I'm swimming along at a good clip in the wetsuit legal race (the water temp was a close call), reminding myself that the girls hitting me don't mean to, when my swimcap slips down on my head. I yank it back into place. It slips back again. I yank. This continues until 2/3 of the way through the race when I finally ditch the swim cap, now completely falling off of my head, into the lake. (So essentially I take part in an anti-environmental activity that can best be described as the opposite of "carry in carry out.") I'm worrying that I'll get DQ'd or something but I can't help it-it won't stay on. This of course leaves me with hair flowing in my face obstructing my vision for 1/3 of a mile and my goggles fill with water since those are adjusted to fit when I'm wearing a swim cap. I stopped and treaded water twice to try and refasten my hair out of my face but it was useless. It was then that I thought of the bloggers and the crazy stuff you have been through on your way to podiumming: broken bikes, GI problems, vomitting, etc. So I bucked up and sighted through dripping hair and blurry vision and actually pulled through with a stronger than expected swim time (though I'm still wondering "what if" in regards to the time I lost!).
I got out of the water and immediately put my goggles on the top of my head and refastened my hair into a bun/low ponytail that would be appropriate for biking. I had plenty of time since there were single-file stairs and the woman in front of me was taking her sweet time. I swear people forget transition is part of the race. Likely they don't care but I DO and I don't like when people chill in transition in my way. In fun news the run (once the pathway opened up and I passed the walker) to the bikes was so long that for the first time ever i got my wetsuit down to my waist before reaching my bike. It didn't get stuck on my watch or bracelet. SCORE.
I put my helmet on. It was tight. I readjusted it. Still tight. But I'm racing so off I go. The bike was fun. This is the flattest race course I've ever biked on (though not a pancake). It was scenic. I felt strong. THEN A DUDE STARTED DRAFTING OFF OF ME. This is the first time I've been drafted off of in a race. For readers not familiar with the sport, in most triathlons-including yesterday's-that's cheating! I was shocked. Now there is the possibility he didn't know the rule (even though they announced it before the race). He was wearing a wicking shirt but it wasn't a triathlon or cycling shirt. He was a relay team member which in my mind increases the chance he's not a serious triathlete or a triathlete at all. However, even if his actions weren't intentionally malicious, I don't want a newbie cyclist whose bike handling skills probably suck 6 inches from me. When I first saw him I was kind of freaked and instinctively yelled, "You're too close!" He stuck to my wheel. I yelled, "You know it's illegal to draft, right?!" He backed off. A bit. I tried to put some distance between us b/c I was pissed off (and I was concerned he was too). Eventually he passed me. THEN some dude in an AERO HELMET was drafting off of me. That's plain old cheating. A guy with an aero helmet knows this is a non-drafting race. I can't remember what I said to him. Something to the effect of, "Get off my wheel!" He complied. I was pissed. One, it's cheating and SO LAME. You and your aero helmet need to draft off a girl? (No offense of course to my female friends who are fast-but I'm not good!) And two, drafting is more dangerous than having space between the bikes and I'm not interested in increasing my risk of being in an accident. There is a reason I do triathlons and don't bike race. On a high note, as mentioned yesterday, I had an all-time high biking average PR. WOOOHOOO. I even biked in the rain!
The run. I got passed right away by two women in my age group. BOOOOO. I couldn't hang. They were strong. I thought maybe I could catch them after I got my legs under me but I eventually couldn't see them anymore. I feel okay about my run though. Sub-8s for a 10K. This is faster than my 5K pace at my sprint triathlon last month :) My legs were trashed from marathon training for that race and it cost me. I felt fresh and strong yesterday. It was also the best triathlon weather I've ever had-cool and overcast.
Three guys from my running club were waiting on the home stretch so there was lots of hooting and hollering as I finished. [To state the now obvious, having friends at races is fun. I didn't start out my running and tri careers with running and tri friends and I have to say that now that I'm not at races alone it's pretty awesome. I honestly didn't realize how cool it could be.] J came over to the finish and gave me a hug and kiss....AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW/I know some readers want to vomit....and then we stood with the other guys from our club to wait for the two other women from our club to finish. I got my camera and we took a few pictures.
At this point I start telling people my swim woes and how I had to ditch my swim cap and my hair was in my face...woe is me...blah blah blah. J is standing behind me and goes, Um, your goggles are on your head. HUH? In your hair. They were crazy twisted up in the ponytail mess I had made on my way out of the swim.
I had done the whole race with them-explaining why my helmet didn't fit right.
The other two women from the club finished-we hooted and hollered-and then we partook of post-race festivities. I achieved my goal of beating the other women from the club and J beat his friend and training partner. We love our friends. We just wanted goals that were possibly achievable since neither of us was going to do well in the overall bigger race :) So we each had a race within the race.
I'm not that sore...I definitely should have run faster!
The end. Sorry this post is in a few different tenses. Capturing the spirit of the race is much more fun than editing.
