My trip to New Orleans, including the race, was one of the more interesting ones I've taken. To start off, my flight Thursday had a scheduled stop in Tulsa, OK, then Dallas where I'd switch planes to finally get to New Orleans. About halfway to Tulsa the sky outside the plane window turned a dark shade of gray. Soon we were notified that severe thunderstorms would hamper our descent to Tulsa so that we'd keep going to Oklahoma City. Oh, and that we were running low on fuel. How lovely! Just what someone who doesn't like flying wants to hear :) We made a pit stop in OK City, then backtracked to Tulsa, then to Dallas where I got rescheduled to get on a later flight to my destination. Finally, 12 hrs later, I set foot in NOLA. Good thing the race was still 2 days away!
Saturday was supposed to be a test run of SBR, but when I saw the water in Lake Pontchartrain churned up like an angry ocean, I switched to plan B and went for a pool swim instead. Turns out, the lake was closed for swimming anyway due to the conditions. Throughout the days leading up to the race, various weather systems (stemming likely from the weather in OK which sadly produced some deadly tornadoes) passed through, leaving the air muggy and super windy. Having heard that the bike course was windy anyway, I made peace with the fact that I might be in for a fun ride! (anyone who knows me, knows I "love" the wind) To add to my uncertainty of race day, I encountered a familiar problem when I woke up in pain due to a rib out in my upper back. This has happened to me on numerous occasions before races, and thankfully I found some ART guys who helped me get realigned so that I could compete. It's a work in progress, but hopefully the right strengthening and weight exercises will help me get rid of this annoying occurrence for once and for all.
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| Bike TT start :) |
Race morning came and the wind had seemed to calm down some from the day before. The sky was clear and the moon was still shining bright. I was ready to have a good day out there and begin my official start to the 2011 race season. When I got to transition I was notified that the swim was canceled, which perplexed and made me excited at the same time. The swim is my weakest link, where I tend to lose the most time to the leaders, and not having to do it meant a possible different race dynamic for me. With a last minute notice such as this, I tried to stay mentally and emotionally "even and balanced" and go on with my plans as if nothing had changed. After a delayed start, we were sent off on the bike in a time trial fashion, one person at a time, every 30 seconds. This was done in numerical order, lowest number to highest. Since I was one of the higher numbers, I went off in around 10th or 11th place.
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| Fighting the wind... |
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| ...And fighting more wind |
Having had no warm up on the bike, I decided to "ease" into the ride and use the first out and back as a way to warm up the leg muscles. After an initial battle with some cross and headwinds, I found my groove and was ready to see where the day would take me. The ride took us up some highways, which we rode the wrong way, closed to traffic of course and also included numerous out and backs, which were helpful in gauging where my competition was. The constant bumpy road conditions demanded my attention for the entire ride. With the cross and head winds blowing fiercely at me, I felt a bit like I was riding on the Big Island. It was the kind of 'don't let go of the handlebars or the wind might pull your front wheel to the side' type of wind. I stuck to my nutrition plan and took all the calories I had (which might have not been enough) since I wanted to set myself up for a good run and see how those early season marathons would pay off.
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| Run Course |
I got into T2 having moved up a few spots in the race, but unsure of what position exactly I was in, due to the TT start. I felt hot and couldn't wait to get my helmet off, as I quickly grabbed my run gear and was off with two other girls out on the run course. I separated myself within the first 1/4 mile and thus started my 'hunt' to run down as many women as I could, even though some might be behind me since they had a later start. I wanted to leave nothing in the tank so that at the finish I could say that I gave it my all, even though I had no idea where in the race I ranked. Having started the race on the bike, I never started my watch and realized at mile 1 of the run that my time was still 00:00. I quickly pressed the 'start' button at mile 1 and was able to keep track of the remaining 12 miles on my watch.
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| Keep it together now |
Mile 2 passed in just under 6min, wow. I felt good, I didn't feel like I was overdoing it too early. I kept telling myself to stay calm and not burn my matches too early. Mile 3 was another 6min mile and I was starting to see where my competition was at compared to me, due to the various out and backs on the run course. I grabbed sponges at every aid station, as I could tell I wasn't acclimated to the Southern heat (even on a relatively 'cool' day) and did my best to stay hydrated. Through mile 6 or 7 I was running 6 or just over 6min pace and I could feel that if I kept it together I would have a great run.
Then came mile 9 and the day started to wear on me. I could feel a slight twinge in my right foot, a tell tale sign that a foot cramp was near. Whether it was dehydration or going too hard earlier, I don't know. I was forced to come to a stop to try and stretch out my cramping foot, which felt like a tight ball. After I begged it to stay quit for another 4 miles, I was able to toughen it out and keep going, trying not to think about the possibility of it happening again. My pace had definitely slowed, but I was still running relatively strong at this point and I tried to pretend these were the last few miles of a marathon and how I had been able to toughen it out each time. I saw no one in front of me and no one behind me as I turned the corner to start the last 2 miles. These were the longest of the race for me as I was in constant battle with my legs not wanting to go anymore. The pavement got pretty rough right around this spot too, forcing me to pay extra attention to my foot fall, while my vision was getting blurry. Thankfully the spectators and volunteers were great throughout the entire run leg, lifting my spirits each time they said 'good job', 'you are looking strong' or even 'is that all you can do?' as I had about a mile to go. (quickly followed by 'great job' :)
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| Done. |
With every last ounce of energy I had in me, I 'sprinted' across the finish line and was immediately directed to the med tent where I graciously accepted 2 IVs. After some phone calls home and checking the results, I found out I was 7th amongst the 21 starters, which made for an awesome race day and great start to my season. I managed the third fastest run, even with my 45sec break. This has me super excited for the rest of the season and I am happy to see that my training and goals are right on track!
Thanks to all my supporters that I relied on during the race to get me to the finish the fastest way possible: KSwiss, TYR, Rudy Project, The Right Stuff, Powerbar, Lifesport Chiro and Colorado Multisport. And ofcourse my family without whom I'd not be doing this.
See you in St. George in less than three weeks!
