Less than 12 hours later I feel like I got run over by a truck. Where'd that fucker go?
Tri Indy tried my patience and my memory. It might have been one of the worst races of the season, but you know what? I finished strong, with a huge smile on my face and sprinting (yes, sprinting) across the finish.
My bright pink swim cap and I jumped into the canal. Those waves can really get moving with that many people swimming in the canal. Luckily this year no one tried to hitch a ride by grabbing onto my ankle. I did get punched in the whohaw (how the fuck do you swim with a closed fist?) and I looked up to sight and about ran into a guy walking (hello DQ) in the middle of the canal. I got out of the swim and now owned an orange cap. Yeah, you figure that one out.
It was great to see my fellow BoMF'er Melissa in transition and it was nice to have a familiar smiling face waiting by my transition spot.
I was pretty happy with the start of my bike. We had a hurricane come through Indianapolis this morning that delayed the start of the race (okay, so my nose grows a small bit with that description) which caused an hour delay and a shitton of debris in the road. This course is notorious for less-than-ideal roads, so bumps are pretty common. Before I got to mile 7 I saw 15 people fixing flats on the side of the road. Each one I passed I offered assistance and then thanked god and baby jesus that wasn't me. Despite the shitty conditions, I was keeping 18 mph on my cateye. Around mile 7.5 I thought to myself "boy this road is awful bumpy" and then I realized my back tire was flat. Fuckmerunning.
I had never changed a tire in the real world, just in a class. So this was going to test my memory. What do I do with this thingymabob again? Where do I start? It started slowly coming back to me. I was pleasantly surprised with how many people asked if I needed anything and every team member shouted "Chrissy are you okay?" I took the tube out and had a TINY hole in my tube. Who knows how long it had been there. I tried to run my hand on the inside of the tire to check for anything and thought it was clear so I put the new tube in. I got the wheel back on after spending five minutes struggling with my chain (testing my patience and covering my hand in black grease, which would later spread to my face and every part of my uniform). As soon as I put the CO2 in it, I could hear a slow hissing. Fuck! Was it human error? Was there something in there I didn't feel? I didn't want to waste another tube in case it was my fuckup so I started on my way. As I left my spot, my teammate Julie had come back to help - what a sweetheart!
I had to stop 3 times to top off my tire with my other CO2 canister. This was trying my patience. Not only is my little pouch under my seat a pain in the ass to get into, you have to wait for an opening in traffic to rejoin the race. I figure this clusterfuck cost me about 25 minutes in all. Needles to say I'm so glad I didn't race on my new ZIPPS and I need to host a tire changing party to practice.
I started out on the run pretty strong, running most of the way through the path along the zoo. I am so fucking sick of hearing "good for you for just being out here!" from people as the pass me. Yes, nice of you to encourage me. But it's not my first fucking race. Errr. More motivation I guess to lose weight so people stop taking pity on my slow ass pace and then I can pick up the fucking pace. Sydney came up along me with about .7 miles left and I ran the rest of the way with her. I can guarantee you that I would have walked some of that if she hadn't been there - so thank you Sydney for showing me that I CAN run more than I think!
All and all I'm not happy with today. I don't understand how I feel so beat up after a simple fucking sprint tri but finished a 40 mile tri feeling after like I could leap small buildings in a single bound.
But this is all about what you learn. Negative attitudes don't do shit but keep you negative. So on the bright side I got to spend time with the wonderful triathletes in town, many who have become my friends. I got to have a fun car ride with my friend Party Marti and I now know what it feels like to change a tire under the pressure of a race. I was greeted at the finish line by a facebook friend I finally go to meet in person! After the race I got to help little kids do a triathlon. I got to bike for the people who can't. I got to run in honor of my favorite BoMF'ers that no longer can (God I miss you Joe! Your spirit kept me company on the run)
Tri or tri not. There is only do.