This was taken this past Saturday at the Ultramax Triathlon Series. My friend Kristin Moore is in the middle (she won Overall Female in the Quartermax - supersonic girl!!) and Shelby Sullivan, President of the Big Shark Michelob Ultra Racing Club, is on the left.
My knee hurt. A lot. Though the spill happened when Steve’s front wheel bumped into my back wheel at a stoplight last Tuesday, it wasn’t his fault at all. We both wear small rearview mirrors on our shades, so I could clearly see he had fallen, and I was so concerned with his well being that I completely forgot to clip out of my shoes.
I wavered for a moment like a squirrel on a wire, and down I went…hard. My right knee took the brunt of the fall, and in seconds I was a turtle stuck on its back – with my right leg pinned under the bike and my left at an odd side angle, I couldn’t clip out of my shoes, and I simply wriggled helplessly on my side. At least one curse escaped from my mouth, and the tears were nearly spilling down my face, as I was equally angry and hurting badly. Steve came and helped me right my bike. Though he had fallen also, he had mostly scrapes and was largely ok.
I had landed right on the front edge of my patella, and the pain was so intense I limped over to the side of the road where I promptly bent over and nearly puked my intestines out. Several really nice folks kindly asked if they could call someone and Steve smiled, said thanks, and politely declined. If I had actually sliced my leg off, then he would be calling for help; anything else was fixable :).
We rode home slowly where we both downed 800mg of ibuprofen and donned icepacks for our knees.
I couldn’t believe it – 3 days before Innsbrook Ultramax, and only 2 ½ weeks before my second A-race of the season – the Timberman Half-Ironman. Every challenge is an opportunity right? Right.
So here we were 4 days later early Saturday morning driving to Innsbrook, MO for the Ultramax Triathlon Series. It was a lonnnnnnng drive – an entire 45 minutes!! :) A nice change from other venues, and the knee was feeling well enough to weather a challenging bike and run in hotter-than-hell temperatures even at 8am.
This time I was laser focused as I racked my bike and setup my transition area. I turned on my MP3 player with what I call The Inner Circle tunes – a select group of 10 songs that kick my brain and body into gear, no matter how bad I feel.
Mentally I did a “walkthrough” of my transitions, going through the motions, making a note of exactly where my bike was from the run and swim entry points, checked all bolts, tires, gears, fluids, and felt splendid during my warmup, the knee pain nearly forgotten. It's not that I haven't done these things in the past. This time, though, I was very intentional.
When the cannon went off for the swim, I ran and dove dolphin-style into the water and began my reach in earnest for the first buoy. This is funny because last year at this very same event, I was nearly weeping with tension before the start. Along with everyone else I was nervous about the swim. With every race this season however, that tension has been pushed farther back into my mind, replaced with cool confidence in my abilities and viewing myself as an experienced triathlete who, on the edge of turning 44, is STILL coming up the curve of her potential.
I came out of the water 35 seconds ahead of my goal time – nice! – and bounded up the hill to grab my bike. As I tore into transition, I happened to glance down at my watch and saw 177bpm – wow! As I reached my bike, a wave of nausea hit me out of nowhere (man, NOT AGAIN…!), and I bent over (AGAIN :)) for a few seconds until it passed.
I hopped onto my bike and pedaled like mad to get momentum going. The hills came immediately and relentlessly. These were not the long gutbusters of Ironman Kansas, but they were steep and I was out of my saddle halfway up most of them. My heart rate reached 178bpm on a couple, which made me grin and push even harder as I crested the top. The bike was only 17 miles and I could suffer for an hour on my steed :). Mental fortitude – ain’t it great :).
I finished the bike within 1 minute of my goal time and headed out on the run. Last year I had looked at the hill facing me and thought “You gotta be kidding me!” This time I had done a 2-mile warmup on the run course and knew exactly what to expect, and it made a huge difference mentally both on the way out as well as on the return.
Once more I finished within 1 minute of my goal time – amazing considering the weather and the course.
