You could’ve named me after the famous (or not) monarch who in 1066 AD ran over what is now present day England and became known as William the Conqueror. I came to do the same – run over and conquer the course in Millington, TN – home to the Naval Air Station where Steve had been based 25 years ago, and also the location of the Memphis in May Triathlon, an extremely well organized and FUN Olympic-distance race for athletes both pro and amateur.
We left early Saturday morning to make the trip down. It’s a straight shot south on I-55 and we had a great time maneuvering our crotchety 13 year old Saab with all our gear in the back down through New Madrid (pronounced “MAA-drid” not Muh-DRID), Missouri -- site of the New Madrid Fault, one of the biggest geological faults in the United States, bigger than San Andreas. The running joke is that we’d be the new California if the Big One ever hit.
But the only things shaking Saturday morning were our butts as we rocked on to the tunes of Pillar, Red, Seventh Day Slumber, Starfield, Kutless – great Christian rock bands with lyrics that just as easily apply to racing as much as they do to living a life centered around God.
We arrived in Millington right on schedule, where I picked up my race packet and changed into my wetsuit for a quick acclimation to the lake and its 69F degree temperature. A couple short race efforts and I was ready for Sunday!
We had dinner with my friend and supersonic triathlete Kristin and her husband John. It was the first time we had met him and we all hit it off right away. John’s a software programmer, and well, we’re all technical types, so conversation was easy.
Sleep came easy that night and I was awake Sunday before the alarm. I shook Steve awake like a child on Christmas morning, and he took a shower while I got dressed, ate, and packed up our stuff.
After Steve got out of the bathroom he turned on the TV and what to our surprise but the original Naked Gun movie was on. In no time at all we were loudly laughing our butts off at 5am, hoping no one else heard us. When I opened the door to the hotel room, 5 other rooms were emptying out with triathletes all packing their cars. We skipped to our car, unable to stop giggling and repeating the movie’s one-liners and gags that joyfully work their way into our conversation and enrich our everyday lives. This was a perfect way to start Race Day :).
We arrived at the race site, where thousands of other athletes were driving in as well. Steve and I carried our stuff and wheeled my bike to the Body Marking area and a smiling guy with a black marker wrote my race number on my arms. Then I pulled my sweatpants down (so he could mark my calves) and said LOUDLY “Besides my husband, you’re the only other man I’ve dropped my pants for!” 10 other athletes standing around started howling as did the body-marking volunteer. Steve videotaped the whole thing.
I racked my bike and set up my stuff with my blue polka-dotted towel – a radical towel color helps me find my equipment after the swim and bike so I can totally focus on getting my gear on and worry less about finding my own transition stall.
Swimmers went off in a time trial start, meaning the officials put athletes in the water every 3 seconds. I was off in a flash and had a great swim once I got going. During the last “leg” the water suddenly became a lot rougher, and I looked up to see we had a nice headwind blowing, creating a nice chop. I redoubled my efforts to pull harder – by now I was sighting on the Exit balloon – and was surprised at how many people I was passing. For the first time I actually raced the swim and didn’t simply endure it…big difference.
At the exit, I trotted out of the water and into the Transition area where I peeled off the wetsuit and hopped on my bike. The first mile of the bike was HILLY and my legs were instantly screeching at me. I also had a really painful air pocket in my esophagus that made me want to belch, or eventually hurl. Being aero only made it worse and to add to the fun, we seemed perpetually turned into the 25mph winds. Even though the course turned a corner here and there, it seemed we had only about 5 minutes of being downwind before the road turned and we were assaulted once again. I was crawling either at 12mph or zooming at 25mph; there seemed very little in between. And in the immortal words of Elmer Fudd, my legs were on FI-WAH the entire time :).
I did pass a lot of other athletes, once again a new and exciting trend this season, and a testament to all those rides on my trainer over the winter – thanks Jen!! :)
Finally I reached the Transition Area and dismounted. Steve was there just over the fence and he yelled “You look AWESOME!” – I can’t begin to emphasize how much this means to an athlete when her quads and hip flexors are about to spontaneously combust :).
I got my bike racked, threw off my helmet and shoes, tied my running shoes and ran through the Transition Area towards the run course. I lost my balance a bit and promptly plowed through 3 volunteers holding out cups of water/Gatorade! It was like picking off mailboxes with a bat – except I couldn’t stop…sorry, so sorry, man, I’m sorry!
I reached the run course and reality set in – the chest pain hadn’t abated and it hurt a LOT to run. I made it to Mile 1 and still clocked a record split though having walked a portion already. At Mile 2 there was a porta-potty and I ducked in to pee, thinking it might relieve some of the pressure and move things around.
Nothing. I tried bouncing, exaggerating my step, and this brought on a bad case of the hiccups which only made the pain worse. I had to stop running altogether and walk.
Strangely enough I really didn’t mind. I knew I had crushed my previous swim and bike times on this course, so I was already happy. The weekend before I had run a fast triathlon, so I knew I was capable. My feet were a couple racehorses jostling in the stalls, but it seemed nothing I tried would lessen the pain. Periodically I would try running again but the pain came right back within a few minutes and walking was the only way to keep it manageable.
At the beginning of the run, I was on target to beat my previous time by nearly 35 minutes, huge for an Olympic distance triathlon. With my GI problems, that didn’t happen but I still beat my previous race time on this course and scored a personal best on my swim and bike times.
