, nor drink my Tailwind. I just kept going. After Lakeshore Drive the Olympic course goes into Lower Wacker, which is basically an underground tunnel. I took off my sunglasses for this part. The best part was the wind was gone! The worst was that the course seemed to have a lot of U-Turns which are tricky to navigate on a bike. 25 miles later I finished the bike. Slower than I hoped but at least it was done.
Transition 2
Official Time: 6:48
Watch Time: 6:55
2193/2246
I got upset during this transition and let out a curse word or two because someone put their bike in my spot and with how tight everything was, and the fact that the bar for the bikes was drooping in the middle, I had nowhere to put my bike. I had to bring it around to the other side of the bar and try to jam it in there. It cost me a few minutes and was just annoying. I got ready for the run and was off.
The Run: 10k (6.2 miles)
Official Time: 1:49:30
Watch Time: 1:50:35 (I didn’t stop it correctly)
2448/2448 (lol. & also how are there two more ppl in the run than the rest of the race?)
As I reflected above, my training did a good job preparing me for the run immediately after the bike. However, by this point it was so, so, so hot. I think like 89 degrees and rising plus a dew point of 70 (so T&D of 159). I had planned to do 45:30 intervals and was able to do that for the first mile but then just… couldn’t. I ended up walking the last 5 miles of the race more or less. My chronic foot pain in my right foot started almost immediately but I didn’t feel it as badly when I walked. I think my bike shoes had been too tight. As I would discover later, I also had a bad blood blister on the sole of my left foot. And I was just soooo hot. I got a bag of ice from medical and alternated between putting it in my bra and in my hat. It melted after a couple of miles. In retrospect I feel like I could have pushed myself harder to at least do 30:45 intervals but I was hot, exhausted, my ear hurt from water being in it, I knew I had to drive far after race, knew I had to finish prepping teaching, and knew I had to start the semester the next morning so I just… walked. I drank water with LMNT and also two cups of water at every aid station (about every mile). I also tried to eat my chews but wasn’t doing a good job of it. Finally, I approached the finish line. I managed to run the last .1 or something because it was the finisher chute… I felt strangely good there but I think it was just adrenaline or something. I started crying while running and then finally finished the race. They said my name which was cool.
I stopped by medical real quick to get some hydrogen peroxide bc I had water in my ear still, and it was really hurting. The medic said she has never heard of that solution. I also got a cool towel (literally it was soaked with cold water), water, a bag of chips, and my favorite … WATERMELON. I sat down to eat my watermelon and a 6 year old (who was almost 7, he told me) sat down next to me while his mom was standing at a nearby table. We chatted about Pokémon and about how he was hot and tired lol. After the watermelon I got my gear bag and looked for the elusive shuttle to transition that was supposed to exist. I could not find it and saw hundreds of people walking to transition so I resigned myself to the ONE POINT THREE MILE walk (I swear everything at this race was 1.3 miles apart). Finally made it and just collapsed by my bike and chatted with the nice security lady who was posted up there. She thought I was crazy for having to drive 6 hours after the race (little did she or I know…) and told me to go back to my room to rest and nap for an hour first. Jokes on everyone, the hotel hates slow people like me and I had no room to go to. Eventually I got up because a person got their bike off the rack and it finally collapsed and my bike fell off… it was fine though. I started the 1.3 mile trek back to the hotel.
Once at the hotel, I asked the desk people if they could store my bike and they told me no. I started crying (not in front of them) lol. I was just so demoralized for whatever reason. I had made friends with the lady at the fitness center the day before, and she had told me I could shower there after the race so I dragged my bike and stuff up there to shower. After my shower I sat on a bench and contemplated my life choices and finally mustered the energy to make my way to my car. I had my bike, my huge tri bag, a backpack, and another large brown paper bag with the stuff I had to pack the night before. It was a disaster and I couldn’t get out the door. Some nice man helped me and offered to carry some stuff to my car which was in the parking garage. I said that wasn’t necessary and asked him to just wait with my stuff while I got my car. He did. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.
