Let me start with the good. I was happy to be there. It was a nice weekend and nice weather. The race was put on by TriSports which happens to be one of TeamLC's sponsors so it was nice getting to thank a sponsor in person. It was very well organized and scenic and supported. It was a small race I believe the Oly had 93 OA. My parents last minute decided they'd go with me and then continue on their trip from there. This also meant I didn't camp alone because of course they insisted I stay in their room with them. It was nice having company and my personal cheer squad. I was a little nervous going into it, you'd think after over 25 years of this I wouldn't get nervous anymore.
Swim was supposedly 61 degrees but it felt warmer than that to me, maybe it's because it was my first time swimming with a full sleeve wet suit. But I had no complaints about the water temp. I did unfortunately order a wet suit that was a little too small for me, it took two people to get me into it. Which meant it felt a little tight in the chest. I'm looking into getting the next size up. It's an awesome wet suit. I panicked a little bit at first with the higher altitude and tight wet suit I started to hyperventilate a little at the beginning of the swim so I took the time to do some breast stroke and calm my breathing. Thankfully I snapped out of it and continued on the swim. When I got out I felt like I had done horribly and I was already dizzy. But turns out I did it in 36 min. which actually isn't too bad for me, I've done it in 28 before so this tells me I was out of shape!
Bike start I felt a little shaky but I ate a mini cliff bar and that seemed to help a little bit. I had hydrated so well the week before and the night before and race morning and brought salt tablet for one water bottle and Accelerade for the other and I drank most of the Accelerade while on the bike. So hydration could not have been a culprit. I thought the dizziness was starting to subside but about half way through it was coming back. So I rode looking up most of the ride which let me tell you really puts a kink in your neck and messes with you mentally because you think the hills are never ending! It did seem to help to keep the dizziness down though. The hills got the best of me and some slight winds so I was beat by the end of the bike finishing it in 1:39 avg. 15.1 mph Again I guess I'm more out of shape than I realized. The course had a lot of rolling hills and two slightly long hills towards the end. It was a tough course but nothing I shouldn't have been able to handle.
The run as usual is where I really fell apart. It was HOT out. Pretty course around the lake with mostly flat except for 2 hills. They thankfully had Ice at each aid station and lots of aid stations so it helped to pour ice down my tank at each one. At this point I drank just water at each station. But between the heat and dizziness I could feel myself fading fast. I had to walk the two uphills and I felt the vomit come up in my throat 3 times. This run took forever and took it completely out of me!!! Again I guess I'm just that out of shape and I have never handled any little bit of heat very well.
So overall finished in 3:41 which is the longest it has taken me to do an Oly. But I made some friends along the way. I cheered people on and I finished with someone who was suffering from back spasms that day. So we all have our own battles but we lived to see another day and hopefully another race. This race scared me and I'm not going to lie I really was thinking of not doing my next olympic. I mean I felt sick for 2 days and counting. The drive home I was a motion-sick mess. But today I sucked it up and just decided I'd have to train harder. So today I did my run at lunch to start getting use to the heat. I texted my riding buddy and she helped me come up with a plan for our ride this weekend, which involves hills until we see our breakfast, see my friends care. :-) I will figure out how to get back to enjoying the longer distances again along with the dizzy spells. Until then maybe I'll just have to enjoy the sprint tris. But for now I have to train for my next race that I crazily signed up for before realizing what this season was going to bring me. I'm being challenged by my body but I will not give up or give in!Happy Training!!
