The Spine Center Shelbyville Olympic Triathlon

I'm now a little over four hours post this mornings triathlon, and as grueling as it was and as hard a time I had DURING the race, I'm actually feeling pretty good.

It had to have been 80 degrees or more at 8:00 a.m. when we started the swim, and muggy/humid as hell. The men took off in the lake 5 minutes before the women, and the water felt great - 81 degrees which they called "wetsuit illegal" for this race. This was fine with me, as the water felt cool during my entire swim - something I wished I had during the bike and run portions as well.

I pulled out of the water a full 11 minutes slower than my Knoxville time, which surprised me. In Knoxville, we were swimming towards the sun and my goggles offered no protection from the glare, so I stopped many times to lift them up, check that I was going to right way, and muddle on. Of course, in Knoxville we were swimming the last .6 miles WITH the current, so this probably helped. The only thing I can figure is that in the lake, being so close to the shore, you have current/waves/wakes coming towards you sideways and you're having to struggle against them as well. Either way, I felt pretty good during the whole swim, and only got nudged a time or two. See, I KNEW there was a strategy in being a slow swimmer and bringing up the rear. Think I finished the .9 miles in :49 minutes unofficially.

Hopped on the bike and was out of transition in 3 minutes, a few minutes faster than my Knoxville time. This probably had to do with the lack of wetsuit struggle. The bastards made sure we went out hard, with a nice, steep hill within the first half mile of cycling. I struggled up it, still tired and out of breath from the swim, but I somehow managed to make it and enjoyed the smaller hills and flats for the next 7-9 miles.

There are two turn-arounds on this course, and after speeding 26mph down a hill to the first, and seeing others struggle on the way back up, I knew I would be in for some trouble. I still continue to struggle on hills for some reason, and this one was no joke! Wish I knew the grade, but it had to have been somewhat close to the infamous "Mile 16 hill" (as I call it) from Knoxville. This sucker was a doozy. Shortly after beginning, I decided I could walk the bike up almost as fast as I was biking, and attempted to hop off. Worked out fairly decently at first, as I got my left foot unclipped. However, my bike decided to go a different direction where my right foot was still clipped in the pedals and down I went. Not too hard, but it was detrimental to my moral - which by this point was not hurting too terribly bad - but I think this is what started my downward spiral.

I sat there for 10 seconds, thought about sitting longer, and then got up to dust myself off and move on. Got passed by a few people, and felt good to see that another woman decided to get off her bike as well and walked 50 feet or so ahead of me. It was still a rather steep hill, and the heat and humidity of the day wasn't helping. Not to mention that it is not exactly easy to walk in those cycling shoes, and my feet were positioned just right that my calves were feeling every step. I was praying to avoid a cramp - which I did.

As I crested the hill, I hopped back on the bike and continued my journey. Took a right outside of that area, instead of a left which would have taken me BACK to the transition area, and continued to feel undefeated until I came upon hill after hill. I remember at one point thinking that if I saw another "GD Hill" that I was gonna lose it. A couple of times I almost burst out crying - my knees and thighs hurt, booty was getting sore, it was HOT, and I was now in dead last place. The last 15 miles I had to occupy my mind with things like "What else could DNF stand for? Darn Nice Finish? Deadly (G)Narly Face?" Yeah, this is what goes through my mind when I'm in pain and just want to give up.

From the second turn-around on I was all alone. Never saw another biker to the finish line - not even far up ahead of me. Needless to say, this was a slooooow race for me.

I finally re-entered the park and saw many athletes on the running course, both coming and going. Many were walking, all looked tired, so this at least gave me some hope that I could do this. I made my way down to T2, and didn't even look at my watch to see how long I had been on the bike, or how long I was in transition. After stepping on that final mat, the only thing I had in my head was "Just let me get this 10k over with!"

I made my way past the crowd and saw Shane and Alicia and the kids cheering me on. I continued on, but coming up on them I burst into tears and cried "This is so hard!" Alicia asked if I wanted her to run with me, and I nodded yes. She handed me some water and tried to offer words of encouragement to get me back into the spirit. It took the first mile or so before I somewhat-brightened up again and felt like I could complete this horrible race. Alicia didn't dress none too appropriately for walking/running a 100 degree race though (cotton tube dress and flip flops), and as much as she wanted to help me and how much it DID help having her there, I had her turn back around before mile 2 to walk back. Poor thing ended up getting blisters on both feet and was in pain the rest of the day for her efforts.

I passed many racers going the other direction, and heard a lot of "good job" comments from most. A guy that owns the local multisport store stopped in front of me and said "Even if you have to crawl, you will finish this race." This was also an "out and back" course, and it felt good to see the ladies up ahead who marked the turn-around point. Through the race, I poured water both down my throat and over my body just to try and keep cool. My clothes were soaked from head to toe, shoes squeaked, body sore - but DAMNIT, I was determined to finish this race.

By this time, it was pretty clear to me that I was in absolute last place. I was now headed back to the transition/finish line and dozens of cars with bikes racked passed me - finishers of the race. Some waved, others did not. From mile 3-4 I timed myself to see how long it was taking me to complete each mile, so I had an idea of how much longer I would have to endure this pain. I was walking a 16-minute per mile pace, which was fine by me.

I came upon the mile marker that represents one more mile, and knew then that I could do it. My body, however, thought otherwise more than once. Blisters forming, sweat in my eyes, lower back sore. I was now a tired, bad-postured, wet mess of my former 8:00 a.m. self. I was coming up the crest of the last hill and saw Shane walking towards me. Many times during the run portion of this race I thought to myself - Hmm, I've never hallucinated before. I wonder if I will today? This though, was not a hallucination, and when he got within 50 feet of me I burst out crying again. "I hurt so bad," "I'm so tired," "I just want to get this over with." were the sobbing words that he heard. He rubbed my back and told me it was going to be okay, that it was "all downhill from here" - literally, and that I was doing great. He gave me some lukewarm water (exactly what you want during a 100 degree race, right? - of course, his intentions were good), and poured a lot more over my head which felt great.

Seeing a downhill ahead, I told him I'd like to try to run it, and he ran right along with me. Encouraging me. Not too far ahead, I saw the bend before the FINISH line, and kept on running. Alicia and a member of our local Tri club were there cheering me on. Shane had broken away before the turn, and went ahead to catch me on camera at the finish. Many people cheered me on. Me - the last place finisher of this intense race.

This was definitely a very tough course. I'm still trying to decide if it was harder than Knoxville or not, and it's up in the air. The Knoxville swim was easier, since we got to swim with the current and were able to wear wetsuites. The bike course was equally hilly, but I think Knoxville had some steeper hills - so that made it tough. And this running course was quite a bit more hilly than TN, so I'd have to say this one was tougher as far as that event goes. I think the thing that really hampered today's race though, was the heat. Knoxville started out cool, and remained breezy with zero-to-low humidity throughout. The weather today was just brutal!

Overall, I'm always glad when I complete a race, even if I did come in last place. This was a first for me though, so it makes it kind of a special race in that sense. My supporters were great, the folks putting on the race were great, and I got just another t-shirt to commemorate yet another victory on my part. Oh yeah, and bragging rights, too!