This post will just lay out what went on during the race. I have lots of exciting things planned for the future and I don't feel I can move past this with out writing the gory details down. So here goes.
Very competitive to even get in. Sold out in less than 5 minutes. However, they take a waiting list and most years, every one gets in. I was registered in the first minute. Awesome.
Fast forward to race morning. Grumpy got me to transition early and I managed to find the correct rack on the second try. Since T1 and T2 are in different locations, it was pretty easy to get set up. Plenty of time to hit the porta potty and then sit around with nervous first timers. I wasn't nervous. I just wanted to get this over with. I was just so done with this race already.
Eventually, it was time to get into my wetsuit (love Love LOVE the new wetsuit) and then we were off.
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| To the left just above Grumpy's finger, I'm facing toward the camera |
I was bummed when I saw my time.
Swim: 43:55 (2013 42:06)
It was WAY off the 40:00 I'd hoped for. My guess is I need to work on pacing in OWS.
Wetsuit a little hard to pull the zipper down, should work itself out with more use.
Oh well, into transition. Found my bike and changed without too much issue. The wetsuit caught on the timing chip a bit but, eventually popped loose.
T1: 4:33 (2013 4:36)
Sure enough. All those male waves that took off after me were going out T1 with me. Vineman's T1 has a very short steep hill just past the mount line. Lots of people try riding up it but, frankly, it would take too much out of me. So, I sprinted up and the mounted the bike at the top of the hill. Not sure it costs me much time in the long run.
So, off I went on the bike. I was tenacious about drinking, eating, and keeping the pressure on the peddles. Soon, I was rolling through the hills that border the many wineries. They recently paved a couple miles of it so, I wasn't worried about losing a bottle... or my teeth!. Next, we dropped out of the hills along a frontage road to get the first water exchange. I had already tried the type of bottle they were handing out so, I knew it wouldn't stay in the cages. I drank a bunch and then stuck the bottle in my pants. Then, it was back to the hills and up the first of the longest hills. I'd practiced on Bull Hill almost weekly, this was NO problem. Just like Bull Hill, as soon as you hit the peak, you zip down and a couple quick turns and you're heading up to the second water exchange. Off with the first bottle and got another bottle. Now it was a long, flat ride through the country side until at mile 40, we started to climb again. This is Chalk Hill. Mile 45 is where it officially starts. It's a little longer than Bull Hill and the last 10th of a mile is quite a bit steeper. If you've trained for this, then it's just a mental game. Zipping down Chalk Hill is a little scary since there are lots of pot holes and what not. A few more rollers and a couple zig zags and then you're riding into T2.
I never let up. I got ahead on my fluid and stayed ahead. I was right on target with salt tabs and gels except for 1. Some how I missed counted or lost a gel so, I was a gel behind when I got into T2.
Bike: 3:24:07 (2013 3:33:13)
Found my stuff but, some one had basically parked her bike in my spot. So, I wrested my bike in, put my shoes on, sprayed on some more sunscreen, grabbed the rest of my stuff and left.
T2: 5:17 (2013 4:24)
Now I'm running. Ate a gel immediately to make up for the gel I was behind on. We'd been working on me not going out fast off the bike. I looked at my watch and I was speeding along at 11: 30ish.. perfect. I had relented to walk all of the hills. But, if I was going to walk, I was going to POWER walk. I pumped my arms up each and every hill. Unfortunately, I wasn't pushing on the down or the flat like I should have been. I was a little behind last year's time but, not bad. It was hot and I grabbed ice at every station. I made it into the winery where they had set up a mister. That mister was so wonderful last year. This year, my shoes got wet. From then on, they stayed wet. The miles continued to tick away and all I thought about was in 2 hours, I don't have to do this any more. In 1 hour, I don't have to do this any more. My left knee started to hurt at mile 9. I power walked to the top of the hill at mile 10 and suddenly, BOTH knees locked. So, I threw my legs side-to-side moving forward. Eventually, they unlocked. I jogged to the aide station at mile 11 and called for ice as I was coming. They needed to open the bag, so I kept moving on. I grabbed a GU from the aide station at mile 12 and power walked for awhile. 1/2 mile from the finish line, I started jogging again. It was brutal on my knees but, I didn't have to do it any more.
Run: 2:39:22 (2013 2:34:53)
Overall: 6:57:14 (2013 6:59:12)
I found Grumpy and told him to go back to the bar, get me food, and I'd meet him at the car. I didn't want to hang around. I wanted to be with him, get home to my dogs and be done with the whole thing.
It's been a month since the race and a lot of things have become clear. Coach has been great in giving me the space I need to sort through the jumble of emotions and thoughts that have clogged up over the year. I've already talked about taking a break from long course. I realize now that I'm burned out from long course, the stress of my current job, and the loss of my grrl Tazzy. I don't regret plowing threw the training for Vineman. To have quit before I had tried would have felt like failure and I wouldn't have been able to work through the various issues. While I didn't have the 1 hour PR I had hoped for, I still feel good about what I achieved this year.
As I left the race, I had decided NO MORE RUNNING. All of my negative feelings have been directed at running. Taking the break from running has let me start to miss it... a little. But, it will not and cannot be as big as an activity in my life. Given all the things that I have in my life, I cannot devote this much time to racing. Somethings will need to go on maintenance mode to be picked up later in life or not.
In the mean time, I working hard on the bike and loving every single workout. I think Coach is trying to dream up something to make me cry. Bring it on coach. Bring it on.