I was on the road around 2:45 pm and was supposed to be home by 9 pm with the time change and assumed stop for gas and food. What a joke. First I was stuck in traffic that moved a mere half a mile for AN HOUR at a freaking toll booth bc ppl kept cutting over and cutting everyone off. An hour to go half a mile and pay a measly $3.50 to a machine. Then my maps took me through Indianapolis for some reason which I didn’t want and required a detour that took an extra 30 minutes. Plus all of the construction traffic. Eventually it’s like 9 pm, I’m in Ohio, I haven’t eaten because I just want to be home, I still have almost 2 hours to go, and I get a warning on my dashboard: tire pressure 24. It goes down. Tire pressure 23. I pull off at the nearest gas station and sure enough, my tire goes completely flat. I am sobbing at this point… I’m dehydrated. I realized I had not peed since using the bathroom before the swim 15 hours ago. I haven’t eaten anything substantial. I am exhausted. I still have prep to do for teaching. It was awful. Luckily we have AAA but since I was in the middle of nowhere (at a creepy gas station) it took over an hour for the person to arrive. I used that time to work on my teaching prep in my car, praying that I wouldn’t be murdered while doing so (it was a creepy gas station). It was a rough day but I still wanted to be alive. I also finally used the bathroom, ate a pack of Ritz crackers, and drank a gatorade. However long later, my donut tire was installed and I proceeded toward home at 50 mph with my flashers on. Sometime after 1 am, I finally, finally made it to my house. What. A. Day.
(Somehow, the first day/week of teaching went great, and I got everything done. But now I am sick with a cold.)
(Also, the race photos are SOOO bad. Contemplating buying them so I have some sort of before/after record assuming I ever get my life together. They’re only $15 for all of them. Hmmm…)
Total Time: 4:37:42
Overall: 2409/2454
Female: 661/681
F30-34: 122/124
(Image description: Selfie with my medal.)
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Feel free to read this novella if you want to hear about my weekend of misery. This race report is way too long but it was cathartic to get this all out.
Well, doing an Olympic distance triathlon the day before the start of the semester is not something I recommend... TLDR is that I signed up to do this race in 2021, got my university teaching job which would have been the day after the race, decided I couldn't do a race out of town the day before a brand new job, and deferred to this year. I still started the semester the day after the race, but I figured I was more acclimated to the job at this point so I would just go for it. Not great decision making on my end.
I have done a 70.3 in 2016, but I was too slow and they took my timing chip less than a mile from the finish. I still crossed the finish line and got my medal though. I've never officially done an Olympic distance tri-- mostly out of fear for the swim. My 70.3's swim was only .3 miles longer, and it was in a river with a current. I have signed up for many Olympic distance triathlons in the past and switched to the sprint or even DNS. Completing a race of this distance is on my 40 before 40 list, so I decided this would be the time I was committing. Mostly, I was very excited about the bike course.
The Training
I trained with a local person who posted in Facebook that he was exploring triathlon coaching and was taking on a few athletes for free over the summer. He uploaded our plans into Training Peaks week-by-week. As far as I know, the plans were the same across all of us. It was mostly each discipline twice a week plus the occasional yoga or strength. Some things I loved about this training cycle: we did a weekly track workout every Wednesday as a group, which I LOVED-- and I have noticed it has improved my running a lot. The plan incorporated A LOT of brick workouts (running immediately after biking), and I have gotten a lot better at not having jello legs after the bike because of them. The swim workouts weren't just "swim 1500 yards" which is what I had used before-- they included drills, broke the workout down with specific goals, etc. I found having more structure to my swim workouts to be helpful.
The Weekend
I drove to Chicago on Friday night. I stayed at the Chicago Hilton in downtown Chicago, which was the host hotel for the race. I did not get there until about 8 or 9 PM. I grabbed some food from a hotel restaurant, ate, did some teaching prep work, and went to sleep.
I had a thousand nightmares in my sleep and did not rest as well as I would have liked. On Saturday I woke up, did my shake out workout in the hotel’s fitness center (a 20 minute bike and a 15 minute run). They had a Peloton which was great, and then a mini track that I ran around. I went back to my room, showered, and ate the most pathetic PBJ of my life. That cost $8. So disappointing. I then headed to the race expo which was in the hotel to pick up my packet, check out the booths, and attend the athlete briefing meeting. My bib number was 1307 which was my two fav numbers! 13 & 7. Nothing eventful here except at the athlete briefing meeting, I was sitting on an aisle seat. A couple came in late with their baby in a stroller, and put the stroller next to me. The baby was watching some video WITH SOUND ON. And they put it right next to me! I was very annoyed because I could not focus on what the race director was saying and contemplated moving to a different seat, but then the baby started crying and they left.
