At 5am, I went outside to get the bike on the car and saw it was raining. Great, I thought, my bike's going to get went in transit. Of course, it didn't stop raining until I left the venue hours later.
Rain really isn't that big a deal. It does have a tendency to increase chaffing as it turns every seam into sandpaper.
Because of high water, debris, etc., the Tri turned into a Du. I had originally been signed up for the Tri, but wasn't comfortable with my swimming, so I switched to the Du earlier in the week. Apparently, that wasn't needed. This meant there were a lot of folks on the starting line with me and Jeff. The race started and everyone took off. I settled into an easy pace and Jeff shot out of the gate. I think my average was around 8:15 pace, not bad. I got on the bike and immediately passed 10 folks trying to figure out why they were in the wrong gear. I rode hard and tried to keep a solid pace the entire ride. I had issues on the first big hill near the start and several folks I passed earlier, passed me back. I didn't have my aerobars on and I think I was slower without them, but my pace still wasn't bad (19.5 overall). I managed to pass a lot of folks. I also was passed by a lot of folks. Because of timing, the race was split into waves based on age/gender. This allowed me to be passed by a variety of folks throughout my ride. Oh yeah, it also rained off and on the entire ride. Mostly drizzle, but still...
Onto the run. Because of the way transition is set up, and because it was raining, I came into transition a lot slower on the bike than I normally do. I didn't put on my quick laces, so I had to untie and retie my shoes. I didn't think to double loop them and my laces came undone in the first mile. It's a nice run with only one section on actual road, with the rest being on sidewalk/paved trail, and gravel. I was just moving along when just after mile 1 (of 6.24), I was passed by an older gentleman (64 I think). Just after he passed me, he pulled up with a cramp. I thought to myself, I haven't even thought about cramping this whole time and 'ting' I felt a slight cramp in my leg. I kept running trying to figure out if it was a real cramp, or just a figment of my imagination. Turns out it was real. I kept running though.
As we made our way to the floodwall, I kept running and getting powerade/water at every stop (thankfully, there were several). When we made it to the floodwall we were faced with large puddles. I really didn't want to get my feet any wetter than they were so I dodged around them until I hit the 50ft long puddle, taking up the entire floodwall from one railing to the other. It was really funny to see it there because I just kept thinking about how much Alex would like to run through this and I wouldn't let him. I laughed to myself and splashed right on through.
The run progressed and my cramps were getting worse, but they hadn't forced me to stop. I shortened my stride to not use the muscles too much, I drank, I ate, and I kept running. Slowly, I inched my way back to the end of the race. As I made the last turn I had my cheering section out for me. They all yelled encouragement and it was good to see them there, and on the bike course.
I finished in 2:33. It was a long race, but it was fun. I was sore the rest of the day, even after the free massage. In fact, I told Carrie that my only purpose after the race was to test all of our chairs.
And I did.
