The day before we went to the race site for our packet pickup. While driving there, we noticed that one of the main roads for the bike was chipped and tared. Matt started prepping me and telling me to slow down on this part of the course and to take the turns easy.
That night as we were packing and carb loading, Matt got a text from a friend saying that he heard the bike was canceled. We both checked our email and wouldn't you know, it was canceled due to the chipping and taring of the road. The race went from a "triathlon" to an "aquathlon." A swim and a run. I was extremely disappointed because I put in a lot of time and effort on the bike leading up to this race. But I told myself it's better that they canceled it because it could make for a dangerous situation. Plus, I didn't want gravel hitting my bike frame and chipping or denting it! There were no refunds, so we said whatever and decided to use the day as a hard training day.
We showed up the morning of and set up our running gear in transition. Talk about throwing you a little off your game. There is just something about going into a transition area the morning of a race with your bike.
Matt and I decided we would head down to the water for a warm up swim. The water was extremely warm, mid 80s. The swim course was awkward. You pretty much swam around an irregular shaped lake. We got in, warmed up a little and waited for our waves to start.
Now, as anal as I am, I looked at the past year's race results to see how fast the fastest girl swam. She was registered to race again this year. My goal was to keep up with her, we seemed to match up pretty well on the swim. Her and I started in the front of our wave and took off. I hung with her, side by side, to the first buoy. We rounded it and she took off. I knew there was no way that I could hang with her and be able to run afterwards. I also had other issues, I couldn't see the next buoy! It was in a shaded area and you couldn't see it until you were right on top of it. I managed to pass people from earlier waves and maintain my second place position in the swim. It became extremely crowded swimming into the finish. Those guys that started in earlier waves were floating and breaststroking, just trying to make it to shore. I looked at my watch (I always start it right before my swim wave starts) as I exited the water, 2nd girl out but not as quick of a swim as I had hoped for. Matt and I later compared our times, and we think that the course was a little longer than 650 meters.
On to transition...
I threw on my run shoes, visor, glasses and race number and off I went. I have never ran after swimming. It was very difficult to get my breathing under control, probably a good mile. I was passed a few times on the run but I expected that. It was an out and back course, the first mile was downhill which was good, I was able to get my legs.
I won my age group. I was the 9th place girl overall, and I finished 21st overall out of men and women combined. They say a win is a win but I was still disappointed I didn't get to bike. I think it would have been a completely different race if there was a bike. Better luck next year!
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