Going for the Gold

Deschutes Dash Olympic Triathlon
Bend, OR
1500 m Swim/40K Bike/10K Run
Overall Time: 3:03:37 (98/138 OA, 29/54 F, 8/11 AG)
Swim: 20:27
T1: 4:01
Bike: 1:35:49
T2: 1:03
Run: 1:02:15

Pre-Race
I'm staring at my first ever Olympic distance race. It's been 18 weeks and a lot of swim, bike, and run miles since my tri season officially started. I've spent most of my taper week being calm one minute, then extremely nervous the next. To complicate matters a bit, we also decided to take a camping trip immediately after the race. What was I thinking? We haven't been camping since Nathan was born! Where was all our stuff? Thank God for Chad. He handled most of the vacation logistics from finding all our gear to running to Safeway on mile 15 of his 16 mile long run to pick up the last Harry Potter installment so I could rein in my brain during the four hour drive to Bend. Saturday morning dawned and the car was packed. All that I had to do was to fill Bellatrix's back tire with air. I started to unscrew the valve when half of it sheared off in my fingers. @^&#!!! Now I have to change another tube. Forty frustrating minutes later (you'd think I'd be good at this by now), we were finally on our way. We grabbed breakfast and coffee at our favorite coffeehouse and I settled in with J.K. Rowling's seventh tome. Five hundred pages later, we arrived in Bend and headed straight to the LBS to pick up my race packet, #777. Pretty cool, huh? We checked into our hotel and called our friend, Matt who was doing the sprint, who graciously invited us over for a pre-race meal that evening. Next on the agenda was to drive the bike course and I'm glad I did. The hills were not terribly steep but were very long. If I saw them for the first time on race day, I'd be thoroughly demoralized. Now I'm prepared. Nothing to it. Trust my training. We chilled out the rest of the afternoon before joining the Bannons to celebrate Matt's daughter's 7th birthday over salmon, a bit of wine, and carrot cake.

The Swim
Race morning dawned and I fueled up with a bagel, peanut butter, and coffee. Chad and Nathan dropped me off at the race site before heading off to find their own breakfast. I set up my spot in transition, hit the Porta-Potty, and got on the shuttle to the swim start. Goals? Break 3:10:00, stretch goal of 3 hours. About fifteen minutes before my wave, I had a Gu then wiggled into my wetsuit. Into the river I went. Yep, snow melt is pretty darn cold. And the current is strong. I swam upstream to warm up and didn't get anywhere, a natural endless pool. It's time. The horn sounded and we were off. I had a bit of a panic moment at the start that threw me for a loop so I had to breathe every stroke but I finally found open water and settled into a smooth bilateral rhythm, sighting every 9-12 strokes and barely kicking at all. We were going downstream. The underwater weeds were pointing me in the right direction. I couldn't get too lost. By the time I went under the second bridge, I was starting to develop an ice cream headache due to the cold. I finally saw the orange buoys marking the swim exit. Orange buoys...go for the orange buoys,

T1
I got to shore and hauled myself up. Too fast! I was dizzy and disoriented. Hmm, this is a new feeling. Now what? My bike! Go find my bike. I ran through transition and managed to find my bike all the while trying to shake off the dizziness. T1 feels like forever but I finally get my act together and head for the bike mount.

The Bike
I tear off towards the bike course. A few gentle climbs in town and a slight uphill grade all the way to the sprint turnaround in front of our hotel. I pass some people. Many fast guys on drool-worthy setups pass me. The course starts to get interesting about 1/2 mile beyond the sprint turnaround. The long endless hill starts. I'm in my lowest gear for about 5 miles pedaling my heart out at a whopping 8-10 mph. Does this hill end? Nope. One false crest after another. I buckle down and work harder even reeling some people in. On the final push to the Olympic turnaround and I see another woman in my AG right in front of me. An internal push and I power on past her and get caught up in a group of about 4 guys at the cone who crowd me out a bit at the turn. I start down when I hear one of the volunteers shout, "Go get 'em triple 7!!!" That was all I needed. I kicked Bella into the big girl gear, tucked in, and let her rip. I pass all four of them within the first mile. My speedometer kept climbing, 27, 31, 35, 40. I stopped looking at the computer at 40 mph. Do you blame me? A post race check of the computer showed I maxed out at 43. Wheee!!!! Back in town and I had to throttle back to negotiate the roundabouts and just like that, I was back in transition. I was supposed to take a Gu towards the end of the bike but the rising heat and exertion of climbing unsettled my stomach so all I could handle was the Gleukos I had in both my bike bottles.

T2
Not much to say. Pretty typical T2 for me...

The Run
Oh the run. I start on my first 10K ever when a searing pain sliced through my right side. Oh my God. Where did that stitch come from? I slow down to a pitiful wog and start massaging my side trying to work it out. At the same time, the unsettled tummy reaches a crescendo around the first run turnaround and I almost had to stop and empty it. That feeling passed quickly and all I had to do was work out the sidestitch. Matt passed me on the first bridge with some words of encouragement, and I plodded on. This is miserable but the stitch starts to dissipate about 2.5 miles in. I hear Chad, Nathan, and the Bannons cheer as I finish my first loop and start the second. I slowly start to pick up the pace from a slow wog to a fast wog. Once more around the riverbend and I hit the final turn heading home. Glancing at my watch, I see that 3 hours is beyond my grasp but not by much. I muster what kick I can find and cross that finish line, triumphant and proud. I did it!!!

This was a great event. Beautiful venue, great volunteers, and awesome for the spectators. I'd do it again. And my thoughts on the book? Brilliant, simply brilliant.