HITS Grand Junction Half Tri Race Report

Well it happened I made it to the start and I had to fight tooth and nail to make it to the finish!!  I'm glad I had to wait a few days to write this because I've had time to process my thoughts a little and think logically about everything that happened.  Because you know race brain makes you do and say some crazy things, like "I'm never doing another triathlon again in my life!"  or "This little piece of dirt looks like a great place for a little nap then I'll get up and run it in to the finish"

Getting there

Gone are the days of traveling the night before, camping at the race site and doing last minute packet pick up.  When you travel with a toddler you go two days before allow for a gazillion potty stops since he's been doing so well with potty training when he yells potty you yell stop the car!  So we took our time driving there and made lots of stops in the mountains and enjoyed the sights.   We even had time to play in the snow.  This part was nice not being rushed to get there and having time to do a pre race swim and location scouting which I usually never did. 

Swim
The swim didn't seem as cold as I envisioned and actually probably ended up being the best/easiest part of the race for me which was quite the surprise.  I had sleeveless wet suit and a thermal cap.  It was a beach start which was a first for me but I just went with it.  It is true that even with a small mass start it feels just as chaotic as the ones for a full IM with 3,000 people it's a weird occurrence.  Another oddity was at one point going around a buoy there was a part that we actually had to stand up and walk in the shallow water then start swimming again once it got deep enough.  I felt like I was pretty close to the last one out but I was ok with that.  I had a little bit of a panic at the start which never happens to me but I did about 6 breast strokes calmed down and gathered my breathing and was fine for the rest.  Total swim time 41:56  1.2 miles I didn't swim a perfect line this time but I was still comfortable with my performance.





Bike

The bike where do I start with this...  Had to get on the bike on a dirt road so my first turn out of transition I almost ate it but was able to regain my balance before falling on my face.  My chain fell off 4 times and my water bottle once during the first 10 miles of the bike so having to get off the bike 5 times before I was even really warmed up gave me a little hint of what it was going to be like.  But I just thought to myself ok bike course we can play this game if you want!!!  The first out and back felt fairly easy with nice rollers.  There was a point where 3 cow trucks passed me right in a row and each time the wind sucked me almost to the middle line which was pretty scary and smelly. The winds were pretty harsh and the 10 ish miles uphill into a head wind was no joke but even with all of these things happening I felt like I kind of held my own considering...  So I didn't get to use my big chain ring in the front the rest of the ride which meant some of my precious downhills were not quite as fast as they could have been but I just tucked and went with it.  I will be having a little discussion with the bike shop mechanic that promised me before the race it had been fixed and yes I did test it out before twice and it hadn't happened.  The last 6 miles of this felt like they'd never end.  It was a double out and back and I was actually expecting the hills to be way worse than what they were.  So I had trained appropriately for this with bigger hills and NM winds.  I was so happy with this and thought ok ok I can still do this.  There were only 2 aid stations which meant I was pretty much on my own for water but I made myself stay fueled and hydrated, I had a bento box full of stinger chews that I kept popping on regular intervals.  My dad even missed me at the bike to run transition because I finished faster than expected 3:36 for 56 miles.  That's why it really took me by surprise when I got off the bike and was REALLY dizzy and nauseous.  This seems to be happening quite a bit to me on my rides that are over 50 miles and strenuous.  I swear I fueled and hydrated right!


Run

Because they can't all be great shots... you need to see the suffering too

 Ok so this is where it gets ugly.  Feel free to avert your eyes!  They changed the course to a shorter two loop course instead of the out and back because they didn't have enough volunteers to man all the aid stations and didn't have enough race entrants to justify it so I'm told.  Which for us meant the really tough hills at the beginning of the course we got to do twice.  The first 6 ish mile loop I thought I was recovering from the dizziness and nausea and I was hopeful that while running a little slow I was going to be ok.  The winds were pretty strong and had to hold my hat on a few parts on the dam and other points.  Started running with someone which helped distract me.  Then all of a sudden it hit me. My blood sugar plummeted and I felt like I was going to puke about every half mile or so.  I ended up walking most of the second loop and at times wasn't sure I was going to even make the cut off.  My son was so happy to see me then sad when he realized I had to keep going and I almost lost it right there almost just sat down and cry/puked yes that is a thing trust me!!  But I kept going because my son will never see his mom quit willingly!  I finally finished with only 10 minutes to spare before the official cut off feeling like death.  But I still smiled knowing a) I made it before cut off b) my son and parents were there and needed to know I was ok and that I was very happy to see them.  Later we went back to the hotel and I managed to take my son swimming and to run around in the park and to eat some dinner so I truly don't know what happened!  Every thought under the sun found it's way in my mind and swam around in there long enough to mess with me.  But I kept thinking to myself how after this race I'd concentrate on being a better mom to my son and to always practise patience.  I remember thinking I pay to do this?  I'm never doing another one of these again.  At one point I thought that I was the only half tri person left out there and the only other people out there were the fullers but it turns out I was wrong.  I wasn't last but I was pretty close.  Run time 13.1 miles 3:24:40  
Total Tri time: 7:49:52

My son making sure I got water..

I own this

What I do know from this experience is that it taught me a lot about myself and that no matter how many years as a triathlete there is always more to learn and limits you didn't know you could find or surpass.  So here are a few things I need to work on, look into, or just know about myself and adjust accordingly:

• Not being mentally prepared.  I trained correctly physically for this but most of my training was done under very high stress levels and very little sleep.  While I thought I was coping it turns out I wasn't.  This was reflected in my pre race doubts and nervousness and the fact that this was the first time I kept thinking before the race I just want to get this over with.  The FIRST TIME IN over 25 years of doing this!!!!  So I need to learn better coping skills for when the stress is too much.
• I need to figure out if it was me not fueling properly or something else going on with the dizziness and the blood sugar levels.
• My heart needs to find it's way back to my happy place and to being ok with where I am in life at all times.
• I'm so happy to be able bodied and able to do this and hope to keep doing this for many years to come even if I have moments of doubt I can over come it.  Because by the end of the weekend I was already planning out the rest of my tri season.  I may just need to be ok with shorter courses until my son gets older.
• I am my own worst enemy.
• I can be a monster when I'm nervous before a race and I am VERY THANKFUL to my parents for putting up with me!
• My son will test my limits at the same time my limits are being tested by everything else and I will just need to embrace that and hug him often so he doesn't pick up on my stress.
• I still had fun and finished the weekend seeing 3 national parks, a state park, countless mountain ranges and hotel pools!  The tri life takes me places I may never have gone and I am happy to be a part of this community even in the darkest depths of my race brain.
• Thank you to all who have reached out to me and supported me during this.  The journey was truly where it all was for this one.  The getting there was tough but I know now that I am stronger even though I didn't know yet that I needed to be.

  

  When I found out I had made the cutoff

   

I'll do a post to show all the fun hiking we did after, did I mention my parents are awesome photographers!!

Last when the going gets tough there is only one way to go from the bottom up!!  I have some very exciting news to share that I'm sure some have you have already seen me posting everywhere so I'm looking forward not back!

HAPPY TRAINING!!!!