The Columbia Sprint tri is a 500 meter swim, 10 mile bike, and 3 mile (not quite) run.  The swim is 50 meter pool lengths which is nice.  The bike is a 3 loop crit style bike course, rolling hills just like the run.  I like this race, and find the bike course fun.  I’m all about a technical course, makes it exciting.  The only bad part is this was my 3^rd week in a row racing and it was also the end of my 3^rd build week in training.  The day before was spent riding and running  4 hours all together, so it’s not like I tapered.  If you like to race it’s possible to race a lot you just have to be smart on how you do it.  Thanks to forrest we made a few adjustments and I got my long run in earlier in the week.

The early morning started about 4:45, and I wasn’t perky AT ALL.  The drive to Columbia consisted of me trying not to fall asleep and fighting the temptation to slam on the brakes just to wake Sarah up in the backseat.  Good thing Addison was back there w/her or else we’d had a different outcome.  Morning’s always get away from me when AJ’s w/me at a race.  I tend to want to play w/him and not focus on the task at hand, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I realize it’s almost race time as Jeff, Sarah, Addison, and I wander into the pool.  I even kid w/Sarah it’s a good thing I just geled b/c I might just sit on the sidelines and spectate!  About that time I shake myself into reality and start to focus.  I line up according to my number only to be belittled by the 12 year old (could’ve been 5 or 16 for all I knew) in front of me, he continued to belittle me throughout the race.  I’m almost up, the music’s got me pumped, and they yell at me to go.  I stand there for a second, and like deer in headlights I looked at Kelli and say NOW?!  Yes, go Nicole!  I have no idea why I did this, maybe I was too in the zone…

The swim starts out good, I kept the goggles (love my hydrobat’s) on during the running dive.  Score 1 for me!!!  I felt like I was building and going smooth, not outright racing.  I was ok w/this though, I’ve not found my speed in my swims yet or my comfort so as long as it’s smooth I’ll take it.  I was even able to flip turn which wasn’t an option for the whole race last weekend.  The last length was kind of funny b/c I kept hearing Jeff yell at me as he was right next to the pool taking pictures.  I wonder what Addison was doing during this time….good thing he was strapped in the stroller before I left him!  I came out of the water 2 seconds slower than last week, but I didn’t really care.  I just tried to make my way to transition sprinting to make up for it!

T1 doesn’t go as quickly as I’d liked, I guess the focus wasn’t where it should’ve been, but I attempt to let it go.  I exit T1 and hit my lap button on the garmin so it knows to switch to bike mode.  I start the bike (uphill) and just want to hammer it out.  I get about 22 seconds into the bike and accidently hit lap again.  SON OF A BANKER!!!  Now, I will have no speed/cadence/anything to register during my bike.  Oh well, it is a sprint so it does mean go as hard as you can anyway.  I let the frustration go and just pounded out the miles.  The bike felt good and strong, the hills still hurt but I was having fun.  I manage to pass the kid who started before me, all while grinning to myself.  Yes, I’m that obnoxious at times!  I’m only human.  One more lap to go, and I’m done w/this pain, that’s what I kept thinking.  I roll into T2, and automatically press lap again w/o even thinking.  Now it’s switched to run mode and I’m not even in transition yet!  Ugh!!! That’s the nicest word I can repeat.  Now I won’t know my distance or true mile splits.  Oh well, FAILURE!  j/k!  I do slap myself a few times and repeat to myself it’s a sprint, it doesn’t matter!  The run actually felt better than last week.  Thanks to my Lunar Racers I was going sockless and my feet didn’t feel as heavy as last week.  The hills did get me though, the turnaround had an aide station and not only did I take water I walked when I had a sip.  Shhh!!! Don’t tell anyone.  Once I started back I felt refreshed though.  I yelled at Sarah, and just reminded myself what goes up must come down.  I forgot about the bridges going up though.  Around mile 2 I got passed like I was standing still.  The darn kid was back to redeem himself.  HOLY CROW!  See, this is what happens when you secretly grin to yourself as you pass someone.  God smiles back down at you and serves you some humble pie.  The last mile is pure torture; there are stairs and a gradual climb that never ends.  I wanted to walk so bad, but no, I manned up and just tried to slow down a little.  I rounded the last corner and see the finish chute and I’m so happy.  My workout for the day is almost done.  I was giving it everything I had, but the small hill to the finish got me and this girl had more kick then I did.  I got passed in the last minute by someone in my age group.  Good for her, I certainly didn’t have anything left.  I finish, look down, and see that my lunar racers are certainly broken in.  The back of the left one is covered in blood.

