Pumpkinman Triathlon - Long Course - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Dropped my swim time by 1:30. For the most part it was uneventful. The usual washing machine at the first and then things get stretched out. I found it difficult to see some of the buoys on the long 3rd leg back, so I ended up on the heels of a few swimmers and just hoped they stayed on course. They did.

T1 went great. I had hoped for under 2 min, but when I saw how long the run up the ramp was I wasn't so sure.

Here is where my race fell apart.
The frustrating thing, is that this is where I've focused most of my attention since August.
I got out of T1 great. About a mile into the race as you start the first downhill, I found mysef to close to the edge of the road which was a dropoff onto a gravel shoulder and then another steep drop off down into a burrow pit.
I was probably doing about 20mph and I had been looking at my front wheel because it felt like it was flat ("a flat at mile 1..... no way"). Just as that thought entered my head, my front tire slipped off of the edge of the road and I went down hard. I rolled/skided across the ashphalt (as did my bike). The cage on the back of my bike shattered, my Garmin shattered, my nutrition (a potato) was mashed into a thousand pieces, my mini-coke can I was planning to drink at mile 48 for "the climb" was punctured and sent a geyser of coke into the air.
I was bleeding from three different places, and, as I kind-of accessed the situation, I honostly hoped my bike was un-ridable because then the decision to continue or not would not be mine.
I checked my bike all over..... other than cosmetics and a flat tire, it seemed ok. "Rats". But, how could I finish this bike with so little nutrition, one spot for a water bottle, and a busted up arm and leg. Not to mention that this happened at mile 1 of a 56 mile ride.
I sorta just went into auto-pilot, got the front tube, changed it, and got back on my bike and started out. It's kind of all a blure as I sit here typing, but I remember thinking, I'll just ride until I can't.
The one good thing about the whole incident, is that by the time I really got my head back in the race I was close to the turn-around at mile 24. It's like I zoned out for an hour and my legs just took over.
It was hard to stay on my aero bars to long because my right elbow took the worst of it. But my palms must have tried to break the fall because both were messed up and it hurt to ride up out of the aerobars... I just couldn't get comfortable.
At mile 48 as I passed back over the place of my fall, a little reminder that my bike time and my finish time were shot.
I had to push along all day by feel because my Garmin was busted in the wreck. I finished the final climb and now my leg muscles joined in the "pain party". Wonderful.

Entering into t2 I was still kind of a wreck. I got out of T1 in good time and decided I could finish, even if it meant hobbling down the finish chute.

My last 1/2 race, I did my run at a 7:55mm. With the condition I was in, I was hoping for an 8:45mm, but I wouldn't ever know until it was over, because my watch was busted. I left T2 at what I felt like was a pretty good pace.
Now, I have never had cramps in any race, so when at mile 3, as I made the turn-around back uphill and both legs suddenly felt like they were getting wrung out and stretched, I experienced for the first time what people have written so much about... the demon cramp.
I was forced to slow down, and honostly I felt like my whole run was different..... Like I was trying to run with my arms.... that somehow swinging them harder would help push me along. I thought I could stop and stretch it out, but that seemed to make it worse.
So I just kept it slow and steady for the next 10 miles, until I saw the finish chute. I did a mad sprint for the finish (although I was probably just crawling).
I came across feeling short of breath.... I was struggling to get air, gasping for air.... making the sound people with asthma make. There was no one there at the finish to help (other than a couple of thirteen year olds. They just kept saying we have medics "somewhere"). I have never needed a medical tent, but I needed one then.
My sister ended up running up the hill because she spotted an ambulance. They motioned to me, to make my way up the hill where they would take a look at me. They put oxygen in my nose for a few minutes and then sent me on my way. My left leg was bloody, as was my right elbow and palms of my hands. We just asked for gauze and some antiseptic and the said they didn't have any. Huh????
My sister ended up cleaning me up with water and a napkin.

I spent 1/2 hour just getting cleaned up and composing myself. I was freezing sitting in the full sun with temps in the 90's. I forced myself to eat the pasta and drink water - I knew I needed it. I was sure I was depleted.

As I lay on the grass soaking in the sun, I asked Kammi to check my time. I was sure that with my crash, flat tire and an awful slow run, I would be lucky to break 6:00, and probably more like 6:10. She came back grinning from ear to ear and said I did 5:46 (6 min off of my goal), which was also good for 2nd place in my age group. WOW..... Huh? My first podium finish on a day I was sure would be the one to forget.


Now my comments on the race organization. I'm giving BBSCTRI a mulligan on this one, because I've done other BBSCTRI events that were fine. That said I have many complaints. A few of them are:
- First, the packet pickup being so far from the start. It took over an hour. If you were staying at the hotel, you were looking at nearly 1/2 day just to get your packet, get set up at T1 (mandatory Friday night T1 setup) and back to the hotel. And the line in the hotel for packet pick-up was a joke.
- My brother and group of sprinters ended up going several miles further up the trail off course, because the volunteer got to her station late and there was no signs of any kind.
- I know the volunteers are tired by the time the 1/2's get there, but there were several stations where they just didn't seem to care anymore (having said that.... there were some that were GREAT).
- The finish was so uneventful, I was sure I had come down the wrong chute. Not to mention I was doubled over in pain, bloody and gasping for air and I didn't even get so much as a "are you alright?"
- I'm not sure if the folks in the ambulance were real paramedics but I'm doubtful. :)

That all said, I did like the course. It was a good tough way to end the season.