Started out good. Made the first turn without issues. The triangle had a long back and I was with two other girls so I had a nice draft. My goggles had fogged and this portion of the swim was into the sun. So I sighted the girls I was with, not the buoys. I thought it was taking an awfully long time to reach then next navi buoy and I heard a slapping sound. My partners stopped. I stopped. All three of us were treading water listening to a kayaker tell us how off course we were. Ooops. I found the turn buoy in the distance and set a straight line to it. The other girls came with me and one kept swimming into my side. Now I know how we got off course. I should have realized with all the physical contact that one of us was not swimming straight. I had just chalked it up to practice for the Ironman washing machine. After hitting the final turn buoy, I tried to get away from this girl, but ended up in a gaggle of male stragglers from the previous wave.

Sight the buoys for myself.

You had to run down this long, wooden dock to get to the transition area, so part of my swim time includes my stroll down the dock. I really didn't run anywhere. The transition area was laid out in a big L shape and my rack was at the far end. I must practice getting out of my wetsuit. I felt like I was rolling around in the dirt trying to get it off. But I really didn't care about transitions today.

Practice with the wetsuit more.

After the crappy swim, I knew the bike was my last chance to have any fun. I got to the mount line, clipped in and pushed off. This is when a guy struggling to get his feet into his shoes almost t-bones me. I yelled, he jerked it, I ran off the road almost taking out some wooden stakes and he hit the ground. I said, "Sorry, dude!" and was off. That is why I will never put my shoes on my pedals. I see this stuff happen all the time. I already know I am not graceful enough to pull it off. I went out hard, but not anaerobic. My goal for this ride was to stay aero as much as possible and stay right at threshold. If I felt any burning in my legs, I would back off. I passed and passed and passed. Since the course is flat, there were lots of groups out there which I just blew past. The thing that really got me thought was how many folks had really nice tri-bikes and aero equipment that were up on their hoods. WTF? This course was perfect for aerobars. And there was quite a bit of wind. Some of it head, some of it cross. Why not stay down in aero and stay out of the wind? This is where I raced. I passed a girl with a 35 on her calf on a newer model bike just like mine. She was also riding 404's. Not too long after I passed her, she passed me back. I was stoked. I do love a great game of cat and mouse and this was the only chance today I had to race. So I sat back, recovered a moment, then dropped it down into a good gear and took off. I was hoping to see her again, but no. Oh well. i knew she would have me on the run. I knew that 99 percent of the folks I passed would have me on the run. So I had my time of fun and enjoyed. I do love the bike. And this was fun. But it was also work. A flat course provides a great opportunity for a steady, aerobic effort, but you never stop pedaling!

Nothing. Except go faster, of course:)

I was sad to leave T2 because now my race was over. I was no longer in racing mode. Only in training mode. As I told several people that I talked too on the run course, I left my ego in the transition area along with my bike.

Not have a hip flexor that gets so easily inflamed.

My coach told me to run only 8 miles and do that with a 5 min run/1 min walk interval. So that's what I set out to do. When I hit my first walk interval, a guy behind me said "I know you can keep going!" and I replied to him that I was a Galloway girl. He nodded and ran past. My hip felt great. In fact, for the first 3 miles, I felt awesome! After mile 3, the roads were cambered and I started to get paranoid. I think my hip flared after my half mary because of the cambered roads and first and foremost in my mind was the fact that I wanted to do nothing today to hurt me for IMCdA. Soon there were sidewalks and I immediately hopped onto it and ran on the sidewalk. It seemed like I hit aid stations at 4 minutes into my runs, but I needed to pick up a gel at mile 4, so I walked early. By now, the sun was coming out through the clouds and it was getting hot. I eagerly looked ahead for the next mile marker and saw that it said mile 8 for the other direction. I knew I didn't have much more to go. I did another 5/1 interval and was once again at 4 minutes when I hit another aid station. I wanted to take in some Heed, so once again, I walked early. My hip was starting to ache, so slowed my run pace down. I never felt stressed aerobically. I loved the 4/1 intervals. I found the 5/1 a bit more difficult. I made it to the turn around point and soon saw the mile 7 sign. One more to go. I did 2 more 5/1 intervals and hit the mile 8 marker. My watch said 4:49. So to me, that is when my race officially ended. I turned into a cheerleader for the remaining 5 miles. I was passed by throngs. As the miles slowly passed, I people began passing me who I saw running on their way out. It was really hot. I grabbed a wet towel from the mile 9 aid station and put it on my head under my hat. This was such a weird experience. I saw people on the out portion of the run struggling with everything they had. People in leg braces, people gasping, a guy throwing up on the side of the road. And I was just walking along, la dee da dee da. By mile 10, I felt like I could run again without any issues. My hip was not hurting. But I knew that would serve absolutely no purpose. I was at 5:30. I knew if I ran that final 5K in 10 minute miles, I could have a sub 6 race. But I knew that a sub 6 race today had no bearing or purpose. Today was all about June 21, 2009, Not May 2, 2009. It was simply not worth the risk of damaging myself further for IMCdA. So as I turned into the FFA Center, which was the race site, I was walking. I walked the finishing shoot. I walked past the big clock. I walked up to the nice race volunteer and turned in my chip. 6:12:18 was my official time.

NOT BE INJURED!

I stretched and drank a Pepsi and talked with a few friends. Then I had the honor of meeting Deanna Babcock, the triathlete from NC State who lost her leg after having heart issues during a swim workout while training for IMFL in 2007. She also was racing White Lake and had difficulties on the run. She said she had been a slacker and had just not run enough on her new running leg. Makes my lil' ol' hip flexor seem so insignificant!


Hip flexor injury and impending Ironman race.


This would be an awesome venue if you ever want to race an HIM for speed. This is a fast course. I was proud of myself for not doing anything stupid and not letting my racing ego get the best of me. I did exactly what my coach wanted me to do on the run.