The best part of this race was having my son there.  I didn’t miss anything due to racing or training, I had him there and that makes my day totally awesome.  I PR’d from last year’s race by almost 2 minutes.  I finished 5^th overall female and 2^nd in my age group.  Sarah placed in her age group, and Alex North (early morning babysitterJ) placed in her age group as well.  Oh, and Jeff returned Addison after the race fully in tact!  Sidenote to Katie Malone, same time same place next year, and Addison will still be rolling in the stroller!  hehehe

The crew and I always travel down the night before, and this time was no exception.  Race packet, check.  Dinner w/sucky waitress and weird Jamaican guy, check.  Then comes time to clean the bikes….we ALWAYS do this the night before and for some reason Jeff wanted to be Mr. Overachiever and already have his done.  I actually offered to have another baby if it meant someone would clean my bike, everyone declined that offer.  Fond memories of 2 years ago floated through my head, me being pregnant, Sarah and Jeff cleaning my bike for me……SMACK!  Wake up Nicole!  You’re dreaming!  I’m not cleaning that nasty bike (this is all from Sarah).  I then ever so sweetly start “trying” to clean my bike while asking Jeff all these questions about how to do it.  He comes over, takes control of the bike, and does atleast half the work for me.  SCORE!  In the meantime, Sarah’s making snide remarks under her breath.  Thank goodness Jeff’s hard of hearing or else I’d had to clean it on my own!  The bikes are finally clean and then I have to listen to moans and groans about how early I make us get up on race day.  Nothing like being prepared and early, that’s how I feel about race morning.

I wake up the morning of a little grumpy, sore throat, and tired.  Sleep never goes well the night before a race.  Oh well, suck it up buttercup!  We all leave on time and have had our bathroom breaks….some a little more so than others, hehehe.  We go over our race times from last year, discuss splits and areas for improvement and then all set our goals.  It’s a little game we play, they hate it, I love it!

Race morning doesn’t go as planned for me, I have mean people on my rack and I swear I have “be an a**hole to me” written on my forehead.  I end up having a meltdown after seeing a baby and missing my little man, luckily for me Heath was already up and awake.  He probably wasn’t prepared for my meltdown, but he handled it like a champ.  I was at an advantage being pissed off anyway, I tend to race harder if I’m mad.   I stretched, got focused, and reminded myself to quit being a wuss.  I do this b/c I love it, and not every day is going to be roses and sunshine but at the end of the day if I’m away I need to make it count.

The seeding for the swim looked to be getting a little out of order as I see some people breast stroking and they’ve started before me.  I decide to go ahead and get in line and get this party started.  My turn comes up, Eminem is playing, Setup guys are getting people in the mood, and I dive in….Ouch!  I think my goggles may have permanently imprinted on my face w/that dive.  I try to remember to find my groove, but go fast as well….haven’t mastered that in a while so I’m pretty sure it was an epic fail.  Each turn I’m trying to push w/o killing myself which is impossible at this point.  I know the deeper the pool gets the closer I get to the finish.  I was atleast able to flip turn on one end of the pool, the other end was hopeless.  I finally reach the ladder, hit my lap button, and am not exactly thrilled w/the time.  The time the chip had was 9:25 (11 seconds faster than last year).

I fumble in transition a little, silently cursing myself, and am grateful when I finally mount my bike.  I see Sarah in the near distance and give her a little shout when I pass her.  Now it’s time to work.  I’ve been doing a lot of trainer rides, so I was hoping my time would be better than last year and maybe break the 30 minute mark. I tried to not watch the clock and just concentrate on keeping the cadence where it should be yet go as hard as I could.  My 5 mile alert goes off and when I look down it says I’m right on target to be under the 30 minute mark.  Just 15 more minutes is what I kept telling myself.  I pushed, I thought of form, and I kept hoping someone would just shove me to the finish line.  My 2^nd 5 mile alert goes off, but I’m not at the finish.  DARN IT!  My time was still good, but I wasn’t sure if I could make it to transition w/the time still left on my 30 min. mark.  I roll into transition, look down, and again, disappointment.  Chip time was 31:06 (last year 30:56).

All I could do at this point was pray I hit that run and found the legs I used to have for transition runs.  NOPE!  I start out the run feeling the heaviness and cussing myself for doing the half marathon race last weekend.  Just make it to mile 1, work work work for it.  Mile 1 arrives along w/an aide station.  I’ve been dreaming of how this water will feel dumped on my head.  I take sip of water, go to pour the rest on my neck and totally miss my neck probably drenching the person behind me.  So sorry!  If I’d been able to talk I would have apologized.  I look down at the mile alert and realize that I feel like I’m working MUCH harder.  Now my goal is to make it to the turn around and not look at the watch until the finish.  I finally see the turn around, and manage to get water on myself this time.  All I can think of is I can do anything for 10 minutes, I can do anything for 10 minutes.  Mile alert 2 goes off.  One more mile Nicole, that’s all you have.  Give it what you got.  I round the familiar corners and tell myself 3 more turns and I’m home.  I think I scared a few people I was breathing so hard AKA stalker breathing.  With 2 more turns left, I tried to kick it into my last gear, I’m sure I went a little faster but it wasn’t much.  I finally make it through the finish chute w/a total time of 1:03:42.  My run was 21:35 (last year 22:00).  I was 8^th overall female (again) and 1^st in my age group.

I couldn’t remember what Sarah had said my time from last year was, but I was thinking it was 1:05.  I knew my improvements were minimal, and couldn’t figure out where 2 mins would come from.  After looking at the results today, it makes sense.  My time from last year was 1:04:03 and this year 1:03:42.  20 seconds.  UGH!  I should be happy w/improvement of any kind, my problem is I always expect more.  I’m going to work on that this year.  I’m going to start accepting any improvement as being better than none.  I’m also going to quit degrading my improvements, and own them.  If I did something well, it’s not just b/c it was downhill or maybe it wasn’t as windy, it’s probably due to the fact that my training and consistency have gotten better.  It’s probably due to hard work.  I deserve to be happy about having a good race.

