The tri that tried to kill me. Again.

Last year, I completed my first tri at this event. I'm pretty sure I said "never again" to this one. I remembered the hills being pretty bad. So being typical me, I went with the longer distance this time... and the hills were not just "pretty bad", they were a nightmare. Let me tell you all about it (and the lessons I learned)...

Leading up to the race, I just didn't feel prepared. I know it's a common feeling for many of us. But I completely stopped swimming for a full month after my half ironman and took awhile to get back on the bike. I had nightmares of this event, especially the swimming portion. Then I'd shake it off, trying to remind myself that I'd completed twice the distance and then some not too long ago. 

Race Day:

The swim was uneventful. I learned from #imchoo and didn't stray too far from the buoys.  Oh the seaweed though... I got tangled in it a few times.  And best of all, I did not stumble left once I got out of the water.  If you remember the video from last year, I kept going to the left, to left... I looked drunk.

Calm before the storm. Prerace.

At T1, I confidently put on my bike gear and went on my way, trying to stay positive despite my apprehension about the bike course.  Within the first mile, I realized I forgot to open the container that had the salt tabs and anti-fatigue caps in it. Nor did I open the packages for my fuel bars.  I struggled with it for awhile, almost falling off the bike so I had to pull over and take care of it.

Last year's photos. Photo by B. Middleton.

Then I came to my first hill. 

F**k...it slipped out of my mouth and I wasn't even sorry that I may have offended anyone (no worries, no one was around). It was a hill that you've seen in memes about the "gently rolling hills". Mind you, this is not too far from the ski hills.

When I took my family back to see this one monster, my pre-teen couldn't wrap her head around the fact that you can ride your bike up there.  The hills kept coming and I continued to struggle but then found my groove around 11-13 miles (who knows, my watch was freaking out and I had to rely on the signs). I was in a lot of pain and exhausted. I started beating myself up. "... are you sure you can handle Chattanooga again? And you think you're going to be able to do the full IM next year??" My mind started mocking me and I had to really fight those voices. Focusing on waiting for the next set of volunteers to thank was a great escape.

I was so excited to get off the bike and start running. That's where I'll feel good -- running is what I do!

At T2, I changed my shoes, grabbed by visor, bib, ipod, water bottle and my hammer gels and went out. As I'd planned, I stopped almost immediately at the porta-potty. After swimming and biking 28 miles, my bladder was screaming. I also wanted to fuel up with a gel right away - I know, gross (in a porta-potty?). As I tried to gracefully pull down my trisuit, I heard a plop noise. I saw my beautiful Hammer gels in the middle of the mess in that porta potty. I whimpered and prayed that there would be fuel available on the course. At the same time, I realized I forgot to put my pill box in my water bottle pocket (Salt tabs and Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps).

Some of my gear. I still want to cry over my Hammer Gels.

My quads were unbelievably sore and tired. I tried to take my mind off the run by thinking back to the run at Chattanooga. Then tried to block everything out and focus on the music. With each song, I would step along to the beat.  The race course only offered water.

Thank goodness I remembered my handheld with Cocogo! That and the dried sweat on my skin. I didn't care how I looked, I licked the crap out of my arms.

There was barely any shade and that sun was relentless.  I again made a point to scope out the volunteers to thank and then sprinted my way to the finish.

No finishers medal but that cold towel at the finish was glorious. I was exhausted and my skin was on fire and so hungry yet the thought of solid foods made me ill.

But I was done -- thank God!!

Caption this.

My time was 3:15:44. Not my proudest but as I dissected it, I'm not ashamed.

Swim (1/2 mi): 22:16 

T1 2:31

Bike (28 mi): 1:53:24

T2 2:54

Run (6.2 mi): 54:43  

Lessons taken from this race:

1. Take some time off but don't take a vacation.  You should definitely take some time to recover after a big race - mind, body and soul. After all, you went through hell and back with tough training and pushed yourself during the race. It takes its toll! You (and your body) deserve time off to recover.

I didn't mean to take a whole month off from swimming. But it felt so nice to not have to fit in another sport to my already-busy life, work and training schedule! Next thing I knew, it was only a month out before my next tri.  

2. Your mind and body needs to hear encouragement! We all know we need to be more positive when it comes to what we think and say about our bodies. I had caught myself beating myself up - saying things I would never imagine saying to another person. During those awful hill climbs on the bike, I decided to be my biggest cheerleader. With every other pedal, I kept saying out loud "You got this... You got this..." And when I looked up to see I barely made it half way, I'd remind myself how far I've gone already. Once I reached the top, I congratulated and thanked my body for carrying me up. Sound insane? Hell yeah. But it worked. I've practiced similar techniques at other races but I think this was one of the toughest test yet on the bike course. 

3. Yes, cutting down on transition time is something to work on BUT take even 10 seconds to make sure you've grabbed EVERYTHING.  My run would've been a lot less miserable had I taken the extra few seconds.

4. Congratulate yourself for finishing the race, even if you didn't get the time results you wanted. If/When you're ready, reflect on what changes could be made. But don't beat yourself up. I hate that according to my age group, I was not top 5. But looking at each of the times in each part of the race, it's not that bad. 

So give yourself a pat on the back. Grab a beer, sit back and recover for the next one!

Happy training ~

Dye