so… i’ll just go ahead and start by saying i did not have the race i was expecting/hoping for. sorry this is coming a couple days after the fact, but i’ve a) been with family and trying to soak up all the time w/ them as i could; and b) slightly embarrassed to share…
I’m actually feeling better about it the more i think about it and let it sink in. plus, I’ve spoken with several other folks who competed in the race and after commiserating w/ them and hearing similar feedback , i realize i did just about as well as i could have considering the conditions…
swim
i was “lucky” enough to swim in the largest swim wave of the day. there were SO many people. it didn’t bother me a bit, i’m fine under chaotic open water situations. but, it didn’t thin out until the turn around point. it was mass chaos… mostly b/c the waves were out to play. usually the once you pass the “break”, the waves die down and it’s pretty smooth… but not on Saturday, the choppy waters were there the whole way. they were considering canceling the swim portion b/c of it. considering that, i guess i’m not to upset w/ my time. i added a minute to what i did last year, but again, the conditions were worse and last year i was doing it as a relay so i ONLY had to worry about the swim. Also for the first time since i can remember, i felt like i had a good swim. i have such a tendency to lose form and swim sloppy when it comes to race-day. today i felt smooth and controlled. i’m very happy with that. hopefully that’s a continuing trend :)
swim time- 37:42
T1
i did it!! i got out of my wetsuit! probably the best part of the day right here. my coach gave me some tips and it worked like a charm! my fears of getting my wetsuit stuck are now gone. yay!!
my T2 was a little slower than usual, but i was told to take my time here. plus, the distance from the beach to transition was quite a jaunt. i quickly tossed my contacts out, grabbed my sunglasses (prescription), threw my helmet on and ran to the mount line. i looked down when i got to my bike and i somehow gashed my knee on something (not a clue what. it didn’t hurt at all) and i had blood gushing down my leg. i loved it. i felt so tough ;)
T-1 time- 3:30
Bike
well, the one redeeming part of this race is i PR’d on my bike. i felt good starting out. i took one endurolyte at 5:00 in and continued drinking my water. At exactly 30:00 i took 1 GU and a few sips of accelerade. i continued the nutrition plan pretty closely until the second hour. the amount of calories needed and space for water bottles didn’t quite correlate, so in the interest of space/aerodynamicity i put two scoops of accelerade in one bottle. the concentrated accelerade was too much for me– too sweet, too concentrated. i couldn’t stand the thought of drinking it any more. i got 2 water bottles during the course and refilled my aero bottle. it didn’t slow me down much, either. i’ve now gotten over my mental obstacle that taking water slows you down. from mile 30-40 i felt SUPER strong, i almost had to remind myself to slow down a bit (which ive never done before). i saw 20-21mph for a good while. i tried to keep it above 17 the whole way… THEN i hit the turn around… and then the wind was at my face. i tell you, there was a good bit of wind. the wind that WAS in the water earlier was now the enemy on the bike. my speed was dropping to 15-16mph. i tried to just keep it where was comfortable and in HR z3. there was one hill going out and one hill coming back and despite my positive thinking, it was tough. i think at mile 30 miles, my cumulative time 3:30. i tried to keep mental notes of my times throughout. at mile 45 i starting feeling pain in a place that i’ve never felt before– the inside of where my legs connect to my groin– hip flexor, i suppose. i told myself with 10 miles to go, i could hit the run and be just fine. i kept going, but i’ll tell ya that is what hurts the most right now.
nutrition: i could not get myself to eat a 3rd GU. so, once i got off the bike i had consumed a total of 32oz water plus 2 16-20z water bottles i picked up on the course, half my bottle of accelerade (which prob = 1 scoop), and 2 GU’s. I also took in 7 endurolyte caplets and 2 excedrin migraine (at 2:00 exactly i felt one coming on and took them immediately)
bike time- 3:09:19
T2
easy. quick switch of shoes, grabbed my visor, bag of endurolytes and stuffed some GU in my pocket and i was out. legs felt great, a little tired but felt strong and i felt like i was gonna have a great run…
T2 time- 1:14
Run
this is where it all ended. for the first 3/4mile i felt great, started out at a fine clip, not too fast, just about perfect… then it hit me before the first mile marker, i had to start walking. all of a sudden i hit a wall. i got to the first aid station, grabbed 2 cold sponges, squeezed one on my head and stuffed them both in my shoulder straps. i grabbed 2 cups of water, drank them both and took an endurolyte. 
