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 Swim
Comments: Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW! As soon as I ran into the water, dove under and came up for my first stroke I knew I was in trouble. It HURT. Pulling with my right arm hurt, as did rotating to be able breathe, which meant that I drank a LOT of water. Actually, I drank so much water that I was fully hydrated for when I got onto the bike. So... I guess that could be a plus? I felt kind of okay to the first buoy and the pain was mostly manageable, but it was getting worse as I kept going. I couldn't get into a rhythm, and my breathing was all fubarred (fubared? fubar'd?) because I couldn't rotate. I still felt like I was able to pass some people, but let's just say it wasn't the swim I was hoping to have, nor was it the swim I'm capable of having. I also hate full-sleeved wetsuits. What would you do differently?: Not hurt my back the day before a race.  Transition 1
Comments: As quick as I could be without throwing up. What would you do differently?: Not much, I took my wetsuit off in the water because I know I'm pretty quick with that and ran up to T1. Tried to dry my feet a tad which is pretty much pointless. Threw on my socks, shoes, helmet, sunglasses & I was outta there!  Bike
Comments: I usually LOVE being on my bike! It's my favourite part of the whole race, but unfortunately because of my STOOPID back, it was kind of miserable. Or at least aero was a miserable place to be, and then add in the nasty, gusting wind, and it wasn't the most enjoyable bike ride I've ever had. However... I had a GREAT time talking to people on the bike! Anyone I was able to pass I said hello to and either offered encouragement, or said something else that hopefully made them smile... and for the many that passed me, I pretty much told them all that they should slow down because they were making me look bad! :) I thanked all the cops, all the volunteers, said hello to everyone that was standing by the side of the road cheering. It was a really great experience, and one of the reasons why this race is one of my favourites every year. All in all, I'm pretty happy with my ride - I only had one person from my age group catch me, I got to see Tony out on the course, and even with a nasty-azz wind, a STOOPID back and a fairly hilly course... I averaged almost 19mph!!! Yay me! What would you do differently?: Not hurt my back the day before a race Transition 2
Comments: Geez, what the heck even took me this long?? All I had to do was switch shoes, switch hats, rack my bike and gooooooooo. What would you do differently?: Nada other than remember I was already wearing my sunglasses and therefore didn't have to look for them... they were already on my face.  Run
Comments: Holy SH!T!!! Do you SEE that?? The fact that I averaged just over 9 minute miles?? Where the heck did THAT come from?? I'm just not going to question it... unless someone comes back and tells me that my chip malfunctioned - this is the time I'm going with! YAY ME!!! I couldn't feel my left foot for a lot of it, but I figured if I just kept moving forward, I'd be fine... right? Anyways, there are a LOT of speedy runners out there, and I'm NOT one of them. And I'm fine with that! I had a lovely conversation between gasping for breath with a guy that was doing his first tri ever, and then I eventually passed him with some words of encouragement. I had a guy run by me congratulating me on making Team Betty - WOOT!, and I was able to just keep going, which was HUGE for me as I normally kind of mentally shut down and not care about the rest of the race once I get out onto the run. This was a big change, and in a really good way! I stopped at each of the 3 water stations on the course to have some water, and it kills me to think of how much time I spent doing that as my pace *may* have even started with an EIGHT if I hadn't stopped... SUPER CRAZINESS!!! :) What would you do differently?: Not a gosh darned thing... other than not hurt my back the day before. I wonder if a 3 foot tall bottle of wine would have helped??? ;) Post race
Warm down: I felt pretty good after the race and stood around with the WhizzzDumps chatting, waiting for Tony... more chatting with them and Ben... and waiting for Tony... more chatting... seriously, where the h3ll is the guy??? FINALLY he crossed the finish line and I find out that he flatted about 2 miles from T2 and it took him about 10 minutes to change out the rear tube. Though apparently he was certain that he had flatted on "a great big cactus leaf". Um... what? "yeah, a cactus leaf! it was big and green and spiny". Of course, a cactus leaf. Because everyone knows about the indigenous Illinois cactus which flourishes in the mid-west. Or, maybe it was the husk of an unripe chestnut that I saw on the ground about 2 miles from T2? Maybe?? Anyways, I had some grapes, told Tony that he was just being silly, and we eventually packed up and drove off, but not before forgetting our wetsuits, having to drive back to the park, find them, and then drive off again. Ooops! What limited your ability to perform faster: The hurty back and the fact that I'm just not all that speedy. Event comments: LOVE this race!! Last updated: 2014-06-13 12:00 AM
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United States
Lake in the Hills Parks & Recreation Dept.
Sunny
Overall Rank = 149/339
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 8/26
Okay... things were all peachy-keen and fine and happy with training for IMChoo, which meant I spent Saturday on the Lakefront Trail for 3.5 hours playing "Dodge the Idiots" (which is NOT really that fun a game, though so far no one has died... yay!), and when I got home I went to put my bike up on the bike stand so that I could change out the wheels for my awesome FLO ones when...
TWAANNNNNNNNNG! And... there goes my back.
With one final monumental hoist I was able to get the bike onto the rack before falling onto the floor with a stream of profanities coming from my mouth - enough to send the cats diving for cover under the bed - followed by some solid whimpering.
I don't know how long I laid there before thinking I could get up, but I eventually hefted myself off the floor and into the bathroom where I promptly took 4 Aleve and then headed back out to do battle with the wheels. Thankfully they were really easy to put on, and then I pretty much did nothing but more whimpering until Tony came home and we loaded everything into the ZipCar to head out to the hotel.
More Aleve and early to bed hoping that things would feel a whole heckuva lot better the next day... but alas, it was not to be. Oh well, more Aleve and load everything back into the car for the trip over to the Costco parking lot for packet pick up, see the WhizzzDumps, and ride over to T2 to get that set up - just shoes & visor so easy peasy other than constantly thinking that I was forgetting something... Oh yeah. A race belt. Pewp! Means that I have to safety pin the number to my Betty kit. Pout.
Ride over to T1 and set that up beside an incredibly rude woman who showed up after me and told me that I had to turn my bike around because I wasn't leaving enough space for her... um... yeah, how about you turn YOUR bike around if you don't think you've got enough space?? Eventually after much huffing and puffing and telling me that she wasn't responsible for anything that happened to my stuff, she set-up. I just rolled my eyes at her as I next contemplated getting into my wetsuit which I haven't even attempted to put on in 8 months.
This should be both interesting, and it's own workout/warm-up. No is more surprised than I am that I can actually get the darn thing on! It feels like victory already, and it's only 6:15am! I wander down towards the water where I happen to run into BTs very own (and very speedy) Ben where we chit chat for a few minutes before I decide to get into the water and splash around for a bit. I'm now on the fence as to whether I need my wetsuit at all or not, but it's too late now as the elite wave goes off and we all start herding ourselves into a line for the start... a final good luck kiss with Tony, and we're off!
See above...
Or if you want the short version: ride to T2, then ride to T1, struggle to get into wetsuit, splash around in water, wait. :)