I decided to do the TBF Rancho Seco Olympic Distance Triathlon. Now I've had a chance to let things settle, I'm glad that I did this race, although at the time I was not feeling good about it, at all. I needed a jumpstart, and decided this race was it.
I've reveiwed my training logs from this year vs. last year, and I haven't been training as much this year. Last year, I was doing 8 hour weeks, with the low weeks being around 4 hours or so. This year, my highest weeks have only been around 6 hours, with a regular week coming in at 4 hours, and low weeks at 2 hours or less. I didn't realize that there was such a big difference in my training times. This was one problem coming into this race. The other big issue is that last year, I got back into training in mid-January. This year, due to some personal issues, I really didn't start training until mid-May.
The big problem though, was the heat. I knew when we got there and I did not need my sweatshirt at 7:30 in the morning that I was going to be in trouble on the run. I was a training wimp this year and did not do any heat training. More fool me.
Pre-race: Get going with plenty of time to spare, stop off to get the kids breakfast at McD's, then have a minor freak out attack cause I can't find the entrance back onto the freeway. It was like a maze, I swear.
Swim 33:52 - The swim was nice, warm water, I did ok, although I was about 5 minutes slower than last year.
T1 4:30 - I could not get anything together, it seemed that nothing was in the right place. I eventually organized myself. Probably getting to the race site 15 minutes before it started had something to do with it.
Bike 1:42:39 - Almost exactly the same time as last year, but the course was short by a mile this year. So, again I was a little slower, but ok. Average speed about 14.5 mph - I was pretty happy with this. I held off the last two people until the very end of the bike, but they both passed me with about a mile to go. I always slow down coming back in. What was fun about being last on the bike, was that I got my own personal motorcycle escort for the last mile. He was pretty funny - kept saying things like "Rock on, baby, they won't know what hit them."
T2 3:04 - I wasn't in a hurry, I figured I was last anyway. Interestingly, both people who passed me on the bike, passed me again at the beginning of the run, so at least I got out of transition faster than they did.
Run 2:01 - It was hot. Really hot. I don't do well in the heat, and running is by far the hardest thing for me to do. Last year, I trained in the heat of the day, but this year I didn't. I crashed on the run. I ran/walked at first, but then the heat started hitting me and I couldn't run. When I tried, I would get dizzy and lightheaded. Passing out seemed like a bad idea, so the run turned into the death march from hell. I would try and slowly jog every once in a while, but mostly it was just too much. I found myself in the middle of the run, asking myself, why in hell I was out there anyway. It was awful. I think I only finished due to sheer refusal to quit. I had carried water on the run, as well as drinking at every aid station - as soon as I finished I got a plaque (I was the only Athena who entered so I got first place.)
Post Race - The EMT guys made me drink 3 bottles of water. They were worried about dehydration. I had to mix the last batch with warm water though, cause they were having me drink it so fast I was getting an ice-cream headache. I know that I was overheated, and I didn't argue with them, but I drank at least 13 cups (104 oz) of water during the event. I guess that wasn't enough. I can't say enough about the volunteers at this race they were all so great. One of them got me a plate of food, I couldn't eat it, but it was appreciated, and another guy saw me walking to get my bike and gave me a cold Red Bull which really hit the spot.
Total Race Time: 4:26:00 - DFL, 1st place Athena
Comments: Spectators, other athletes - there were a LOT of people who were cheering me on. I brought my kids and someone asked them what my name was, and then this person was saying "Go, Shellee" at the transitions, which did freak me out a little bit, because I didn't know who he was. There were a couple of people who told my kids that I had inspired them.
Recovery: I was really wiped out on Sunday, but most of the soreness and exhaustion was gone by Monday which was great. The only other thing, is that now I have a cold. Looking back over the past week, I can see that it was coming on, but the stress of the race really brought it out.
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