Deer Creek Toyota Challenge - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Not bad! Didn't feel like I was going fast, and I NEVER could get someone good for drafting. There were two women who were constantly around me, but just as I'd start to draft, they would go off course or stop to breaststroke. As soon as I'd give up and pass, they'd be beside me again. Frustrating! Passed some men from previous waves. Good sighting. Not good at remembering to make my stroke more powerful and quicker. I credit my swim time to the wetsuit.
Saw the family as I was coming up from the beach, and our friend Jeremy! Nothing like hearing "Go Mom!" to wake you up out of a swim-induced daze.

Concentrate better on my stroke. Forget about drafting. It was distracting trying to make it work.

Best in my AG! I was surprised how fuzzy I felt coming out of the water after two loops, rather than the one I usually do on Oly distance.
Had trouble getting going on the bike with my shoes clipped in. It was uphill, and my first pedal stroke didn't get me far enough to get my right foot on. Had to do a couple quick movements back and forth to go just a little and stay upright enough and keep my shoe from flipping over and getting stuck. This is the first time my mounting method has backfired. Possibly because it was raining the day before and I chose not to practice my transitions.

Practice transitions the day before, weather notwithstanding.

It was pretty windy out there. I told myself this was to my advantage, since I am small and aero.
Loop 1: Realized immediately I could not get into my big chainring. I let a friend of a relative work on my bike (for free). He is an experienced bike mechanic and was trying to get my derailleur to stop skipping a gear in the back. Not sure what happened, but I could not get into the big chainring no matter how hard I tried. Initially, I stopped on the side of the road, thinking something was stuck. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. 8 people passed me while I was stopped, so I figured I'd just tough it out. On this particular course, I have ridden it so many times, I have certain shifting strategies I planned to use. I was very upset that I would have to abandon those. But I decided just to deal with it.
It was my fault for skipping my gear check Saturday.
In hindsight, it may have helped to keep me from totally trashing my legs. I already went too hard. And into the wind I was in a really low gear. I might have been demoralized, but given the situation, I didn't have another chainring to choose from, so I didn't judge myself about it. I just kept on pedaling. I don't think I got as much as I could have out of the downhills, because of this issue. But I always get passed on those anyway because of being a lightweight.
Peed a couple times on the bike. (Yay me!)
Had a nice back and forth with a guy with an HFP shirt on. Older guy. He would pass me in the tailwind or downhill. I would pass him going into the headwind or uphill.
It was funny on the out and back for the HIM course only, on the first loop everyone was checking each other out. It was several miles where we could see the people in front and behind us. We were all looking for friends or checking out bikes or scoping out the competition. On the second loop, everyone just had their heads down. The wind was strong, and we were all just tucked down trying to make it through.
The last loop I was really tired. The hills seemed much harder. The wind seemed stronger. But it was nice knowing at the HIM turnaround out on the course, that the people who were behind me were really behind me, not just on a different loop from me. I was really ahead of all those people!
Hand ups went pretty smoothly, for my first time. Once I tried to get two bottles, and that didn't go well. I got the first one into the bottle cage and put my hand back out, but I just didn't get the second one.
Saw the family (and J) on all the loops. The second loop, I think there were extra people cheering for me. They must have recruited strangers. :-)

Ride the bike before the race, doofus! I can't believe I let someone work on it, then didn't ride it before the race. Dummy!

Coming in, I was nervous about the flying dismount, because my left foot was kind of numb and I was feeling so tired. I did OK, but once my feet hit the ground I couldn't believe how awful my legs felt. I almost couldn't keep up with the bike.
And the person next to me had his bike all sideways taking up all the space. Took me a minute to fix it.
Felt in a fog. Legs awful. Still I was 40 seconds faster than anyone else in my AG. Several of the top finishers had sub-1 minute T2s, but I was very happy with mine anyway.

Be prepared for that awful feeling. I must have been going really hard. On my training rides, even an 80-miler, I did a flying dismount and didn't feel that bad.