After the meeting, I got my bike and walked to the transition area to drop it off so I would not have to deal with it in the morning. I also just wanted to get my bearings on everything. The transition area was about 1.3 miles from the hotel, and I got lost trying to find it— accidentally going to the swim start— so I probably walked over 2.5 miles trying to drop off my bike. I finally figured it out, chose a spot for my bike, and figured out the layout of the area. Bikeless, I then got a snow cone because I was hot as hell. I had made an appointment to get my hair braided so I walked to that place— another 1.3 miles or so. Then after that appointment I walked about another mile back to the hotel. So much walking!!! It’s like I was at Disney or something. On the way back to the hotel I stopped at an Italian restaurant that was WAY too fancy for what I was wearing and asked if they did takeout. I sat at the bar, feeling very out of place, but ordered a great meal of pasta and bread to go. I devoured the food back at my hotel, worked a little bit more on teaching prep, and spent way too much time trying to organize everything and get it ready for the morning. I had to check out of the hotel because I wasn’t sure I’d be back in time which meant packing up everything. I also applied the race number tattoos and drank water with a Liquid IV. I stretched and did a guided meditation to try to relax before bed.
(Image description: Two stale pieces of bread with the most mediocre serving of PB&J possible on one of the slices. Who made this and thought “yes! This is good.”????!)
The Race
I set my alarm for 4:00 am, knowing my wave started at 6:30 am. I did not sleep great and woke up so anxious and nauseous. My mantra the whole weekend was move slowly, don’t stop, so I got out of bed and got ready. I attempted to eat a pop tart right away but had absolutely no appetite and could hardly stomach it. I think I was able to get down about half a single pop tart. I stopped at the front desk to check out and check my luggage and then began the walk to transition so I could set up everything and pump my tires. I made small talk with a woman walking near me which helped distract me and calm my nerves. It was obviously dark outside still, but there were a lot of lights everywhere.
I got to transition and set up. It was pretty tightly packed in there. I put air in my tires and let some people borrow my bike pump. I slowly tried eating a protein bar and was drinking water with liquid IV. Once I was set up I made my way to the swim start, which was a little over a mile walk from transition. The sunrise was beautiful but the water looked choppy which made me nervous. I went to the bathroom, tried to force feed myself as much of the protein bar as I could, and did a warm up in some grass (sun salutations and dynamic movements). I then put my wetsuit halfway on, ate my banana and some sports beans, finished my water, and lined up with my wave. I placed myself in the very back. The race had a time trial start where 6 athletes entered the water at a time, about every 5 seconds. As we walked up, I went to zip up my wetsuit and realized I put it on backwards like an idiot. Luckily it’s a little big on me so I was able to remedy this problem quickly. I don’t know why no one said anything when I put it on in front of hundreds of people…
The Swim: 1500 meters (.93 miles)
Official Time: 51:07
Watch Time: 51:12
2359/2456
Before I knew it, it was time to start the swim. I did a few rounds of 4-7-8 breathing and felt very nervous. As soon as I entered the water, I started panicking. The water felt very very cold, and I was trying to swim with my head under but could not do it for some reason. I swam a little bit without putting my head under but knew that wasn’t sustainable. I then tried a few strokes on my back but I am not good at backstroke. So I flipped over and just tread water for a moment. I was so scared that this would be it for my race. I had no idea how I would swim that far like this. Treading water helped calm me down though, and I was able to start swimming my normal front crawl. A nice thing about the Chicago triathlon is that the entirety of the swim is parallel to the swim wall, which made me feel safer. I can only breathe on the right, so for the first 375m stretch I would look up and see all of the spectators which was cool. It also really felt like I was making progress because I could see movement since I wasn’t just looking at vast open water. I made it to the buoy turn around, and my breathing now had me looking out into Lake Michigan and the sun. This was where the lifeguards were, though. There were a lot of people who would stop at the lifeguard kayaks and hang on for a break. I am really proud of myself that despite how SLOW I went this entire swim, I never stopped once I got going. I was in the groove, but on the second half of the swim the water got pretty choppy… not necessarily splashing in my face but a lot of waves which I have no practice swimming in. It took a lot out of me. I had a few people run into me because I was so slow but nothing too scary. I would usually just stop and get out of the way and then resume swimming. Another challenge was that my foot kept cramping during the swim, which was scary. I don’t know if it was because of the cold or what. I would try to stretch it out while swimming but never needed to stop. FINALLY I made it to the swim exit! I looked at my watch and was very happy I had finished under an hour even though my time was still extraordinarily slow. Mostly, I was just proud of myself for making it through the swim! I had conquered my fear.
