The Texas Double

You know the old saying... "Don't mess with Texas". Well I messed - twice! Texas fought back, and gave me everything it possibly could... Fun. Beauty. Excitement. Anxiety. Fear. Joy. Knowledge. Pain. Confidence. Gratitude. Wind. Rain. Heat. Kindness. Victory. Disappointment. Friendship. Great Food. Love. And in the end, I'm thrilled to be able to be on this journey. Even when it doesn't end the way you had envisioned it.

Let's go!

Round one was in April for Galveston 70.3. This was my first race back since injury last May. It was a "no pressure" race for me, just a good test to see where my fitness was at. But still... I was excited! I was nervous! I hoped I'd done enough!

I arrived in town Friday before the race, traveling solo for this one. I completely lucked out with the most awesome home stay. Thank you to the Amsalem Family! I didn't have to think about a thing, other than racing. Perfect!

It had been stormy for days, and the forecast predicted more of the same. Wind and rain. At the pro meeting the day before, there was talk of the possibility of the swim being cancelled. We were all praying for a swim (even me), and we got one.

I arrived at the race venue with my normal pre-race jitters. Into transition to rack my bike and get everything squared away. One last glance over everything, and I leave transition to make my way to the swim start. As I prepared to get in, I looked out into the water. Never have I jumped into such a dark and foggy Ocean before. It was intimidating, but also a little exciting. The canon fires and this party has started! The swim was rather uneventful, other than a bunch of chop and fog, and my normal "hang on for dear life and stay on feet as long as possible" plea. By the first of three turns I was alone (I know, a huge surprise!), but as I rounded the buoy, a saw a group of girls behind me. Awesome! Certainly wasn't my best swim time - 34:51 - but with these conditions and knowing there were girls behind me, I stayed positive.

Go, go, go!

Into transition with some of the girls, and bikes are still racked. I'm happy! I headed out onto the bike with a few of the girls. I never saw them again until the turn, when I was able to see where everyone was. They were not that far back, and coming. And there were plenty to chase as well. The wind was howling, and it was a cross tail wind all the way out of town. A crazy fast 28 miles to the turn, but we all knew what we had coming on the way home. Work.

First race where I could see better without glasses 

This bike ride was FUN! Despite the rain and wind, I was having a ball! These conditions don't typically bother me, as long as I'm not frozen. I wasn't cold, so life was good.  I just did what I could to settle in to my race and hopefully make up some time on some girls. After making the turn, my goal was to hold it at a steady effort all the way back home. I felt good and stayed very consistent. It took me 48 miles to catch the next girl in front of me (tells you how fast and tough these ladies are!), but I was never passed by a single person on the bike, even those speedy male age groupers. Bike split was 2:22:36, and I felt good about that. Now let's see if these legs can still run!

This run course was a spectators dream! It was 3 loops of roughly 4.4 miles each loop. And each loop had four fingers taking you out and back, you can only imagine how many times we turned around. But none the less the run was on and I felt good. Legs were there... for now.

This sign became oh so familiar!

As I ticked off the first few miles, my pace was a bit quick, and I knew it. Try as I may to back it off a bit, each mile ticked by and my pace was only but a second or two slower. I think I was just so thrilled to be back out there, I had a hard time slowing it down. And sometimes when you feel good, you just have to go with it. But as we all know, that can come back to get you later on. Ah, the lessons we learn on race day. By the half way point I had passed a few girls and was still feeling pretty good.

By about mile eight I felt my poor pacing catch up with me. Legs were starting to feel it, and my pace was slowing. I start remembering this familiar race pain, in which I was still grateful to be experiencing. By mile 11 it was simply hang on and get to that finish! The wheels came off, and it's ok. I take what I can learn and move on. Run split 1:35:02.

Photo credit: Wesley at Pro Bike Express

At the end of the day, I'm happy with my 4:35:58 and had a blast out there! The body felt good all day and no signs of any knee pain. I left plenty of room for improvement, but a good return to racing and start to my season!

