Oh Dear!

Well, this wasn't exactly how I would've liked the 2009 race season to start...I competed (and I use that term loosely) in the Shakespeare's Pizza MaxTrax Duathlon today. This race is part of the UltraMax series, and while I've participated in other events under this organization, I haven't done this one before. The race was in Columbia, MO, so I had to get a pretty early start. I'm a bit rusty on the ol' 4 a.m. wake up call!

My buddy, Terry, was also doing this race. He actually stayed in Columbia at a relative's house, so we met at the race venue. I had most of my stuff ready to go when Terry got there. We went over to pick up our packets and get our timing chips. Funny enough, my race number was 100! Crazy!


It was a very chilly morning...in fact, I think this is the first time I've raced a multisport event in long sleeves and longer pants! I took a very short spin on the bike and knew I wasn't overdressed for the event. I didn't realize that the short course was starting first, so we had to wait in the cold an extra 15 minutes. Oh well, I was ready to go. The run started with a downhill, grassy stretch. As you can imagine (with recent rain), this was pretty sloppy. Once off the grass, we hit the pavement that ran along a ball field. This stretch was so muddy, the whole group quickly darted off to the grass for the worst part. I actually started toward the back of the pack, and with all the people passing me, I honestly wondered if anyone was still left back there! All I can say is that I couldn't get a full breath. As I described it to Terry post-race, I had so much fluid movement in my chest/throat that I felt like I was drowning. Wait a minute - this isn't a triathlon!?! I know, I know...there's always an excuse when you have a bad race. Trust me, this isn't the only reason for my pathetic performance. :-)

Ok, so the run was ONLY 2.5 miles, but it seemed to take forever. Sadly, when I arrived back in transition, my bike was the ONLY one left on the bike rack - there really weren't many left on all the other bike racks either! Ouch.
As the transition times indicate, I pretty well took my time changing shoes and getting ready for the bike. I thought surely I could make up some time and get myself together on the bike!

The bike was 15+ miles, and really shouldn't have been a big deal to me. The course was hillier than I thought, but I really felt like I was doing a good job of spinning a high cadence up the hills. It's so funny (and pretty much summarizes all of my races) that I get passed out the wazoo on the run, and rarely get passed on the bike. Ha ha...I know what you're thinking. You're saying, "duh, Dawn, that's because they're all already ahead of you!" Yeah, you're REAL funny! So maybe I'll just say that the people I pass never pass me again.

Ok, really, the first 5 miles of the bike were just painful today. I didn't realize it was so windy, and I just wasn't getting in a groove. Hmm. Once I finished the first loop, I caught a second wind and was feeling strong. I still wasn't moving quite as fast as I expected, but I definitely felt better than I did on the first loop. I guess it must have been about 5 miles or so from the finish (not positive) that I hit a pretty rough road spot and heard something very clunky. I thought I must have hit something in the road. I kinda looked down at my bike, making sure nothing seemed off - didn't notice anything odd, so I just kept riding. A few minutes later, I looked down to check the mileage and guess what? MY GARMIN WAS GONE!!! Riiiiiight, that's what fell off my bike. As I discovered this, I was approaching an intersection with some course volunteers. I stopped, and asked if they had radios. As I was talking to them, a moto ref pulled up to see if I was ok. I told him about the Garmin and asked if he found it out on the course if he would PLEASE let them know racer #100 is missing one! Off I went.

I finished the bike race and, again, had a pretty slooooooowww transition to the 2nd run. Back I went, across the grass and through the mud...my legs weren't having any part of it. Oh yeah, and as I'm running across the grass, I hear the announcer say, "and here comes Terry Wilkes through the finish!" Oh dear, judging by the way things are going, he's gonna be waiting a while.

It's ridiculous to struggle on a 2.5 mile run! I'm out there wondering, "how on earth did I complete 6 marathons...oh yeah, and an IRONMAN?!?!"
In cruel fashion, the race finished with us running up off the path - up, up, up. Terry was waiting a bit down the hill, but that couldn't even give my legs the pep they needed. I mentioned to Terry that I lost my Garmin on the bike. He told me that he heard an announcement that they had something for racer #100. Wahoo! I did muster up enough energy to run the last little bit into the finish.

As I crossed the finish line, the gal taking my timing chip said they had something for me at the announcer stand. We immediately went over there and got my Garmin. It was still on. Woohoo! I'm so happy I didn't lose that bad boy!

A bad day, is what it was. I came in 11 out of 12 women in my age category. I'm embarassed. I should've done better. That's just the way it goes sometimes! I'm chalking it up to the first race of 2009. I'm considering it the kick in the pants I need to train harder - not just on the bike! It's a warm up for the rest of the season...right into Ironman CDA 2010.

One last funny to this story - when Terry and I were packing up our transition areas, this guy at the end of our bike rack says to me..."was this your first race?" I laughed and replied, "it felt like it, but unfortunately it wasn't."