Monday, June 1, 2009

An excerpt from life: Deuces Wild Triathlon Festival

The glassy lake reflected the surrounding pine trees in the early morning light. The air was cool and the ground was covered in a layer of dew. The sky was clear of the storm clouds that had drenched the earth with rain yesterday afternoon. The birds had been awake for hours happily singing outside her tent. The alarm on her watch signaled 4:45 am, though she was already awake. She unzipped her sleeping bag and the cold air woke up her skin. She hurriedly tossed on some clothes and headed to the camp showers to get ready for the day. As she applied sunscreen she thought about the hours that lay ahead. Several unspoken fears danced around her mind. Wanting to be prepared for any challenge she entertained each thought and tried to formulate plans to work through each obstacle. Having raced the Olympic distance tri here a year ago, she knew the elevation would be a challenge and that the run course was tough. She had been having some tummy trouble for 2-3 days, which hadn't progressed to the point of needing an OTC remedy, but hadn't quite regulated yet either. She knew she didn't have a lot of base miles on the bike yet, only 9 weeks into IM training... and with her injury she hadn't run more than 6 miles in one shot since March. She breathed slowly and deeply trying to quiet the thoughts in her head and went back to camp to eat breakfast.
In transition an hour later, music was blasting and athletes were excitedly chatting as they arranged their gear. Triksie was racked and ready to go, set in an easy gear for the hill awaiting just out of transition. She pulled on her wetsuit and wished that the day would start already. The water temperature was warmer than the air which meant that the swim would feel good, but she wore her neoprene cap anyway, not wanting to lose excessive heat since the air would still be cool in the first miles of the bike. The National Anthem was sung and the final instructions were given as the men lined up for the swim start. The gun sounded and the glassy lake quickly became turbulent with frantic arms and legs. Four minutes later, she lined up at the front of the women's field and waited for her signal. She attacked the swim start and pulled hard for the first several hundred meters. By the time she rounded the first buoy she was in the front of the women's pack and had already caught the tail end of the men's wave. She was feeling strong and continued to push her pace through swim. It would much later before she discovered that she had the fastest women's swim time of the day. She exited the water and pulled her wetsuit to her waist as she ran up the ramp to the wetsuit peelers. They whipped her suit off and she tried to catch her breath as she made her way into T1. Calmly and efficiently, she pulled on her Race Belt Skirt, strapped on her cycling shoes, buckled her helmet strap and positioned her sunglasses. She grabbed Triksie and headed out of transition. "Use your aerobars!" someone in the crowd yelled as she made her way out of the park and into town. She would remember that advice throughout the day. The bike course was hilly but fast. There were several climbs in the beginning, a nice series of rolling hills in the middle and several long climbs as cyclists made their way back toward Show Low. The rest of the course was fast and her legs felt strong. The discomfort in her stomach started subtly and it was a solid 10 or 15 miles before she realized what was happening. Her stomach was bloated and painful. She knew she would have to back off the nutrition and hope that things would settle and she would begin to process what was already on board. Fearing bonking later in the race, she tried to take small sips from her water and nutrition bottles every once in a while but had to bail on her nutrition plan. Her muscles felt good and despite the elevation, she didn't feel like she was pushing too hard for her aerobic system. She was breathing comfortably, so she continued to push the pace on the bike. During the last 20 miles, she felt like she was on a roller coaster. She felt good at some moments and at other times she felt miserable, wishing she could vomit and start over. She turned off the highway into town and pushed hard over the last 6 miles back to transition, ready to be off the bike. She hadn't let herself think about the run, not wanting to give up mentally too early in the race. She rolled through T2 swapping shoes and grabbing her visor. She headed out onto the trail around the lake. Dan passed her and told her to keep it steady. She desperately wanted to take in calories but the jostling of her stomach limited her to small sips of water. Four miles in she was on the gravel road, a long hill on a very unstable surface... her least favorite part of the run. She passed her friend Eric on the way back up the hill. Hurry up and catch me, she said as she passed him... estimating he was about a mile back. She finished the loop around the lake and headed up the hill to the turn around. The bloating was beginning to resolve now, but she was feeling the effects of hypoglycemia. Glad that her stomach was feeling better, she began to walk through the aid stations in order to drink as much Gatorade as possible. She needed the salt and as many calories as she could get. The sun was hot and she continued to douse herself with cold water every mile. Heading back toward the gravel road in the second loop she was feeling dizzy. She was still running, but the pace was extremely slow. She would not have considered it "running", more of a slog. She wanted to be done. Eric passed her at mile 10 looking very strong. She wanted to yell after him to wait for her. She could handle fatigue and pain... but the dizziness made her scared and she didn't want to be out there running alone. She glanced at the clock on her Garmin, and forgetting that it was an hour off, she thought she was aiming for a 7+ hour finish. She was very discouraged and disappointed that her favorite leg of the race was turning into such a disaster. Clouds rolled in and she began to feel chilled in the final 2 miles. She knew she would finish and continued to put one foot in front of the other. The clock at the finish line read 6:10, and a four minute delay for her wave start meant that she had finished in just over 6 hours. She took her medal and Dan was there asking her what she needed. She couldn't formulate the words to ask for something salty, so she started to cry instead. He steadied her as they walked toward the transition area and she paused at the aid station just outside of transition to drink some Gatorade and eat a banana. She soaked her legs in the lake for a minute and pulled on some warm clothes. Feeling a little better, and able to talk finally, they headed back toward the finish line and the barbecue. They drank a beer with some friends and reviewed every detail of the race. The rain was coming down hard now, so after Dan collected his award they decided to go to dinner first before heading back to camp to shower. The rain had stopped by the time they finished their dinner of Mexican food and margaritas. They built a campfire and sat for hours enjoying the quiet evening. After the sun had set, and the s'mores had been eaten, she finally collapsed into bed zipping snugly into her sleeping bag. A long day done.

1 comment:

joshua said...

hey congratulations, you are my hero and I wish I could be like Dan on competition.
keep going, bye bye