Wow, the worst run in my AG.
My legs were garbage until at least the first mile. Dh and J both said they would loosen up as I was complaining to them on the way out of T2. Fortunately, they did.
The format caused a lot of seeing the same people over and over.
As I was heading out, I saw Brue coming in. He complimented me on my bike leg, since he wasn't expecting to see me so soon. I thought maybe he was done, but it was his first loop. Turns out, only the very top people were finishing as I was heading out, so at least I was on the same leg as most folks almost the whole time! That's always refreshing!
Mile 1: Stopped at PortaPotty. I was just feeling bloated and like peeing might help me feel better. It didn't help much. Did not walk, except for stopping in the bathroom.
Took water.
Mile 2: Stopped at next PortaPotty. Still didn't feel great. Took water. Didn't feel at all like eating ShotBlok, but felt I should stick with the plan. Ate one. Didn't feel any worse, at least.
I saw Joel (YMCA lifeguard). He looked strong.
Mile 3: Finally got up the courage to look at my watch and was shocked that I was keeping 10 minute miles. It felt much slower.
Turnaround at boat ramp: Took only water. It was nice to hear music and see happy volunteers. Skipped the bathroom.
Also saw Jeremy, who had driven over to the boat ramp to take pictures and say farewell, because he had to head out. It was nice to see him. He got back in his car and drove away as I headed out of the boat ramp area. Then I saw Brue again. He was not looking good. I can't believe he was still running sub 8-minute miles and looked like he was just limping along. Dh showed up on his bike, which was cool. He took some pics. Then I passed Tiffany (BT-docheindeldvm) and she waved and called my name.
Mile 4: Water and Shotblok. No bathroom stop. Kept running. Saw dh some more. He was taking pics of all the BTers he could find. I tossed him my SportBeans which had been in my top and I knew I could not eat.
Mile 5: Water. Stopped at bathroom because of stomach cramps. Saw fast lady who runs at Antrim Park - Lynn. She is nice. We exchanged words. On the way into the turnaround, Brue passed me up to head to the finish. Yay! I told him to get up there and get done so he'd be ready to cheer for me. Some people around me snickered.
Mile 6.5: Water at the turnaround next to the finish line. Took the turnaround without a problem. Mentally, I thought it would be bad to be so close to the finish, but I handled it fine. As I made the turnaround, I heard them announcing Brue's name (As BRUCE, not Brue) and I cheered loudly. Forgot Shotblok
Mile 8: Still doing 10-minute miles, approx, but feeling worse. Stopped at bathroom again. (Thank you, HFP!) Shotblok.
Mile 9: Water. Starting to get pissy now as my feet are hurting. See a guy in front of me who has been running with a friend he picked up at the 6.5 mile turnaround. This makes me mad. She is all fresh and happy. They are running in front of me at my same pace. I get it in my head that I am going to tell some race staff at the boat ramp, so I need to get ahead of them. I pass them, then realize I am just being a pissy tattletale, so I let them catch up, then tell them that I saw a race official drive by, and the guy may get DQed for having a pacer. They thank me. She breaks off and waits by the trees for her friend to do the turnaround, then paces him again after that. Sigh.
Mile 10: GREAT to see the people at the boat ramp. I took 2 pretzels and some water. Joke with the volunteer. Behind me I see a guy who had been with me coming out of T2 and had looked like death and was walking. I said, "Wow, awesome comeback, man! You looked terrible!" He said he was feeling better. We had all walked the aid station (my first walk except for bathrooms) and he and the girl he was running with started running again. I started running, too, joking that it was a 30 minute run or an hour walk, and I wanted to be DONE with this race, so I would try to run with them.
Mile 11: Water. Shotblok I forgot before. Can't hang with the people I was talking to. I start walking. Suck it up and start running again. I am just about to stop and walk again, when I see a guy older than me just up ahead who is walking but looks strong. I need some conversation to get going. I say, "Hey, want to run with me? I'm not going very fast." He says OK and we both run. I do not even look at his face. We are talking, and after a while realize that we have met through work. His studio is doing charity work for the nonprofit where I work! I finally looked over and felt dumb for having not looked at his face the whole time - I would have recognized him. We laugh. Then the guy I couldn't keep up with before has fallen back and starts running with us.
We make it to just before the last aid station, and I have stomach cramps again. I tell them to go on ahead. They run a bit more, then begin to walk. I stop at the bathroom AGAIN.
Mile 12: Water and aforementioned bathroom.
On the last bit before the end, we have the grass to run through. I start running after coming out of the bathroom, and I see the two guys are still walking, and aren't that far ahead at all. I see them look back for me, so I keep running. As I get closer, they say, "Come on, we're waiting for you!" So I catch up and we all run in together.
After we got to the parking lot, the younger guy sped up a bit. I tried to also, and so did Michael. But we were all kind of in our own heads. I looked behind me to make sure he was there, but we all fell silent.

As I came into the chute, I saw my husband, then heard my kids. As I got closer, I saw all our BT friends sprawled out on the ground all around my husband, LOL.

Then I heard the announcer joke that it looked like a "Sprint to the finish" and I turned and saw Michael behind me. I slowed and grabbed his hand, and we crossed together. His wife, whom I also know, laughed when she recognized me.

Not go so hard on the bike. Figure out something with the eating.

I got my medal and went for the food. Saw Joel from the Y at the food area, and Michael and Carol from Ozone Studios. Saw Tom (Bananatoes) - He had a great race. Dh came over and took good care of me. He said Brue was watching the kids so he could keep them away from me while I ate. Thank you!
I got to see them soon after though, and as usual they helped my recovery by demanding I perform ordinary tasks immediately, such as take them to the bathroom and wait while they poop and wipe them. LOL!

Dh was very nice and went back and forth twice to figure out if I placed, then got my 2nd place trophy for me. Yay!


Lack of big ring on bike.
Generally going too hard on the bike portion.
Wind.
Lack of mental toughness on the run. Mind over matter with the stomach thing, I think.


I think HFP is always consistent and does a great job.