Today I woke up at 4am, I believe that is a new race day record for me! The race today was not only a little far away but also had off site parking and I was nervous that I would miss the shuttles other wise. Yes no worries there I was all ready to go on the second shuttle to leave. On the 20min bus ride over to the start I gave little tips of wisdom to new time open water swimmers. After setting up my transition area I slipped on my wet suit and went down to check out the swim start.
It was hard to tell exactly where the swim start was. Apparently high water levels flooded most of the beach which was now limited to a little batch between the trees. No matter, I would be in the first wave and got in to warm up. That water was chilly but not bad, "refreshing" I'd say. The swim start held little incident. I got a great position at the front of the pack and though I had to fight a few little over zelus newbies in the beginning 3/4 to the first buoy and I had a nice space carved out for my self. In the beginning scramble I got an elbow to the eye but luckily it just made my goggle uncomfortably tight and I didn't feel the need to stop and fix it. by the second buoy I over took the only two other swimmers I had seen between the first and second buoy and gave a hard push towards what I hoped was the swim finish. The sun happened to be rising right behind the swim finish making the three guiding buoys invisable. at first I followed the splash of a swimmer in front of me until I caught a glimpse of a inflatable arch at the transition area. At that moment I realized the poor swimmer in front of me was veering far off to the right, in the end I would say she added an extra 100-200yrds, ouch. I am still waiting on results but coming out of the swim I felt strong, I think top 3-5 women.
The run from the swim finish to the transition area was one of the longest I had ever encountered. coming in between the trees into the tiny beach I charged up to a muddy hill where volunteers where waiting to help racers up the slippery section. I throw on the flip flops the race had given us for the off road run to the transition entrance. Coming in to the transition area I encountered two girls in my area nearly ready to hop on their bikes and ride off. I wasn't far behind them but despite by surges on the bike I never did catch up to them.
The bike course was hilly and windy. Not a course I would have chosen for an all women's race, which is notorious for being a good place for women to try racing in a non threatening environment. In retrospect I would have been able to hit the course harder if I had been more familiar with the curves. I was only passed three times on the bike but still it hurt mental and no matter how hard I pushed my petals I could feel I wasn't having a good bike day. I have to wonder if my body is still recovering from the wicked hard ride up the Alpine loop on Saturday. if how my climbing muscles felt today is any testament I would have to say definitely yes. I will never know whether or not a flat tire played into my poor bike performance today. Although I do not know if the flat happened during the ride I do know that by the time I packed up my things to leave today my rear wheel was flatter then flat.
Coming off the bike I was already feeling discouraged and knew today was not my day. My quads remained cold during the entire ride refusing to fire properly and I realized trying to put on my shoes in T2 that my feet too were completely numb. I got only a few yards out of transition before I realized I had put a large rock in my right shoe along with my foot at transition. I had to sit down and empty my shoe before really getting started on my run.
If the bike was not my best it all came apart on the run. Old injuries that hadn't bothered me in weeks began to flare up. My right hip and knee were the first to protest, then the uneven surface of the trail run began to play on my left ankle. Even my well trained lungs were rebelling. It was then that I new the race was over for me and it was no longer about running fast but about finishing. The course was beautiful and I tried to take in the scenery rather then feel disheartened by all the runners passing me by as a I took a nice easy pace to the finish.
When all was said and done I finished 10th in my age group, a hard hit when I have been finishing consistently on the podium. My time was a crushing 1:37:05 only two other races have I raced slower. in 2008 my first year at Beaver Lake, a particularly challenging course for me at that time. and in 2009 at the Spring Sprint when I made a similar mistake to that I made today. Riding South Fork just two days before the race leaving my quads and hams shot for race day. I guess every year has to have its off race to learn from. I will just have to go back and race the Women Rock Sprint and show what I am truly capable of next year!
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