American Triple T Race # 3 Team Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

Ran over to the beach out of T1, there was an event staffer that helped me zip up my wetsuit and fasten the neckline, and I took off running into the water.

4 dolphins later I'm at the first buoy and turn right, and go to take a stroke - and can't move my left arm. Dammit, wrestling my sweaty ass into the wetsuit DID tweak my shoulder injury from the bike crash. Think, rick, think.

So I flip over onto my side and start kind of a modified, epileptic sidestroke - OK, it's working....let's roll with this for a while. At this point I'm not caring at all about my time, I'm all about finishing. The first 800 sidestroke went off without a hitch; I'd estimate that it took me 20 + minutes for the first lap. Who cares? I'm still going.

The 2nd lap is where things went sideways....so to speak. When I freestyle or crawl, I flutter kick, and not very much. When you sidestroke, you use a scissor kick....and the dehydration from the bike PLUS not having trained the scissor kick muscles caused the cramps to start at the beginning of lap 2.

Long story short, I tried everything to stretch, to not kick, anything...but the shadow of a kayak started following me, lurking, waiting. About halfway through the lap I actually went under, and the kayak guy AND I decided I'd be better off not in the water at that particular time...so my 2nd race ended 400m short of the swim, and minus 6.5 mi of running.

My first ever FOBK (fished out by Kayak).

Heh. None of the BT race report labels for T1 stuff applies to a Bike-to-Swim transition. It was...err...interesting.

Rolled into transition, and I'm not caring about my time at this point...It's an all-out war against the course, and if I want to take another minute, dammit, I'm taking it. Especially after that cool ride, I'm still on cloud 9.

Ditched all the bike gear, and started to put on the wetsuit. My first crack at it I put it on backwards. Great. So I strip it off, sit back down, and put it on - this time correctly, but slowly, since I was sweaty. It didn't want to slide. I only put it on up to the waist, as I needed help to zip it.

Jess was standing at the rail of transition, and told me that all the BT'ers were kicking ass. Good stuff, and thanks for the encouragement, too.

Ran the 100 yds to the beach and found an event staffer to help me...where I wrestled myself into the sleeves of the fullsuit, when I feel a TWANG PAP in my left shoulder. What the hell was that? Oh well, not a lot of time to think about it, but it felt a LOT like the same injury I had after my bike wreck in March. Nothing I could do about it now, so I had the gal from the event zip up the suit, and charged off into the water.

Couldn't do much else except hope for the best. But I knew I was injured.

Heh, here goes the broken record....let's see...the course was hard, I was out of shape, I lost my nutrition (again), and the ride was beautiful. And I hammered it.

First things first....there was a big climb not too far out of transition, and I take the opportunity to grab a powerbar and begin to eat...two bites into it, I fumble it, and it's now ant fodder on the road. Dammit. A guy behind me chimes in with 'I hope you've got another one'....heh. It was a little snarky at the time, but he meant well, and now it's pretty damned funny.

Coming downhill off the backside of the big climb, I'm just coasting and go to grab a drink - and this time I'm going to be smart, right? I'll eat the behind the seat bottles first, so if I lose them, they'll be empty....Reach around to my right cheek, and WHA? One bottle is ALREADY gone. So 4 miles into ride 2, I'm already down to 2 bottles. And note how I used backside, reach around, and right cheek in the race report in context. At least I've got some skillz. :)

So I pretty much drain bottle number 2 on the spot, not willing to lose a 2nd bottle full of nutrition, and I stuffed it right back in the back cages. About 10 mi later I look back, and it's gone....who cares, it was empty....I reared my head back and let loose a monstrous MUAHHAHAHAHA. I showed that bottle.

This ride was the best yet...the course was excellent, and I was growing into my riding legs....my average was up to 18.3, a top 75 bike split. I was feeling great, if not slightly behind the nutrition curve.

This is my first DNF in a Tri, and my first FOBK (fished out by kayak). At the time, my pride was hurt. I *WANTED* to finish. But, I can't help what I can't help, and I know I did everything within reasonable bounds of safety to keep going.

In retrospect, I think 3 things brought this day to an end early.

1) The 52 miles of bumps and jiggling in the aero position from the two saturday rides were more than I was trained for. The accumulated fatigue in my neck and shoulders likely helped predispose me toward re-injury. This was preventable, if I had just trained more on the bike.

2) The wetsuit wrestling match that caused the shoulder to pop /reinjure was just a quirk; it could have happened before any event, or not at all. I thought it was completely healed, and maybe it was, but when it's time, it's time. Not sure I could have done much about this.

3) The cramps that finally brought me down may have been preventable, and may not have been. I could have gone slower on the bike. I could have not flung my nutrition down the road. Would they have helped? Maybe. But regardless of those two things I could have changed, I never did forsee having to use a scissor kick for 1500m...and no amount of prep would have made that any easier.

So, in the end, I'm disappointed in the outcome of the 2nd Saturday race, but at peace with the effort. I gave what I had, and didn't quit until I had no choice. Now the attention turned to recovering; there's a HIM tomorrow. Ice, Ice, baby. And some minor miracles. :)