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 Swim
Comments: The strap on my clear lense goggles was broken, so I was stuck with my smoke socket rockets. I don't think this helped my performance at all. It was pretty difficult for me to see the bouys, and there really could have been a couple more, I think. Navigated well to the turn around, then I took it much too wide on the way back in. At one point, I thought I was drafting pretty far back from someone so kept on them without sighting. It was many yards before I realized I was drafting the bubbles from my own damn hands. I got into a rhythm quickly and managed a 3-stroke breathing pattern the whole time except the very end when I was just ready to get out of the water and picked up the pace. The real problem, though, was the fact that I just felt no real motivation. From almost the first moment I started swimming, I wondered what the hell I was doing. I wasn't invested. I was going through the motions, and it was going to be a very long day to feel like that the whole time. On the way up to the race, I was listening to this folk album including one of my favorite singers, Kris Delmhorst, and there was a song she sang that had a refrain "Patience, everything'll be all right. Just have patience, give it just a little time." This became my theme song. What would you do differently?: Think ahead and get a new strap for my clear goggles. Not think I'm drafting when I'm not!  Transition 1
Comments: I got out of the water and was incredibly dizzy. This has been happening more and more often in recent weeks, and I'm not sure a) what's causing it and b) what to do about it. It could very possibly be my medication. But I was staggering around like a drunk woman the whole time and was still dizzy when I started out on the bike. Getting in and out of the transition area was difficult at best due to big mud piles right in the alleys at the ends of the bike racks. It was slow going and slippery, but I think my intense dizziness was a bigger factor in this transition. What would you do differently?: Nothing much. It was just slow.  Bike
Comments: It took 5 miles for me to find any sort of a rhythm on the bike. And when I did, it was a slow one. I knew within the first 100 yards that I had made a tactical error going to the bike shop for a last minute adjustment the day before the race. When I had been riding the course last week, I had noticed that the cage of my rear deurailer was lightly hitting the spokes of my rear wheel when in my lowest gear. There's kind of a long story behind this, but it wasn't happening before my latest tune up and started happening again after the tune up. So I drove it over to the shop and had them take a look. They did some adjustments, but I stupidly decided not to ride it around before taking it out on the course during the race. I spent the whole ride trying to adjust the shifting from the downtube ferrels. And, in fact, I think I didn't even have my lowest gear at all anymore. It was a frustration added to the existing frustration of not knowing why the hell I was out there torturing myself on this particular rainy day. The course was sopping wet most of the time. I had road grit all over me, and I couldn't find it in myself to push hard at all. I spent the ride thinking some same refrain as the swim and going over the past few months, this whole bipolar diagnosis and the drugs and rashes and managing my business and relationship, and just felt too overwhelmed to do much about this bike split but keep going. I would have welcomed any plausible excuse to stop, but none arose. What would you do differently?: Not go to the damn shop the day before the race. Transition 2
Comments: Again, too sloppy to make a quick transition. I hadn't worn socks for the ride, so I had to put some on, which took a little time as my towel was too inaccessible to use to dry my feet first. I wasn't looking forward to the run, so I couldn't rouse myself to hurry.  Run
Comments: My feet were either frozen or asleep for the first 20 minutes. I battled a side stich and a shin splity right leg for the first 3 miles. I fell off into a walk after the frist 6-7 minutes. I walked until the 10 minute mark then started into a jog again, just wanting the whole thing over with. Again, I was looking for plausible excuses to stop. None presented itself. I walked the next aid station, a hill after mile 2, and the next aid station. After that I managed a jog the rest of the time. I could barely get out of zone 2, which is totally unlike me in a race situation. I saw KathyG on the way back in. She looked great and zoomed across the course to give me a high five. I wished I could find her spirit for the last 2.5 miles, but I didn't. I did keep running if only so it would be over sooner. Pushed hard at the end and was very glad it was over. What would you do differently?: Attitude adjustment, I guess. Post race
Warm down: Stood around in the rain waiting with max and Emily for Kathy to finish. I got cold, though, and wandered back to the transition area for my wet fleese. While I was there, I just packed up my stuff and decided to take it back to the truck. At the truck, my dry clothes were too much of a temptation, and I dried off and changed then got in the truck to call Anna and let her know I was alive. After that, I just couldn't get myself to get out of the truck into the rain again, so I went home. What limited your ability to perform faster: Not trained specifically for this race. Mental attitude. Event comments: Endorfun knows how to put on a good race. Well organized, hard course, just bad weather luck with TA condition and race day weather. Last updated: 2006-06-02 12:00 AM
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United States
60F / 16C
Precipitation
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Age Group = Athena
Age Group Rank = 0/
Went to bed early, setting my alarm for 4:10 for those extra 10 minutes. Then I woke up at 2 and couldn't go back to sleep. Sigh. Out of bed around 3, lie on couch reading Atlas Shrugged for a half hour then wheat english muffin with peanut butter, partially suit up, pull on fleese, and start packing up the truck in the pouring rain.
Fun.
2-hour drive up to New Hampshire. I had to pull off the highway at one point to close my eyes. I was tired and having all these weird adrenaline surges having nothing to do with the race. I had thoughts of just turning around, going home to Anna, and calling it a day without racing at all.
But I soldiered on out of habit more than any real sense of determination. This would be the story of my day.
When I got to the race site, I parked, hustled out of the car, and found the damn bathroom. After that, I felt almost human. Packet pick up. Back to truck for stuff. I had brought a lot of gear, not knowing how cool it would be. It was a little warmer than I had feared, so I dumped out a lot of stuff and ended up with just my bike, messanger bag, and plastic bag for my running shoes.
Got body marked then waded through pockets of mud to find my transition spot. Set up my area (running stuff in plastic bag, bike shoes under garbage bag I used instead of towel), found some BT'ers, found the bathroom, and back to TA to pull on my wetsuit. We'd heard it announced that the water temp was 66 degrees, a far cry from the 58 we'd swum in last week. So I opted for my sleeveless wetsuit only, no top underneath. Into the water for a quick warmup/acclimation. Felt good after I tightened up my goggles a little bit.
Back for pre-race meeting then walk down the beach to the swim start. Last minute pictures with the BT women in wave 5 (thanks Max!), then into the water again.