It's always nice to look back and think, What was I so worried about? Yes, I was undertrained. But Flagstaff is such a great location to host an event, and the Mountain Man Triathlon has always been good to me, and this year was no different.
The morning was chill, very relaxed. We got our gear laid out in transition and caught up with some friends. My stomach was a mess (more on this later..) and I was not looking forward to what I thought was going to be a race from porta-potty to porta-potty.
Finally, it was go time and we headed down the ramp to the swim start. My husband was off in wave #1 and I jumped in to get a quick warm up. Before long it was my turn to go, the gun went off and I hauled ass toward the first buoy. I felt fantastic during the swim. I executed well and stayed on course without adding a lot of extra yardage. I exited the water second female which I was thrilled with. Having swum 2 minutes slower than last year, my overall was quite a bit lower (13th swimmer). And my ongoing swim rivalry with my husband? He beat me out of the water by 9 seconds!! (Though I think he probably just ran up the ramp to the timing mat faster than me...)
Recapping the race over lunch, I postulated two reasons why I tend to swim well at elevation. (And I am saying this because I consistently place well in the swim at Deuces Wild and Mountain Man every year, and I always hear people complain about swimming at elevation.) One reason, I don't kick. I never do in any event in which I am wearing a wetsuit. My body position is such that if I kick it throws me off balance and I end up looking like a big mess and not swimming well at all. Being a non-kicker I have a lower need for oxygen than a strong kicker. Those big leg muscles are just sucking up the O's in that thin air. Second, I always go anaerobic for the first 200-500 meters of a swim, no matter what event I'm in, to try to get out ahead of the pack. So, even though in this instance the burning and numbness in my arms is due to lack of oxygen from being at 7000 ft, my brain perceives it as normal because this is how I always feel at the beginning of the swim. As I shared this with my husband he looked at me like I had grown a second head. He said he never goes anaerobic in any swim.
Though most people complain about the elevation during the swim, it begins to take its toll on me when I hop on my bike. Suddenly my legs are burning and I am sucking wind like a 70 year old chain smoker. On top of that, because Mountain Man is such a small event (only 133 finishers total in the half IM) once I am out on the road, I'm pretty much alone for the rest of the day. There's a short out and back section 20 miles in where you see bikers returning on the other side, but that's the only time I see anyone. I don't mind being alone, but it's easy to forget that you're racing and suddenly I find myself tooling along on a nice Sunday ride, enjoying the scenery. I didn't do a very good job with nutrition/ hydration on the bike because my stomach was a mess. I felt bloated and the one time I tried to take a bite of something I immediately had stomach pains. I managed to take in less than 20 ounces of fluid for the entire ride and maybe 100-150 calories. That said, I did bike only 2 minutes slower than last year despite being vastly undertrained for this event.
Out of T2, I ran pretty steadily. I always look forward to the climb at 1 mile in which switchbacks up a short climb. There's always a lot of carnage on the hill and I like to see how many people I can chase down before the top. Once we come off the hill, it's a quick 4 miles down Lake Mary Rd to the turn around and then 5 miles back to the finish. I felt like I was running low on energy but with my stomach feeling like crap I was afraid to take in anything. Finally at about 7 miles in I took a gel. Within a couple of minutes I could feel the energy returning to my legs and I felt great again. Since my stomach didn't feel any worse after taking the gel, I continued to take two more through the last 5 miles. With a mile to go, some friends pulled up alongside me in their car and leaned out the window to cheer for me. It was nice to have a little bit of support and it gave me the boost I needed to pick it up for the last mile. I finished 5:45 and change, only 6 minutes slower than last year, and I had a great time!
Now, back to the stomach issue: after two weeks of eating clean on the Racing Weight meal plan, we had pizza for dinner on Saturday night. This has always been our pre-race meal so I didn't think twice about it. But waking up on Sunday morning I felt awful. My stomach felt bloated and sick. I thought for sure I would be vomiting during the race. It was a good reminder that not only am I losing a few pounds, I'm also doing something that's important for my overall health. My body has gotten used to whole grains, and lean meats. I loaded it full of cheese and processed white crust and it rebelled. So now, when I look at the things I am "missing out on", I don't really feel regret. I feel proud and happy that I'm making positive changes for my health.
I am down another 1 1/2 pounds this week, for a total of 3 1/2 pounds in 2 weeks. Two more weeks on the official program and then I'll begin to incorporate what I've learned into my normal routine. I'll choose better, more useful carbohydrates and lean proteins. I'm kind of excited to see what effect the change will have on my performance, aside from just being lighter.
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