Soma Quarterman Triathlon - TriathlonLong Course

The swim went WELL for me. I got my goggles kicked off for the first time ever and that actually EXCITED me. YEAH BABY bring it on. I felt like I swam really well after that because I was kinda pissed. I was really surprised with how many orange and silver caps I saw and when I rounded the second yellow buoy I saw at LEAST 5 DUDES hanging onto a kayak. Talk about confidence booster. It was tricky sighting into the sun and there were not a lot of buoys to keep you on course on the backstretch so I went wide. All I know is I felt REALLY good and stayed calm and KEPT swimming (unlike PBR where I would just stop and hang out). So I was just in a really happy place in this swim. When i got to the platform the guy grabbed me with his left hand and swung me over all weird. Oh well. I looked at my watch when I stood up and it was 23 something, I was PLEASED (since I don't swim EVER anymore) but I am not advocating that and THAT WILL CHANGE! :) I was most happy with the fact that I was not dizzy, I have been getting terrible vertigo on swims and this did not happen.

Here's the kicker though and THE ONLY bad experience of the entire race. It's funny actually now when you think of it. I had been at Tribe the day before scoping out bikes and was talking to Kevin. He told me how he was going to be a stripper (he he) and I was actually looking for him, as apparently he is a very good stripper (double he he). As I am quickly scanning a small girl comes up to me and starts to grab at my hands, I had already had my suit down in the front but not off my wrists. She starts lightly tugging at it. I immediately knew it was not going to cut it. She pulls on my wrists for what feels like forever, gives up on one side and goes to the other. I stood there dumfounded. On the other hand she couldn't get it either and stares at me and says "are you wearing a watch?" NOOO – triathlete’s don't wear watches! YES WOMAN!!!!!! After what feels like FOREVER a dude comes over and just rips it off me. And I BOLTED, I mean SPRINT up through transition. I was SEETHING. All I could think was "good swim down the toilet because of that dumb hoe" - sorry, innapropriate but ya know! *wink*

STRIP MYSELF!!!!!!! I seriously do not think I will EVER use a wetsuit stripper again, I think it cost me 2-3 minutes. Minor but terribly annoying.

CROWDED T1. Lots of people in my row going out at the same time. Had to jump around people with my bike...good fun! Went well. .

Took a gel, drank some water, all things I should have done on the bike technically

So I actually went really hard at first in the instance I would not be able to ride the entire 56. Looking at my Garmin data I pulled a solid high 19 pace for the first half, very happy with that. I was having a BLAST on the bike and as soon as I figured 'nobody cares what I do out here' I just went on my merry way! However, as soon as the Half athletes started coming out things got CHAOTIC! WRECKS ALL OVER THE PLACE! First one was at the first turn where a girl and a guy collided going into the turn. Had to come to a complete stop until the wreck was cleared as that turn was quite narrow. Next up was the downhill into the really wide left (after you came over the freeway) where a girl went down HARD and firemen were running across the road to her yelling at us to "SLOW DOWN!!!" I hit my brakes sooo hard my rear wheel started to go wonky. WOW! My heart rate probably went sky high. After that I saw about two other minor incidents, but people were being stupid in all the turns. I liked it. I thought it kept things interesting. The course was very narrow though and there were MANY times it was IMPOSSIBLE to pass. I was also very careful of not drafting, I cannot say that others were doing the same, but hey what do I care? I really enjoyed the constant jockeying for position. I also LOVED the aid stations - more chaos!!! I got water 3 times!!! I am not sure if I needed it or just found it so fun to do. The first time I stopped to fill up my aero and the next two I would just bite the cap off and squirt it in. But I was super careful to throw the bottles in the median UNLIKE others. There was ALOT of trash on the course. Anywho, made some friends out there, enjoyed watching people and just taking it all in. Was an AWESOME AWESOME TIME! I was not ready to come in when I did!

Nothing, this was more fun than should be allowed!

UMM, T2 is usually easy enough.

