12 days of no working out, and 17 days after my bike wreck (who’s countingJ) I decided to bite the bullet and do Festival of Flowers Oly distance race. I’d already signed up for the race prior to my wreck, and after Try Charleston Half I just couldn’t bare not doing another race I registered for.
1 mile swim, 24 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run are the distances for the Olympic distance tri. Before the race started I was a ball of apprehension. I was well aware that the race was going to be painful, for more reasons than one but most of all the cracked ribs. Jeff offered words of support, well the best he can offer being a man. I think it was something about just power through, ignore the pain. He yelled this to me as I went to the start, and it was exactly what I needed. Embrace the pain.
I chose to start the swim by standing on the cement stairs and diving off rather than treading water like the rest of the peeps. I was concerned about how it’d feel w/the ribs and possibly getting kicked. I really think I may continue to do that at this race, it went fairly well and I avoided all the hoopla involved w/swim starts. I tried to start fast and grab feet so I could have an advantage of draft, but it didn’t work. I wound up swimming in no man’s land the majority of the race. The water was incredibly rough but gave me something to focus my mind on rather than the pain. I was grateful to make the 1st turn buoy (500 meters), pleased to make the 2nd buoy (1000 meters?), and absolutely relieved to make it to the finish. The last 100 meters or so I found some feet, and the draft it offered was PRICELESS! I like a good draft, but a draft in rough water makes ALL the difference. I’d checked out my times from previous years and knew that I wouldn’t be in the 30 min. range, but was totally happy w/coming out of the water at 32 mins. and some change.
Transition didn’t go smoothly at all, I fumbled w/my skin suit getting it off and began to wonder if I was going to need a bucket to sit on to get my shoes onJ! Once on the bike I got somewhat comfortable. The bike is the one thing I can do that isn’t too painful right now. I got maybe a couple of miles onto the bike before the torrential downpour started. I seriously smiled and reminisced on all the rides and races I’ve done in the rain. I was truly in my comfort zone. Rain was the one hope I had to even up my chances of placing. Rain to me on the bike is kind of like a choppy swim, an awesome challenge that keeps me focused and pushing harder at times. Some moments of the bike were frustrating, I didn’t have much power on the hills, but other moments were exhilarating to know that atleast I was out there racing. My splits on the bike were getting faster as I went on, but not quite the time I’ve had previously. I finished the bike in 1:09:08, almost 3 minutes behind my previous years.
My 2nd transition went a bit smoother, but now was the time to suffer. I’d run only once since my wreck and it had me hurting for days afterwards. I started the run reminding myself to smile; it wasn’t too hard to do that at first especially with the rain. Running in the rain is fun if you’re already wet! The hometown crowd made it all so much easier as well. The cheers got me through that run. The first mile or two weren’t bad, I was averaging a little under 8 min. miles. The miles following were all about tunnel vision. I just took markers like the turnaround and made them into mini challenges. I’d tell myself, “ just don’t walk, the longer you’re out here the longer you’ll hurt.” I made it to mile 5 without walking. I told myself, just 10 seconds…..about that time someone went around me saying a few kind words. As he passed me and I saw the word Davis across his butt I started running again. I told JD (Jeremey Davis) I’d never been so happy to see someone’s ass! I may have also told him not to go too fast, but his fast and my fast were 2 different things. He dropped me like a bad habit, but it was the motivation I needed to keep going. I finally entered the park and hear people yelling for Beth Coe. I started to panic, would I have what it takes to kick it up a notch? Katie Malone could probably see my grimace and yelled that I was going to have to dig deep. Dig deep is what I did. One girl passed me, but she had a lot more kick than I did. I managed to finish before Beth w/her trailing me a mere 13 seconds. Never Ever Give UP. That is what I have on my Road ID and that is what I did.
The support at this race was phenomenal! The volunteers stood in the pouring rain cheering everyone on, and I thanked every last one of them I passed b/c I’m sure it wasn’t fun. My friends and fellow racers were so supportive. Frank Roth passed his calming personality on to me right before the race, no words even needing to be said. Regina made sure I wasn’t left on my own right before the swim start (I still panic if I don’t have her next to me). Forrest was gracious enough not to pass me until 21 minutes into the bike this time. Jeff watched Addison at the race site in the pouring rain for me. Sommer’s first words to me out on the run were, are you okay? Here she was having a horrible day and was concerned about me. I think it just goes to show why triathlon is such a unique sport and has such a huge following of people who continue to do them.
My race was over 7 minutes slower than before, but I really considered it a success. Team Fowler all placed with Regina having a PR by over 10 minutes! Forrest bested the next competitor in his age group by a mere 20 minutes…I hope I age that gracefully! Big thanks to all who helped me power through this race!