Transition 1
Official Time: 10:57
Watch Time: 10:58
2079/2442
There was about a .25 mile run from the swim exit to transition, plus getting to your bike and out of transition. The race carpets this run though which was SO NICE. I have very sensitive soles (and a sensitive soul, but there’s nothing they could do about that). Unlike my super sprint where I ran my transitions (and good thing because I won my division by 3 seconds!), I knew I was not going to be remotely close to winning anything here and just wanted to finish the day. So I walked the transition to try to calm down, get water out of my ear, etc. Got my wetsuit off, put on my helmet, socks, bike shoes, and sunglasses & was on my way! I wish I had taken the time to use my new runner goo and to put on toe socks which I have been using to try to prevent blisters, which are a serious problem for me (I get them on the sole of my foot). But I didn’t.
The Bike: 40k (24.8 miles)
Official Time: 1:39:22
Watch Time: 1:39:09
2235/2456
As usual, I started the bike feeling great. I knew there was a slight hill coming out of transition so I got into a lower gear and felt like I flew up it. I had selected this race because of the bike course and was looking forward to it. The course starts with an out and back on Lakeshore Drive, which is completely closed to traffic. I thought I would have more lake views than we did. I noticed immediately that my watch was off because it thought I had gone a mile in like 2 minutes which I definitely hadn’t. Probably GPS problems because of the buildings— I had seen @DopeyBadger warn about that in a post about the Chicago marathon so I was expecting it. I knew I would definitely lose GPS when we went into Lower Wacker so I just planned to keep an eye on the cumulative time. So, I know I was not going the 21 mph my watch said I was for the first 7 miles but I definitely felt speedy (it was more like 17.5 mph according to the results)! I was passed a lot but did not pass that many people. I also noticed the people who were coming back did not seem like they were flying… so I assumed my speed came from a tailwind. And I was right. After the turnaround it was all downhill from there (except not downhill, and windy). I don’t know why I didn’t assume the WINDY CITY would have headwinds and waves but there ya go. I kept pedaling but felt a lot slower and just also felt tired. It was getting hot, I could hardly eat my nutrition, nor drink my Tailwind. I just kept going. After Lakeshore Drive the Olympic course goes into Lower Wacker, which is basically an underground tunnel. I took off my sunglasses for this part. The best part was the wind was gone! The worst was that the course seemed to have a lot of U-Turns which are tricky to navigate on a bike. 25 miles later I finished the bike. Slower than I hoped but at least it was done.
Transition 2
Official Time: 6:48
Watch Time: 6:55
2193/2246
I got upset during this transition and let out a curse word or two because someone put their bike in my spot and with how tight everything was, and the fact that the bar for the bikes was drooping in the middle, I had nowhere to put my bike. I had to bring it around to the other side of the bar and try to jam it in there. It cost me a few minutes and was just annoying. I got ready for the run and was off.
The Run: 10k (6.2 miles)
Official Time: 1:49:30
Watch Time: 1:50:35 (I didn’t stop it correctly)
2448/2448 (lol. & also how are there two more ppl in the run than the rest of the race?)
As I reflected above, my training did a good job preparing me for the run immediately after the bike. However, by this point it was so, so, so hot. I think like 89 degrees and rising plus a dew point of 70 (so T&D of 159). I had planned to do 45:30 intervals and was able to do that for the first mile but then just… couldn’t. I ended up walking the last 5 miles of the race more or less. My chronic foot pain in my right foot started almost immediately but I didn’t feel it as badly when I walked. I think my bike shoes had been too tight. As I would discover later, I also had a bad blood blister on the sole of my left foot. And I was just soooo hot. I got a bag of ice from medical and alternated between putting it in my bra and in my hat. It melted after a couple of miles. In retrospect I feel like I could have pushed myself harder to at least do 30:45 intervals but I was hot, exhausted, my ear hurt from water being in it, I knew I had to drive far after race, knew I had to finish prepping teaching, and knew I had to start the semester the next morning so I just… walked. I drank water with LMNT and also two cups of water at every aid station (about every mile). I also tried to eat my chews but wasn’t doing a good job of it. Finally, I approached the finish line. I managed to run the last .1 or something because it was the finisher chute… I felt strangely good there but I think it was just adrenaline or something. I started crying while running and then finally finished the race. They said my name which was cool.