People never cease to amaze me.  A friend told me this was his 1^st tri years ago and his swim was so bad that he’d never been back.  The great part was that while people were walking faster than he was swimming he still kept swimming b/c that’s what you are supposed to do.  He manned up and took 10 minutes off his swim!  Courage, determination, it’s just awesome what a thing called triathlon can bring out in people.  Way to go Dave! Sarah and Jeff had great races, they both met some of their goals.  Sarah’s still puking while racing, but that girl HTFU’s and still improved on her bike and run times from last year.  Jeff managed to step up his game on transitions going under the minute mark for both.  He finally decided to leave his bucket of water, chair, and flotation device at homeJ!   I love my hubby, his comment to me about mean people during my meltdown….”thats why I find it easier to just be an a**hole, then you expect people not to like you.”

Going into this race I’d had a recovery week 2 weeks prior, and normal training (10 hours) the week of the race.  I wasn’t sure how my body would respond, or what I was capable of just b/c I’ve been running w/AJ the majority of my runs since Heath’s been out of town and I haven’t done this level of training since prior to having Addison.

I got to the race site and chatted w/Sarah before she took off on her run, and then ran into some friendly faces right before the start.  This helped me a little as I was running this race alone today which made it daunting yet very freeing considering so much of my time has been spoken for these days.  My thought process was that as soon as that gun went off just get into a groove, and that I did.

I was pleasantly surprised w/how well thought out mile 1 and 2 were, it really gave people time to thin out before you hit the trail so it wasn’t people running wall to wall.  My first mile was 7:33, which had me a little concerned but I just told myself to find that groove.  I wanted to be a little uncomfortable but not too maxed out.  Mile 2 wasn’t but 10 seconds slower and it didn’t seem that bad.  I tried to teeter in that zone of not too easy and not too hard fearing that at some point I might blowup.  I was also making a huge gamble that this 1^st time race would have the aid stations where they said they would and stocked.  I carried my gel w/me but made a last minute decision to not carry my fuel belt.  Sure enough, mile 4 had drink and was the perfect time for me to take my Powerbar gel.

I cruised through the miles only looking at my Garmin when the mile alerts went off.  I never went above 7:50.  I remember thinking to myself that if I just made it to mile 7 I’d be over half way through.  Mile 7 came and went and I started to feel a little dehydrated and just hoped that the aid station at mile 8 was there.  I was so thankful to hit that aid station.  Gel 2 down and some drink to quench my thirst.  Right around mile 9 was when I realized that I may be able to maintain this speed throughout.  Mile 10 I felt a burst of energy which netted me my 2^nd 7:32 mile.  I could only hope that speed maintained through the hill I saw at mile 12 on the elevation chart.  Around mile 11 was where I hit unchartered territory.  Unlike the rest of the race where I knew every inch of the course, I just couldn’t visualize this part of the route for the life of me.  The hill wasn’t mile 12, it was mile 11-12!  This was my slowest mile, 8:25, and I wanted to walk so bad it wasn’t even funny.   Just one more mile, come on Nicole get your crap together!  This would be what I said to myself.  The downhill helped me regroup only to encounter another hill.  A female had passed me on the last hill and I could see her in the close distance but I was maxed out.  I made the final right hand turn onto McBee and saw the finish line .2 mile away.  I was going to cruise into the finish knowing I had PR’d, but then of all people to give me a little nudge, my shoulder doc was there yelling at me to give it all I had.  He’d passed (tried to sneak by) me in mile 1, so of course to save face I sprinted to the finish.  I still didn’t catch that girl, low and behold she was in my age group and beat me by 7 seconds.  I finished in 1:42:22, 5^TH in my age group, 23^rd overall female out of 385 females.  For you number geeks out there (me included), that’s in the top 6% of a decent sized race.

Congrats to all the hometown peeps who either raced or volunteered, nothing is better than seeing friendly faces on race day.  So many people did so well, me included.  I talked to Forrest afterwards and I think what hits home about me doing well is I’m finally getting some consistency back.  I haven’t worked out over 5 days a week since before AJ, I’m making it a priority now to get back to some form of the old me.  That means consistency.  I will listen to my body, but there are times where you have to ignore it and not let it be an excuse.

I think for a 1^st year race you couldn’t have asked for much more.  This race had plenty of aid stations, you lost elevation on the course, great amount of volunteers, you were only on the road for 2 miles, and packet pickup was a breeze (thanks Eric and Elizabeth!!!).  On On Tri and Al did a great job putting on this event and I’m sure I’ll do this race again.

Forrest is much like me, so he demanded we be at the race site by 7:30 (hour early) which led to goofing off and taking ridiculous pics trying to kill time.  We even saw someone w/a mullet wig, only in the south…

My original plan for the day was to do a 1:45.  A girl can dream right?  I reassessed the situation when I got up and still felt crummy but decided to still go out w/those hopes and just see how I feel.  Susan, a friend of mine, and I both had the same goal so we were going to hang together until one of us died off.  Once the gun went off we started running, and the 8 minute pace didn’t seem so bad…really.  Even Regina and Scottie who had slower goals hung w/us the first two miles just chatting away.  I’d hoped to see Jeff around mile 3 or 4 and kind of “hang on” to him as he gets faster the longer he goes, but even his start was much faster than normal and he caught us around mile 2.5.  It was hard to pace off anyone around us as everyone was being very inconsistent, so I just tried to base my pace off feel as that normally works very well for me and I can normally “feel” my pace and stay consistent.  Around mile 4 Jeff became just a speck in front of me. 

