race

This race report is long overdue, but I can still recall enough details to make an interesting race report. Russ and I drove up to Portland four days before the race. We split the drive up leaving around 6 pm on Wednesday, sleeping at a rest stop (a first for the both of us) at midnite, and then waking up to finish the drive on Thursday. We rolled into Portland around 11:00 am which gave us some time to get food and relax. We stayed at my friend Jill's house in a suburb outside of Portland. Russ and I saw a cafe and thought that might be a good start to get some food. As soon as we walked through the door, we saw nothing but moms and tons of children running around a room that appeared to be a set taken straight out of a Disney movie. Realizing that there was no testosterone in the room and that we were the only male presence, we thought it best to sneak back out the door. As we ate our lunch at a more appropriate place, the rain started to come down and this ruined our plan of riding the bike course. This also brought up the bitterness I had when nationals was canceled two years ago in Kansas City. All that money and time flying out to the most undesirable of places to not even get to race. I spent 3-4 hours of that trip pushing cars that had gotten stuck in the mud field used as the race venue parking. It was unexpectedly fun and a lot of the racers bonded while pushing cars. So Russ and I made do and we put our bikes on the trainer for a short session. We stayed indoors the rest of the day engaging in the one activity that you can do when your tapering...watching tv. The next day, it rained in the morning and into noon. We went to the race registration and by the time we were done checking in, the sun began to peep from the clouds. We drove the race site to do our pre-race bike and run and by the time we got there, the sun was out and the temperature was pretty warm. Right on. Things were looking good and even better as I felt great during the pre-race bike and run. Race morning came and to make a long story short, I must have had my head up my butt because I forgot my salt, my pump, and both of my waterbottles with my special nutrion for the bike. Oops. Once I got to transition, I realized that I only had 30 minutes to prep because I forgot at Nationals, they close the entire transition area half way through the start of the first wave, which was an hour before I was set to go. Thus, I had no pre-race run or bike and I managed to only find one water bottle for the bike ride. At this point, I decided to let everything go and just told myself to take the day as it comes and just be conservative. This type of mentality would set me up for the most non-competitive nationals I've ever had. I just remember being so laid back the entire time, never really feeling the competitive racer come out. On the bike, I was complimenting people on their bikes, giving coaching tips, supporting anyone who would take it. I was basically the goodwill embassador for the race. I have to say the bike was pretty damn fun and though I wasn't attacking it, I had a pretty fast split for not feeling too fatigued. The run was a different story. I started feeling great bouncing up the first short hill out of transition. The run was pretty hilly and as soon as I hit the first climb, I felt my heartrate shoot up...way too high and way too fast. I just felt really dehydrated and recalled that I only carried one water bottle on the bike (I'm used to drinking two bottles on the bike). I spent the next three miles just trying to rehydrate. I even stopped at an aid station to drink a full glass of water (not good in an Olympic distance event). By the time I hit the turnaround, I was feeling pretty hydrated and started to pick up my pace. I had a great second half and felt strong at the finish. My goal going into the race was to place top 8 and get a spot for World's in Vancouver for 2008. Once my mishaps came race morning, I decided to just race as best I could and maybe get a roll down spot. My finish is a bit too low for a roll down. The Portland course is amazingly fun, especially the bike, and if you're fit, the run is a great challenge as well. I would definitely do the course again. The only bad taste left for me was the amount of blatant drafting that I saw (from individuals who eventually ended up on the podium as well). I just felt bad for their competitors who narrowly lost to them. Also, the overall winner was involved in a bump with one of the older female competitors and she went down. He didn't even stop to check on her. I don't care who's fault it is, if you bump into a senior and she crashes, you stop. All I can say is shame on him and his sponsors.