Flashback to 2007

Here I am....two weeks left in this unbelievably huge summer of racing. OY! I have the Hy-Vee 5150 AG Championship race this weekend, then it's off to Sandusky, OH for my revenge attempt at the 140.6 distance. As I was thinking about these next two weeks, I realized that my race at Hy-Vee this weekend will be a bit of a revenge race too!  NO PRESSURE!!!!

Let's go back to the year 2007.  I had just finished my very FIRST triathlon in Highlands Ranch, CO.  It was a sprint distance race with an indoor pool swim.  Overall it was a total success! I was on the "tri high" and shortly after was convinced that I should give it another shot.  There was a new race in town....the hype was huge as it would take over the downtown Des Moines area, with a finish in front of the Capital building. WHOA! So unheard of at that time!  Nevermind that this race was an Olympic distance - nearly double the distance of everything I had trained for.  And, nevermind that this would be an open water swim, of which I had yet to do. I had time to figure it all out, right??  So, I signed up.

I bumped my run training to accommodate for the 10K distance I would be required to run.  I might have even ridden my bike a few more times. (I still thought you could fake the bike ride.  And Des Moines is FLAT compared to CO, right???)  I found some people doing open water swim practices and showed up to put my face in the water.

Kristen and I would spend hours chatting online about the "research" we had done on ways to shave time off of my transitions.  We were convinced that this was a HUGE aspect of the race that needed some serious work. (remember, this is my 2nd tri ever)  We discussed wetsuit removal strategies, speed laces in my run shoes, and no socks on the bike and run.  I bought new bike shoes that were designed to be worn sockless (my first pair of Specialized Tri-vents, which I still swear by today).  I bought the Body Glide to use for my wetsuit and on my feet.  I was feeling ready - VERY NERVOUS - but ready.

Race day shows up and the water temps leave us sans-wetsuit.  Oh. Boy.  I hadn't done any OW swimming without a wetsuit.  Panic started to kick in.  I also hadn't done anything that resembled a mass beach start, so when the gun went off, I hung in the back to let everyone else go first.

I'm fairly good at keeping anxiety under control in most cases but this was something I could not fend off.  The feeling of helplessness was there - the buoys seemed so far away!  I wasn't too far out when I got my first face full of water and started choking.  In my mind DROWNING!  AAAAAHHHHH!!!  I rolled over to my back so that I could catch my breath and pull myself together.  This happened a few more times......before the first buoy. :(  I started telling myself "just get to the buoy and you can quit!".  But then I'd feel a bit better and would allow myself one more shot.

Then it happened.  The wave of MEN behind us started to swarm upon me.  I was taken by surprise (isn't that why they space you out? so that you don't overlap??) and the anxiety kicked in again.  I got beat up, swam over, swam under, pulled and pushed out of the way - and one guy even talked to me, telling me to "sight off the bridge!".  I just wanted to be done....NOW!  I think I was consumed by a few more waves...I don't really remember now.  I just remember finally finishing and thinking "Thank God that is over!".

I entered T1 and the only thing I could focus on was catching my breath.  My heart was pounding in my throat - my lungs were burning!  I was so disoriented.  Thank goodness I didn't have to put on socks....that could have been a disaster.  I eventually got my shoes, helmet, sunglasses and GLOVES on (hahahahaha!) and set out to fake this bike ride.

I was overwhelmed with the number of people I had to ride beside.  I was still loopy from the swim, and now these people are zooming by me.  It was only a few miles into the route when one particular guy, in full decked out sperm helmet and disk wheel, came in very close - swiped me (I felt something to my side and my leg) and I went down.  Road rash, sore shoulder, twisted handle bars and brakes.  I still had 20+ miles to ride - I was determined to finish this!  I had suffered through that swim and didn't quit, so I wanted to keep going. I convinced the Rescue people I was ok, signed a doc saying so, and went on my way.  At first I had the adrenaline on my side, but I was so nervous I would crash again that I was white knuckle the whole way.  I remember a few people asking me about my road rash, and I just wanted them to leave me alone.  As we came back into town, there was a fairly significant hill where all of the hecklers were camped out.  My only goal was to not get off my bike and walk.  I was hurting.  Not just from the crash, but I was not trained to handle this amount of effort. A new friend was out there and started running beside me.  I started whining about everything that had happened so far, looking for a "you got this" but that didn't happen.  I believe he said something like "Quit your bitching and get your ass moving!".  Funny today....not so funny then.

Finally I finished the bike ride.  I kept thinking "Wow!  Ok, I only have to do this run.  What can POSSIBLY go wrong on the run??"

Remember that whole "no socks for a faster transition" idea?  Yeah....that is what can go wrong on a run.  Not only was I still feeling half of Grey's Lake in my lungs/stomach, and the road rash and shoulder really hurting, but now, as I slogged along in the brutal heat of the Iowa summer, my feet were starting to sear with pain from the blisters that were forming.  OH MY GAWD WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA????

It took me over 4 hours to finish this race.  I hated almost every min of it.......except for the last minute of the finish line where I felt like I had really accomplished something.  It was then that I realized I couldn't fake any of it.  If I tried I would suffer, and I don't like suffering.