I had a good solid 4 week build leading into Ironman Texas, which was next up. It included some fun spring break travel to Scottsdale, AZ with Romney and the kids and a trip or two to St. George for warmer weather training.

Just my favorites!

My recovery from Galveston and build into IM Texas went really well. I was excited. I felt fit. And after all, this is the distance I've been best at, and thus it's where my heart is. I love the challenge. I love the journey and the process. I love the battles you have with yourself, the ups and downs. I love that through the process we learn we can do things we thought we couldn't. I love the chance you get to visit the devil himself, look him in the eye, and choose to turn and walk away knowing well it's the harder path, but the only way to victory. And I love the inspiration I get from others. I was ready to return to the full Ironman distance and give it all I had.

Just before getting in the water

I was so grateful to have Romney here with me this time. I needed him! He kept my head in check and lightened everything up. He took care of everything and was there every step of the way. Being race spouse and sherpa is not an easy job, and he does it so well. Thank you my Love!

I'm out there somewhere

The Swim - oh my, what can I say?! This course was NOT best case scenario for me, but what do you do? Well, you just keep swimming. And so I did. It was a point-to-point swim broken down into three sections. A banana shaped out and back, then a hard right turn, like almost a u-turn, into a narrow canal where there were spectators on both sides. And when you end up swimming alone 1/3 into the race, you are left to navigate alone, and let's just say my open water navigation skills could clearly use some good practice. The best part of the whole swim was after making that hard right turn into the canal, I spotted Romney, and with each breath, there he was - smiling, shouting, encouraging - and taking pictures. Now this made me happy!

Just me!

Needless to say I was happy to exit the swim, and it certainly was not my best. 1:08. I entered transition with a few of the speedy male age group swimmers that had caught me, which I knew was a possibility. Time to re-group and get on the bike. Yes!

It always takes me a couple miles to get settled in and get my legs underneath me. By mile 10 I passed the next girl up. I felt good. Legs were good. Head was good.

We were pretty fortunate weather wise, temps were mild and humidity was low, unlike last year. We did have some wind to contend with on this beautiful, single loop course with rolling hills through the Texas farmlands. Like wind all day. In every direction. It certainly kept things exciting! I really only remember a short section - like 5 miles is all - around the 60 mile mark where I felt like there was a tail wind helping me.

I rode all day alone, with the exception of some packs of fast male age groupers that would pass me, then just stick themselves right in front of me and sit there. Often my only choice was to use a bullet and pass the whole bunch of them, or sit up and stop pedaling. So several times I'd make the move pass a group of 6-8, just to see them speed back up and pass me back within ten minutes. So frustrating! I was astounded at some of their disregard for rules and fair racing. I saw blatant drafting. I saw them pass each other and there was no effort to drop back to the legal distance once overtaken. I saw litter just thrown into the streets, nowhere near a feed zone. I do realize that this is not every male age grouper, but there was enough of it going on that it left a bad taste in my mouth. My goal is to race an honest and fair race, and the rules are very clear to me. There are no grey areas. I saw several red cards given, but not enough. The referees can't keep up. Enough said.

On my way out of town

Somewhere around mile 30, everything was going well when I start to feel a sharp pain going down my left leg. I don't think much of it initially, just stay on the nutrition and push forward. I have had some sciatic nerve issues in the past, after I was hit by a car back in 2011. This feels similar, and I dismiss it somewhat knowing that race day can bring out some unforeseen issues, but can usually be dealt with and you move on. So I start to look for little rollers just to come out of the saddle to change things up. I stretch when I see an opportunity. I do what I can to stay positive, and above all things, keep eating and drinking! This race is not over. I am troubleshooting in my head. I am reminding myself of other races when I haven't felt up to par on the bike, and then felt great on the run. And then somewhere around mile 70 I notice the pain has moved deep into my calf and my left buttocks is tingly and numb.

Doing everything I can to stay positive and manage the pain as best I know how, I power forward. Just at the right time, when I needed a little pick me up, I was surprised to hear Romney's voice cheering me on at mile 87. Wow! I didn't think I'd see him once I left town, but this man never ceases to amaze me. I was so excited to see him, what a great boost to help carry me through the last 25 miles of the bike. 

