Saturday, June 20, 2009

OMG

I can't think of any other appropriate title for this post as my brain is so completely fried. I think the temperature today is about 97degrees plus humidity, so it feels like well over 100degrees and the race didn't start until 10am. Add to that the swim was warmer than the air so I felt like my head was going to explode even before I got on the bike. This is the first race where I actually cooled down a bit on the bike mostly because my body seems to have an automatic shut off that doesn't let me push it to the point of a total meltdown. Then I broke my chain halfway into the first lap. I am hoping that bad luck runs in threes so the flat in Idaho, the crash on Wednesday, and the broken chain today means that I am in the clear for the rest of the season. Luckily I had a small chain breaker and master link on me and made a successful, albeit very lengthy, repair and got the bike rolling again. This is the first race that I have carried this tool and I can't decide whether is was good luck that I had it to make the repair, or bad luck since this is the only time I have ever needed it. I rallied as best I could to get back into the race, both physical and mentally and headed out onto the run in 5th place. Then the run was just survival, insanely steep scramble climbs, crazy loose footing and just plain hotter than hell. I was too far behind to challenge any of the top 4 girls and had to settle for 5th. I'll add a more detailed report and some photos later in the week.

No comments: