race

It's Monday, the day after Wildflower and I'm feeling a bit sore in the legs and shoulders, a sign that I wasn't in complete racing shape. I'm just relieved that the race is over because for whatever reason, I felt enormous pressure to do well and specifically, to place. I had a headache all day Saturday which became a migraine by bedtime and I was feeling a bit nauseous. I forgot a thermarest and was pretty uncomfortable sleeping in the tent. In a nutshell, this was probably my worst pre-race day to date. I actually had thoughts of not racing the next day. Race morning came and I awoke in much better spirits. In fact, I was in a pretty good mood. I got right into the task of doing my pre-race ritual and I was very excited to wear Jill's t-shirt. We were having a heat wave and the conditions were going to be hot with race day temperatures possibly in the high 80's or low 90's. I saw lots of familiar faces including Troy Soares, who is actually pictured with Jill on my website. It was nice to catch up with everyone prior to the race start. The swim was a bit of a disaster because open water swimming is not always about the fastest swimmer but more of the swimmer who picks the best line or the best draft, neither of which I succeeded in doing. Out on the bike, I felt strong and in control. I made three passes on my competitors and thought that I might have moved up to top two or possibly leading my age-group. Not one person passed me on the bike and that never happens. I had some twitches that came close to cramps on the bike but I responded with careful nutrition. Starting the run, I didn't feel depleted from the bike and no cramps, always a good sign. I carried some pretty good speed through the flats but the hills made my heartrate jump so high that I had a hard time recovering (looks like I need to do more hills). Also, the heat was starting to soar and because I thought that I might possibly be leading, I decided to back off and play it safe rather than risk a bonk. At mile 3, I heard the first set of footsteps come up on me and going by me was Pete Kain, who left 10 minutes behind me. He's pretty damn fast but in my younger days, I would split within 1-2 minutes of Pete on the run. Funny how I've slowed down and Pete, at 44, has yet to slow down. I let him go but after 20 yards, I decided to test myself and see if I could keep the gap constant up the hill. I was successful in keeping the gap constant until mile 4 and then I began to doubt myself and feared that I might bonk. I backed off and saved myself for another possible pass from behind. Another pass never came and I crossed the finish line spent, but not totally fried. Initial results had me winning my age-group but subsequent results bumped me to seconand--a bit disheartening but am over it. On the up side, it was nice to be able to unveil the t-shirt for Jill and hopefully, I was able to "race" some awareness.