Yesterday I competed in my first race of 2019 at the Caveman Triathlon in the sprint distance. Boy has it been a long and crazy journey to get to the starting line of this race. I would love to say I was well prepared and was going to kill it on the course but that is far from the truth for this race. I had signed up for this race in November after completing in the Best of the Best race so I was on cloud nine and ready for 2019 to be an epic year. That was the case until I had to go and get an eye produce done which I thought was going to be a rather quick recovery to find out that it took me 4 weeks for my eye to actually heal and to be able to train, that really set me back and only put me 3 1/2 weeks to my race day. I had to start my training at a much slower pace as my eye was still healing, I had to be careful being outside with the wind and all the stuff blooming to make sure it didn’t get in my eyes along with running and then wearing goggles in the pool. I did what I could to get myself ready, I even went back on Whole30 for an extra round to get my nutrition spot on to get me through my training.
Once I hit my 4 weeks of healing with my eye I started to really put into my training, even doing double workouts to try and get me ready as much as possible. I had my heart and eyes set on getting onto that podium like I do for every race so that meant doing everything I could to get myself ready. My last week of training also know as taper week was a little rough for me as I wasn’t feeling as confident as I normally did in previous weeks leading up to the race but I kept telling myself that I made it this far and yes could I complete a sprint triathlon even if I had to crawl to the finish line. After picking up my bag of goodies I started to get excited but also felt the nerves and the anxiety of my lack of training which got in my head a little. Saturday rolled around and even though we had a busy weekend with soccer games it was a nice distraction for me to not think about my race, that afternoon I laid all my stuff out and go my bike and Tri bag ready for Sunday. The weather at this point was looking iffy however the race was going to happy rain or shine that’s how they roll out here in Texas as you can never predict how the weather is going to be here. I was prepared for a cool and wet race which is nothing new to me, I ended up packing extra things just in case I needed them. I would rather be over prepared then under prepared especially for events like these. I ended up going to bed around 10pm once everything was set up by the door so it was ready for me in the morning.
My alarm went off around 4:50am, hit snooze once then woke up by 5am to get myself ready. I got myself ready and headed out the door around 5:35am to head to the Flower Mound Community Center which is where the race was being held. I figured arriving early about when transition opened I would be good on parking...well that was not the case at all. Me and 600 other people thought of the same thing and all showed up around the same time with no where to park but in the neighborhoods close by. Once I found a spot I realized how far I really was and had to walk what felt like a mile with my bike and all my gear it was the perfect warm up before the race...hahaha. I got to transition started my set up before my stomach went crazy and I had to use the bathroom I’m sure part of it was nerves but with also doing Whole30 I had to change up this races nutrition which was rather difficult for me. After racing for the past few years I know what works and what doesn’t for me so having to change it up really threw me off. For breakfast I usually do a banana and water first thing on the way and then a GU right before I get into the water well I couldn’t do that as GU has sugar which I’m not allowed to have. So on the way to the race I had raw almonds and water and saved my banana for about 30 minutes before the race as my carbs and sugar.
We all gathered in the gym for a pre-race meeting to go over the weather conditions of the roads and start times for the swim, since we were doing an indoor swim with over 600 participants we had to go in small groups, I happen to be in the third group which was not bad considering a friend of my was in one of the last groups and almost started an hour after I did. The pool area was crazy but nothing new, once I got into the pool it was like swimming for your life, there were so many people fast, slow and just complete craziness but I wanted to just get it done and get out. I ended up passing a few people in the pool which is hilarious as I’m not a fast swimmer at all. I got through my swim of 275 yards (10 laps of the pool) in 5:59 minutes not good but not as bad as it could have been. Got into transition to get my bike stuff on and for some odd reason I was very slow and everything was wet. My shoes, socks, sunglasses, bike, bib...everything so that was fun trying to get my long sleeve shirt on while being wet and it being wet. My first T1 took me almost 3 minutes which was not good at all but I hooped on my bike with my family screaming and cheering for me and away I went for a 9.3 mile ride, it was slick and wet for sure but it was a pretty flat with some small hills so it was nice to ride. I averaged almost 17 mph which is great for me again considering I didn’t have as much time to train as I wanted. My nutrition was off at this point I had a Lara Bar in my sack and took a few pieces to eat but it was so hard to chew it and breath with all the humidity that I didn’t even up finishing it before I was into my run which I thought could hurt me. I made it through two loops in just over 30 minutes, got back to T2 again couldn’t get all my stuff off as it was wet and stuck to me. I finally got out of T2 and headed out for my run, I went out strong in the beginning but then I hit the hills, I started running down a few knowing on the way back I would need to tackle these to get me to the finish. I ran for the first 1.5 miles and then at the turn around point I started to slow down and had to walk a few times I just didn’t have it in me and I didn’t know why. I kept hearing my husband in my head to keep pushing and walking wouldn’t get me on the podium, I did my best and keep pushing and then I turned the corner to see my first hill and walked again...now I was getting frustrated at myself as I never walked in any race..this was my lack of training right here and I knew it. I didn’t give up I at this point did a run/walk to get myself through and within the last 1/2 mile I could hear the announcer at the finish line so I knew I was close, it was time to push myself even though all I wanted to do was rest and catch my breath but there was no time for that. Once I turned the last corner I heard Rich screaming my name and I knew how close I was, that dang last up hill was a killer on both my knee and my legs. I made it to the finish line even with a smile but I wasn’t sure if it was good enough to get on the podium. Rich and my girls were there at the finish line screaming my name and cheering me on. It was another great moment as I know what it took to get me here so I was proud to finish.
After I finished we stuck around to cheering on two of my friends who were competing for the first time so it was fun to watch them pass by and encourage them on their journey as they both completed the race. I know this sport is hard but it’s amazing to see others join and push themselves to greatness.
Then it was results time, I waited in a long line of people to get to the computers to look up my time and overall placement. Once I pulled up my name and saw 4th place I just wanted to fall to the ground and cry. This was my first race that I didn’t actually get on the podium and I was devastated to say the least. I knew I had a shot but I also knew it would have been hard with my lack of training too so seeing my time and knowing I was 2 minutes shy of that spot was very hard considering my T1 and T2 times were not very good. After looking at their times the run is what killed me, they just had faster times on the run which is how they won and I know that from all my previous races. I had a great bike split but my run killed me, lesson learned for me and this is giving me the fire to train harder and get faster on my bike and run for sure. Overall it was an awesome event and I’m glad I finally did it as I have been wanting to do it since I moved to Flower Mound. I finished the race with a smile on my face and in 4th place that is a big victory for me and I’m very happy with how everything turned out but next time I will be on that podium as one of the top 3 finishers for sure.
The good news is the next day I got an email from the racing company that I did qualify for the Best of the Best Triathlon race in November which I killed last year so that is going to be on my list again to step up my game and slay it again this year. Next race is coming up in a few weeks an Olympic Triathlon on May 5th at Lake Ray Roberts and then a 15K scheduled on May 11th for a Women’s Run in Keller so it’s time to continue my training and ramp it up for the next few weeks to get me ready and prepared for this upcoming races.
Thank you to everyone who came out to support me, for all the text messages, phone calls and Facebook messages, I’m very grateful for all the out pour and positive thoughts. I’m one lucky girl to have an amazing family who supports me and comes to cheer me on during these long events.
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