So as requested, I am going to do a short wrap up blog. But I plan to write for the SWRC newsletter, hopefully with Aldo, about the training and race as a whole. So this will be mostly a fun blog...
70.3. That is a lot of miles. For those of you that do 140.6, this is no joke, even if I make some funnies. YOU ARE AMAZING. PERIOD. I do not know what else I can say because I am pretty sure if my butt would have let me go another 56 miles on the bike, and that's if I didn't drown on the swim, I wouldn't have been able to walk on the run! So in my eyes you are all incredible.
So here is my funny wrap up. Let's begin with pre-race.
- Tornado's need to stay the F away from thousands of bikes lined up to race
- Pasta was a good idea. Beer calmed my soul.
- No matter how much your skinny friend eats, she can still take down some Cheetos and Donuts, and race like a pro the next day.
- The AC in a hotel is the most annoying and wonderful thing to disrupt my sleep.
- Cory is amazing and puts up with a lot of crap and whining from me.
- Never underestimate the power of thousands of people to make all their race crap fit in tiny spots.
- Putting on a wetsuit in humidity is a sport in itself and should be counted.
Moving on to the swim....
- Lake Michigan is freaking COLD.
- It helps to just constantly put your head under the water pre-race and about knock yourself out with burst of coldness
- I sure did pee in my wetsuit. Several times. No one stole it this time so I think I did well.
- Cold water = fast swimming. I swam my fastest time. I wanted out of there.
- As I told the crazies, I brought back a piece of Lake Michigan with me...in my tummy. I believe it helped me hydrate for the first few miles of the bike.
- I hate swimmers in white caps. They swam over me. Grrrr. Haha
Transition 1
-Oddly when my parents saw my T1 time they figured I had to go potty. They were right. I got rid of some of Lake Michigan.
- I am thankful for the people that help remove wetsuits. I do not think I would ever sign up for that! They even helped me up off the ground after I fell down. Awesome people. As were all the volunteers out there, most of whom probably didn't get thanked.
- I think I biked and ran the entire race with sand in my socks, oh well.
- I had no sense of urgency at either T and I was proud of that.
56 miles of bumps - on to the bike....
-Racine needs to fix their damn roads.
- Forcing down peanut butter Ritz and honey stinger waffles was ok. I may never want to look at them again in my entire life, but they worked ok.
- I am now a pro at retrieving my water bottle and drinking. The first few tri's I lost a few bottles and Cory was getting mad haha.
- There are some fast freaking bikers out there, I am not the slowest, but I have a long way to go if I ever want to race like some of these people do. WOW.
- Once again, thank you volunteers. It can't be easy staying out in the sun all day.
- Seriously. The definition of FLAT should say: see an Illinois resident. I mean, it wasn't super hilly but I would not consider that flat. Flat is _______ not ___/ HAHA
- I have never been so happy to dismount from that bike. When we got home I told Cory to hang it up, I was done with it for a while. Well....at least a week :)
T2...
- I thought I may puke. I still had a half marathon. F me.
- I decided to try this bagel from that morning to calm my stomach. Oh how nice, it was toasted. Wait. How? Oh right, the sun.....
- Sunscreen, shoes, belt, and I was off. oh wait, take off the damn helmet, that would have looked silly. Sun visor. Ok time to run...ok time to walk. Time to get out of T2 NIKI
13.1 miles of hell, and food.
- I am a runner so why was it so hard to run. The first 6 miles I felt like I may puke. I was afraid if I did I would be disqualified.
- I was so incredibly thirsty. I was gulping water and take oranges at every stop and it wasn't enough.
- I decided to run .5 mile, walk .1. when I was defeated by that, I decided to do what I could.
- Seeing my teammates (friends) a long the way, seeing Cory tell me how great I was doing and smiling and running a long the side with me so we could talk, it all gave me the strength to finish.
- The aid stations are like buffets, but seriously, warm coke is disgusting. Warm anything to drink on that hot of day is nasty.
- To the two men close to the end that told me to dig deep and I told them I had dug to the bottom and then told them I would dig farther and they cheered me like crazy, THANK YOU. that was amazing!
- Once again, see definition for FLAT. the beginning seriously had me worried.
- Was that really a zoo?? Cause the only animals I saw where the ones doing the race with me.
- When I saw the finish line I was a mix of emotions. I was happy because I did it. I felt proud because my friends, parents, Cory, Cory's parents, everyone was watching. I was worried because I was concerned about my friend's health. I was happy because I knew another friend was about to finish with me. I was amazed because I was pretty sure that another friend had just achieved a major goal. And I was sad because it was about to be over. Funny, I was too exhausted to share any of these emotions so I just stood there.
The aftermath
- Well most of you know. We haven't shut up since we crossed the finish line.
- Oddly I do not have much muscle pain.
- I am badly burnt, chaffed, and oddly again, the roof of my mouth hurts so bad when I swallow I can barely eat.
- I have some awesome tan lines.
-When and Where is the next one?!?!?!?!
70.3 - lots came happen during those miles. But I found a lot more happened during the training up to those miles. I learned a lot about myself. I have memories that will be with me forever. Before the race the speaker said we were all about to do something only 2% of the world would consider doing. I would like to say I just accomplished my goal that 98% of the world, will never try!!