I wavered for a moment like a squirrel on a wire, and down I went…hard. My right knee took the brunt of the fall, and in seconds I was a turtle stuck on its back – with my right leg pinned under the bike and my left at an odd side angle, I couldn’t clip out of my shoes, and I simply wriggled helplessly on my side. At least one curse escaped from my mouth, and the tears were nearly spilling down my face, as I was equally angry and hurting badly. Steve came and helped me right my bike. Though he had fallen also, he had mostly scrapes and was largely ok.
I had landed right on the front edge of my patella, and the pain was so intense I limped over to the side of the road where I promptly bent over and nearly puked my intestines out. Several really nice folks kindly asked if they could call someone and Steve smiled, said thanks, and politely declined. If I had actually sliced my leg off, then he would be calling for help; anything else was fixable :).
We rode home slowly where we both downed 800mg of ibuprofen and donned icepacks for our knees.
I couldn’t believe it – 3 days before Innsbrook Ultramax, and only 2 ½ weeks before my second A-race of the season – the Timberman Half-Ironman. Every challenge is an opportunity right? Right.
So here we were 4 days later early Saturday morning driving to Innsbrook, MO for the Ultramax Triathlon Series. It was a lonnnnnnng drive – an entire 45 minutes!! :) A nice change from other venues, and the knee was feeling well enough to weather a challenging bike and run in hotter-than-hell temperatures even at 8am.
This time I was laser focused as I racked my bike and setup my transition area. I turned on my MP3 player with what I call The Inner Circle tunes – a select group of 10 songs that kick my brain and body into gear, no matter how bad I feel.
Mentally I did a “walkthrough” of my transitions, going through the motions, making a note of exactly where my bike was from the run and swim entry points, checked all bolts, tires, gears, fluids, and felt splendid during my warmup, the knee pain nearly forgotten. It's not that I haven't done these things in the past. This time, though, I was very intentional.
When the cannon went off for the swim, I ran and dove dolphin-style into the water and began my reach in earnest for the first buoy. This is funny because last year at this very same event, I was nearly weeping with tension before the start. Along with everyone else I was nervous about the swim. With every race this season however, that tension has been pushed farther back into my mind, replaced with cool confidence in my abilities and viewing myself as an experienced triathlete who, on the edge of turning 44, is STILL coming up the curve of her potential.
I came out of the water 35 seconds ahead of my goal time – nice! – and bounded up the hill to grab my bike. As I tore into transition, I happened to glance down at my watch and saw 177bpm – wow! As I reached my bike, a wave of nausea hit me out of nowhere (man, NOT AGAIN…!), and I bent over (AGAIN :)) for a few seconds until it passed.
I hopped onto my bike and pedaled like mad to get momentum going. The hills came immediately and relentlessly. These were not the long gutbusters of Ironman Kansas, but they were steep and I was out of my saddle halfway up most of them. My heart rate reached 178bpm on a couple, which made me grin and push even harder as I crested the top. The bike was only 17 miles and I could suffer for an hour on my steed :). Mental fortitude – ain’t it great :).
I finished the bike within 1 minute of my goal time and headed out on the run. Last year I had looked at the hill facing me and thought “You gotta be kidding me!” This time I had done a 2-mile warmup on the run course and knew exactly what to expect, and it made a huge difference mentally both on the way out as well as on the return.
Once more I finished within 1 minute of my goal time – amazing considering the weather and the course.
Knee? What knee? :)
I actually placed 3rd in my Age Group and looking at the other (younger) AG’s, I would’ve been in the top 4 of them too.
We drove home happy but quickly because Steve had an Olympic Duathlon he was racing Sunday, and he needed to rest up.
Fast forward to the next post entitled Steve Speaks! :)…
I actually placed 3rd in my Age Group and looking at the other (younger) AG’s, I would’ve been in the top 4 of them too.
We drove home happy but quickly because Steve had an Olympic Duathlon he was racing Sunday, and he needed to rest up.
Fast forward to the next post entitled Steve Speaks! :)…
3 comments:
Love the race report! Love the photo! Can't wait to see you wearing the Mich Ultra Big Shark Racing jersey too. :) Congrats on a great race and surpassing your race goals. Keep up the great work.
Kristin M.
Great photo little sis!
mxo
Catherine,
LOVE the pic of you girls. I need that as my screen saver to stay on you all! :) hee hee...you had a great race AGAIN! Way to tough it out - Timberman here you come!!!
Jen H. :)
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