Well, my days of "perfect" race conditions came to a SCREEEECHING halt this weekend. BUT - I needed it. We are in the middle of some insanely hot weather here in Wisconsin. Earlier in the week, I was hopeful that Door County would remain cooler than the Madison area. Then we get the "Heat Advisory Warning" email from the race director. I was most worried about the run. Can't control the weather though, so we were just going to have to see how it went.
Got up there Friday afternoon. Set up camp at Potawatomi State Park. Went up to get my packet, and then just chilled around the fire. The next morning, we went up to watch the sprint. Wade was entered in this event. He looked good! While we were watching for him to come in off of the bike, we saw a spectacular crash. I don't know what the dude did, but he took out one of the 8 -10 foot metal barriers, flipped over, and 2 spectators were injured as well. I went over to see if they needed assistance before medical arrived - and I missed Wade. Lots of folks helping, so we walked over to the run out to see Wade leave on the run. Saw him finish and chatted a bit with them. Then we stopped at the Y in Sturgeon Bay and signed both kids up for the kids tri later in the afternoon. Went back to the campsite for lunch and relaxation. On the way back to Sturgeon Bay for the kids tri, a bird flew into my bike on top of the car! Dead bird, blood, feathers and bits everywhere! YUCK!
The kids did their triathlon. Patrick's group was 1st --- ages 8-10. He was 21st overall. He did very well on the swim! I was so impressed. He could use a new bike - I think that might have helped. Mel was in the 4-7 age group and was the 6th girl. She just took off in the water. It was SOOO cute!
Sunday, I woke up feeling rested. Got ready to go and Anna and I drove to the race site together. Got transition set up. Saw Jen - who I met at HHH - right next to me! Ran into my sister's friend Suzi. Fun seeing familiar faces. I got my wetsuit on with about 30 minutes before my wave started (I was wave 15/16). The water was 69 - slightly chilly, but it felt good. There was a pretty good chop in the water. When we were allowed to go to the start, several women tried to butt in my area. These older women weren't as friendly as my 35-39's from last year! Air horn went off - I took off...in the wrong direction! I had slightly foggy goggles and I just put my head down and went. I don't site much. I was going towards the pier. OOPS! Straightened myself out and got going in the right direction. I did have issues with going straight the whole swim. I think my time suffered a little because of it. I passed A LOT of people. Ended up 4th in my wave :) LOVED the wetsuit strippers!! Got to transition, got everything I needed on - and took off! My helmet felt funny. I realized that my braid was too high on my head, but I decided to let it go. Got passed by several people in the ride down to Sturgeon Bay. There was a pretty strong headwind. Coming through the residential area to get out to the agricultural area, I saw a SNAKE!! It was long and brown and coiled. I saw it kind of lunge at a bike. GROSS!
In this lollipop area I saw Rob, Deanna, and the kids. I didn't expect to see them, so it was a nice surprise! I kept going back and forth with #958. Every couple of miles we would pass each other. I started passing more people as the bike went on. The last stretch back up to transition was fast, and you could tell it was getting hot. I had 2 bottles of accelerade, 1 of nuun, 1 of water. In addition, I took 2 water bottles from aid stations and 1 gatorade. I ate 1 sleeve of clif blocks. I think I need more solids on the bike. I just didn't want to eat any.
I could tell I was getting some cramping as I was getting near the end. I wasn't sure how the run was going to go. Got into transition - there was my cheering section again! I had a hard time getting shoes on without going into full on foot cramps. Deanna also pointed out that I had goosebumps. I was a little worried about dehydration, I admit. I took my handheld bottle of nuun but it was so hot I threw it back. I wish I would have taken it and just refilled it at the aid station. I think it would have helped me to have it. The other thing I wish I would have done is to re-apply sunscreen. I'm pretty burnt. I had it there, I just forgot both times I was in transition.
I took off on the run, decided against the porta-potty. I wish I would have done it there, because I stopped at mile 1 and used that one. I then had a hard time running again. I tried to eat some GU chomps. That didn't really go down well. I could tell sometimes that I stopped sweating, so I would take some salt tabs, drink a gatorade, drink a water, dump ice in my bra. I tried a jog/walk. My stomach was not happy, but not to the point where I was going to get sick. I saw a guy on the side of the road with a medical team covering him in ice and ice cold towels. Not a pretty sight. I eventually walked up mile 6 hill. I ran through Egg Harbor and then walked from that aid station until the top of the bluff. I used the porta-potty again here. I was happy to be able to pee a little. I started indulging in the dunk tanks on the course too. I met a friend around mile 6 and we talked until this area. I was feeling antsy though, so I tried to run. She was having some GI issues and wanted to walk - she assured me she was fine with me moving on. I did look and saw that she was a DNF. I feel bad that I left her behind. I was able to run a few minutes (close to 1/2 mile or so)- walk to aid station - run a few - walk to aid station until the end. I ran down the big hill and finished. It was very anti-climatic. No names being announced. No band. Kinda sucked. I'm sure the people were needed somewhere else. There were spectators even going to the medical tent.
Once I was done, I walked around. I tried to sit in the shade, but I was a little dizzy. I then tried the dunk trough. That was HEAVENLY! I couldn't stay in long though. I went to find the cheering section, but they were gone from their spot. Either Anna was done, or they became concerned about me. I went to transition hoping they were there - no luck. I didn't want to have to walk all the way back, so I cleaned up my spot. I had to carry my heavy bag on my sunburn! :( I found a bench and plopped down. It wasn't long and Rob and all 5 kids were coming towards me -- no Deanna. Uh-oh. Yes, Anna was in medical. She needed an IV. We went in the shade and I went to get a water. While I was doing this, I decided to see Anna. In there was Jen - who was ok, but her husband needed an IV. Also, Jason - who was camping with us was in there also. No IV, just ice and gatorade. I saw a guy projectile vomiting. Lots of sad looking people. Ate some food, and eventually I went and got Anna's stuff out of transition for her while she was being tended to. Once she was released, we drove to Sturgeon Bay and went to Sonny's Pizzeria. Some crowd tried to steal our reservation! Jags! Went to camp, showered, sat down by the fire to relax --- thunder in the distance. Rob looks at the radar - MAJOR STORM coming. We decide to quickly pack up and hightail it out of there. We got cleaned up before the storm, but driving in it was not fun. We got home around 1.
Overall, I am happy with the race. I would have liked to have done better, but I was really challenged by the weather and I survived. I was never in too much distress. I didn't push it like I normally would have, I listened to my body and took it easy. I need to figure out how to keep my stomach from getting icky, but otherwise I felt okay. I'm still a little dehydrated even today. My bike yesterday was pathetically slow. I averaged under 15 mph! It's supposed to be 98 today. I might just put the bike on the trainer or go use my punch pass at the gym to use the treadmill. I enjoy racing - even though I get butterflies. I wish I was doing 1 more tri before IM, but I also don't want to overdo it. I have a couple of aquathons left, dairyland dare bike ride, and madison open water swim. Only 5 weeks before taper. Time to get working!
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