I was still keeping pace, even did under 8 mins. on one of those miles but mile 6 I started to feel like I was going uphill.  The time was getting a little slower, and I couldn’t figure it out.  I felt like I was working just as hard, if not harder, but the time was slowly getting worse mile by mile.  Mile 9 actually was a few seconds better, but I felt HORRIBLE.  I literally thought I was going to pass out, I even dry heaved a couple times.  I even asked Susan if it was worth all this effort when I knew I’d no longer make goal. Mile 10 approached, and I had to stop and walk.  I told Susan to go on, I just had to rest for a few.  I walked fast for probably 15-20 seconds  when another girl passed me and my ego got in the wayJ. 

About the time she passed me, I had a realization that I’d forgotten what I ALWAYS say…NEVER EVER give up.  Even if you think you are defeated.  I sucked it up and decided to HTFU for 3 more miles.  Every mile was a goal, just make it to the next one and the next one.  Mile 12 I passed Heath, and it was great seeing him out there spectating.  He knew I was hurting.  I could still see Susan in the distance, and just hoped I could stay steady behind her.  I put my head down and just ran, I didn’t look behind me, I didn’t look in front of me, I just gave it what last bit I had.  My watch went off indicating I was at mile 13, and I finally looked up hoping this last .10 of a mile would go quickly.  It didn’t, but I kept running as if it was.  I crossed the finish line at 1:49:22, 20^th overall female, and 3^rd in my age group.  I was proud of what I did even though it wasn’t the time I’d hoped for.  The never give up attitude paid off, especially after I realized that 9 seconds behind me was 4^th place in my age group.  Talk about proving a point. 

Everyone except Jeff suffered that day.  I’m not sure if it was the unusual 70 degree muggy weather, or if it was just one of those days.  Jeff managed to PR by breaking 1:45 barrier for the first time.  Susan also may have PR’d doing a 1:48:35.  While we all suffered, we all persevered and Regina, Scottie, Cherry, and I all placed in our age groups. 

The rest of the weekend was a blast.  I couldn’t ask for better friends, food, weather or accommodations.  We had 8 people, 5 dogs, and a baby all in one house and didn’t manage to kill eachother.  Poker was played, Regina’s birthday was celebrated, and cupcakes were eaten.  I think that was the best part of the race weekend, enjoying time relaxing and laughing.  My abs are still sore. 

The crew (Jeff, Sarah, Krista, Britain-my cousin/babysitter, and Addison) all met for our drive to Myrtle Beach, and on the way we played a game. The game is guess your times….I like to quiz everyone to see what they think they can do. My turn came and here’s what I wanted, swim 38 to 41 mins., bike 2:53, run 1:50 and a finish time of 5:30 or better. I have a PR at Macon BakinJ of 5:26 so that’s kind of where I got the finish from. I have high goals. I knew the run would be a push.

I’ll skip all the fun stuff prior to the race, but let’s just say we saw someone doing a practice swim the night before the race and he kept stroking but didn’t appear to be going anywhere….that current was strong! Morning of the race I tried to focus, I went over the race in my mind and told myself to take the swim easy…real easy and to concentrate on my stroke. I didn’t want my shoulder/arm to be a factor like it was in Macon. As the swim is about to start I’m standing on the edge of the dock freezing! So I wait 20 seconds before they blow the horn and then jump in and get ready. I have to say the first 1/3 of the swim wasn’t too bad, other than a goggle malfunction, especially since it was w/the current. The rest of the swim just sucked. The current, the sighting, just everything about the swim blew chunks. I even got a little, shall I say….tiredL. I guess swimming once a week isn’t enough. I finally reach the end, get out of the water, look at my watch and am satisfied w/a 40:30 swim. My heartrate (HR) on the other hand was WAY too high. 

My transition is over quickly, and I’m looking forward to the bike and just being out of the water. As I start the bike I realize that if I don’t get this HR down I’m going to be hating life. I also realize the flags are erect, which means this bike is going to be rough. I get my HR down from 172 to 160, but this head wind is making me rethink where I need to keep my max at. I make a game decision to let my max be 160 and to try to keep it below 150 when I have a tailwind. The bike was a 2 loop “T” shape so I’d push and then get a little recovery. I’d see Jeff on the turnarounds, I’d look at my watch and time him to see how far behind me he was. I was well aware I was being chased. It’s all about “beat the girl”, which he has done in 2 ironmen but that’s it. I finish the 1st loop at exactly 1:30, and rather than give up and succumb to not meeting my goal I focused. I had full on conversations out loud. I told myself NEVER give up, focus, it’s your race and no one elses. Everytime things got tough I went back to my conversations of focus, it’s your race, no one elses, this is all about you. The focusing worked. I hit the transition area at 2:55 much to my surprise.

