I woke up in the morning at 4:30am quite tired. Definitely stayed up later than I would have liked last night so I struggled to get going in the morning. While I was smart enough to bring my own breakfast for race day (oatmeal), I didn't think about what to eat the oatmeal out of. Thanks to mom for being creative enough with and figuring out a plan ...
After a few obligatory pictures before leaving the hotel, we were off!
Mom and I were lucky enough to have a shuttle bus from the hotel to the transition area, which we took at 5am, getting us downtown at 5:30am. We decided to stick together as much as much as we could while getting ready. I helped her get her transition area set up and she did the same with me. It was really weird to prepare our separate areas and know that we weren't going to see each other in this area again until after the race. I also had a case of comparing myself to others for a while - checking to see what they were wearing, seeing what people had set up in their areas, comparing bikes, etc. I know this is one of the worst things to do on race morning but it's human nature, I couldn't help it. Thank goodness for mom being there to distract me. I made sure I had everything set-up the way I wanted it ... water and Gatorade on the bike, helmet on the handle bar, sunglasses laid out, etc. I was ready to go!
We were booted out of the transition area by 6:45am and made our way out to the craziness they called the staging area. Not sure if this is how the race should have started or if it was due to the swim being cancelled but corralling close to 4,000 people on a street was tough! They had 15 separate "corrals" and were marked for each start/age group. Since Mom was starting early, she got settled in the herd of people near her sign and I decided to stick with her as long as I could. We were both getting fairly nervous at this point, although she was handling it much better than I was. Apparently my previous race experience didn't help me much here. I tried to be positive and happy but deep down to keep Mom happy, I was nervous as heck. I hated not knowing what was going to happen, despite the fact I knew that I was going to experience it soon! I will say that being in the middle of such a large crowd singing of the National Anthem on the 10th Anniversary of 9-11 was amazing ... can anyone say tears??
As her group was getting ready to be called to start the race, I gave Mom and big hug and kiss, told her to do awesome and left the area. As more and more groups started the race by moving into the transition area, we had more space out in the area, thankfully. It was weird standing alone for close to an hour before I started the race. In this hour, I realized how much I missed being part of Team in Training and the team camaraderie and support that comes along with it. I chatted with a few random people while waiting
for our group to be called, which helped calm the nerves a bit, especially when I talked to people that were in the same boat I was. Finally, at 8:15am, a full hour after Mom started her race, our age group was called. Yay! We continued to make our way through the line and to the official "start" line at the entrance to the transition area. The race officials would blow a whistle every 15 seconds and allow 10-12 people to start their race by running in to get their bikes. I knew I was in for a rude awakening when the other people starting with me ran full speed ahead, which I lightly jogged to my row. What did I get myself into?? Official timing results say that I spent 1 minute, 52 seconds in the transition area - not bad at all. Thankfully, the transition area had dried out a bit more from yesterday but there was still a TON of mud, especially near the exit of the transition area. While I was able to run by the side of my bike for most of the area, I had to physically pick it up to run over a HUGE area of wet mud right before the start of the road.
It took a little while to get the bike going at the right speed I wanted to be at. I quickly found someone ahead of me and decided I was going to push myself hard enough to keep up with them. When I eventually passed them, I found someone new to follow - that seemed to work well for me during the entire ride. The start of the race was great - there were a ton of spectators cheering everyone on. We rode through a bit of downtown Washington DC before hopping on the Clara Barton Parkway for the majority of our ride. This was a beautiful, tree lined street that was slightly hilly but nothing compared to what I've been training on here in Colorado. I realized quickly how weird it was to start to close to end of the pack. I wasn't able to keep up with the super fast people in my group and the fast people from the groups behind me passed me no problem. Since there were fewer people at the back of the pack, I frequently felt like I was alone. I'm not quite sure I pushed myself as much as I would have since I didn't feel like I was in a race. I also would have liked a few more mile markers along the course - I only saw one at the 20k and 30k points. It was hard to judge my speed/pace since I wasn't sure how far along I was on the course. About 30 minutes into my ride, I was lucky enough to see Mom passing by in the other direction - gave me a little boost of motivation! I became "that" girl when I dropped my Gatorade bottle on the road. Some guy came flying by me and didn't yell that he was on my left, right at the same time I was going to put my bottle back in the holder. He scared the crap out of me and I ended up dropping it. Less than happy since it was the only Gatorade I had with me and I knew I was going to want it during the run since it was already pretty hot. I don't know about that guy but I was so excited when I passed someone that I was more than willing to yell "on your left". While I didn't personally see the family or Lindsay on my ride, they were out there to get some pictures.
