“What you are thinking, what shape your mind is in, is what makes the biggest difference of all.”
– Willie Mays
It took me a few hours before I finally fell asleep, but once I was out, I was pretty much out the whole night. Usually my mind keeps me awake the night prior to a race, but I was so caught up in my migraine and purposefully did not let any thoughts of the day ahead creep into my consciousness. The alarm went off at 4 and I, quite willfully, rolled out of bed. I went straight to the kitchen and took out all my pre-filled water bottles and mixed them up with HEED and stuck them in the freezer while I got ready. I had most everything set out and ready to go, so not much thought was needed.. which, let’s be honest, at 4 in the morning is always a good thing. I continued on, braided my hair, rubbed on some arnica, donned my tri suit (new top and all!), and finished packing my bags. My mom, true to her insomniac night-before-anybody’s-big-day fashion, came out to see me and help with any preparation.
Because our bikes had to be racked the day before, it was easy to pack the car. I poured hot water into my to-go cup, already filled with a packet of VIA (best invention ever, i might add), and put my raw energy bar on a napkin along with a frozen banana and almond butter. Pre-race meal in hand, I jumped in the car and headed to Amelia island. I couldn’t believe how much energy I had, i was seriously filled with excitement and I’m pretty sure based on my rampant texts to Chloe, she could feel the energy from miles away!
I got to the race site a little before 6 and was unusually calm– excited but not nervous. i was ready. I got to the body marking and was thrilled to see my friend, Shivella, holding a marker. She used to be a part of DRC sports who puts on this race, as well as many other awesome events. It was fun to see her, catch up and reaffirm the fact that I had no nerves. I headed straight for the palm tree that my bike race was next to (always a good idea to have a landmark to help your transitions go smoothly). I started laying out my towel in my usual fashion– we’ve all got a system, and I know what works for me. Shortly after, I met up with Chloe and we both celebrated the fact that the race was confirmed to be wetsuit legal (whew!).
With 30 minutes until race start, I made sure to take my pills– 1 Race cap, 1 Anti Fatigue, and 1 Amino Acid. After one last check over all my gear and making sure my bike computer was zeroed out, I grabbed my goggles, cap, chamois butter, and espresso gel and Chloe and I headed out of transition. We got to the beach and tried to figure out the swim course– it looked SUPER long, so, naturally we figured we must skip some of the buoys. With 3 separate races going on (half, olympic, and sprint), multi color and shape buoys, it was quite the puzzle to solve. Finally, the race announcer shed some light on the course and we were in fact swimming every buoy. Boy did it look far. Moments before the national anthem I spotted my mom and my sister and was able to say hello and snap a few photos before having to file into our corral, as we were the 3rd wave.
C and I tried to analyze the water and with only seconds before the gun went off we realized the current was coming from the OTHER direction and sprinted across to the far side where we got into the ready position and began our day…
Swim
The gun fired and I sprinted into the water, jumping the tiny waves and running until it made sense to dolphin dive the wake. One or two dives and I found myself in a rhythm. There were a few red caps around me, but we quickly seemed to disperse and despite my efforts, I found no one to draft off of. One day, i swear i will figure that out!! I kept swimming and my plan all along was to focus on my form. I wanted to repeat that word over and over and make sure I didn’t let my speed or anxiety get in the way of proper technique… but I never even got the chance to use my mental focus word. I was doing it without prompting. I felt smooth. I felt relaxed. I felt fast. Pretty quickly I started coming across the wave of men that started 5 minutes ahead of me. I was lifting my head every 5-10 strokes and focusing on each buoy. I’ve never stayed so precisely on track. “this is the best swim I’ve ever had. I’m gonna totally beat my time prediction” i thought to myself. We turned the first buoy and I felt like I was being pushed backwards slightly by the current, but it didn’t feel like much and I was swimming around more and more men with my focus on each orange dot. Just 4 buoys until the last turn. I cornered that last buoy and almost immediately my view went white. My goggles fogged and my vision was gone. I was able to clear my goggles while still keeping forward motion (flutter kick, head up). I tried to find the buoy, but i saw none. It wasn’t just my goggles, but the beach was in a distant fog– focusing on anything was more than a little difficult. I decided to trust the swimmers ahead of me (who at this point were SO spread apart it looked like everyone was swimming in different directions!) I just kept moving forward, lifting my head often and trying to find something to sight. I cleared my goggles AT LEAST 5 times, each time unsure of my direction, but I could see the red finish arch and i just hoped I wasn’t ignoring any buoys in between. I was getting closer and closer and my speed kept building and building. “I can’t wait to see my time” I kept thinking. Finally, I was close to the shore and there was one other red cap just beside me and we were battling it out. A big wave came and pushed us in and she immediately stood up and started her run. Instead, I kept my horizontal position and swam shallow strokes in anticipation for one more surge from mother nature. It came and i was practically washed up ashore. I jumped up and started running and almost immediately ran past my opponent. Swim as long as you can, running through water is always slower. I scanned the crowds for my family before remembering to stop my watch, but I quickly looked down and for a split second my “high” shifted to a low. 38:00?! THIRTY EIGHT MINUTES?!?! My plan had me going 32, which I did last year on this very course and I feel like a stronger swimmer and I had visions of breaking 30 while I was out there!! But before I could even finish that (negative) thought, I returned my focus to stripping out of my wetsuit and finding my cheering section. I spotted my mom and waved at them while I yanked my zipper and crossed the timing mats. I started focusing on the task at hand: finding my palm tree and starting my transition.
Swim time 38:55.5; 39 OA; 6 Women
T-1
It’s amazing what not allowing negative thoughts creep into your psyche can do. I reached my towel where I told myself “make up for the time on the bike. the swim is over. focus on what’s next.” I quickly yanked my ankles out of my wetsuit (a usual point of contention), slipped on one sock and then the other. One shoe and then the other. sunglasses on. helmet on. helmet strapped. yanked my bike under the rack, triggered the computer and started sprinting to the mounting line. I had to go around a woman having trouble clipping in (one female down!) and then I was on my way.
T-1 time 1:29
