Even before St George 70.3 I knew that my training, and recovery needed some adjustment but there was simply no time to do so. I just needed to push through the next few races until my scheduled mid-season break in June. St. George, as you may know from my last report, was so so...but not indicative of what I can do. That was followed up with the 2nd DNF of my life 2 weeks later at Encinitas Sprint Triathlon. I was literally EXHAUSTED after St. George and spent most of the next two weeks trying to rest and recover. I really wanted to do Encinitas Sprint since it was my team sponsored race and hometown! When we got down to the start in the morning, there was some big surf, but nothing I hadn't dealt with many times over. We stood on the beach watching the waves in front go off, and I consoled and counseled a few of my friends and fellow racers on how to get through the surf. What made this surf different from the rest was that there were two rip tides and they were changing direction every few minutes. Literally, as my wave went off, a set came in; and simultaneously the rip tide changed direction. I felt relaxed and confident. I spent a few minutes patiently trying to dive under the surf, but I couldn't get out of the rip tide. In hind sight, I should have let it pull me down stream where I could have made my way around. I started to get to the point where I knew I only had a few more minutes of remaining in control of the situation. And that was it, I pulled the plug....made a U-turn and swam in. I still stand by the decision and felt it was the right thing to do. Was it ironic, demoralizing, and embarrassing...yes. I, of course, felt terrible not performing for my team and sponsor, but at least some of my fellow teammates got the job done in the Triathlon and Duathlon!
Rev3 Quassy 1/2 Ironman:
After Encinitas Sprint, despite the continued feeling of being run down and my fitness not being where it needed to be; I had a fire in my belly to make something happen at Rev 3 Quassy in Connecticut two weeks later. Even though REV3 is not a "70.3", the series is amazing. The courses are challenging, top notch athletes attend, and they do an amazing job putting it on (not to mention the swag)!
I did REV3 Quassy last year and would compare it to Wildflower or St. George in difficulty. It is hot and hilly and NOT for the faint of heart! Last year I was 1st in my AG, and 2nd female amateur with a 4:58. I knew that I could better that coming back wiser and even a bit stronger. However, that did not happen. Here is what did happen...
Ben and I flew out of Palm Springs and had a 3 hour layover in LA before coming into JFK. We were sitting at our gate the entire time. We watched 2 flights board and take off before ours. I looked at my watch at 11:30 (with our flight scheduled to leave at 11:40) and began to panic! There had been a gate change that we were unaware of, and I grabbed my bags and started to run for the nearest screen. I ran to the gate and it was then 11:35. I was "that guy" in the airport with the staff just looking at me as I implored them to let us on (as I could see the plane was still there). They assured me the "gate was closed" and there was no way I was getting on. Was this really happening? I knew arguing with them about them not having announced the change to a point where I could hear it even though I had only been sitting three gates down was useless. Nor was the question as to why they didn't page us despite the fact I was a checked in passenger! It's LA baby....welcome to the jungle! I was in tears, and Ben did his best to console me as we walked down to customer service. The line was a mile long. I immediately got on the phone with my mom, who is also a badass travel agent. This woman is like Houdine when it comes to getting things done related to travel. She told me there was another flight going out in 45 minutes and then the next was 4 hours later! I told her there was no way I was going to even get to the counter in 45 minutes! She called me back 5 minutes later and had somehow managed to get us on the next flight and in business class with no charge, nonetheless! We were back on track! We were a little concerned about my bike getting there with all the changes but they assured me it would be there (of course)!
My 110% Compression got a few stares!
Behold, UNBELIEVABLE...my bike sitting against the wall in baggage claim at JFK where anyone could have taken it! A small miracle it was there and undamaged!!!
REV3 Finish Pre Race
When we finally got in to JFK and got to the car rental, I was told our Prius we had reserved was not there and that took another 30 minutes to sort out. We finally got to my parents house around midnight. The next morning Ben built up the bikes while I was returning the car rental and discovered something was wrong with my shifting that he could not fix. Also at this point I was encountering some substantial stomach "distress" to put it politely. Dehydrated and not feeling well we rode down to the local bike shop where they were able to fix the issue. By mid afternoon, everything was in place and despite the chaos, I was feeling calm, confident, and ready to go!
