They talked a bunch about the serious current, but it didn't affect me at all really.(Thank you Lake Erie swims!) I got pushed off course a little but not horrible. The brackish water wasn't nearly as bad as I expected (no salty taste at all) and it was not a pretty color (think coffee...black rich coffee) but who cares! The timing mat was at Transition and it was quite a hike, so I am pleased with the time.

Not much. Felt calm and comfortable throughout the whole swim.

I got crap from my captain because all the sprinters from the team were cheering me but I didn't look up, smile or acknowledge them. I was super focused on NOT losing my lid or goggle like at REV3. The run was actually in the swim time as the mat was at transition so, considering that, it was pretty slow. I dried off a bit, got my feet wiped and hung my wetsuit on the rack.

Hustle of course. My head was NOT in the game at this race, so I was pokey in transition for sure.

I'm sitting here just shaking my head. I was not excited to race, I dropped my chain and had to get off the bike in the first 4 miles, I just did not have the mental strength to do battle with the wind, and for the first time I can recall racing, I didn't care. My bike is my happy place, but it was not a happy bike. After seeing my first loop split I decided I could negative split...just need to ride tempo and that should happen. That lasted about 5 minutes, then back to who cares. Bahhhhhhh

On this day, not much. In future races, a lot. :)

stunk it up in here too. Really had to go potty, and no potty in transition. Bummer! Grabbed my stuff, jammed a gel, a couple salt tabs, and my inhaler (so glad I grabbed that) and finally lumbered out.

Again, on this day, not much, in future races...a lot! Speed up of course!

Worst run ever at this distance. EVER. I had hoped for a good run since the bike was so not happening. Nope. Not even close. I think I ran my dream pace for the 1st mile *looking for the portapots! I had to go!!!* but that was it. My head was so off...I just did not care...at all! It was so tempting to just walk off the course. 3 loops on the run didn't help either. :( Usually seeing my teammates is very energizing to me. I get pumped seeing them and cheering/being cheered by them, but not today. I have never wanted to quit a race before, and the only carrot I had over my head was the fact that I could qualify for worlds in Spain If.I.Just.Finish. Even having that thought made me angry at myself, yet I still wanted to quit. I came upon a gal walking and the first thing she said was she'd never had to work so hard to NOT dnf a race. I concurred, and low and behold there was my coach off in the distance...we picked it up and ran a bit together. At this point I was off of my strategy of walking a full minute per mile and was walking at the half mile point too. Coach ran with me a bit, then went back to push Ranger to catch me. He did of course,and we ran that last bitch of a mile in together with no walking. Just like the TTT...gosh I love that Ranger. Somehow he made the hell of that last mile doable. :)

Again, on that day, not much. I had to use my inhaler on the second loop, made too many pit stops again and I was so off mentally I am just happy I finished. On another race day a lot. I realized (yet again) I spent 7 minutes of my run in the loo. I have got to figure out how to stay out of the loo on longer runs! Seriously...7 minutes!

Terese and Tyla were there to cheer Ranger and I on at the finish, thank heavens. They helped us get our drinks and race tickets with our times (I was shocked that my crappy effort landed me in 6th) and walked with us to get some food and back to the rooms. I was complete toast. I took a shower, drank my recovery drink, got dressed and went back to see Andrea finish her very first HIM.


Goodness, my lousy head! I think I'm a tad burned out, over raced, not excited. I wasn't geeked to race REV3, but it was fun. This race I was kind of apathetic about. Clubs was exciting, but very different from last year and missing some of my very favorite people. The field was MUCH smaller...last year 42 in my ag...this year, 94 women overall including the non qualified spots! I knew I only had to finish with 11 qualified racers in my ag, not exactly stimulating. I'd been sick and foolishly didn't dial back my training (fear of worlds I guess). The wind on race day was worse than last year, and I just didn't want to kill myself and fight it. I just was.not.into.racing. And man did it show.


So now I've had the worst race of my life. Now I've experienced the low. It took me several days to find the good stuff in there. Some help from my friends and teammates and a little time off helped me realize a few things: What comes up, does indeed come down on occasion, and that's ok. I'm glad I had this wake up call at clubs and not at Worlds! Now I've got my crappy race out of the way, and I can do better at Worlds. Mentally, I got stronger, because I wanted to quit so much, but managed to finish. We all get by with a little help from our friends (and Coach!).

With all the grumpy feelings I had, I really did have an awesome time with my team...we won (hey...I even got extra points for the team with my crapper race!) the USAT Division 3 National Title, which was awesome! Everyone enjoyed eating the Club Crack I'd made for them (and I enjoyed watching my mates munch!), we had a great post race dinner together and a bunch of us watched the Tigers game at the Kenar's room which was full of shenanigans, laughter and margaritas.