I’m on a plane again…headed back to Colorado. Not the most comfortable flight in my life, considering it is a full flight and I’ve got some major roadrash, whiplash, and muscle soreness going on! But I will survive and like most accidents, it could have been A LOT worse!
I spent the past week in Texas, visiting with family, recovering from the Kaiser Permante LA race, and getting geared up for the Toyota Dallas US Open, the final race of the Liftetime Fitness Series. On Thursday afternoon I headed out the door for a run and it was so HOT and HUMID…I came back dripping with sweat…it was just pouring on out. Well, that weather quickly changed, when I woke up Friday it was freezing! And that weather carried over to race morning. I woke up to 40 degree rain and sleet. We pulled up to transition and when I went to unload the car I discovered that my back wheel was flat. Nate, Sarah Haskins, husband was next to us, and offered me Sarah’s extra back wheel (THANKS so MUCH!!!) I had to make an adjustment to my brakes because our wheels were a different width…and the cable screw stipped out, Oh NO! The on-site mechanic did what he could…but I soon found out it wasn’t quite enough!
We swam in Joe Pool Lake and since the water temp was much much warmer than the air, the pros had a non-wetsuit swim…which really wasn’t that bad. When the gun went off, I had an okay start and just started swimming as fast as I could. Haskins and Groff had a bit of a gap going around the 1st bouy, so I tried to reel them in, and ended up coming out of the water just behind them. I had a good transition and was ready for a solid race. I was feeling good and just knew that it was going to be my day. There was a gap between me and the girls behind me, so I took a few extra seconds to put on some gloves (and I had toe covers already on my shoes.) This ended up to be a lifesaver! Once on my bike, I put my head down and was ready to chase some people down. We got to the first corner and as I tried to apply my brakes, there was no slowing down…uh oh, my back brakes weren’t working! So I went into the turn at full-speed on wet-slick roads and went flying. I skidded across a lane and into the grass. I was so determined to have a good race, that I didn’t check my body or my bike…I just picked up my bike and got on and took off. While I’d gone down, a few girls had passed me so I was on a mission to catch them. I felt strong but the gap was growing and growing…something had to be wrong. That is when I realized my brakes had shifted and now one side was slammed up against my wheel. I hoped off my bike, fixed it as best I could, and was off once again. When I got to the first incline and got out of my saddle, I discovered my shifting was messed up. My gears were shifting all over the place and I was going nowhere! Great! But again, I was determined to have a good day…so I tried to avoid the slipping gears as much as possible and to just keep on moving forward. I was welcomed into T2 by my cheering family. It was so great to see them there!!! That gave me the energy to power out on the run despite my numb feet and cold muscles. I took off like a bullet…and tried to hang onto that pace. I dropped of my pace a bit at miles 2 & 3, but kept on pushing and had a good last 3 miles. I definitely negative split that run!!! I ended up 11th, just out of the money…But it’s a day I’ll still take. Not the ultimate result I was looking for but learned to stay tough and focused when faced with not just one, not just two, but several obstacles and challenges!
Now its time to get healed up (Thanks for working me and getting my body back in alignment today, Camille!)
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