natty light

yes this is a race report. yes it is named after a very crappy beer for a good reason. no im not sure i plan on telling you said reason.

i wont go into all of the himming and hawing i did about racing this past weekend. DU is a pretty big thing for me, so i wanted to du well up there. and the fear of not, well that was alot to handle. my mental game is still coming along. they were calling for thunderstorms and yes, i was all over the doplar. the course is not my style (ie steep downs and lots of hard turns) and when i raced this for the first time last year i remember being pretty scared and riding my brakes probably no less than 40% of the race. maybe not a good idea. but that ride has stuck with me for a year and even with more confidence and better skills it was still locked in my brain. adding t-storms to that was down right petrifying.

anyway. decision made. do it.

we get up there sat and check in the bike and head to stay with an old college friend. had a great night catching up with and her husband and even one of our college roommates - who we realized i hadnt seen since a very random run in at a pizza place in charlottesville. - save that story for another day- but great nite.

sunday. its cloudy but no rain. could this be the blessing i've been asking for? into transition and un wrap the bike. exchange a few plesantries with some other racers (isnt everyone nice before the mass start when elbows fly!). and was convinced my front fork was very askew. i kind of stared at it for a bit and decided the hell with it. out for a warm up and was feeling very sluggish. but no matter. i always feel like shit before a race. it was the one time i felt great on the warm up that i completely blew up and ended up sick and in the med tent. lesson learned.

quick tangent...djani jones...pictured below..


so why would he be here. and more importantly who is he?? seemed to be the question on everyones mind.. funny thing.. he was warming up/hanging out and no one was talking to him. everyone was kind of like who the heck is that guy with the camera following him. here is my hypothesis as to why that happened:



clearly the number of triathletes who pay attention to the NFL is a very small lot. i am in that tiny overlap.

so who is he- long story as i know most dont give a hoot about the nfl (as witnessed by the lack of comments when i write about the good old steelers!! ha). ok so he is an ex nfl guy (played for the hated bengals and was a key reason we couldnt find the endzone last november,, but i digress). so now he, like most ex-somethings have a reality tv show. his has him going around the world and competing in different sporting events.

so the start looms. its only a 5k i keep telling myself. thats NOTHING. so ready set go.

yes i seem to tower over everyone else. but it also looks like they are coming out of blocks.. why so low??

my plan was to position in front of the pack and go with who ever went. but the funny thing was - i was the one going. i spent probably the first mile wondering if everyone had gotten together with out me and conspired to run a 30 min 5k to conserve for the bike. it felt too easy. but whatever. i hit the 2m mark about 12:XX so it wasnt that slow. but still slow. there was a huge hill leading up to T1 and one girl made a move. it kind of surprised me and i didnt have the gusto to respond. so i came in to T1 in second.



*must work on transitions* 2 girls caught up and passed me. i just feel so discombobulated. so once again, the pissed off kari takes over and i fly out on the bike and pass them back.


then the fun begins. (sarcasm folks). because i am not unwilling to admit i got SCHOOLED out there on that course. it was pretty technical (i think i use that term correctly when i say there were oh about 6 hard turns per loop- 3 loops- and about 1/3 of the course was on this very curvy hill- correct me if that is not technical.. my bike saavy is severly lacking). anyhoo.. they flew by me on the first turn and i never recovered. frustrating to no end. but again, my head tends to have more control than it should. but over all a respectable bike. a bit off my goal time, but not terrible. - oh and after reading alicia's blog about the course being FUN i about threw up. she is truly a monster on the bike!

me- cornering at about 8 mph.. lovely.

one other girl did pass me toward the end but i hoofed it and went back by her - but again T2- she went out on the run ahead of me. F*CK. yes i did actually say that out loud when i saw her running out and i was fumbling with the wrong shoe on the right foot. lord help me.

so out on the run. heading out there was a water stop and KATE O was there and gave me a great little boost. no more than 50 yards later terror strikes and i get this PAIN in my side that can only be likened to labor. OK i dont know what labor feels like but this was killer. i could only tell my self to not think about it, like a thirsty man in the desert doesnt think about water. like coach jen doesnt think about m & ms. like tiger doesnt think about IHOP...sorry not happening. with less than a mile left she was still just a bit ahead but another girl came by and was just ahead of her. i got my act together just way to late and only caught one of them. ugh. disappointing. but over all happy with 5th.

at the finish chute. not enough left in the tank.

so good and bad to take from the race. still chasing that darn podium.