First of all, one of the rules was that we had to store our bikes overnight and we had a mandatory athletes' meeting on Saturday, so we had to be in Knoxville on Saturday for a Sunday race. This wouldn't be a big problem seeing as Sevierville is only an hour or so from Knoxville, but the website said the meeting was at noon. We got there at 11:30 so I would have time to check in, get my number and my wristband, and get settled. We asked several people where the athlete meeting would be held, and we got several different answers. Finally someone told us that the meeting was at 11 AM, and the next one wouldn't be until 4 PM. So what are we supposed to do? We could go home and turn around and come back, or we could get my bike, try to figure out where all the numbers go, and at least get it to my transition spot. So, that's what we did. We hiked back up to the car to get the bike, I decided to let the mechanics fix a small problem with the shifter (more of an annoyance than an actual problem), and we ate lunch and listened to a few talks while we waited. Not a huge deal, but irritating. By the time the day was over, my bike was racked, I had attended two talks, I had had a major allergy attack, I had been out in the sun for hours, and I was ready to go home - not really excited about the race at all.
We got up at 4:45 AM. I got the rest of my gear ready and we left to tackle the race. The temperature was in the 40s, so it was a little chilly, but it was beginning to warm up. I was exhausted! I hadn't slept that much, and I was coming off a trip to West Virginia, where I hadn't slept great all week. Friday night I didn't get home until 12:30 AM, and I still hadn't recovered from that trip by Sunday morning.
We got to the race, and I finally got a little excited. After putting on my wetsuit and walking to the swim start, I discovered that my watch wouldn't turn on. I didn't know why, but it just wouldn't turn on. Turns out the battery was dead, but I had pulled it off the charger right before I left that morning, so that wasn't even on my mind. I took the watch off and gave it to my husband. I got in the water, which was warmer than the air, thankful for my wetsuit as I didn't even have to tread water because the suit was so bouyant. Finally, the siren went off, and away we went!
I kept getting passed on the swim, so I thought I was swimming really slowly. I was sure my swim time was somewhere around 35 minutes for the 1500 meter swim. But, after grabbing a few legs and avoiding some kicks to the face, I finally got out of the water and headed to T1. My husband said my swim was somewhere around 30 minutes. I got to T1 and there were still a LOT of bikes there, so I thought to myself "I must not have swum THAT slowly!" When I got to my bike, I noticed that my neighbor had lovingly thrown his wetsuit right in front of my bike - for those non-trinerds, this is something that is very NOT COOL when you're trying to get your bike out as quickly as possible. I got frustrated and threw the suit elsewhere, got dressed and ready for the bike ride, ran my bike out of T1, mounted up, and off I went on the second leg.
For some reason, the bike went much more slowly than I had planned. It was cold, I was wet, and my toes and legs were pretty cold. The bike course was really hilly with some pretty steep climbs. The downhills were nice, and the course was well-marked. The volunteers and policemen were great in terms of cheering us on and making sure we made all the right turns and holding back traffic. I passed one athlete who was in a ditch. I asked if he was okay, and he said he broke his collarbone. I saw a photographer just around the corner and told him to call someone to help the guy. There weren't many other events that happened on the bike other than seeing some ridiculously fast pros coming in to T2 while I was leaving T1. That was pretty cool.
After I got back into T2, my rack spot was blocked AGAIN, so I had to move whoever's stuff AGAIN. NOT cool, whoever you were! My feet were blocks of ice at this point. I don't know if my toes were actually moving or if I was running flat-footed, but my husband told me my time and I traipsed out on the grand venture of running 10k. About 2 miles in my toes started burning, so I figured the blood had finally moved back into them. About 2.5 miles in, Tara Costa from The Biggest Loser passed my on her way to the finish line. Of course I let out a big cheer for her, because that's just who I am. I made it to around mile 4, and then my stinkin' knee started hurting. And not just one of those little hurts that you're supposed to run through. I have had the IT band injury for a while, so I know when to stop. I walked/jogged the last two miles, finally crossing the finish line in tears because of pain and frustration.
So, there you have it, the Race report from May 9, 2010. I learned a few things: 1. Don't do a tri the weekend you get back from a long trip - make sure you're able to rest well. 2. Don't let a bike mechanic touch your bike without riding it afterward (the actually took away my ability to shift into my easiest back gear, leaving me one easy gear short for the hilly ride). 3. Always make sure to call to get the most updated schedule as the website could be wrong.
So, even though I'm not happy about the way the race went, I learned something, so it's not a total failure. And I wasn't last, in the race as a whole or even in my age group. My swim time was actually faster than my fastest training swim, so that was terrific!
So for now, that's all I've got! Next goal, the bike portion of the Beach2Battleship Ironman in Wrightsville Beach, NC in November! My sisters are doing the other two legs, so I guess we'll see how this goes!
Transition right before the race started
Pros' transition area
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