I forgot to tell you a little story; when I was treading water in the human blender my ankle bracelet/timing chip felt too loose so I tightened it up. It’s velcro so it was easy to reach down to do.

The last 5 miles of the bike I realized that I couldn’t feel my toes on my leg with the ankle bracelet. I kept trying to reach down to loosen it up a bit but I’m not that coordinated. In fact, I have a hard time drinking water while I bike apparently because both the QC Tri and Crossroads I lost water bottles! As I went to put them back in the cage I dropped them. Stopping was also not an option so I decided I would loosen it at transition.

When I arrived at transition 2 and hopped off the bike my legs where extremely shaky. I did the old lady shuffle to the rack. I racked my bike and the first thing I did was loosen the bracelet. I felt immediate relief and blood returning to my toes…I had that thing so tight my ankle was purple. Did I swell on the bike ride? 

I wasted no time and took off. I felt good to start. I got the first quarter mile and my race number belt fell off the dang clip broke. I debated leaving it but ended up going back for it and stopping to pick it up. Fixing the clip and putting it back on. Bad idea to mess with good momentum.

Anyway, the run was great since it was flat; I didn’t do as well as I wanted but I was able to sprint my finish and I beat my previous time so I’m happy. I’ll take it.

Several people had told me that the Crossroads bike course was more difficult than the QC Tri. I sent an email to one of my teammates; Theresa P. Her and her family have been involved in Triathlons for quite some time. She’s about 95lbs of pure muscle. She’s a plethora of information and  expertise and she always kindly returns my many, crazy emails.

She said “The bike course has some hills but nothing you can’t handle.” -Theresa P. 

I expected much the same as QC Tri but this course seemed more difficult to me. Even though I had spent extra time on the bike. It seemed as though I would reach the summit of a hill only to have another hill to climb. Also, the turn around is directly at the bottom of a hill so there is no momentum  to get up the hill again.

The wind wasn’t too bad but the wind there was seemed to be in my face or the side of my face the whole time.  Some of my friends on the course would pass me and yell “GEAR UP!” or “Get in a lower gear GIRL!”, it was nice to get some orders because basically my mantra is “pedal fast and hard” and I feel ineffecient and slow. I know I can easily shave 10 minutes off the bike portion with some direction. I know I’m strong enough to make better time.

The BEST part was after the race was over I gave Theresa P. (above quote) a hug to thank her for all her help and she said “Are you mad at me? Were you cussing me on those hills?!” and I smiled and said “Of course not!” and she said “If I was honest and had told you how hard it was you would have just dreaded it” and she was right. I would have worried about that course for weeks. 

It’s like asking your husband if your jeans make you look fat…..he has to say “HECK NO! You’re smoking hot!” without hesitation. Even though you know he might be lying…it makes you feel better about yourself. 

Bike: 1:09

“As far as the lake being nasty I think they are all nasty so I block it out, put my head down and swim. So I can’t remember it being any nastier than lake G or west lake.” -Theresa P.

This time I was in the first swim wave. We had to start by treading water; I do not like algae/seaweed and to me this was like swimming in a garden. I would get creeped out everytime a piece of seaweed would touch my foot. Others swore it tasted/smelled like fertilizer so I was extra cautious to keep my mouth closed.

Funny story….before the race I was chatting with a lady from the Chamber of Commerce and she said “I can’t believe ya’ll are swimming in this lake; when they told me where you were swimming I thought “NO! there must be some mistake!” Let me tell you that is not a ringing endorsement when the Chamber of Commerce is saying the lake is undesirable.

I started my swim in the back of the pack and I’m mad at myself for doing that because I am a decent swimmer and first thing I get kicked in the face. So then I’m too intimidated to try to pass anyone. So basically I was only as fast as the slowest swimmer.

My goggles weren’t tight enough or something because they kept filling up with water and I kept stopping and flushing them out and starting again. I had tightened them before the race, so I don’t know what was going on with that.

By the 2nd bouy the boys were coming fast. This freaked me out; I just kept picturing the guys swimming over the top of me. This ended up working to my advantage (somewhat). I got behind one of the guys; he seemed a good pace for me and I just followed him since I was blind with my goggles. Bad news was he was blind too and guided us off course a couple times.  I would give him a hug though if I knew who he was because he helped me pick up my pace.

I got out of the water and felt much stronger than I did at the QC Tri, my legs still felt good (probably because I didn’t work them as hard though).  I was actually able to run to my transition.

I need to quit being a wussy in the water…I have to learn how to pass people. I’m so afraid I’m going to hurt someone or make someone mad that I act like a wimp.

