Anyway, during the week I was developing a pretty good head cold that eventually moved into my chest. Fun! I decided on the Saturday to take my cold drugs and swim my race pace to see what my speed would be. I managed to control the heart rate and breathing and it worked out great! Race day, wake up feeling a little bit worse, instead of using the same medication as the day before I decide to go with something a bit stronger, thinking nothing of it.
Because I was pacing in circles around my apartment (my heat started at 210pm) I left early for UBC and hung out watching the swimming until everyone else showed up. It seemed this year some of the swimmers maybe weren't used to swimming with other people, or in lanes, or with lane markers. I watched numerous head-on crashes (you go up and down the lanes for 14 lengths, 700m), people getting run over, people all jammed up at the end of the pool because they were waiting for another 5 people to start, etc! I was getting more nervous, but, hey, that's normal!
Andy started in the heat just before me and my heart started beating out of my chest, I still didn't think anything of it. I'm always nervous just before a race then as soon as I hit the water everything usually calms down. This time, not so much. I hit the water, heart is racing, I start my first length, PANIC ATTACK! Ok, I can see a panic attack if I'm doing the open water swim (I'm still afraid a whale is going to come eat me), put in a pool??? Last summer I was regularly swimming 4000 to 4500m!! I had to do half the pool as freestyle, the other half as breast stroke, without putting my face under water because I would start freaking out and the heart went nuts. Oh, and besides this happening to me, my pants were falling off. Yes, I kept having to try to swim AND pull my pants up. I might have accidently sprayed some of my tri-glide on parts of me that were causing the pants to come down a little bit. (I was wearing my bike/run gear for my swim, which is why no swimsuit).Right here I have to thank the cheering squad. I could hear people cheering me on (although I couldn't hear my one friend screaming BACON at me), and it was this that caused me to not give up, I really wanted to after the first couple of lengths.
When I did manage it get out of the water (almost 21 minutes later, I can currently do this swim between 13 and 16 minutes), I managed a great transition, for the first time! As I'm rounding the corner to my bike I see the cheering squad. When you're having a horrible race it's nice to have people you know cheering you on!
On the bike I was fighting hot flashes (it was sort of warm out or it was the old age I've not figured it out yet) and wooden legs. Me and this one guy kept passing each other, usually you say ON YOUR LEFT when you pass, but he sang Queen's Bicycle instead. Earworm rest of the race. My legs finally warmed up about the 15-16km point (it was a 20km bike route) and once off the bike, I couldn't run, my feet were completely asleep! Great, that's going to help my run. But, once again, to cheer me on my way was the fantastic crew! They watched me freak out over the messy triathletes in my heat (if you ever do this race, always be considerate of the other athletes and never take over their racking space for the bike). I had to push a few of the bikes aside to re-rack and then had to find my hat, it was thrown down the other end of my racking area. Le sigh! At least this amount of time gave my feet time to wake up and I was out for the 5km run.
The first 2 or 3kms of the run I kept thinking to myself, why do I do this to myself, I'm doing a half ironman this year and I'm having this many issues with a sprint? This is ridiculous, I'm never going to make it to Vegas with my friends. Then around the 4km marker I thought that triathlons were the best things ever and at the finish line when the medal went around my neck, I was already thinking ahead to my next race. My friends were at the finish line, one of them had chocolate for me (thanks Andrea!)
After some beer and chocolate sunday for re-hydration it was time to bike home and crash.
On a side note, how excited am I that Selina got herself a bicycle?? We (Selina, Kele and I) had a nice bike ride home after the race. This was about 6 or 615pm and the sun was still up. Things I learned this race? Don't spray certain parts of your body with tri-glide because your pants will fall off while you're swimming. Don't take cold/flu medication that you've not tried as it'll cause your heart to race and will produce panic attacks in the pool. Do try to recreate horrible conditions and figure out how to work through them. Honestly, not counting the marathon last year, this was my first really humbling triathlon experience. I now know not to take things for granted, trust my training, and don't change anything race day!!
One small victory, they put in me in the next age group and I came in first. Yes, it was more than one.
Happy racing!
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