I exit transition and take a look at my watch and quickly do the math to realize if I do 1:50 on this run I could still make my goal, but it’d be right on the money. The run is a 3 loop out and back so I start it thinking, take it one loop at a time. Mile 1 and 2 feel good, I look at my Garmin only once and see the avg. is 8:15. I decide at that point not to look at the Garmin again. This run is going to be about pushing and it doesn’t matter how fast or slow I’m going b/c no matter what I’m giving it my all. I hit the turnaround on the run and it was like running into a brick wall. The wind that was such a factor on the bike is becoming even more of a factor on the run. I see Jeff and let him know that the turnaround point isn’t where we thought and then get back to pushing. I finish the 1st loop just keep thinking positive reinforcement. I’m repeating, I’m meaner than I think and tougher than I know. I get to the turnaround point again and see Sarah walking. I’m hurting at this point, and when I see her, she’s defeated. She’s giving up and its only into her 1st loop, I’m so mad. What do I do? What do I say? I guess the meanness I’d been telling myself about just comes out. I told her this is too early to be giving up, she can run 4 mins and walk 30 seconds but she needed to quit that walking and go. NOW! As I’m running by her I yell NEVER EVER GIVE UP. Little did she know that was as much for my benefit as hers. Some girl said, boy she’s mean….can I run w/you guysJ? I snickered. The run back to finish the 2nd loop was the hardest, the wind was brutal but I just kept telling myself the 3rd would be easier. I finally make it to the start of the 3rd loop and am really digging deep. I’m trying to make it from aid station to aid station, the heat has come and I really didn’t factor it being this hot. I take in as much fluid as I can at every station, salt tabs, ice, the works. Finally, I hit the turnaround. Although the wind is worse, I know that I can do ANYTHING for 2 miles. I see Jeff, he’s gained a little on me but not much. Neither one of us can even speak at this point. He’s literally pushing as hard as I’ve ever seen him push. The last couple miles are a sufferfest, there are times when I literally think my legs may just give up. I’m thinking to myself it’s mind over matter b/c your mind doesn’t matter. The last mile I made it through by reminding myself that the hours spent away from Addison needed to be worth it. I didn’t do all this training and give up all this time to walk and fail myself. I round the corner to see Britain and Addison cheering me on, and am relieved. I cross the finish line, look down at my watch, and see 5:42. 

I don’t care that I didn’t make my time goal. I met a completely different goal, I didn’t give up on myself. I didn’t give in to my temptations or my body, and I pushed to every limit I had. I could not have done anything more at this race. I left my heart and soul on that course and couldn’t have had a prouder moment.

This year has been the most difficult year of racing I have ever had. I have new priorities, new challenges, and a completely different mindset. I got a little glimpse of the old Nicole out on that race course though, and she will appear more often and a little more determined next year. 

Jeff had a PR and finished in a time of 5:31 beating the girl. Sarah had a tough race facing her own battles, but proved she was tough enough to finish and squeaked out 3rd place Athena! Krista had a PR on her run taking 9 mins. Off her run time. Britain learned that chasing a 1 year old is like an endurance event.

I was nervous race morning, I had high expectations and a little trepidation going into this race since it’d been two years since I’d gone this distance. Oh, and don’t forget the heat. I mean, I like the heat, but this was a little extreme for even me. Sarah was trying to keep me positive, and I knew I’d get the day done regardless of what happened, but I wanted to do well. I have a PR for the half distance (5:27) at this race. I line up to enter the swim, find a friendly face (thx Amy!!), and we’re both pretty anxious to get this started. First time I’ve done this race (out of 5) that wetsuits aren’t allowed, I’ve always gotten lucky w/a rain the night before. I tell myself to get it done and just take this swim strong and steady, but not hard. The swim doesn’t feel too bad, I’m focusing on my stroke and just making it buoy to buoy. I’m a little disappointed that I can’t seem to get a good draft, so I just try to find my own groove and make it work. The shoulder/arm is holding up well, but by the last turn buoy I can feel the legs tightening and wanting to cramp. The waters just too warm. When I finally reach the beach, I’m just relieved. I’m right at my slowest time (41:18) for the swim at this race, but I’ll take it b/c I’ve always worn a wetsuit and I haven’t been focusing on swimming as much.

I get in and out of transition, and am excited to start the bike. Forrest warned me to take this bike easier than normal since the heat was going to be so extreme so I just kept telling myself to push but not push too hard. I really thought I could be conservative and still be under 3 hours, but reminded myself that it wasn’t going to payoff to hammer this bike. Halfway through I’m still on pace to be under 3 hours, but this course doesn’t get any easier on the 2nd half and my time showed it. I rolled into transition @ 3:04, but feeling great. I really felt like I’d done exactly the right thing on the bike to have a good run.

Sarah, Addison, and Scottie are all out there spectating and cheering so that gave me an added boost of energy. I run out of transition knowing that this is going to be all HTFU. I’d forgotten to turn my garmin on in transition so the satellites won’t locate. Very frustrating, but I told myself it didn’t matter and just turned it off. Miles 1-5 literally didn’t feel so bad. They weren’t great, but i was making it from aid station to aid station w/o stopping in b/w and that was my goal. Aid stations were stops to gel, ice water, ice towels, and alternate water w/salt tabs and then coke. Around mile 5.5 it just got to me, the heat, it was just starting to seem that a mile was too far for an aid station to be. Let the walking begin. I limited myself for sure, but the air was so thick and the heat so hot that running consistently wasn’t working. I cheered other people on, tried to jog when I could, and poured lots of water over myself while drinking what I swear seemed like a 2 liter of coke in all. One girl passed me and she hit the nail on the head, it felt like I was doing an Ironman, not a half. I manage to get to mile 11 still in one piece, and all I want is to be done. I know this course and know that I can jog the last 2 miles. I make it to the last aide station, and I know I’m almost there. I walked through it doing the usual, and then told myself its on. About a half a mile left you have a hill then long stretch to the finish, I literally sprinted the last half mile. I couldn’t feel my legs so it didn’t really matter, and I really just wanted to be done. The time I finished in was only 1 minute faster than my first half ever (which was this race) 6 hours 8 minutes.