Swim: 14:36

*this is me before the race; blissfully unaware.

“The bike course has some hills but nothing you can’t handle.” -Theresa P.

I will get back to that quote later…..

I arrived at Lake Killdeer at about 5:45am; bright and early Saturday morning. I wasn’t as nervous this race; I didn’t feel like puking or sucking my thumb in the fetal position. I was only worried a bit about being in the first swim wave and I didn’t even drive the bike course so I had no clue what road was ahead of me. I had heard it was tough and emailed some friends about it (see the above quote) but I was going “blind”.

I’d been putting in extra bike time lately so I was feeling pretty confident.

I am panicking a little bit but it’s nothing like the fear I experienced 4 days before the QC Tri. This is just a nervous knot in my stomach…..but I don’t necessarily feel like I might vomit on my shoes at any time. This time around there are fewer chest pains and less nausea. Hmmm, I must be improving.

I’m going to list all the things that I’m nervous about  this time around….I know, fun for you right…next I’ll list all the foods that upset my tummy (I’m kidding):

• I heard the bike course is harder than the QC Tri (Mommy!)
• I don’t understand what a Point-to-Point race is, I get the idea but I still don’t understand how I logistically get myself ready
• Due to it being a P2P race, I don’t know how to make my pit crew/team comfortable. I have read the website 1.9million times and I’m still trying to visualize point A & B
• I heard lake Kildeer smells like feet and tastes much the same
• I hope I trained hard enough
• DeWitt is 20 miles north of the Quad Cities, should I leave my house at 5am or is that too early?

See there, now, don’t you feel better that I got all of those concerns off my chest? You’ll probably sleep better tonight too. 

Okay, enough of my negativity Coach is going to be upset that I put my fears down in print. Tomorrow if I come back and put all the things I’m confident about it’s only because Coach is making me do it.

The sport of Triathlon is about individual goals and bests. This entire process has been setting goals, working hard to get there, reaching the goal and then raising the bar to the next level.

Swim, Bike, Run….they are all challenging but running has always been the biggest “hurdle” for me. I have come a long way though. I couldn’t even run around my block when I started this journey several months ago.

My one goal that I have yet to reach is to run a 5K in under :30 minutes, and I know a 30 minute 5k is cake to some of you marathoner’s and Ironman finishers so go ahead and  laugh if you want….I don’t care. Finally, FINALLY today I did it! I ran my 5k in under a 1/2 hour and the best part was I enjoyed every bit of that run. I felt good, I felt strong, I didn’t stop one time. I got that runner’s high that I have always wanted to get. 

I’m going to sit back and enjoy this feeling just for today.

I am getting my workouts in, I’m getting them done. I just don’t feel like I’m giving it everything I have. I’m not pushing myself hard enough. I feel I could/should be at another level and I’m simply keeping status quo. Life gets in the way sometimes and I let myself use that as an excuse.

Back to my early morning work out schedule [scowl]. I always start my routine PO’d at the world but usually burn off my bad attitude about a mile in. Today’s  crap-fest lasted the entire workout and continued throughout my day, thanks to my extremly bad hair day. This humidity does wonders for a girl’s style let me tell you.

*Brick workout* 5am, 15 mile bike ride…followed immediatley by a 5k run.

My back hurts. I need to work on my core more. I need more hours in a day. 

I did update my ipod with a kickin’ new playlist:

Big Poppa  -Notorious B.I.G

According to you -Orianthi

Here Comes the Boom -P.O.D

Savior -Rise Against

Break Your Heart -Taio Cruz

Telephone -Lady Gaga

I like It -Enrique Iglesias

Sexy Chick -David Guetta

Imma Be -Black Eyed Peas

Say Hey (I Love You) -Michael Franti & Spearhead

Seven Nation Army -The White Stripes

Swam 1 mile, with Coach drafting me most of the way. It was fun to have a partner in the pool.

***

When I remove my swim cap it rips out chunks of my hair! Why does it do that? I have my hair pulled back in a nice, tight low ponytail but it never fails that when I remove my cap I am cringing in pain.

I finally committed, my mind and my wallet to the Crossroads Tri in August.

I’m a little nervous about the words “challenging-bike-course”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m up for a challenge but my definition of challenging compared to another persons definition of challenging are likely different. So who named this course challenging, someone like me? Or someone like JfP(Jeff friggin’ Paul)? (www.dreambigjp.com) I want to know.

My niece is volunteering at Crossroads. I think she has been bitten by the Tri bug from watching the QC Tri.  So don’t forget to Thank a volunteer, especially a cute, blonde, teenage girl.