Denver Triathlon 7/24/11

I debated for quite a while if I was even going to do this race. There was so much going on, with moving, getting ready for my Pilates certification program, Chip’s parents were in town, and the 70.3 was only 2 weeks away and I was worried doing this would take away from my concentration for that. Plus, it was a free entry, so I had nothing to lose.

But of course, I decided to do it. Chip and I went to the pre-race briefing at Mile High on Saturday where they discussed the two transitions. It was weird to leave my run stuff there the day before the race. But they seemed to know what they were doing. We spent the rest of the day relaxing with Chip’s parents and I went through the rest of my transition bag a final time.

The alarm went off at 3:45. I am sure Chip was wondering why he had to go through this. Again. But he is a great sport about it. It wasn’t too smooth of a morning, but we finally made our way back down to Mile High where we had to put out bikes on a shuttle that would then take us up to Sloans Lake. It would have made much more sense for us to ride our bikes up because the shuttle seemed to take the long way around, but soon we were at Sloans, where I went to set up transition, which was on grass and a nice change. I was quickly out of there, where I met back up with Chip and headed toward the water. It was warm! No wetsuits were allowed, which made me a little nervous. I had only done one swim the week prior without a wetsuit, and I felt like I was a sinking anchor and it took me quite a bit longer. Not to mention that the swim was in Sloans Lake, which is just nasty! I was looking forward to the added protection.

Since this was just a tune up race, that I didn’t have anything invested in, I had already made the decision to just have fun. That, mixed with the atmosphere really kept the nerves away. It was completely different than the races I had done in Boulder. Everyone seemed so serious in Boulder, but here people seemed a lot more laid back. I was actually excited to race!

I was in the last heat, so I was able to see a lot of the elite athletes finish their swim. There were also about 20 racers that were seeing impaired, which was amazing in itself, but one (the only one that did the Olympic distance) was racing in the elite category, and he came blasting out of the water with only a few people ahead of him. You would have never guessed he was blind watching him sprint into transition. It was so cool to see him take off on the tandem bike. He continued on to WIN the race. Unbelievable. Chip’s parents showed up too, which was so nice!

Soon it was my time to start. As we were in the water waiting for the gun to go off, I dunked my head under, reminding me again how nasty the water was. I was only able to do a stroke or two warm up earlier. The less amount of time in the water the better! It was dark under the water, and I couldn’t see my hand even if I put it against my goggles. Ugh, I hope I don’t get sick!

The gun went off and it began. It took longer than normal to get into my groove. The lack of a wetsuit and having water so dirty got in my head a little bit, but eventually I settled in. I worked a lot on my “point and peep” that I learned from Heather, and added in a few burst here and there. It felt fine, as I was able to settle comfortable back into my pace after each burst. I think I only did two or three, but they must have helped because soon I was out of the water running into transition. I glanced down at my watch and was shocked to see 16:12! My set pace is right at 17:00 for 750 meters with a wetsuit, and this was 800 meters with no wetsuit. I was expecting at least 19:00. I think that gave me a burst of energy because I felt great running to my bike. Which I ended up losing. I am so used to being one of the last out of the water, so it is never an issue for me to find my bike. But almost every bike was still on the rack, so I ran right past mine. I finally found it, with an embarrassing giggle, as many girls saw me look like a fool.

Once I found my bike I was in and out in 1:30. It was nice to see Chip and his parents cheer me on as I rode by. The bike was good. Faster than I thought it would be with all the tight turns and U-turns. The course headed out on Sheridan then turned west of Colfax for a few miles before the first turn around. I had a pretty good pace going, passing people left and right, including 3 girls in my age group right off the bat. The course turned back onto Sheridan and then a quick right onto 17th. A short ways down was the turn around for the Olympic distance. The volunteers were still signaling people to turn around, so I was confused for a moment, wondering if I was going the right way when I flew past them. I continued down towards Mile High and looped around it to 8th. By now there weren’t a whole lot of people around me. I hadn’t seen anyone in my age group since the start, and hadn’t seen many other women at all. I got to the turn around and started to head back to T2. I didn’t pass more than 3 girls headed in the opposite direction. I was starting to get really worried that I missed a turn somewhere. This was not normal.

I got into T3 with a 42:08 bike (fastest time in my age group). I was beyond shocked to see NO bikes on my rack. I quickly got into my run gear (1:20 transition) and headed up and around the stadium. I saw Chip and his parents again, and they all made me smile. It is so nice to have support.

The run went around the stadium and onto the Platte towards REI. I passed a few men as I ran down, quickly getting my legs under me. I couldn’t tell how fast I was running, but I was feeling good. They didn’t have mile markers, at least not that I saw, so I couldn’t judge my pace. I saw 5 girls headed in the opposite direction that were doing the Sprint, but I couldn’t tell their age. I was starting to realize that they might be the only girls ahead of me. A possible top 10 finish?? That has been a dream of mine, but never thought it would be a reality. I was feeling really good. A few spectators cheered me on and told me I was looking fast. I enjoyed the comment, but didn’t believe it. Not until I rounded the bend next to REI and saw the turn around point. It came on really fast! There still were no mile markers so I wasn’t quite sure where I was. But soon there was one that had either a 2 or a 5 on it (couldn’t tell since it was a flag flapping in the wind). I looked at my watch and was beyond shocked. It was around 16 minutes. That couldn’t have been right. I was feeling good, and didn’t feel like I was pushing myself too hard. I had worked on 5K TTs earlier in the season, and the quickest I ever got was just over 25 minutes, and that was only running, and long before my fractured foot. But seeing that gave me a boost of energy and I kept running fast! I came to the Stadium and knew the finish line was so close. I didn’t want to look at my watch, so I just kept running. I crossed the finish line, and glanced down. 24:11. I have never in my life run that fast before! My finish time was 1:25:18. Chip and his parents came to congratulate me, and that’s when I realized how much I actually was pushing! I needed a good moment to get my breath under control.

It was warm, so we wandered to find some shade and get some food. I was really anxious to see the results. I was really thinking I had to be top 10. Maybe even 5th. Finally they posted prelims and I searched for my name. I started towards the bottom and was wondering why I wasn’t finding it, thinking I was giving myself too much confidence when I ended up on the first page of results. But I found my name. I scanned over to the overall and my jaw dropped when I saw 1! I turned around to Chip and his parents, probably with the look of utter shock on my face, and excitedly told them. It was a very exciting moment. I never thought, in my first real year of racing, with a fractured foot, would I ever pull out a first place win. EVER. I will forever be in shock, and I am sure I can never repeat this performance.

We waited around for awards, and I was really shocked when I heard I beat 2nd place by almost 9 minutes. The award was a hand made cast by one of the blind participants of a woman swimming, backed to a man running, holding bike wheels. Sounds quirky as I write it, but it is amazing. Something I will cherish the rest of my life. And worth so much more than a medal.

This day will really go down in the history books. I will never forget it. I can only hope that I can pull out another performance like this.