Race it is!

Pre Race- The alarm goes off at 5am this morning and millions of emotions are flying through my head. Since my injury, each morning when I wake up and get out of bed, I secretly hope that my hip will have miraculously healed and I will be pain free with my first step on the ground. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be today, but that's okay, I was prepared for it. I proceeded to hobble to the bathroom, get ready, take a warm shower to loosen up and then go downstairs to make some breakfast. As I excitedly beginning cutting my bagel to smear that delight I called peanut butter all over it, I cut right through and slice off a good chunk of the top of my finger. What more do I need at this point than a bloody bagel and a finger gushing uncontrollably!?!? Well there's nothing a couple of bandaids and electrical tape can't fix, but ouch, that hurt like crazy. I then went to meet my friend Pete at Vics and we got in a good warm up biking to the course. I get everything set up in transition and proceed to head down to the water to begin warming up. I know what I've got to do and I know what the limits are, now it's all about the execution...

The Race- Like the beginning of every race, it's a huge sea of chaos; arms are flying, legs are kicking, goggles are being knocked off, etc. However, it wasn't so bad until we had about a 3 minute section where a boat's wake hit us directly from the side. I honestly felt like I was going nowhere except side to side and up and down. Needless to say, I got incredibly nauseas and motion sick and decided that stopping for 20 seconds or so wouldn't be a bad idea. Well doing this definitely didn't help my swim time nor my rhythm after I started back up again...okay, long story short, I had a really crappy swim.

The bike portion went as well as it could have. I felt strong and fairly good throughout the whole 17 miles. The only issue I had was with one girl who everytime I passed would immediately pass me and then get in front of me and slow back down. For those unaware of drafting rules, you have 10 seconds to pass someone which means you have 10 seconds to be within 3 bike lengths of the rider in front of you. Anyway, this girl was obviously not abiding by these rules and eventually the referee on his motorcycle saw what she was doing and gave her a 2 minute penalty...maybe it will teach her a lesson.

So here comes the dreaded run. I haven't run in over 4 weeks and I really should never had considered doing this, but I got into T2, put on my shoes and painfully headed out for the final portion of the race. I was definitely limping and probably looking like a total goof, but I really needed a good finish in this race and it was ONLY 5K. I basically put myself in a happy place for a little over 22 minutes and finished the run in almost tears it hurt so bad. Sometimes you just do what you gotta do.

Post Race- I needed an age-group win today and I was fortunate to have pulled if off with a little over 5 minutes to spare :) However, finishing 14th overall was very difficult to take considering where I would have been had I been healthy and fully functioning. I am okay with it, and most importantly, I am thrilled I didn't injure myself any more (that I know of), but deep down, I am irritated, frustrated and emotionally distraught. I couldn't have been more happy with the outcome of today's race considering the facts, but there's still something missing. I guess more therapy and recovery will be on the docket for next week, but I'll keep you posted!