I’ll take it! :)
We left early Saturday morning to make the trip down. It’s a straight shot south on I-55 and we had a great time maneuvering our crotchety 13 year old Saab with all our gear in the back down through New Madrid (pronounced “MAA-drid” not Muh-DRID), Missouri -- site of the New Madrid Fault, one of the biggest geological faults in the United States, bigger than San Andreas. The running joke is that we’d be the new California if the Big One ever hit.
But the only things shaking Saturday morning were our butts as we rocked on to the tunes of Pillar, Red, Seventh Day Slumber, Starfield, Kutless – great Christian rock bands with lyrics that just as easily apply to racing as much as they do to living a life centered around God.
We arrived in Millington right on schedule, where I picked up my race packet and changed into my wetsuit for a quick acclimation to the lake and its 69F degree temperature. A couple short race efforts and I was ready for Sunday!
We had dinner with my friend and supersonic triathlete Kristin and her husband John. It was the first time we had met him and we all hit it off right away. John’s a software programmer, and well, we’re all technical types, so conversation was easy.
Sleep came easy that night and I was awake Sunday before the alarm. I shook Steve awake like a child on Christmas morning, and he took a shower while I got dressed, ate, and packed up our stuff.
After Steve got out of the bathroom he turned on the TV and what to our surprise but the original Naked Gun movie was on. In no time at all we were loudly laughing our butts off at 5am, hoping no one else heard us. When I opened the door to the hotel room, 5 other rooms were emptying out with triathletes all packing their cars. We skipped to our car, unable to stop giggling and repeating the movie’s one-liners and gags that joyfully work their way into our conversation and enrich our everyday lives. This was a perfect way to start Race Day :).
We arrived at the race site, where thousands of other athletes were driving in as well. Steve and I carried our stuff and wheeled my bike to the Body Marking area and a smiling guy with a black marker wrote my race number on my arms. Then I pulled my sweatpants down (so he could mark my calves) and said LOUDLY “Besides my husband, you’re the only other man I’ve dropped my pants for!” 10 other athletes standing around started howling as did the body-marking volunteer. Steve videotaped the whole thing.
I racked my bike and set up my stuff with my blue polka-dotted towel – a radical towel color helps me find my equipment after the swim and bike so I can totally focus on getting my gear on and worry less about finding my own transition stall.
Swimmers went off in a time trial start, meaning the officials put athletes in the water every 3 seconds. I was off in a flash and had a great swim once I got going. During the last “leg” the water suddenly became a lot rougher, and I looked up to see we had a nice headwind blowing, creating a nice chop. I redoubled my efforts to pull harder – by now I was sighting on the Exit balloon – and was surprised at how many people I was passing. For the first time I actually raced the swim and didn’t simply endure it…big difference.
At the exit, I trotted out of the water and into the Transition area where I peeled off the wetsuit and hopped on my bike. The first mile of the bike was HILLY and my legs were instantly screeching at me. I also had a really painful air pocket in my esophagus that made me want to belch, or eventually hurl. Being aero only made it worse and to add to the fun, we seemed perpetually turned into the 25mph winds. Even though the course turned a corner here and there, it seemed we had only about 5 minutes of being downwind before the road turned and we were assaulted once again. I was crawling either at 12mph or zooming at 25mph; there seemed very little in between. And in the immortal words of Elmer Fudd, my legs were on FI-WAH the entire time :).
I did pass a lot of other athletes, once again a new and exciting trend this season, and a testament to all those rides on my trainer over the winter – thanks Jen!! :)
Finally I reached the Transition Area and dismounted. Steve was there just over the fence and he yelled “You look AWESOME!” – I can’t begin to emphasize how much this means to an athlete when her quads and hip flexors are about to spontaneously combust :).
I got my bike racked, threw off my helmet and shoes, tied my running shoes and ran through the Transition Area towards the run course. I lost my balance a bit and promptly plowed through 3 volunteers holding out cups of water/Gatorade! It was like picking off mailboxes with a bat – except I couldn’t stop…sorry, so sorry, man, I’m sorry!
I reached the run course and reality set in – the chest pain hadn’t abated and it hurt a LOT to run. I made it to Mile 1 and still clocked a record split though having walked a portion already. At Mile 2 there was a porta-potty and I ducked in to pee, thinking it might relieve some of the pressure and move things around.
Nothing. I tried bouncing, exaggerating my step, and this brought on a bad case of the hiccups which only made the pain worse. I had to stop running altogether and walk.
Strangely enough I really didn’t mind. I knew I had crushed my previous swim and bike times on this course, so I was already happy. The weekend before I had run a fast triathlon, so I knew I was capable. My feet were a couple racehorses jostling in the stalls, but it seemed nothing I tried would lessen the pain. Periodically I would try running again but the pain came right back within a few minutes and walking was the only way to keep it manageable.
At the beginning of the run, I was on target to beat my previous time by nearly 35 minutes, huge for an Olympic distance triathlon. With my GI problems, that didn’t happen but I still beat my previous race time on this course and scored a personal best on my swim and bike times.
I’ll take it! :)
2 comments:
WOO! Nice race, Catherine, A PR IS A PR! Congrats again! Jen H. :)
So glad you'll "take it" because you did awesome despite your gas! (hee hee) It was so much fun hanging out with you two. Your positive attitude is refreshing. :)
Kristin M.
Post a Comment