Harvest Moon Race Report

Swim:

I had a hard time finding the buoys laid out on the course because of the sun and the water current created from the wind.  The course was interesting- a small-based triangle, and we were to swim around the end of a straight line of buoys that marked both the out and back of the swim.  The swim back to the beach was rough. Waves were making it tough to get a good breath in without a mouthful of water.  I pressed on and finished the swim in 35 minutes.

Bike:

I knew to hold back on the bike for the first half and save some energy for the hills at the end of the ride, and the nice tailwind helped me accomplish this. Shortly after the turn onto Quincy I got a flat after rolling over some glass on the course.  I stopped to fix it and a course mechanic pulled over and basically did it for me and I was on my way!  Once I hopped back on my bike I saw my husband, Matt, and we were both feeling good but looked forward to getting off the bike.  A minute after he pulled away my chain dropped.  I stopped and quickly got it back on my crank and was off again. At the bottom of one of the hills it looked like a porcelain toilet had exploded and there were shards everywhere.  I managed to get past without any more flats, but about 4 miles from the finish it happened again- another flat! This time I didn't have another spare so I figured I would walk towards the finish until someone could help me. Most of the people who passed me didn't have deep dish wheels so couldn't really help with a spare tube since I needed one that was either longer or could accept an extension. “It could be worse…”

I walked to the turn off to the reservoir and the crossing marshal told me he had radioed for a ride for me.  "But won't that end my race? Will they have a spare tube?". "I don't know the rules.  I just saw you walking and called. You can refuse the ride if you want to keep going though."  "Thank you." “It could be worse…”
A few hundred more feet and a guy stopped and handed me a tube that could accept a valve extension.  Now if I could just get the original valve off…As I was messing with the valve the course mechanic came to my rescue again!  This time there was a guy in the passenger seat and his bike on the rack on top of the car.  His race was over. Mine was finally 2/3 done, and it could have been worse.

Run

“I should have stopped at the Port-O-Potty in transition”, I thought to myself. “At least I know there are some on the race course.” I ran most of the way to the first aid station, grabbed some water and had a few salt tablets and finally found the port-o-potty around mile 2.  I went in, did my business, and as I was pulling my shorts back up I heard something in the toilet well.  I spun around to find a bat that appeared to be lying on the beach of the blue sanitation liquid.  I dropped some toilet paper on him to see if he was still alive and he moved!  Watching the bat closely, I finished pulling up my shorts, got some hand sanitizer and got the hell out of there!  I’m glad I saw it after I used the restroom because I would have had to wait another 2 miles before finding another potty. 

The run was mostly a walk since my calves and what felt like my diaphragm were cramping and my stomach was upset and gurgling. I tried to take in more salt but the cramps persisted.  After 3 hours of walking I made it back to the finish and dove into the blow-up slip and slide.
My husband was waiting for me at the finish and I gave him a hug and a kiss and thanked him for waiting so long for me to finish.  I explained to him what had happened after I saw him on the bike. For most of the run I was thinking about him waiting for me, but I realized it really could have been worse- I could have nobody waiting for me at the finish after going for this long.  If that was the case I probably would have quit after that second tire puncture and taken that ride back to transition. 
Thank you, Matt, for keeping me going.

Night Before the Harvest

It's the night before my next race- the Harvest Moon 70.3- and I am sitting here with an ice cold Ginger Woodchuck Hard Cider thinking about tomorrow's adventure.  The swim should seem really easy since I did a 2.4 mile swim last weekend (twice the distance of tomorrow's race), but the bike...I am determined to not let this one hill get the best of me.  On my training ride of the course I went out way too fast at the start, feeling great, and hit a wall with 3 miles left (after I had FINALLY made it up this one hill in particular). I pulled off to the side of the road.

"How do your legs feel?" I asked my husband between gasps for air.
"They feel amazing!  I could do another loop right now!", He said, as I was remembering he was sitting behind me the whole way with a draft.  I rolled my eyes.  "Can you take my keys and go on ahead if I can't make it (of course I wouldn't dare say the word 'quit')?"  "Sure!  I'll be quick!"  We were both out of water and it had been a really hot, exposed day. We both set off at our own pace for the last 3 miles and I managed to make it back before he started the car to come get me.  It took everything I had to finish that bike loop (45 miles).  Anyway, I plan to hold back at the start of the bike to save energy for the hills and especially the run. 

I had a moment of panic when I took my bike out this evening to make sure everything was working properly.  I discovered my front tire was flat and I only had one more spare tube!  I called Bicycle Village to see if my special-order tubes were in, and they told me: 1) That they weren't, and 2) They had actually closed 10 minutes ago, but they open at 11am tomorrow!  He walked me through how to patch my tube and re-assured me he patches his tubes at least 4 times until he replaces them.--By the way, if this works out, I'll be patching my tubes regularly!  It will save a bundle with Goat Head season coming!-- I found the leak and patched it tonight so I have all night to pray it's not flat in the morning.  Wow.  Bad planning on my part. 

So tonight I'm going to eat some pasta (gluten-free, of course), put my feet up, enjoy a hard cider, and watch a movie. 

Good luck to those doing races this weekend!

Cake and Training

I had a late breakfast today so I figured a small lunch- a few tomatoes from the garden, a protein shake, and a small piece of our Anniversary cake would be a good lunch (of course I did, it involved cake!).  I moved my run to tomorrow to give my legs a little more time to rest from our Harvest Moon Half Ironman bike we did on Monday (45 miles of the course).  The story with that is I put arch support in my bike shoes and the first bike I did with them was a long ride.  I should have known to start off easy with them like you would anything new you change to your training equipment but I was thinking since I have insoles in my running shoes that basically do the same thing I would be ok, right? Nope.  So I have some pretty sore calves and they hurt when I walk. (Crossing my fingers I'll be good for the race!)

There's about 1/8 left :-D

Back to my meal choices.  Apparently what I ate wasn't enough since I was starting to feel hungry so I had a little snack before swim- a Bonk Breaker bar and some GU Chomps (YUM!), which I had on my way to Denver.  The first part of the workout was ok- a few 200's warm up and some drills done at an alarmingly fast pace for a drill set.  The next set is what got me- 3x 100's, 3x 75's, 3x 50's, 3x 25's (FR/BK/BR) all continuous- no rests or stopping, followed by 5x 100's on 1:35.  For those of you who know what the sets mean and can decipher the workout I just mentioned, you know how tough that was in the fastest lane where the first person dictates the speed of the workout.  For those of you reading that don't have an idea, I can break it down a little further into laps- 30 fast laps (lap being down to the other end) followed by 5x 4 laps swam really fast- almost with no rest. 

So going back to what I ate today, this was obviously not enough to fuel my workout.  I guess I was thinking I would be able to get away with fewer calories (and maybe lose a  little weight before my race), but it ended up being a detriment to my workout and I had to hop out, with my head hung, before my workout (in my mind) was complete.

It might have been a blessing in disguise since I'm doing a hilly Half Ironman on Sunday in East Aurora (Harvest Moon) and I will probably need more rest than I have planned to give myself.