i started jogging again and made it a few minutes and then had to start walking again. i couldnt figure it out. the most i’ve ever walked in a race in my life was 30seconds up a big hill at the north east tri last year. i was walking about 1-2 minutes then running 5-6 then walking again. i got water at every aid station like you suggested and drank at least 1 cup (plus some ice) each time. i started having GI issues and took more endurolytes. the idea of eating any GU or shot bloks made me feel even more queasy and i knew they wouldnt react well with my stomach. this trend continued pretty much the whole way. walk, jog, walk, water, endurolytes. the only full mile that i was able to run without stopping was from 7-8 and even that was difficult. there wasn’t a single spot of shade the entire course. it was 87 degrees and terribly humid. i even saw professionals walking. it was like nothing i’d ever seen before– there were more walkers than runners! it made me feel a little bit better knowing that i wasnt the only one being torn apart by the heat… but still it was totally discouraging. i was finally able to try to eat a GU at around mile 4, but i could only eat half of it. i followed it with more water and an endurolyte. at close to mile 6 all that sounded appealing to me was something i could chew, so even though i’ve never trained with it, i grabbed a cliff bar, took a bite chewed it up and spit it out. it actually helped. just having the taste in my mouth and the act of chewing seemed to be a good thing. i took my split at the 6 mile mark– 1:08:34. i took my next split at 12 miles — 1:16:12. the final 1.1 was 15:54. terrible. i followed my rule of sprinting the finish line no matter what and was able to crank out a decent clip for the last 1/4 mile.
but once i finished i was completely wiped. i was helped to the medical tent where they proceeded to give me an IV and 2 bags of fluid. i was in terrible shape. i couldn’t think clearly and couldn’t really describe what was wrong. one of the medics asked if i was hot and i couldn’t even interpret the question b/c i readily answered with “YES” and when they brought a cold, damp towel and draped it on my legs i couldnt figure out why they would bring someone who’s teeth are chattering an ice cold towel! i didnt have the energy to remove it so it stayed there until i could flag down someone and tell them i was freezing. lol. it’s kinda funny thinking back on it. apparently i was just really dehydrated. the medical tent was completely full- the tell-tale sign it was just a really tough race. after about an hour of recovering in the med tent, i was finally confident that i could get myself back to my stuff and find my family. the walk to my bike took me quite a while, but i hobbled my way back. again, the most sore area was/is the inner hip.
oh, and definitely losing a few more toenails after this race. lovely.
run time (get ready to grimace ) - 2:40:41
total time:
6:32:23
a full HOUR slower than my goal. i looked at my watch and saw that i was hitting my goal time of 5:30 at around mile 8… i then realized beating my last time (5:48) wasn’t even a possibility. that was a tough realization.
i found my sister and we found a seat inside and sat down for a few hours talking and waiting for my mom to call and let us know they were getting close to the finish line. my mom ran (walked) with my dad the whole way. this was truly a family affair :)
all in all, i had fun and felt pretty good in the first two events, it was just the run that ruined the race. i know i can (and will) do better and i’m anxious to erase this time from my memory and redeem myself :) i think considering the fact i’ve been so sick and had to take crucial time off from my training and the weather conditions for the race, i can’t be too disappointed. i’m tryin to stay positive :) rhode island will be my time to shine!!
Doing this race w/ my dad made it even more special and i feel lucky and privileged to have had this experience. i’m incredibly proud of him.Having my family there on the sidelines was so awesome. i wish they could be there for every race.
