Mountain Man Triathlon

In was another brilliant day in Flagstaff, Arizona for the Mountain Man Triathlon.  The skies were clear and crisp.  I was excited for the chance to race, though a little haggard after a long couple of weeks.  The way I've arranged my work schedule, I have 9 days in a row at work followed by 5 days off.  My last three off periods were spent in Colorado at a seminar, racing in Tahoe at the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run, and in San Diego getting in some continuing education hours... so that I can renew my license... so that I can keep my job... so that I can continue to fund all of my adventures. 

Granted, Colorado and California are not bad places to spend some free time, but I literally haven't been home in 8 weeks other than to sleep.  I've run out of work clothes because they're all in the laundry.  I haven't cleaned my bathroom in God knows how long (sorry, Mom!).  And forget about cooking.  I am pretty sure I've eaten pizza for 5 days straight.  My cats have forgotten what my lap feels like.  I think my stepdaughter went back to school though I haven't seen her in months.  Needless to say, I'm looking forward to my next break.  I only have to survive another 24 hours and then I can park my ass on the sofa and not move for at least 3 days. 

So, back to Mountain Man.  After working an 8 hour shift, my husband picked me up on Saturday night and we headed up to Flagstaff.  We had enough time to prep our bikes and lay out our race gear before our 8 PM bedtime.  Sleep was fitful.  The bed was a little small and my husband snored softly, but just enough to keep me on the verge of being awake.  Eventually I put in some ear plugs but it felt like only moments later my alarm was going off at 3:30 AM. 

We flipped on the Men's Olympic Marathon which had started at 3 AM to watch while we were getting ready.  Two of our athletes dropped out in the early part of the race which was really discouraging.  WARNING:  OPINION STATEMENT COMING.  You can skip to the next paragraph if you don't like opinions, are easily offended, believe in being politically correct, or don't like the color yellow.  OK, just checking to see if you're paying attention.  I realize that it is common practice for elite marathon runners to drop out of races during which they are not having a good performance, and therefore won't take home prize money.  The idea is that they can recover quickly and get into another race... with another chance at prize money.  The Olympic Marathon, however, does not offer prize money.  It never has.  The goal is to represent your country, compete against other high caliber athletes, and do your best.  Period.  So when someone drops out complaining of an injury that you know they've been running with for MONTHS... in my opinion that is poor form.  You don't have to win, but you are representing America and you do have to finish.  Otherwise, you should have given your slot to someone else who would have been happy to finish.  But to train through an injury, know you have an injury, and then on the big day - the ONLY day it counts- quit?  Uh uh.  No go.  I don't buy that. 

So, seriously, back to Mountain Man.  We arrived at transition around 4:45 AM to rack our bikes, check in and get ready to start the day.  After fooling around, socializing, and generally wasting time, I found myself rushing at the last minute to set up my transition area and run to the swim start with just enough time to zip up my wetsuit before the first wave was called to the water.  I was in the second wave so I had a few minutes to warm up before it was my turn.  Finally the countdown was on, and we were off. 

Mountain Man is a very small event so there was none of the grabbing, pushing, shoving and drowning that accompanies many of the larger events.  I pulled hard for the first few hundred meters in route to the first turn buoy and then settled into a rhythm.  The swim in Lake Mary is great because once you make the first turn, it's a straight shot across the lake and then back.  Very easy to navigate and sight.  I don't think I've ever swum as straight as I did on Sunday.  And I hauled by the slower men from the first wave.  When I popped out of the water my watch said 31 minutes which is my normal half iron distance swim time.

In T1 I struggled to get out of my wetsuit.  I've determined that I would be better off looking for a small men's suit instead of the women's medium that I have as the men's suit would probably be a little longer.  As it is, my suit ends just below my knee so that when I try to take it off, it goes inside out on itself and then suctions to my calves making it impossible to remove.  I literally have to unsuction, and work it down over my lower limb and foot to get out of it, wasting minutes of time.  *Sigh*

Finally onto the bike, I am anxious to get out on the course.  I take the first 5 miles probably a little faster than I should, but eventually settle into a consistent effort.  I love this course, though I don't love the road that encircles Mormon Lake.  It's rutted, and broken, and your ass takes a beating while your pedal stroke is interrupted about every 10 seconds.  A friend catches me around mile 10 and we're back and forth for the next 9 miles before he finally pulls away for good.  On the out and back between mile 19 and mile 25 I see how many people are ahead of me (not many!) and how many are behind me.  I pass my husband just as I approach the u-turn.  He had suffered a flat tire and had to wait on an adapter to get it changed, so I nearly caught him. 

Having become much more comfortable on the descents, I am able to maintain consistent effort on the downhills and take huge chunks of time off my previous efforts on this course.  I enter the Mormon Loop for the second time, again enjoying the scenery if not the bruises I'm obtaining in my nether regions.  I find myself smiling and enjoying the ride and the day.  I am enjoying pushing myself on the bike, feeling like I've maintained a good effort.  I turn onto Lake Mary Road to head back toward transition, with 16 miles to go. 

With 4 miles to go, I finally allow myself to look at the clock and realize that I am going to have a personal best time for my half iron bike split.  My smile becomes even wider.  I cruise the last few miles into transition and hop off my bike, ready to run. 

Only.... my body was not so ready to run.  I ran the first mile pretty decently, but something wasn't right.  I didn't feel hypoglycemic, but my legs felt like they were going to collapse out from under me.  I turned to start the gradual climb over the second and third miles.  By the time I got to the top, I was starting to feel a little bit better, but still not great.  I took in some electrolytes and water and started back down the hill.  The next 5 miles were decent.  I kept taking electrolytes and water, wanting to stay on top if that was the problem.  But by the time I got to the final turn on Lake Mary Road, with 5 miles to go... I was toast. 

I could not will myself to run.  I tried telling myself there was less than an hour to go.  I tried to talk myself into staying ahead of the other girls.  But no matter what I did, I couldn't get my legs to move.  I tried to tell myself that running would get me to the finish line faster, but there were moments when stagger was all I could do.  I started off walking for about a minute after each aid station.  Pretty soon, that became walking at the aid station and then half way between aid stations.  Eventually I just had to walk every time my feet started to scuff the ground, threatening to trip me. 

My husband captured a photo of me as I was approaching the finish line.  I don't think I've ever looked this bad during a race before.  It is probably the worst race picture I've ever taken, but it captures exactly how I felt the entire 13.6 miles.  Yeah, the course is half mile long.  Boy did I want to cry that last half mile.  I might have if I had more energy.

I'm hunched over.  My form has gone to hell in a handbasket.  And that right foot is barely clearing the ground.  Sad.  Very sad.  But I finished, and it wasn't even my slowest half iron run.  It was slower than my last half iron run by 30 minutes.  Yikes!  Ultimately I ended up with a 7 minute personal best on this course thanks to my consistent swimming, and exceptional biking.  I can't be disappointed with that. 

Swim 31:20 (this is a rough guess- T1 is added to the swim time in our official results
Bike 2:43:19
Run 2:12:58
Total:  5:32:15

My husband was waiting at the finish and half carried me to the food tent where I ate watermelon till it was coming out my ears.  Then we hobbled to the car and headed off in search of food.  I have to believe that my legs are just not fully recovered from the 50 miler in Tahoe 3 weeks ago.  I haven't run in the last 3 weeks, trying to allow them to rest, but they're definitely out of practice.  I'm excited to get back into training and see where I'm at in 4 weeks from now at Deuces Wild Triathlon Festival.