I traveled to this race solo, but my friends, family and of course, all of you are always in my heart so I never feel alone. I don't have any racing pictures yet, but I'm sure those are to come.
When the alarm went off at 4:30am I was not a happy camper, but then I remembered it was time to race and I got a little excited. This is why I do all the training!! I arrived to the race site and got everything done in transition. Everything went very smoothly, I warmed up a little with some jogging and tried to remember this race is going to be fast & furious so I had to make it hurt the ENTIRE time. No backing off!
The swim, well, the gun went off and I tried to stay with the girls, but it wasn't long until they pulled away and I was off the back. I kept thinking, just bridge the gap so you can draft!! But to no avail.. never bridged it. I could see them, but couldn't make it happen. I swam hard the whole time though and I was happy about that at least. My sighting was RIGHT ON so that was great too!
I ran into T1 with my heart rate off the chain and got ready to bike!! I DID put on the shoes for those of you who were wondering. I ran in with this girl from "ARMY" and she KILLED me in transition. She was so fast!! So, I hoped to see her out on the bike course. I could see there were two girls (ARMY and one other one) within striking distance when I started biking. It was on. My legs were burning and my heart rate was crazy!! This is a sprint! I kept saying.. this is how it goes!! We all battled back and forth but the scary part was that at one point the road wasn't well marked and we all were weaving and came to a halt!! It was too bad they didn't have that a bit better marked because it almost caused a big accident with the three of us. Then, it started to pour. So, as every time I'm in this area, it was grey, I couldn't see that well, and I had to slow down on the hills to make sure I didn't wreck! I could see the girls at the turn around, and I only counted four.. good deal!! I'd made up a little ground! On the way back I cheered for other awesome ladies and they cheered for me.. in the pouring rain. It was so cool. I LOVED it!
I seemed to loose the girls I was with, but didn't catch the others ahead so I was in no mans land for the next 5-6 miles (on a 17 mile course).
As I always do, I took off my shoes as I was coming into T2 but somehow they were so slick they slid under my feet and somehow the pedal went down to the ground so they started to catch under the bike!! It was really scary and I had visions of going over the front of the bike. I held it together, said a quick prayer and hit down hard on the pedals to level them out. Thank the Lord, I was ok.. they didn't catch and I didn't go down. I really feel like I had a couple close calls today and I was so thankful I didn't go down (nor did anyone else!).
When I ran in only 4 bikes were racked and I was hoping my legs would hold out. I ran out quickly and felt my heavy legs. The week of workouts was wearing on me through the second half of the bike and then run. My legs felt sore and tired, but I guess that's normal too. So I just focused on turnover and looking for girls.
I passed many people cheering and a couple times, almost got lost again and was so thankful when I saw volunteers so I knew I was going the right way again. I never saw ONE other girl, so it was kind of lonely but I still tried to push hard and keep going. I wanted to stay in 5th no matter what so I tried not to slow down!
Finally, I was rounding the bend and knew it was time to shoot down that finish shoot. For the first time all season, I felt so energized finishing. Everyone was cheering, I heard them say my name and I was so psyched!! I slapped fives, raised my hands and smiled like crazy!! So happy!! I had a blast!!
Then I went to cheer on other Irongirls!! Way to go ladies!!
Loved this pointing lady! I stood right next to Team Fight and they were great to cheer beside!! So energized!!
Smiling and happy, almost there
Bringing it home! Loved how every one's number had their name on it! Made it easier to cheer!
I hope one day Ballou Skies has as many people as Team Fight... someday. For now, it's was amazing how many ladies were helping out their special cause. Thank you all for having a big heart to help out those who are less fortunate...
Met a new friend Becky at awards and it was her FIRST tri, very cool. Way to go Becky.
Could you tell I was happy about 5th!
Great being alongside these amazingly talented ladies. So thankful to be up there!!
Very cool.. moved me to see these gals compete and support each other..
Loved the energy, loved all of it, I'll be back for sure.
My stuff was soaked.. but I was happy.. loved the award too.. very girly :)
Then it was time to eat, nap and go for my long ride. So when the weather cleared, I set out to do 3 hours. It felt good but tomorrow it might not feel so good.
All in all, what a day.. so happy to be here! Thankful for a safe day and a chance to race alongside my fellow sistas! Way to go!
No comments:
Post a Comment