I stopped by medical real quick to get some hydrogen peroxide bc I had water in my ear still, and it was really hurting. The medic said she has never heard of that solution. I also got a cool towel (literally it was soaked with cold water), water, a bag of chips, and my favorite … WATERMELON. I sat down to eat my watermelon and a 6 year old (who was almost 7, he told me) sat down next to me while his mom was standing at a nearby table. We chatted about Pokémon and about how he was hot and tired lol. After the watermelon I got my gear bag and looked for the elusive shuttle to transition that was supposed to exist. I could not find it and saw hundreds of people walking to transition so I resigned myself to the ONE POINT THREE MILE walk (I swear everything at this race was 1.3 miles apart). Finally made it and just collapsed by my bike and chatted with the nice security lady who was posted up there. She thought I was crazy for having to drive 6 hours after the race (little did she or I know…) and told me to go back to my room to rest and nap for an hour first. Jokes on everyone, the hotel hates slow people like me and I had no room to go to. Eventually I got up because a person got their bike off the rack and it finally collapsed and my bike fell off… it was fine though. I started the 1.3 mile trek back to the hotel.
Once at the hotel, I asked the desk people if they could store my bike and they told me no. I started crying (not in front of them) lol. I was just so demoralized for whatever reason. I had made friends with the lady at the fitness center the day before, and she had told me I could shower there after the race so I dragged my bike and stuff up there to shower. After my shower I sat on a bench and contemplated my life choices and finally mustered the energy to make my way to my car. I had my bike, my huge tri bag, a backpack, and another large brown paper bag with the stuff I had to pack the night before. It was a disaster and I couldn’t get out the door. Some nice man helped me and offered to carry some stuff to my car which was in the parking garage. I said that wasn’t necessary and asked him to just wait with my stuff while I got my car. He did. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.
I was on the road around 2:45 pm and was supposed to be home by 9 pm with the time change and assumed stop for gas and food. What a joke. First I was stuck in traffic that moved a mere half a mile for AN HOUR at a freaking toll booth bc ppl kept cutting over and cutting everyone off. An hour to go half a mile and pay a measly $3.50 to a machine. Then my maps took me through Indianapolis for some reason which I didn’t want and required a detour that took an extra 30 minutes. Plus all of the construction traffic. Eventually it’s like 9 pm, I’m in Ohio, I haven’t eaten because I just want to be home, I still have almost 2 hours to go, and I get a warning on my dashboard: tire pressure 24. It goes down. Tire pressure 23. I pull off at the nearest gas station and sure enough, my tire goes completely flat. I am sobbing at this point… I’m dehydrated. I realized I had not peed since using the bathroom before the swim 15 hours ago. I haven’t eaten anything substantial. I am exhausted. I still have prep to do for teaching. It was awful. Luckily we have AAA but since I was in the middle of nowhere (at a creepy gas station) it took over an hour for the person to arrive. I used that time to work on my teaching prep in my car, praying that I wouldn’t be murdered while doing so (it was a creepy gas station). It was a rough day but I still wanted to be alive. I also finally used the bathroom, ate a pack of Ritz crackers, and drank a gatorade. However long later, my donut tire was installed and I proceeded toward home at 50 mph with my flashers on. Sometime after 1 am, I finally, finally made it to my house. What. A. Day.
(Somehow, the first day/week of teaching went great, and I got everything done. But now I am sick with a cold.)
(Also, the race photos are SOOO bad. Contemplating buying them so I have some sort of before/after record assuming I ever get my life together. They’re only $15 for all of them. Hmmm…)
Total Time: 4:37:42
Overall: 2409/2454
Female: 661/681
F30-34: 122/124
(Image description: Selfie with my medal.)
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