Absolutely not the time I’d hoped for, nowhere near it. Truth be told, I was happy though. This race wasn’t the toughest thing I’ve ever done, but it was a day of survival not of racing. I managed each obstacle as it came up as best I could. Some people had some great times out there. Some people didn’t. 25% of the womens field didn’t finish, the mens was more like 15%. I managed to still get 2nd in my age group 21st overall female and earn another guitar. Better yet, I had the best thing that’s ever happened to me at a race happen. A woman came up to me at awards and said I was such an inspiration. I didn’t know what she was talking about at first, but she said that it was just amazing that I had just done this race and here I am taking care of Addison feeding him and acting like I’ve done nothing all day. She told me I was proof, proof that you can be a mom and still succeed in this sport while not forgetting about your family. You can, you can, you can! Like anything else in life that’s great, it doesn’t come easy but you can do anything you put your mind to. It’s been a hard road over the last year, and this race didn’t have the outcome I wanted but I’m ready to embrace my next goal and work even harder at keeping balance but still achieve my goals.

Sarah and Scottie, big props to you girls for standing out in the heat for 8+ hours specatating and babysitting. You guys are awesome! Jeff, I KNOW you lied when you said you’d never do this race again! Are you ready for next year?!! Thanks tons to the support that each of my sponsors gives, I couldn’t do it w/o you guys. Heath, thanks for dealing w/not just my race schedule but also AddisonsJ, I know you miss him when we’re away.

The race wasn’t going to be an easy one, it’s actually the shortest race I’ve ever done. The tri consisted of a 300 yard swim, 9 mile bike, and 5k run. This distance equals complete and utter suffer fest. The morning of goes pretty smoothly considering I get to the race site before they even open. I get my bike racked, and transition set up. My swim time I put in was a little slow so I was told I could start a little earlier, and get in line w/Sarah the swimmer. I just hope I can hang onJ. Then I see that there will be no drafting help at all, they are giving each person enough time that this will truly be an all out effort w/no extra help. I loved the clear water w/no backup, I was neither passed nor did any passing. I tried to go as hard as I could, and it probably hurt me in the long run. If I’d had taken things a little smoother my time surely would have been better, but shoulda woulda coulda. I don’t remember what my watch said, but I remember being disappointed. 5:23 was the mat time. I’ve got some catching up to do is all I could think of.

The bike was 3 loops and 9 miles long. The loops aren’t easy. I just remember telling myself this is going to hurt. The hills weren’t short enough to stand up and power through, but not so long you wanted to spin them out. I wound up just working as hard as I could for as long as I could. I played cat and mouse w/one girl and managed to keep her at bay, but my heartrate was through the roof. Either my bike computer was off, or I was maxed like never before on the bike. My time was 25:29 and I’ve never been so happy to be done. I have no idea what my legs will do after that bike or my missed workouts but I’m willing to give it all I’ve got.

I head out on the run still suffering from the jacked up h/r and of course you start out on a long gradual climb. I just wanted to keep that same girl behind me, but am convinced that she will pass me soon. I feel like I’m going all out, but refuse to look at my watch to see what the pace is. Finally I hit a straight away and then downhill, I pass this guy in a Clemson outfit (shocking I know!) and then see Sarah’s mom. It was seriously like I was having an out of body moment, I haven’t seen her since last year and I had no idea she was going to be out there. Seeing her gave me a little motivation to keep on going though. The downhill turned into another somewhat flat stretch, but I feel horrible. I feel like I’m maxed yet my time I finally look at indicates something else. I’m doing an 8 min. mile and am not even halfway through. I finally get to mile 2 and seriously feel like my shoulder is going to rip the next time my arm goes back. I go back and forth trying to decide what to do and finally walk. I did that a couple more times for 10 seconds or so and make it to the last .25 mile. I’m running, but completely done and then that guy in the Clemson outfit passes me. Ugh, Katie and others start yelling for me not to let him go. I give it a good effort, but I know I can’t keep the pace to the finish. I just can’t catch him. I get to the finish line dry heaving and thinking someone’s going to have some puke to clean up. My run was 24:52, and my total finish time was 57:21.

I finished the race 6th overall female and 2nd in my age group. I like that this race was in my hometown, but this race was far from easy. Probably one of the hardest things I’ve done and also the shortest. I was so happy to see Heath and Addison at the finish, and thanks to my hubby for understanding and postponing our anniversary celebrations a day. We’ve been married a magical 11 years, and it never gets easier but it always gets better as the years pass. Special thanks to Sarah Parker and her family for watching Addison for the day and night while Heath and I got to spend some much needed one on one time.

