Yesterday was spent in the Big Easy, which is quite the misnomer for the half distance triathlon me and some 2000 other racers took part in. Yeah it’s flat, and yeah maybe it’s a little windy, but it’s nothing that was any different than what Florida throws at me almost every ride. What made it such a sufferfest, and sent me into the med tent for the first time ever, well 1st time that wasn’t a result of some degree of lacerations, was an lack of attention to details on my part, and the weather forecast being super wrong. ‘Overcast with rain and some thunderstorms’, they said. 85*+ with no clouds is what materialized. As for my mistakes…autopilot took over as soon as I woke up that morning. I took in my extra cup of coffee as always on race day, and then a couple hours later a caffeine supplement I’ve been using before big days over the last month or so. Being on autopilot I didn’t think about the combined effects, and while my mental focus and time to fatigue got a great boost out of the combo, I peed more times during the race (I FINALLY PEED ON MY BIKE!!!!) than I do during a normal day. That’s what led to the dehydration that almost caused me to pass out on the run, on the ‘shuffle’, and how my body sucked in 2 bags of fluid to make the world stop spinning. I was on track for a huge PR, and then after the first 5k of the run I stopped sweating and the wheels just fell off. Also…thanks to whoever knocked my bike over in transition between me dropping it off the day before the race and race morning. Luckily the course was flat and I didn’t need but 2 gears since that’s all my really REALLY bent rear dérailleur could do. How bent? Well even at the cog down from the top/biggest, the rd rubs my disc. Thanks guy…. Congrats to everyone who raced. Peak Racing Team had a solid showing and everyone dug super deep. Nice start to the season for most. Below are pictures, taken by my coach and wonderful girlfriend and personal race photographer. All in all, I learned a lot. And I get another shot in less than a month at Challenge Knoxville’s half. It ain’t a PR course, but we’ll just see about that.
I was really out of it. Two nags and I still peed brown for 36 hours.
There Is No Spoon 