mixed emotions- Longleaf Race Report
ok so i have another race under my belt. an 17 minute improvement in overall time. a huge improvement in run time. but i am still disappointed in myself. i wanted a sub 1:20 race and i clocked in at 1:24 and change. i am definitely my hardest critic but i think thats what makes me better. thats exactly what made me go to the gym this morning at 4:45 AM on my day off. i want to be better today than i was yesterday. and i just dont want to be better, i want to be greater. everyone wants to win, only champions want to train hard. i train hard. i put in my time at the gym, on the streets, and in the pool. (man i sound like a hooker) and i feel like it paid off, huge, just not as much as i would have liked. maybe im unrealistic but the harder my goal, the harder i push myself. there were a few factors out of my control which contributed to me not making my goal time. it was 59 degrees when we got to the race. for us floridians thats FREEZING! and i just never got warm. the water was chilly, but warm compared to the air temperature. it was 76 which made it wet suit legal. i dont have a wet suit so it didnt really matter to me but i think it says something about the quality of my swim without one. i dont think i felt my toes for a good 6-8 hours after the race. the transition area from the lake was a good 1/4 mile away which added to my crappy transition time. there was a terrible headwind on the bike on the way out but luckily that didnt affect me too much. i didnt get my drink thing put on so i didnt get to drink at all on the bike- still not stable enough to ride one handed while reaching down and grabbing a bottle-so i need to figure out a way to drink and ride at the same time. and the water stations on the run were filled with disgusting warm water. it tasted like they got the water right from the lake. yuck! ok so now down to the nitty gritty. picked up my race packet on saturday and went to look at the lake for the first time. after i saw the lake i decided that maybe just meeting my fans for breakfast instead of racing might be a better idea. HUGE fear of lakes. saw an ACTUAL gator in the lake. did not leave feeling warm and fuzzy for the race in the morning. self-talked my way into doing the race and showed up dark and early sunday morning. got my chip, a good spot on the rack, my body marked and started freaking out about the swim. i was freezing. i had a sweatshirt on but no pants and the sweatshirt wasnt even good enough. as we got closer to 8AM and the sun began to come up people began warming up IN the lake. it made me feel better to see live people going in and live people coming out. my fans showed up! LOVE THEM! so there was no not getting in the water now. it was a time trail start so every 5 seconds someone else would jump in. it was FINALLY my turn and it did not go well. i just could not catch my breath. the entire time. it sucked. i ended up side stroking, breast stroking, one arm pulling. i was exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally as i got out of the water. i pushed forward though and ran the entire quarter mile to transition. it was slow but i am proud that i ran the entire way. got on my bike and pedaled pedaled pedaled! i was FAST! i passed a ton of people and am really happy with my bike time! i just kept going and self talking myself to pedal harder, faster, push and pull, up and down. it was great. i ended up getting down in my aero bars for a good portion of the bike leg so that was another plus. hooray! the course was flat and straight- just how i like it! transitioned well. i think- they lumped out t2 time in with our bike time so im not exactly sure. but got some water and took off on the run. the run felt LONG. super long. the first mile was fast and quick. kept a good pace, didnt feel too bad. the next half mile didnt feel too bad either. kept running. stopped to get drink once or twice. the last mile and a half was TORTURE. i wasnt familiar with the race course so thats my fault but it felt like we were running FOREVER. when i made the turn- into the unfamiliar course- the dude said 1 mile left so i started to pick up the pace. umm i was wrong because there was more like 2 miles left. so that played tricks on me mentally for sure. but i am still estastic with my run time. it ended up being an 11 and 1/2 minute miles. which is a HUGE improvement in just 6 short months. i cant wait to see what my mile time is in February for the big foot race! AHH. so there it is. i guess im happy, but disappointed at the same time. it is most likely the last triathlon of the season. which makes me sad. and tri class is over. and that makes me sad. but i started marathon training today, i am still going to personal train with tpain. and tpain is doing an off season training class! woohoo!