The day before the race is busy at work, my day gets away from me, and I don’t get home until almost 8:30. I get everything packed and ready so the next morning can go smoothly. I manage to get Addison out of the house on time and to the race site early. Some Team in Training athletes Sarah and I are coaching decided to do this race as their first tri so we both wanted to get there early to get our stuff done. The morning completely gets away from me. Literally minutes before my wave goes off I’m just getting my wetsuit on, oh well. 

I’d taken a look at some past times, but this is a sprint so it is an all out suffer fest for me and the results will be what they will be. The swim at Clemson always seems to be tougher than most as far as getting beat up. I never get into a good groove, but try to keep a steady tempo w/moderate effort. I finally see the swim exit, and am happy to be there. I run out of the water and attempt to take my wetsuit off b/c the run to transition is up a hill and long. I manage to take way too much time and get covered in sand in the process, but atleast the wetsuits off! I don’t have my watch on so I have no idea how well I did, but I’m happy b/c Sarah the swimmer is right there with me and she typically beats me out of the water. I had a tough time in T1 due to some wise triathlete putting their helmet right under my back wheel, so I couldn’t get the darn bike off my rack. 

I exit T1 ready to hurt and embrace the hurt. The Clemson course is anything but flat, the hills can be short and steep or long and steady but hills they are. I’m working and working hard well aware that this is my strength and I will have to use it. Every hill hurts, every downhill feels good, and every short flat stretch is a welcome break. I hit the halfway point right on target w/my time from 09. All I can hope is to maintain that speed. I yo yo back and forth w/some guys and one UF girl. My main thoughts going into this race were to not focus on the times I’m putting out, but just don’t give up. I knew/thought my time would be off, but if I could conquer the mental battles I’d been having then I’d be happy. I roll into transition ready for the real hard effort, the run.

T2 goes a little better, and I exit reminding myself it’s a sprint and its supposed to hurt. The first mile is a downhill, so I try to take advantage of that by falling forward and conserving my energy for the ugliness to come. I hit mile one and grab some water to rinse off that sand from my wetsuit debacle, and instantly feel refreshed. The “hill of hell” or the “wall” is what’s up next, and I keep repeating just don’t give up. I fought that hill, it wasn’t fast and it wasn’t pretty but I didn’t give up. I hit the turnaround and really just try to increase my speed since its flat then downhill for the next .5 mile. I see friendly faces everywhere. Susan spouts mean things at me, as usualJ, and I just grin to myself. I see Sarah about to suffer the hill and looking like she’s really going to have to dig deep. The last aide station comes and goes and the mile to the finish is all uphill. I’ve walked part of this hill before, and I want no part of the walking. Never give up, shorten your stride, lean forward, I’m telling myself all these things and I’m almost there. 2 more turns, that’s it. I hear a cough behind me, and it’s a girl. I instantly increase my speed hoping she can’t hang on. I’d say about 20 feet from the finish line, not one, but 2 girls are right there with me. They are on both sides of me, and they’re struggling but aren’t going to give up anything. I’m still sprinting, giving it my all, and trying to outsprint these 2 college girls. I’m literally ready to barf, but I’d rather die than roll over and give someone a second. I finish w/everything I have. The results showed it as a tie, and either way, I’d been okay b/c I haven’t worked that hard for a finish in a really long time. My finish time was 1:13:56, 2nd place age group and 10th overall female. The time was over a minute slower than 2009, but I was satisfied. 

Major kudos for Team in Training athletes Sommer, Suzy, Erin, Bruce, and Kimberly! You guys did awesome, and what you do for LLS is truly amazing. Sarah, Susan, and Forrest had some stellar age group placings. Lynne helped Addison ring cowbell for mommy. This race was a ton of fun, seeing all the Greenville peeps and spending time w/friends makes it much more than racing. I heart all of you!

Thanks to all my sponsors, family, and friends who help me out all the time!!!

St. Anthony’s race is an Olympic distance race held in St. Petersburg, FL with about 5,000 of your closest friends. I love this race. I’m not sure why, but I do. I don’t do a ton of really big races, but it’s nice to throw a couple in every year just as a reminder of how much better your competition really is. This race was a 1500 meter swim, 24.6 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run. I did this race back in 09 but the weather was so bad they cancelled the swim, so I had numbers to go off of but wasn’t sure how’d they translate adding a swim to it. The weather a couple days prior was hot humid and the sun was shining, so I figured it was going to be that way race day. I felt okay coming into this race hoping for great results, yet prepared for whatever God threw my way. 

The morning of was like déjà vu, I literally walk out of the hotel and the flags were erect and the wind was howling. All I could really do is laugh, I mean really??? I look out at the water to see the white caps and swells that greeted me on the practice swim the day before, and just told myself everyone else had to do the same course so suck it up. As I’m walking to transition I overhear the announcer mention that the swim has been moved and shortened. I laugh some more. This is how I handle uncomfortable situations. I laugh, hysterically. Really they were making the best decision, but the 1/3 of a mile run from the swim to transition was less then appealing. I get transition set up, check out the in’s and out’s of transition, and then head over to meet Heath and Addison. Once I meet up with them Heath check’s out the water and informs me I have lost my mind. I laugh some more and tell him that atleast I’m with 5,000 other crazy people. We make our way over to the swim start, and the wind was just unbelievable. After doing my warm up I kiss the hubby and kid and take off to join my age group. I remember standing on the beach just waiting and ready. Ready to give it my all. The horn blows, and I’m off. The first couple of buoys come pretty quickly. The water we were in was shallow and from time to time you would swim through seaweed which is never fun when you have to remind yourself that’s all it is. I find my stroke in b/w being pummeled by the waves, and am so thankful when I see the last buoy. I make the turn and just have to angle it back into the shore since the current pushes you away from the swim exit. I get on the beach and look at my watch ever so satisfied I’m under the 18 min. (17:45) mark for tough 1000 meter ocean water swim. Now onto the next challenge, hustle as fast as possible to transition and hope my bike rack isn’t empty. It only took me 4:37 to get to transition and back out, ugh! I was quick too! 

