The Run - Race Day Roundup

I knew pretty much the minute I “ran” (again, said lightly) into Transition that things were not going quite according to plan.  T1 had gone fairly smoothly.  But as soon as I got to my rack, all hell broke loose.  I tossed my helmet and it ended up on the other side of the rack so when I tried to rack my bike (which is odd in itself – you rack it by the seat, which is odd), it got caught, Matt told me later, on the helmet.  I spent a good 30-45 seconds trying to get my damn bike racked!  I WAS SO FRUSTRATED!  I seriously almost just tossed the M-Fer to Matt across the rail.  I was pissed.  Finally, got it racked and bent to take off my bike shoes and put on my sneakers.

And then, a cramp gripped my middle.  Remember when I said I hadn’t had any water? Um.. yea.  I started to feel it REALLLY bad.  And out loud, under my breath, “Oh shit.”  I had to run!  But, got on my shoes, grabbed my hat, and off I went. 

It was hot, man!  Matt told me later that had I been in 10 minutes before, the clouds were still over the sun for the most part, but it had opened up and it felt brutal!  Thank goodness I had picked up a hat to run in on Saturday morning.  I hit the first water station and grabbed a little sip of water and down the hill I went, back toward the water.  The first part was ALLLL gravel, not a great running surface.  And then back up a hill on gravel, but at the end was more water, so that was a great incentive to keep going.  That first section was a bit difficult because I was still getting my legs back after the bike, it was all gravel, there was a hill, but at least it was shaded.

Next section was grass and flat… woo hoo!  And I picked up some speed.  Also, every once in a while I could hear a family member (read: Ellen or Matt) yell.  Funny how inspiring that was during that run.

Then, the looooong third section.  All dirt and rock and in the open so HOT!  Going down the hill wasn’t bad.  There were two water stations and it was just put your head down and run.  I could feel the heat and I could feel the rocks and reminded myself that I truly hate trail running, especially when, at mile 2, my ankle rolled (I still feel it).  I knew I needed more water, but just took little sips and splashed the rest.  I kept telling myself, “Dude, this is only 3 f’ing miles.  You can run 20. Just stop bitching and finish this shit.” (Yes, I have entire conversations with myself).

The way back?  Different story.  I had to plead with myself a bit more.  My body had decided that the people walking were MUCH smarter than I was.  But, I refused. Seriously – the run was where I was strong! NO WAY was I going to walk!  And I didn’t. 

So, back up the hill I went.  And I started to hear the familiar sounds of my man and my big-mouth beautiful daughter.  They saw me and they started to cheer.  And cheer me the whole way in they did.  And as I turned the last turn, I saw everyone else at the big ‘ole finish line, screaming me in. 

And you know what.

I finished.  I did what I came to do.  I became a triathlete.

Hell yea.