Friday, May 13, 2011

Two, two, two firsts in one . . .

My first flat tire during the race & my first (and hopefully last) DNF! I know you're asking yourself, "In which race did this occur?" and, "Say it isn't so?"

Well, my faithful followers (speaking of which - Pendong, where the hell are you???), it was Wildflower. I came back to redeem myself for missing last year and not doing the Long Course, and this is what I get?

Technically I should have stayed in bed - er, the sleeping bag. I was not feeling well at all. But because I am a-"SS" (studette or stupid) - I got up to do this race. Let's face facts, I had an axe to grind with this course. I needed to see what the fuss was all about. What is this thing they call "Nasty Grade" that I had to climb on the bike? Or how horrible is this run? Steep hills that are sooooo steep that one must walk? Ha! I say.

Or not . . . I started the race with an extremely stuffed-up nose & a very tight, congested chest. I hurt. But I could not back down. Of course I was PISSED! Why the heck did I have to get this now? Don't answer.

The swim was rough - a lot of wind. Of course it was windy & choppy. Why wouldn't it be? Me not feeling well = tough swim. LOL

The bike ride was good, believe it or not. I was feeling strong. My legs felt strong, but my chest wanted someone to rub Vick's Vapo-rub all over it. Oooh, and take off my aero bars to replace them with a humidifier. Can you imagine?

At any rate, the bike ride went off without - wait, with only one hitch: the flat tire. Cruising down a nice hill where I had to brake a bit, and felt the sickening feeling of the back tire swerving around. Luckily, there happened to be a support tech fixing another rider's flat tire - which makes me wonder: was the evil Dick Dastardly out there throwing nails on the course?? Hmmmm.

Yeah, I know it's a cartoon, but life can be like a cartoon (so says I). And, I was riding Penelope Pitstop - and you know how Dick feels about her.

Ya know, Nasty Grade wasn't even that bad. And I found out later that the support guy put my tire on and it was rubbing on the wheel some . . . so, technically that ride was harder for me than others! LOL, again.

It did hit me at mile 53 on the bike that I was feeling really crappy. I knew I was not going to be able to do the run. So, after a "come to Jesus" talk with myself and a few tears - I decided I was going to have to quit the race.

I flew down Lynch Hill right into T2 and saw my running shoes.

I decided I would just go ahead and put my shoes on and give that dang run a try (this is the "S" for stupid).

I got everything on and started to run out of T2 when I saw my saving grace, my athletic supporter, my editor . . . my husband! I ran and hugged him, crying and asked him to tell me it was OK to quit!!

He said it was OK. Lola said it was OK, too.

And that was that. My race was done. DNF.

Now it was time to go watch my Vit & Pimp Daddy Jay-Z finish this race.

I guess I will have to wait 'til next time. Third time's a charm, right? See ya next year?

You'll just have to wait and see . . .

Much Peace & Love,
TracerX

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