I hit the bike a little winded yet ready to see what the Cervelo could do on this course. The wind had not died down any, and it felt like it was coming from every direction. I concentrated on my cadence and effort trying not to focus on speed. I pass people left and right, and really just hope I can catch up w/the people who finished before me in the swim. I go back and forth w/one girl in my age group for most of my ride, not ever willing to give up my position. I fought hard for each person I passed. I hit the halfway point on target to have the same bike split as 09, but well aware that the wind could change and possibly slow me down. I know of atleast 3 girls ahead of me on the bike, one of which I have tried to

Race morning went a little fast, I had Addison with me and my partner in crime (Sarah) was meeting me there to watch him. Sarah showed up just in time for me to steal her quick tie shoelaces and get a warmup in. Susan and I went out for a little jog just to see where the “hill” started and finish ended. I was feeling a little off, my hamstring was achey just doing the warmup. …I started to worry how’d it feel racing. I got back to transition, met Addison and Sarah, and headed over to the swim start forcing all negative thoughts out. 

I positioned myself a little to the front not quite sure where that’d put me on this time trial type start. It turns out no one else knew what to do when the word “go” was said, so as everyone stood there looking at each other. I figured I might as well jump in feet first and get this party started. I got a party started alright, and it wasn’t the good kind. When I jumped in the shallow murky water I jumped right on what used to be the edge of a cement pier. Ouch! Ok, I’ll be honest . . .that wasn’t what I really said. After the shock of what felt like a jab of lightning into my foot I decided to hurry up and swim and get this over with. I’m sure that swim was way past anaerobic unlike where I spend most of my swims. I finally reach shore, and realize swimming was much better than trying to run to transition on this bum foot.

I hobble out of transition muttering ugly things to myself and become very aware that my foot is NOT okay. I think I spent the first 4-5 miles of the bike trying to decide what to do. Literally every pedal stroke is excruciating. I begin to wonder if all the sogginess in my shoe is blood. I’m convinced that the right side is much soggier then the left and finally decide to stop and check it out. I take my foot out of my shoe, and much to my relief don’t find a blood soaked sock. Time to HTFU. I put my shoe back on and finally commit. I can now quit struggling w/the “what to do’s” that I kept repeating and get to racing. About this time is when I truly started to race and tune everything else out. I think what was getting me through it all was how incredibly pissed I was. Thankfully the anger fueled me just in time to hit the 2.2 mile 1100 foot climb. I tried to go hard but stay steady b/c the race wasn’t over after this, not only did I still have half the bike left but I still had to do the same climb on the run. I stayed steady and rode hard trying not to think about anything but this ride. I felt good with my effort as a I came into transition, but started to dread my next task ahead.

I roll into transition attempting to not think about how bad just putting my shoes on is going to be much less the running in them. I try to grin and bear it, but I’m pretty sure I might have cried at that point. . .or maybe something just got in my eye. Anyway, the run starts out as a gradual uphill for about a mile. Mile 1.5 is where it gets fun, the gradual uphill turns into a 12% grade and you climb almost 600 feet in a mile. The spot where I hit my foot was right in the middle where the arch is, so the extension that happens when you run uphill wasn’t delightful AT ALL. I alternated jogging for a few mins. or maybe one, and then trying to fast walk. Nothing was comfortable and I just wanted to be done. Finally after what seems like a million switchbacks I reach the top, now I just have downhill on the trails. I’m hoping I can make up some time, but I know that the impact of running downhill paired w/being on the trail isn’t going to be pretty. I pass a few people and just keep repeating to myself, the faster I’m done the faster I can sit down, the faster I’m done the faster I can sit down. After what feels like an eternity I see the end to the trails, now just about 1/3 of a mile around a corner and up a short hill. I hear my friends cheering, they yell at me to hustle. . . they tell me surely I have more to give…I may have given them the finger, but I’d plead the 5th in court to that. I cross the finish line and hear them announce that I’m the first female to finish. All I wanted was medical, I could have cared less. 

I see one of my docs and told him what happened. They take my shoe off and look at the bottom of my foot, it was ugly. The color had already turned blue and the knot was the width of an orange. They put some ice on it and tell me to get some xrays just to be sure nothing is broken. Everyone was beyond helpful. Sarah was great, as always, with Addison and Jeff even helped feed him his cheese puffs. Susan did a great job cheering for me, and even took 1st overall in the sprint. I finished 2nd overall female and 1st in my age group, I can’t complain about the placing. 

Addison and I went straight to MD360 and got xrays, and much to my relief nothing was broken. The day didn’t go as planned, I did pout and sulk, but I never gave up.