Race Recap KC Corporate Challenge Triathlon and Shawnee Mission Park June 11, 2006 As I loaded my bike onto the rack of my car at my house I was thinking I was crazy. I knew for sure that the race would be cancelled due to the terrible thunderstorms. I drove the 40 minutes out anyway. Of course, I was late. We had been asked to check in at 6:00. I arrived about 6:30. I didn’t think it would matter since I was sure there would be at least a rain delay, but no. I got in line for body marking after sticking my bike on the first rack available. The line for BM was about 25 minutes long! My heat was at 7:20 am, so it left little time for TA set up and warm up. I was feeling pretty bummed because my boyfriend had planned to come with me, but didn’t, so I was there by myself with no one to talk to or no one to look for in the crowd. I swam over to the beach and talked a little with my wave, but was primarily trying to focus on what I had to do in my swim. The water so nasty! For those of you that have done Heritage Park, it doesn’t even compare! After the strong storms and rain, the lake had been swishing like a washing machine all night, so every possible piece of moss and grass was floating about 6 inches below the water. I had a strong swim, but didn’t go out as hard as I should have the first 200 yards. There was another girl that was hanging right next to me for a while, which frustrated me because I don’t except there to be women swimming with me. I was able to get a decent draft of off on of the guys, but he started going way off the wrong way, and I just went past him. Just before the turn buoys, the girl that had been parallel to me cut way inside, going well inside the buoy course line. I must admit, I smiled a little to myself because I knew she didn’t have a chance any longer. I was really able to get my legs going the last 150 yards, and I finished very strong right to the run out point. I was so excited to get out of the water and hear “Go Court!” I looked up and Monica was right there. When I ran by I gave her a high-five. I also saw Reppe on the way to my bike. Seeing them and hearing them cheer made me feel so great! I didn’t even notice the terrible cut up asphalt I was running on to the TA area because I was finally feeling pumped. The only problem I had getting through T1 was deciding on if I was going to wear my sunglasses. The skies were still overcast, and ordinarily I would have worn them just for eye protection, but they had fogged up in warm ups, so I opted to go without. I was not looking forward to going up the Dam Hill (hey, that’s what it’s called) soaking wet. The first part of Lap One was good, until I started to push through my gears too hard which caused me to drop my chain on the last major climb of the lap. I decided that instead of risking screwing it up again, I ran my bike to the crest of the hill, and then jumped on. It was much easier for me to make adjustments cruising. My second lap went by without incidence, and overall, I was fairly pleased with my ride. I felt like the slowest woman out there, but I was having fun, and my bike computer showed a max speed of 39.3 mph, which is amazingly fast for me. T2 went quickly for me. I was able to rack my bike very quickly and grab my race belt and DFT hat (DUH! just because it’s Corporate Challenge, it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t rock the DFT gear). I had a little problem getting my belt to clasp, but it didn’t slow me down any. I had no idea where I was going! I had looked at the course map quite a bit, but still did not understand the route. Luckily, I am a slow runner, so I had plenty of people to follow. We had to go up the Dam Hill again, but not too far, then we made a sharp left that formed a little out and back with an aide station at Mile 1. Next the course headed out onto a paved trail with a long downhill section. This really made me happy as I have been training on similar trails so it was a condition I was used to. This really turned into a pretty trail as about one half mile is completely covered with trees. This was great as by now the sun was shining and not letting up. There was a gradual uphill that put you back out on the park road, but I was just concentrating on running and not walking. I never took a walking step so that worked out pretty well. The last half mile or so is flat then starts back uphill. I could see Jenny and Dawn up ahead cheering which really kept me going. Also, I was almost done, so I was really excited. Jenny said that nobody else was smiling coming up to the finish line, but I don’t see why not. It was a nice day, I was out there racing, and I was having fun, so of course I was smiling! I finished with an official time of 1:16:42. I actually won my Company Division for my age group, finished 13th in my overall age group (18-29. If it were 18-24 like normal, I would have gotten 4th), and 32nd overall. It was a great way to end a race.

I am exhausted. Such a long week. So little sleep. actually, NO sleep. too much partying. too much fun. had a blast though. I hope the doenst hurt me this weekend- kind of a forced taper with no sleep. probably wont work out so well, but hey, it's all for fun, right? :)

So hot out. so little sleep. so much partying.

I re-tore the blister on the back of my right achilles. What do I do? Can I put new skin over it or will that just make it worse? My sock was covered in blood when I finished and looked down. Oddly, it only hurts when I WALK. I guess it's the running gods way of saying dont slow down. Fresh legs are fun to run on. I need to strech more because they still feel tight, but over all, I am getting faster and my legs are getting stronger. Also, my breath control is improving dramatically. Oh, and my co-worker(s) that I run with kept saying how much smaller I'm getting and she (they) can't belive it. I really dont believe them, but it feels good to hear it anyway.. Oh, and I have been nominated for Employee of the Month at our firm. Quite an accomplishment since there are 115 people here, and i've only been with the company since the 1st of Feb.