As I pass the hundred mile mark, my head moves on to anticipate what's coming next, the marathon. And I'm hopeful, I want to bury this little issue and move on. I top off the 1500 calories I'd already taken in with another GU Roctane, making sure I start the run topped off. My energy level and stomach were both great, thanks to my tried and true nutrition plan powered by GU Energy Labs. Could't do it without these guys! As I make the final few turns into transition, I see a few girls up ahead. Yes! I roll in just behind them and leap off my bike and toss it off to one of the awesome volunteers. These people make our races possible, and I try hard to thank as many of them as I can. Finished the bike in 5:17.

As I began my long run through transition, I realized that I not only had sharp shooting pain down my left leg, but that my low back was completely locked up. Never have I felt like this before, and I couldn't stop thinking about how silly I must have looked trying to run through T2 with my back locked up and hobbling from the shooting pains down my leg. None the less, I grab my bag and put my running shoes on. I wanted so badly to move on from the issues that had plagued me on the bike and have a solid run.

At this point, I figured my best shot of accomplishing that would be to run the first few miles relaxed and in control. Find the legs and let things loosen up. After just a few miles, I started to come to the realization that that may not happen today. This was different. I felt a severe and sharp pain, like a rope that had no give or flexibility going all the way down my leg and into my foot. I felt as if my heel was going to tear right off of my foot. At this point, I start to weigh the risk of continuing. After sitting out the entire season last year due to injury, I'm not willing to do it again. I'm heartbroken. I've never had a DNF before, and I surely didn't come to Texas for my first one. Lots of self talk going on at this point. I wrestled with myself. A lot. I cried. Yes, just past the aid station at mile 3 had tears coming down my cheeks.

As an athlete, you have to be mentally tough. We all know that it won't be easy, and we WILL push through some serious discomfort and hard times throughout the day. But this was different. This was sheer pain that I believed could have a serious consequence. Pulling the plug was without a doubt one of the hardest things I have ever done in a race. It took every ounce of mental toughness I had to accept my situation and make an educated decision.

There was a first aid tent near mile five, which is where I stopped and notified officials I couldn't continue. I called Romney on the phone, filled him in on my situation through my tears, and made a plan to meet him back at the main medical tent in transition. Once there, I turned in my chip, iced my body, and found Romney. I was so happy to see him, and for whatever reason, I needed his comfort and approval. He was so supportive, understanding and wonderful. We finished up business there and he took me out to a big, wonderful lunch.

This guy. Simply the best!

As two weeks have now passed, and I've had a lot of time to look back and reflect on the day, not once have I regretted the decision I made to pull the plug. There's no denying that I wish I wasn't in that situation. But I was. And under the circumstances, I am confident that I did the right thing. There will be more races. I am eager and excited to continue training and racing. I have been working hard to get to the bottom of this issue and continue my season.

Thanks to BJ for your ever positive attitude and constant belief in me! And my amazing sponsors, in which I could't imagine doing this without. Dr. Greg Freebairn who bends over backwards to keep me healthy, and is an absolute genious! Gu Energy that fuels me every day of my life. Canyon Bicycles keeps my bike running flawlessly with amazing service and people! Gnarly Nutrition helps me recover daily with the cleanest and best tasting whey protein on the market. I never go a day without it in something I eat or drink. Rudy Project has the best helmets and glasses in the sport! BodyWise Fitness provides the brightest, most friendly and up to date facility to do any kind of training you can imagine. I love that place! Roka for the most comfortable and fastest wetsuit out there. And ISM Saddles for making the most comfortable saddle I've ever ridden. And trust me, that's important!

Must express my thanks to my four kids who are my everything and give me reason to be better every day. And to Romney, I think you all get the picture. He's an amazing dude to have as my hubs and partner in life. I'm a lucky girl, love you! There are so many others on this journey with me, and you all know who you are. My A Team. The inner circle. The ones that keep this all fun. Early morning swims, long bike rides and lots of running. Ya'll know who you are, MWAH!