My Specialized Stead ready to go!
Race Morning signaled a warm day ahead of us. The swim venue here is ideal with a 72 degree lake swim. The only challenge is that 1/3 of the swim is directly into the rising sun and some substantial time can be lost here on sighting. I swam almost exactly 30:00 flat which is average for me. I can definitely swim faster, but I had made the decision to spend the extra time sighting to make sure I was on course. Better to loose 30 seconds or a minute and swim in the right direction! I felt great and that I had swam conservatively, I knew I had a lot more energy to give on the bike! I knew that there were a couple escapes, but that I would most likely catch up to them in transition or shortly thereafter.
I got out on the bike course and started with an aggressive pace. Unfortunately, my Garmin was not working and I spent the first 40 minutes asking my fellow racers with Garmins how to do a hard restart. Around mile 15, I finally got it working and my data confirmed that I was in fact riding well but with a higher than normal heart rate. The first 35 miles of Quassy are either uphill or uphill. The last 20 are mostly downhill to flat. I caught up to another girl in the 25-29 AG who stuck with me and we paced the majority of the bike ride together. We didn't really encounter any women, so I knew we were riding well. At mile 40 was the first opportunity to see who was behind us, and there were quite a few women within 5 minutes or so of us. More incentive to keep it going! Around mile 45 we were passed by a girl who was hauling ass! I went with her and tried to hold on to the pace but she rode away and my heart rate was pinned! I knew she couldn't put THAT much time on me in 10 miles and the run was yet to come. My effort to go with her however had put some time on the girl I had been riding with, which also meant I most likely opened up the gap to the other women too.
When I got back to T2, I saw that I had only ridden a 2:47 (only 30 seconds faster than the previous year). It was much hotter and more humid than the previous year (but still). I looked at my average watts and saw that I had ridden much harder than both Oceanside and St. George. Other than my high heart rate, I was feeling really good and ready to run.
The first couple miles of Quassy are downhill and a good place to get those legs turning over before the hills come. I was on sub 7:00/mile pace up thru mile 4...and then I don't know what happened?!? My heart rate monitor wasn't working so I was running by feel. I worked the hills as best as I could but my legs were locking up in my glutes and hamstrings. I was getting passed, and passed, and passed!!! I tried to stay positive. I figured there was a long way to go and it was HOT (over 90 and humid)...if these girls were pushing they could detonate. I just kept plugging along and Ben encouraged me that the damage wasn't as bad as I thought. By mile 10 my legs weren't coming around and by my calculation I was barely in the top 10 female amateurs; and well off last years pace. I gave it all the way. One of the cruelties of the sport, when your legs just won't go.
Even on a bad day there are always reason to smile...Reason #1 family
love and support. That's my cousin Chris (football player extraordinaire) with baby Farren.
Reason #2 Awesome Wattie Ink guy! This was 200m from the finish and I didn't have a proper laugh about this till post race!
When all was said and done I ended up 3rd in the 30-34 AG, and tied for 10th OA amateur. Big congrats to the douchy girl who thought it was appropriate to outsprint me in the finish shoot (who I had no idea was even there) who was not even in my AG. Yes you got me my.03 seconds on the line, you might learn some etiquette. I was 8 minutes slower than last year on the run (OUCH!). The depth of competition was about the same, I was just slower : (
I spent no time sulking post race or over-analysing what "went wrong". There were much more important ways to spend my time and energy:
Like this:
And this:
And this:
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| Cape Cod |
And this:
I've been in this sport for almost 15 years. There is no need to get my panties in a knot over a little slump. Things always come around. Balancing being an Elite athlete with a job and family and LIFE is part of the fun. I am a bad ass because I can do it all and because there is balance.
I have some big changes coming, which I will be sharing with the world shortly. While my athletic sights are set on doing the BEST I CAN at Vegas in September, there are some other things in the works that will require quite a bit of my time and energy.
This photo seems indicative of where I feel like my life is at right now.
I have just finished up a 2 week mid season break, and I am contesting a nasty head and chest cold as well. Once I get a hold on that...I will be back to training and living. In the meantime...I'm down...but don't count me out just yet ; )
My Favorite New Band...they kinda ROCK!
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