Started off strong. Was staying high 9's low 10's for a while. Josh STOPPED to say hi to me on the run while he was on the bike. SO FUNNY! I was like "ummm, you are racing right?" I think I know where the lack of competitiveness comes from! :) Saw Tanya on the bike too! I was so glad to see all my friends/ family looking awesome out there and HAPPY! Then got a weird tight feeling along the front of my shin, NEVER felt that before. Had to stop and stretch it. I was bummed I had to stop. I am bad at getting started again. Decided just to maintain that comfy 10:20 pace and walk aid stations. What? It's not like I was going to win! So I am running and WOOOSH there goes Katie Ellis, then all these SEXY women start flying by me, sexy dudes too! Lots of them would talk to me. It was AWESOME! My little brush with fame. I was giddy, it was so much fun. NEVER will I get to run with people like that. Not like I did but I was in front of them for a second - ha ha!!! AND I got to watch them go by. They sure do run different. Not like your typical "runner" persay. Not these looong strides. Short, fast cadence strides. Needless to say the run FLEW by as I had so much to keep me entertained. It was particularly interesting when one girl dropped trou RIGHT at the out-and-back turnaround and proceeded to pee. Fabulous. My kind of WOMAN!

I could have gone harder. I know I could, just again, I did the whole "what's the point?"

MMMM pizza and Myoplex. Was curious to see how everyone else did and check on our Half Ironmen out there!

I also ran another 3 miles as a warm down to keep my hubby company on the half marathon.


UMM, not doing the race properly?! :) I looked and had I just cut my bike time in half (1:30) and used the same run time and swim time I would have placed around 14 in my AG out of 41. Not too shabby.


AWESOME RACE! Red Rock always pulls it off. If you are reading this please post my PBR results though MMM-MAY? I had so much fun from start to finish.

Acknoweledgements:
Robot - My amazing husband who soldiered through and completed his first HIM! WAHOO! But just as importantly still did all the husbandly things like carrying my stuff and putting away my bike and filling up my drink bottles! :) OH and for taking your time to always stop and say HI to me on the course (4 times!) Means so much! 143!

Chris - AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME friend. Despite being crapped on you still showed up and did us PROUD! Best jockstrapper ever! Helped each and every one of us by offering to carry things, cheering us on, walking, etc. It's nice to have someone who cares about everyone from the first finisher to the last. It was hot and nasty and you never once complained. Hope to repay the favor sometime buddy! You really started my entire day off right by seeing you before the swim!

Sally - SOOO awesome to start almost every race I have ever done with you by my side at the swim. I love how you manage to kick MAJOR A$$ yet still are so humble and relaxed about it. Here's to many more my swim sistah!

Jerry - Even though I joked that you would get NO special mention for not being at the finish you went and asked a cop for a pen for me. AWWW! And thanks for offering to be my stripper, at any moment. Wow...what a REAL friend! ;) You are always sooo awesome to hang around. It was hot and nasty out there and you still managed to make checking out the hot tri chicks who were running quite enjoyable!

Aaron - MAJOR AWESOME JOCKSTRAPPER AWARD!!! Thanks so much for coming out to root us on after your hectic and chaotic week, month, day, year, all the time! :) Guess we will have to do the same in Anthem eh?

Paulette - Wahoo for good houseparty and for hanging before the race. You too are always so chill and relaxed about everything it makes racing so much fun. Thanks for the hoots on the bike too! Always got really stoked after I saw you!

Tanya - Miss T, the ALWAYS there tri-friend!!! Thanks so much for always bringing us together as a group, for the inspiration and most importantly for the laughs! Can always count on you for a GREAT time. Ohh, that doesn't sound right? Thanks for the HELLO on the bike! :)

Cora - THANKS for cheering me in on the run and for being out there ALL DAY!

Harry - The original IRONMAN! Always great to watch you race and be at a race with you - you do your thang and its cool!

Steve - AWESOME of you to volunteer, good man! But you know...I guess I missed the quarter turn!

Ken, Rick, Jot, Fitz, Clinton, Wayne, Mike, Elaine (I think I saw you pass me on the bike!) and anyone else I missed out there GREAT RACE - Good job BTers!!!