It was very very cold. I didn't get much sleep the night before and I usually do not before a race because I generally don't work out as much the whole week so I am not as tired. I got up at about 5:30 and ate my Zone bar and drank some G2. I had packed the night before so I headed to Walgreens to buy a small thing of frosted flakes and some gloves but they didn't have any. I just needed some thin cotton kids gloves so at 6 am I stopped at the WalMart on the way to Nicholasville and found the perfect pair! They were thin and even had these little grippy hearts to make riding my bike and shifting gears in them a breeze!
Plus, as you can tell, they were extra fashionable. Once at the race I delivered some McDonald's coffee to LHA and a friend, set up my bike and then got back in my car to sit in the heat for 30min. Although I was very bundled up it was too chilly to stand around and freeze my muscles into bricks prematurely. I sadly exited my car and after picking up my timing chip, doing a little warm up jog and seeing my parents it was time to go to the start line. The train whistle/horn thing went off and we went running! The pace was set by two women who I knew would be able to run a lot faster than me. I went through the first mile running a 6:00min/mi pace and for me this is fast. I knew I would pay for it later. I was right there at the front of the race but slowly the gap increased between the 3 of us. I was fine with this because I was already huffing and puffing and the monsters of doubt were already in my head asking my why the heck I had signed up for this thing. I started picturing myself in my tri suit, running a race in warm weather and vowed to never do this again. The weather was the type that immediately gives you a cold. All of a sudden I had a runny nose, phlegm in my throat threatening to choke me and burning lungs from the cold air. It was sort of pathetic how much the first 5k took out of me. I ran the second mile in ~6:23 and was like OMG your going to pass out. Ha but I didn't.
I finished the first 5k and the leader was just leaving T1 as I ran up, snoting like a overheated bull dog....without the bull part because I didn't feel very chipper. Heading out on the bike my legs felt cooked (this is when I truly missed swimmming). I tried the whole ride to reel the leader in but I just couldn't do it. I passed quite a few guys and the course was super windy and hilly so I couldn't even spot her for a large part of the course. Coming into T2 I saw that she was already off and running and I knew she had it in the bag. I was remembering my coach telling me to just have fun...so that's what I tried to focus on for the last 5k run. One dude passed me right after T2 and then I was literally on my own the rest of the run. No one was creeping up behind me and the leader was striding away looking good. I actually has some nice alone time as the course goes back on RJ Corman's property so it is very quiet and serene. Although my toes were numb, my lungs felt like lead and I was feeling hippo-ish I tried to think of the excitement of being done with such a long season. This was my 13th race and I was so happy with my results. It was nice to be able to reflect as my wheels fell off and I brought it into the finish. I was greeted by my cheering parents and LHA with this very wonderful sign he made for me! Creative yeah?
I ended up in second place which I was pleased with. I won $250 so that is amazing considering my bank account is always in need. So Yay! Season over and now I get to look forward to a month of cross training and really doing whatever I please. I will post my Garmin splits later. I did a 3 mile run this morning and felt pretty good!
