Issaquah race report - Oy vey!

My race report actually begins the night before.   I usually leave my type A-ness at the office, but last night I started freaking out about preparation for the triathlon.  It started when I looked down at my computer at work, realized it was 5:34 and that packet pickup closed at 6.    So, I hauled ass out of there to get to packet pickup, but traffic was a mess.   At 6:20, I finally get there (Yes, I was just going from Redmond to Issaquah...).   They had full wetsuits for rent, and I was so concerned about the cold, I went ahead and rented one.  Originally, I had not wanted one with sleeves because it felt constricting, but the cold won.

I went back to the office, popped in at Mr Crampy's, a new multisport shop in Redmond, and got some fuel, and went home.   I stopped and got some tastey thai for dinner and then set about packing the night before for the Transition setup.   I havent packed the night before for ANYTHING in ages, but I really wanted to make sure everything was set.  Coach T responded to an email and told me to pack a couple other things and visualize.

So I did, and went to sleep.  I set my alarm for 4:30 so i could get up and eat 2 hours before and be to the race site by 6 am, so that i would not feel rushed in any way.   I find it very easy to visualize, and did so, focusing on my swim and transitions, until I fell asleep.   Make sure to get up on each side, focus on the left side, keep my fingers together, little kicks, keep my feet up, lengthen my strokes, breathe deeply and evenly.   Go slow, not fast.  I actually went through T1 about 3 times until I had it perfect (Yes, I have a very vivid imagination).   I then rolled over and set my alarm.   Oh wait - did it set for 7 days?  Or 5 days, which turns it off on Sats?  I reset it again, set to ipod, hit the button hit the button, wait, did I hit the button too many times?  I decided I was being OCD and turned off the light and went back to visualization.

This morning I woke up and streeeeeetched out my legs - ah so nice to sleep in - and got a NASTY charlie horse, not in one calf, but in both at the same time.  Crap, just what I needed, damn calves.   As I was franticly rubbing them out, I realized my alarm had not woken me up, and it seemed light out.  I rolled over and sure enough - It was fricking 5:28 am!!   AHHHHHHHHHH SHIT!   So I got up, started running around, threw some oatmeal in the microwave, neglected to feed the pets, put the bike on the car and got the hell out of there.   

I arrived at the race site at 6:30, and heard the announcer say that the mandatory meeting would be at 6:45.  My wave was to start at 7.   I went ahead and quickly set up my transition spot and put on my wetsuit.  Then, I wandered out to the beach, a couple minutes late.  I saw someone else from TN Multisport, so I introduced myself and we walked together.   She was also doing her first tri in a few years, and her name is Sarah and she seems nice. We put on our swim caps (doubled up!) and I was about to run back to try to fill my water bottle, and one of the TN coaches showed up with another team member to cheer us on.

I came back to the beach, and they repeated about 5 times that the men's 30-34 would go in 3 waves, so I thought 'I have some time, I will go dip my feet in'.  I put in some ear plugs and went to the beach.  The first wave was off!   As I was standing there, I noticed that the 2nd wave seemed to look rather feminine and realized that it was my wave!  So I ran on over there and got in right as they started out countdown.  No time to panic, but plenty of time to notice that it really wasnt that cold at all.    This will be a cakewalk, right?

As soon as I went to take my first stroke, I realized I could not inhale.  My chest could NOT fill in that wetsuit.    I got about 40 yards out, and feeling like a complete jerk, I went over to the friendly kayak helper dude.   I needed to catch my breath.  I unzipped the back of my wetsuit - not any colder, but only slightly less pressure.  Damn.   He sent me to another kayak, where a guy racer greeted me with 'I couldnt do it either'.   Either?  WTF?  I am going to finish this.   All my goals for this race were replaced with just a goal to actually finish this swim.   I realized the kayak was hauling us the wrong way and I let go, and told him to give me a floaty, cause I was going to go again right after this group passed me.   And so I did.   And holy crap did it hurt.  I could only inhale about a half of breath.   I went about another 100 yards, and got another floaty, and was completely pissed at myself.   I have a swim coach, I am getting better at swimming, what the fuck is this????   So at this point, I seriously considered packing it in.  But I wasnt near drowning, I could do this, so I kept swimming.   Slowly.  My goal now was to finish, and do so in a way that didnt kill my legs.    And so, that is what I did.

As I dragged myself out of the water, I didnt run like I had planned.  I walked, and tried to start breathing - this didnt work until i got the top of my wetsuit off, and then it was amazing, getting a full breath.   I heard someone (I swear to god) say 'Go Kimberly!'.  I don't know who it was -  only co-workers call me that.  I started a jog and got back to transition, and still needed to catch my breath.   Other than slowing down to do that, T1 went generally as planned.  I got on the bike and started going.  

As I went out of the park, I heard a few people yell 'Go TN!'.   That was nice,  and so off with the bike.  This course keeps you fairly slow for the first couple miles, which was good - I FINALLY caught my breath at about mile 2 and got into a good breathing rhythem.   Then I hit the hills - and actually did better than I expected.   Out of nowhere, at the bottom of the first one, John Curley is standing there, turning around on his morning run and looks at me and says 'Hey, you get this hill!'  I thought this was hysterical.  About this time, I let the swim go and focused on these hills.   I was not going to let these hills get me.   And they didnt!   At the crest of the first one, my gears went all wonky, and TNM Sarah passed me.   I decided to just coast down the hill, passed her again,  and they fixed themselves at the bottom.  I think I picked off a couple of the slower riders on the bike, and that was good (maybe I wont be last after the swim?)

By the time I got to T2, my brain was going fuzzy, I almost ran out with my helmet on.   T2 was a disaster.   Where is my bike, shit forgot my helmet, what, are my gloves still on??  Finally got out of there, and my calves felt tight.   So, I ran slow.   Some more folks along the run were yelling 'Go TN!'.   The run course was a disaster.   It was a nasty mud pit.   It was good I was slow, because I didnt fall.   I saw a few folks who didnt slow down spin out and go down on their ass.    My goal was to run 15 min, with a 1 min recovery, but this didnt pan out.  The first time I started to try to walk, the Charley Horse was back..... So run with no recovery it was.     On the way in, I saw another TN gal (Kathleen, I learned later) on her way out from the bike.  I gave her a high 5 (I probably needed it more than her) and finished in a muddy muddy mess.

After the race, I really wanted a banana.  I hate eating bananas plain but there I was, marching past the Bratwurst and going for the fruit.  Potassium deficiency anyone?

On my way out to the car, some stuff fell out of my bag, and a guy stopped to help me.  When I got to my car, i realized I didnt have my phone.   So I went clear back, and when I got within hearing distance of lost and found, I heard the race announcer say 'It is a nice iPhone with a cork outside!'   'Oh, we looked at the email, and we think this belongs to KIMBERLY EVERHEART'.  So, thankfully I got it back.

Overall, a comedy of errors, which is generally the case with my life.   Once I have my results, I will post.   I am hoping that I did better than I expected in the run (with my calves, that was not very good), and met my time goals with at least the bike and T2.      Ugh, I still need to shake off the swim completely, I am completely mortified that I got to meet the Kayak dudes.  MORTIFIED!


I guess this one is just going to have to be a learning experience, I learned a lot!!!