Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Other Side of the Fence

5430 (Short) Long Course

Well, let's just start off with saying that my relay team placed 2nd out of 16 in the all women category. Let me also point out that the first place team had a professional cyclist/Olympian doing their second leg. Deb was awesome on the ride and only let her have a 9 minute lead. Unfortunately it was a little too much for us to catch up. But I'll settle for 2nd, especially since it will probably be my only time up on the podium. Besides, first place didn't stay for the awards ceremony so were were the only ones up there so it made it seem like we were first.

The day started out a little strange. I actually slept most of the night. There were no nerves waking up. In fact, I felt like I didn't even have to really wake up. I didn't even try and force myself to eat - just threw it in a bag and was off to meet the girls. We met up at Vics at 5:30. Deb and Blake (thanks for driving us, Blake) picked us up and drove us off the res. We headed off to body marking where we managed to find a rather clueless body marker. We walked up and I said that we were a relay. He asked who the swimmer was. Lauren stepped up and he marked her arms and put our bib number on the back of her leg. I asked about the "R" and he didn't know what I was talking about. He said this was all we needed. Lauren asked about her hands and he said that we didn't need it. I was up next and told him I was the runner. He said, "Oh, I don't think you need to be marked". I told him that I thought that everyone should be marked. He hesitantly agreed and said that he'd just make them small. And that he did. We were #58. The entire number couldn't have been more than 1.5 inches. And again, no "R". I decided that maybe this was a good thing since if there was no "R", maybe no one on the run would know that I'm part of a relay and thus I would no longer be the person that everyone hates on the run. He marked Deb as well in his same minimalistic style. Oh well. I later saw a woman who must have given them the wrong number initially because she had a huge black mess on her arm where they crossed it out and then wrote another number next to her (yes, both arms). So I guess it could have been worse.

We headed into the transition area and I started to ask a volunteer about the rules for the relay teams. She didn't know and suggested talking to a ref. One just happened to walk by and I stopped her. She basically said that it was simple - hand off the timing chip at our transition spot. Yes, I knew that part. I asked her "But we're not actually expected to hang out in the transition area for 3 hours" and she said yes. So I asked how we got back in when we needed to - did we need to go in through a certain entrance and would the volunteers let us in. She actually didn't know the answer regarding the entrance and told me I'd have to ask Barry. So I tracked down Barry who agreed to talk to me as long as I walked with him as he is a busy man and was in the process of doing several different things. I told him I had a question about the relay rules. He asked if I had gone to the meeting, to which I replied yes but that I hadn't heard anything specific to the relay teams. I always go to the pre-race meeting and have attended about 10 of these over the past few years (all 5430), I can't say that I've ever heard them give specific instructions for a relay team. He seemed to accept this and said the same thing as the ref - just make sure you're in the transition area when your teammate comes in and just had off the chip. So again I confirmed that we didn't have to stand in the transition area for 3 hours. He laughed and said "Nooo." So again I asked if there was a specific or preferred entrance we use to get back into transition. He thought about it for a moment (I don't think anyone has asked this question before) and then finally said no. He kind of looked puzzled as if wondering why I was asking, so I finally said that I didn't want to get in anyones way since there would be athletes coming in and out at the same time I would try and get in. He seemed to appreciate my concern and actually thanked me for asking the question. As I walked away, I decided that most relays must be made up of non triathletes. Triathletes as a rule are pretty anal people. So naturally, when you put triathletes onto a relay, they are going to be just as anal. I was just being normal.

Anyhow, we set up our rack, which was a little weird. I have my routine of placement of things, but this didn't apply because I really only had my running shoes and bib number. It was a little weird. There wasn't really anything to set up. It took all of 3 minutes. We quickly reviewed again with Deb the exit and entrance as well as repeated the rules. Lauren and I are triathletes, but Deb is a cyclist and has only done bike races. The rules are obviously a little different. We actually figured it would be in our favor when we emphasized the no draft rule.
We figured she'd panic about the 3 bike lengths rule (we said to err on the side of more than 3 bikes) and just feel like she'd have to pass everyone. I think it worked pretty well.

