After being treated like a princess at the Zeiger's, I was dropped off at the San Diego Airport at 9:30am on Thursday morning. The boys arrived at 10:30am and we all sat around chatting until 1:30pm when we went out to meet the bus. We easily found the bus but were immediately told that we would probably not be leaving until 3:30 or 4pm as we had to wait for the rest to arrive. Not a problem, I've only spent the last 2 days there, what's a few more hours going to do? Naturally, the people we were waiting for had delays and didn't arrive until later which meant we didn't even leave San Diego until 5:30pm!!! But we left and we were on our way to Mexico.
Not too bad of a drive...the first part of Mexico was quite interesting though. Very run down and a little frightening. However, the last 45min into Ensenada were absolutely gorgeous with rolling hills and the scenic views of the ocean. Once we arrived at the host hotel, everyone was split up into 6 different hotels throughout the city (some 30min away with no transportation) and taken there individually. Luckily, I had arranged a homestay (Dina and Rodolfo) through a Timex teammate and they came and picked me up right away. It was a quick drive to their house (which was less than a mile from the race site/host hotel) and when we arrived I was introduced to their two children - Daniella (11) and Isaac (8).
They were absolutely adorable and had made a giant welcome sign and put water and chocolate next to the beds.
I was staying in Issac's room which was probably the coolest room I have ever seen. His cousin had painted all the Mario characters all over his walls and it looked so real!
I was still feeling very under the weather from the travel and being sick in the prior weeks. I was still very congested and coughing quite a bit. Because I wasn't really 'in my element' I wasn't really able to eat/sleep/train like I normally would. There was not very many places to go riding in the area and the one 45min ride I did do, I was pretty sure it was going to be my last ride ever. The roads were super rough and the people there are not very fond of you riding along side them and don't mind buzzing right. To make a long story short, I was hardly able to get in any training from Thurs until the race on Sunday which was a little frustrating.
The Race - 60s and overcast (perfect racing weather). Stomach definitely not right in the morning and unfortunately wasn't able to get anything down. The 1 loop ocean swim was quite intimidating as we all know my current ridiculous issues with salt water and swimming. Although I swam incredibly slow, I got through it. The 1 loop bike would have been a perfect course for me with all the hills and climbing, however, with horrible nutrition and being sick/dehydrated leading into the race, I cramped up completely at about mile 5 of 56...right as we were starting to climb. Luckily I had a 12/27 cassette and was able to just sit and spin. I would have for sure fallen off my bike had I needed to stand because there was no way my legs were going to do that. The rough roads and numerous people passing me didn't make it much fun, but after the last big decent, I finally started to loosen up a bit and was looking forward to shake things out even more on the run. As always, the first half mile or so is a bit of a struggle, but this time the struggle didn't seem to go away as much as it normally does and I remained incredibly tight and cramped going out further on the course. As I got several kilometers into the first loop, I kept seeing people running in all sorts of directions. They were stopping to ask where the course went all while screaming and totally freaking out in Spanish. The course was very mis-marked with a smaller loop inside of a larger loop and no one had a clue where to go. Honestly, it was probably the most hysterical thing ever watching all these people getting frazzled. I knew my race wasn't going to be what I wanted it to be so I just went with it. I'm pretty sure I ran the right course and maybe an extra kilometer or two, but being there watching the madness was priceless. Needless to say, the run splits were not counted in the overall times due to the poorly designed course.
At the end of the day, things were alright as I got my slot to the 70.3 World Champs which is what I came there for. Nothing else mattered. Rodolfo (my homestay) also got a slot and him and his wife Dina will hopefully be staying with us in Florida this November!
The trip overall was quite an experience. Mexico is an interesting place and traveling under the conditions I was (and still am) in was a big challenge. I met a lot of really great people and have some really funny stories to share and remember. Still waiting for pictures from Gavin and race shots so check the website in the next few days.
1 comment:
Way to stick it out E, it will all come together soon!
BB
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