Reflections from a not so great day....

Don't let the smiles fool ya it was a tough day!

Race day started at 4:15 am like usual. I ate my oatmeal and my dad was rushing me out the door even though we were early. On the way to the race he decided to start arguing politics with me. I was like, um, hello, race morning good energy please?!? WE got there 10 minutes before the race started and there was no one else out there. It was FREEZING cold. Like 40 degrees and I was wearing shorts. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike cold weather? Well, I really do. Here is the breakdown of the race:

Swim: The water was 60 degrees. It was insanely cold and one chick with no wetsuit go in and got back out. My swim was very slow, about 1 minute, 40 seconds slower than I anticipated. I was having a hard time getting a good rhythm going because the cold water on my face was killing me. Transition area was up a big hill and down almost a block. The smart racers had their friends and family carry their shoes which they threw on after the swim so they could run. Peeps like me just crawled up the hill and walked. Swim took 15:40 seconds for 750 meters. SLOW! My goal was 14:10!

Bike: Normally this is my thing but today it was brutal. It was a really hilly course and the wind was harsh. I was regretting riding a disc because I didn't feel like I was in great control of my ride. At mile two I felt like I needed to burp (nasty lake water) and instead I threw up all down my arm. It was a gross acidic throw up that wasn't chunky but left an awful taste in my mouth. I didn't have anything but water to try and rinse the taste out. The course was set-up really weird and I only saw three riders the entire time. I threw up again at mile 8 and was getting very frustrated with the entire race, the hills, the wind, the cold weather, the potholes, and the glass that I ran over. None of the volunteers were shouting anything encouraging and I was just wanting this thing to be over. Finally we came back into NC State's campus! Thank goodness! I ended up averaging 20 mph on the bike, but seriously don't know how. My bike split was the third fastest females which made me feel better.

Run: The run was just as hilly as the bike and I am in serious need of some hill repeats! I passed a girl on Duke's tri team around 1/2 mile into the run and she said "I can't even feel my feet!" I said " I know, mine are numb from the ankle down!" It felt really difficult running like that. MY first mile split came in at 7:18 and I actually felt pretty decent until half a mile later when I burped again and threw up again! Awesome! I slowed my pace down and just tried to finish the race at that point. I got passed by the girl that ended up winning my age group at mile 2. I hate it when that happens! My average pace was 8:41, again SO SLOW!

This is what we call not having fun!!!

I ended up placed 3rd in my age group and 11th overall female. I was very disappointed because I felt like this race was not a reflection of my training or my true fitness level. But I think that dealing with things that we aren't accustomed too (puke, cold weather) are what makes us stronger athletes. Thanks to Hunter for pointing out that if I had the race I wanted to and won my age group then I might have slacked off these last few weeks leading into Gulf Coast. According to him because I am so disappointed in my results I will train even harder so that I can feel better going into that race.

He's totally right. I felt great today (I should have, my HR avg was barely higher than my half-marathon HR avg!) and hit up the gym for a tempo run and leg workout. I have buried this race and am totally fired up about the next four weeks of training