We then headed down to the swim start. It was really weird to still be in sweats and a long sleeve shirt. There was no wetsuit to struggle into. And no rush to get into the water or down to the beach. I found Rachel and some friends and we watched all waves go off. It's kind of cool to be right at the swim start. Deb then headed off to transition and the rest of us headed over to the swim finish. Also very cool to see swimmers exiting the water. There are so many different routines. Some people don't even try to get their wetsuit off. Others are quite successful. Many people struggle, running with their arms trying to reach down their back or trying to get their arm free (it helps if you don't have your goggles and swim cap in your hand). Some people walk all the way to transition. Others run. Some people are super happy and smiling. Others are either in the zone or just in a bad mood. We headed over to the bike start and watched many near crashes as people crowded along the mount line to get on their bikes. I can't figure out why people feel like they have to rush this part. It's probably the most likely place that you'll fall off your bike and do you really want to run that risk before you've even started the ride? Anyhow, it was really quite fascinating to be on the other side of the fence spectating. It's a different world. Some of the highlights...2 hot air balloons came in for a landing. The first one was right over the road between the grassy hill coming off of the swim finish and the swim entrance to the transition area. It was really low. Everyone kept looking up at it since it really looked like it was going to land in transition or right on top of us. At one point, the announcer actually said "Somehow that just doesn't seem safe". The other one slowly drifted over the transition area and I'm sure the same thought was going through

more than one persons mind - they're going to hit
the bikes! But clearly these balloon people know what they're doing. They probably enjoyed messing with us. It was very Wizard of Ozzy.

Other highlights included learning the McDonalds is compostable and that some idiot dropped their iPhone in the porta-potty and called the police. I guess the announcers need to amuse themselves as well. I figured the sitting around and waiting would feel like forever, but it went by really quickly. Of course, we did have people to talk to the whole time. But it went by so much faster than I expected. Deb had been gone a little over 2 hours on the bike and I had to start thinking about getting ready. I finally started to get nervous. The funny thing is that I wasn't nervous about the run (well, maybe a little bit), but I was more nervous about the timing of the transition. I was thinking Deb would do a 2:30 on the bike, but Lauren was thinking faster. Finally around 2:15 I decided to just go into transition. It was better to just stand and wait around inside than to be late. She came in a little over 2:30 and I have never seem someone sprint so fast in a transition area. I couldn't figure out how she didn't feel like she was going to kill herself but then I remembered that she wasn't wearing road shoes and she had SPDs, so she had a bit more grip that I usually do. The transition took 37 seconds. She took off the timing chip, I put it on, and then off I went.

I'm pretty sure that I started out faster than I should have. I would occasionally glance down at my watch and every time I looked, I was in Z4. I tried to slow it down a little, but then I'd hit a hill and feel like I'd have to charge up it, thus making it hard to reach Z3. I felt pretty good the first lap and saw Matt and Ralena (my sister) just before heading over the dam. I could feel my hamstring getting a little tight, but it wasn't consistent and I didn't worry about it. Heading into lap 2 I started getting tired. I just haven't been doing much distance and I was starting to reach the point where I was beyond my training. Since Vineman, I've done one long run of 14 miles and only a handful of other runs, with the max distance being 5 miles. So I think it's an accurate statement to say that I haven't really been training for the distance and it was starting to tell. Not that this was a surprise, it was more just a matter of time before this feeling would kick in. At this point, I just started telling myself to take one mile at a time. I'd worry about the next mile once I got there. This seemed to work up to a point. It definitely got me over the rollers at the start of lap 2. I was also working on the mental mind flip. When I felt myself thinking about how tired I was and how I didn't think I could get over a hill, I'd turn it into I can get over this hill because I currently am getting over this hill. It does make quite a difference. Around 10 miles I hit my limit. I was several miles beyond what I'd been training and I really had to push myself to get through those last 3. I kept trying to remind myself of Vineman and that last mile. I was determined to make this last mile just as strong. But I was just feeling weaker and slower. It didn't help that at this time the sun came out for a bit. But I kept going, putting one foot in front of the other. I thought about the wheelchair athlete from Vineman and pushed a little harder. So, trying to keep these thoughts in the forefront of my mind, I just kept moving forward. The last little stretch where all the crowds are and everyone is cheering, there were a bunch of little kids in a line with their hands out. It was very cute, so I had to run over and slap them all 5. And before I knew it, I was heading around that last turn into the finishing chute and across the line.

Okay, so it wasn't exactly the run I had in mind, but considering the season I've had and what I've felt to be a lack of training, it really was pretty good. My hamstring held up and was only a little sore afterwards and this was what I was the most worried about. So for this, I was grateful. Lauren and Deb were awesome relay partners and we accomplished what we had set out to do - make the podium. It was totally worth it!