On a side note, I would like to thank God for not giving me a flat tire on the bike course! I saw plenty of people on the side of the road trying to fix theirs and I'm so thankful that wasn't me. I thought I knew how to do it but all bets are off when you're freaking out in the middle of a race. Guess I was rewarded for being overly prepared with tubes and equipment!
Official timing results tell me that I did the 40k bike course in 1:40:01. I knew I was going to be under 2 hours but was secretly hoping to be under 1:30. Next time!
Holy rubber legs as I hopped off my bike and ran into the transition area. I knew this was going to happen from the training that I had been doing but sheesh! I clearly overcompensated for the injury in my left knee by overusing the right leg during the ride and I could feel it! After dropping off the bike, fixing my hair (yes, I'm a girl!) and grabbing my running pack, I was off. Race timing tells me that I spent 2 minutes, 57 seconds in transition. I'll take it.
Over the course of the last few weeks since my knee injury, I had planned on doing the 10k run in a walk/run style. I could only run about 2 minutes before the knee hurt pretty bad so I made sure to set my watch to beep every 2 minutes to keep me on this pace. By the time I started the run, it was very hot - the sun was out in full force and it was pretty humid. I had to talk a little more than I would have liked to start the run portion to get my legs going but after the first 3/4 mile, I was back in my groove. Kudos to the race organizers and volunteers for running such amazing aid stations - there's nothing better then being greeted every mile with COLD water and Gatorade, and cheers of support! Although I had a water bottle on my pouch, I did take advantage of the aid station each time. I did not, however, take advantage of the Clif Shot gels they had - I was pretty content with the natural version I had with me. Starting the race so late and not riding as fast as I would have liked meant that there weren't many people around me on the run course. I did meet a girl named Annie around mile 3 and we ended up running the last 3 miles together. She was battling a hamstring injury and since her father had started earlier (like my mom), she was alone. It was so amazing to have someone to talk to and make the time go by faster. She was absolutely hilarious .. laughing while running may be tough but it was so worth it!
The crowds of spectators started to thicken the closer we got to the finish line. I was absolutely over the moon when I saw Mom run out from the side of the course about 3/4 miles from the finish line! She had already finished the race and was wearing her finishers medal with pride. She came back to run the last bit of the race with me and I was so thankful. She told me all about her race experience, kept reminding me how close the finish line was and told me how proud she was of me. I even saw my family and Lindsay on the side of the road right before the finish. Enter tears here! She dodged off the course right before I hit the final stretch so I was able to kick it up a notch and cross the finish line with a smile on my face!! Even with my injury, I finished the 10k run in 1:26:26 (a little faster than the goal of 1:30 I had set). I did it!
After getting my finishers medal, towel and drink, I met up with the family and Lindsay on the side of the course! Having them there seeing both Mom and I cross the finish line was amazing! I can't thank them all enough for being there!!
More importantly, I couldn't be more happy and proud of my Mom for finishing the race! We started off on this adventure almost six months ago and after many ups and downs, we did it. Words truly cannot describe how happy I am that we did this together. This is something that I get to remember for the rest of my life! I love you Mommy!!
Daily Biking Miles: 24
Total Biking Miles: 311.5
Daily Running Miles: 6.2
Total Running Miles: 49.5
No comments:
Post a Comment