Season Opener

I have been putting off writing this race report because I'm been slammed at work and my brain has just not been there to get the words out on paper, er, screen. Also because I am having trouble wrapping my head around what happened on Sunday. I know it was a sprint race, but it just seemed like such a blur!

I was really nervous going into this race. Mostly because I was psyching myself out. I told myself I was mentally preparing and visualizing my success but honestly, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. My worst fear was that I would show up to the race and get stage fright - I would forget how to swim, bike and run and just stand there pool-side, paralyzed with that race-zombie face I seem to make until someone just shoved me into the pool.

None of that happened though - thank goodness!!

RDJr. came with (of course) and we drove to Columbia, MO which is about two hours away from KC. Picked up my race number, bought an overpriced stick of BodyGlide, and then checked in to our hotel. RDJr. asked me what I wanted for dinner and I said I would just stick with my usual pre-race meal: pasta, red sauce, chicken and broccoli. Boring but it works.

So we headed to charming downtown Columbia where we fought our way through prom dresses and frat boys screaming/soliciting money for cancer research. It was awesome. After dinner, since both RDJr. and I have a sweet tooth, we walked over to the froyo bar. I had a tiny baby cup of chocolate froyo with bananas and almonds - RDJr. made some mad scientist concoction that he later remarked as "interesting" rather than delicious. :)

Back to the hotel and I was so tired. It was only 8 pm. RDJr. was busy studying chemistry and I was not into putting my numbers on my bike or belt but I did it anyway. Just about to turn out the lights and RDJr. asks what time he should set the alarm ... "4:30?" to which his response was, "but transition opens at 5. don't you want to get a good spot?" Okay... 4 AM it is. Ugh.

Why do triathlons have to be so early???

Surprisingly, it was not hard to get out of bed at 4AM and we were eating breakfast by 4:30 and in the car by 4:50 and at the race site by 5:00... and I was ready to go by 5:15! But the race doesn't start until 7:30. HA! HA! Sucker! No, but seriously, I did get the closest rack to bike out that I could possibly get. Until then, RDJr. and I would just shiver in the cold, talking to the handful of people from KC that came to town for the race.

Finally they let us in the pool area around 6:45 - nice and warm! I started to get sick to my stomach as the anticipation built and I tried to focus on thoughts of a blogger friend - Molly. Molly seems like a happy-go-lucky triathlete and while she is competitive, she gives off this aura that she is just doing it for FUN!! Come on, gang! Get happy! (don't kill me, Mols) So I thought about that and it helped. This was just a race - let it go and get over yourself, Flossie.

Time to go! Jump in the water and stroke...stroke...stroke... WHY AM I GOING SO SLOW? I actually thought for a moment that maybe a current in the pool and that was why I WASN'T MOVING!! But then, before I knew it, I was nearing the end of the swim. Gosh! That was FAST but it never felt hard - like as hard as it does when I'm at masters. There was no burning in my lungs or legs - but I was passing people?? Crazy. I tried to push harder but I still never got that "burning" of the lactic acid. Whatever ... oh here's the ladder (that no one was using) and up and out and RUN! RUN! RUN!

... ALL. THE. WAY. to transition which is like, an 1/4 mile from the swim exit. Kid you not. And it was COLD outside but the sun was out so that was good.

I threw the arm warmers on the ground (taking too long to put on!) grabbed the bike and away I went! I actually landed a flying mount on the bike completely by accident. I guess you do enough cross races and it becomes second nature.

The bike went a lot faster than last year. Part of that is my fitness and part of that is all of the fancy-schmancy gear. The hills were so much easier this year and really, compared to Mt. Lemmon, everything is. The results don't show it though. Because of a computer glitch, both T1 and T2 were included in our overall bike time BUT I got my individual results before the computer crashed so I know I went 19.8 mph (over 18.8 last year). Awesome for this hilly course!

I did not see a single female on the bike. Okay, not a single female triathlete (the duathletes were all over the place) and I wondered where I was at. It's always so hard to tell in a TT start.

Anyway, off the bike and on to the run and I saw RDJr. and told him I forgot to start my watch!!! (Oh yeah, came out of the pool and looked down - 00:00:00!) "Don't worry babe, I got ya!" He had started his watch when I jumped in the water and got all my splits! Who does that?? The best BF ever, that's who.

So .... back to the run and legs felt fine despite the mild cramp I got on the last hill coming in. Run, run, run and about mile 1 I see a girl up ahead with a 34 on her leg. I can't tell if her hair is wet (triathlete) but she is wearing a long-sleeve shirt so, maybe a duathlete?? Didn't take any chances and pasted her and put a huge gap on her. That was the last female I saw until 500 feet from the finish when this chick came SCREAMING past me from out of no where. I picked it up when I heard her behind me, then I saw she had a 41. Whew! She was hauling and even my fastest sprint could not respond to the attack.

I crossed the line SMILING (no more zombie-stare) and with a fist-pump even! RDJr. was waiting for me at the finish (BEST BF EVER!) and gave me a big hug. The first thing he told me was my run split which was awesome (for me) and then I asked what my overall time was, which was a whole minute (plus some) slower than last year. Huh. It was windy though. Got my results (what a wonderful invention that receipt-style result is!) and I was listed as 2nd AG!!! Don't get too excited though, this is a TT start. I could fall.

But it never did - I checked four times!!

The girl who took first beat me by SIX minutes! I didn't even see her on course! I saw her at the pool start and then never again. Nothing I could have done would have shaved six minutes off my time ... except fitness and that will come. Perhaps I'll be in that ballpark next year.

Awards didn't start until 11:30! Ugh! And RDJr. had to get back to KC for work as soon as possible. But, because he is the best BF ever (did I say that already?) he told me it was more important for me to stand on the podium and he had the best look on his face - so proud. THAT was the best reward - more than anything else.

Looking back, I know I gave it my all and I met my goal of placing top 3 AG. HUGE confidence booster and a great way to start the season.

Next up is KC Tri - Olympic. The water is going to be COLD!! Just like last year. But unlike last year, I will NOT have a cold water freak-out and swim a 2:24 pace. (hides face in shame) NO WAY! I will take cold showers for the next two weeks to get acclimated. I will wear Vaseline on my face so thick I look like a serial killer. (Does that even make sense?) At any rate, I will be prepared.

Of course, big thanks to my coach, my boyfriend and Bike Source for helping to get me race ready. THANK YOU!!