WIN!

Still sitting on a plane, still not sleeping…more blogging – go me! July was full of work, training, coaching, etc. We had lots of group workouts – swims, rides, runs. Things are coming along. My focus has been very scattered, which you’ll hear more about in the NYC entries, but after the Naperville race, I was trying to somewhat focus on getting distance training to prepare for Redman ½ distance in September. That said, I had another priority…the WIN for KC triathlon! This is also a fantastic event – very well run and Epic is a sponsor, so it makes it even more fun!

WIN for KC Triathlon – Smithville, MO – July 30
The seed for this race was planted after the finish in 2010. Lori T yelled to me after the race…we’re doing a team next year, will you bike for us? We’ll get Tiernan to run. It was done. This has been the plan since that time. And, we weren’t just doing a friendly little team event, the goal was to WIN! No pressure. So, I haven’t time-trialed in a while, but used to be pretty good at this. Leading up to the race, I had a few rides where I incorporated some of those – make ya wanna puke – time trial efforts. Whew. I’m out of practice. I requested some assistance with a warm up plan from my ol’ pal, ST! He gave me a great warm up, which I practiced out at the race site the week before the tri. It’s a 10 mile course and has a total of 4 stops when the course isn’t closed to traffic – even with stopping; I did the course in 28:30. That’s a good time. I was ready.
Wednesday and Friday were packet pick ups at Epic! I worked both of them – I just love this event and getting to talk to all the women as they start preparing months before the race. This year was especially good in that area…I met so many great women and then ended up being able to help train them – or coordinate some workouts where we all swam, rode, ran together – it was really fun! The race director and their support team are a blast to hang out with as well, so packet pick ups were entertaining. Even my mom came out and volunteered at the shop this year. Woot!
Race morning. Well, it’s always early. I met up with Terry in Smithville, since he was working at the Epic tent with Scott, Alex, Tyler…a good Epic crew out there! We arrived and parked right by transition, where the Epic tent would be set up. My plan was to hide out on my trainer, behind my car, about :45 minutes prior to race start. I found our bike rack (all the way at the bottom of transition – really – the last rack) and put my towel down to secure the spot. Everyone else arrived and we hung out on a blanket by the Epic tent. Just chillin’ and watchin’ for peeps I knew. Ann, Tiernan and I were sitting there and I realized I hadn’t charged my Garmin. Boo – thankfully, it had battery life! We were just chatting about the race. I was feeling a little sick to my stomach. It was fun saying hello to so many gals I knew…encouraging them with their race.
As we sat there, a gal came up to me and said hello. She proceeds to tell me that I’m the reason she is doing this race! I recognized her face, but couldn’t recall her name. She reminded me that she came in the bike shop after the race last year and was asking me questions about it. I told her, “you can totally do that race…if I can do this, anyone can.” I actually do remember this conversation with her and was so touched that she came up to remind me of this. I wished her well as she thanked me for encouraging her to give it a “tri”! Wow.
Oh yeah, back to this race we need to WIN. I timed it out so that I would be on the trainer :45 minutes before the race started. So, it was time to get after it. I set everything up and got on the trainer. Just as I did, Molly and Hailey came over to chat. I literally had been spinning no more than 2-3 minutes when it started to pour! Thunder – lightning – the whole shebang! We hopped in my car, in an effort to stay dry/warm. It didn’t stop. It seriously hasn’t rained in weeks and really, it has to rain at this moment? We waited and waited. They were still saying race start was a go and everyone had to line up – teams in transition area – everyone else on at the swim. We were getting soaked and chilled! They finally called an official delay and started handing out trash bags. Thankfully, we just went up to the cars and got in. I ended up taking off my shoes and socks – which were drenched! Thinking I’ll just ride sockless….After lots of uncertainty and really thinking they were gonna call the race – lots of girls leaving – they announce that the race *would* start at 8:30. That’s just :10 minutes from now. So much for the warm up, eh? Back to my bike I went. Lori was in the water…go Lori – go! She’s out of the water and up the ramp to transition. Great swim, Lori! I grab my bike and run (well, as much as you can run in cleats/bike shoes – uphill in a large parking lot) up to the mount line. Struggled a little getting on the bike for whatever reason. And, I’m off. Oh dear. This does not feel good. I’m going as fast as I can, but don’t feel like I’m going. I saw the Epic crew and then my Dad and Bailey all cheering for me. Sweet. I keep pedaling. I’m thinking…surely once I get to the flat stretch of Hwy W, I’ll get my legs. Nope. I keep pedaling. Ok, maybe when I turn onto J I’ll settle in and feel better. Nope. I keep pedaling. Man did this feel ugly! I just couldn’t go any faster and sure felt at times like I was going backwards! Ahhh…the turnaround! I pretty much had to come to a stop here because it’s a really tight turn and the gal in front of me unclipped…better to be safe than for me to wipe out around her. Here we go now…I’m on the back half. Go Dawn, Go! Come on legs…where are you??? I was actually dry heaving on this back stretch, so I know the effort was there, but the pace didn’t show it. Finally when I hit W in the final stretch, my legs decided to join me…but, the clock already said 28:00, so I missed the goal I was aiming for. OH NO, I thought, I gotta fly here. This was probably the best stretch, but too little too late. Oh well, I heard my dad, Bailey and the Epic folks cheering again as I came to the finish. I was not very comfortable. I dismounted and “ran” downhill back to the rack. It was wet and I was sliding, I could see Tiernan and Lori and hear them yelling…couldn’t go any faster. Lori switched the chip to Tiernan and I collapsed in the grass until I could stop panting. GO TIERNAN…..
Lori and I grabbed a few things and headed over to the finish line festival to watch for Tiernan and eat pancakes. It was really cool to see the overall race winner cross the finish line – mind you, she passed me on the bike. Boo.  I’m pretty sure she set a course record. WOOHOO! We didn’t have to wait long and here comes our runner with a fantastic leg. HOORAY for Team Epic…we did WIN the WIN tri, team division! Yeah us!!!
We were gonna hang out for awards, so I was able to watch some of my girls cross the finish! So many…but I got to see Cherryh (that girl was fassssst!), Noelle, Haley, Molly, Lisa….soooooooooo many others! Great job to all of you women! And, another WIN race in the books.