Racine 1/2 Ironman

This is not the pic I wanted to put up on here. There is a great group shot of us all after the race but it is on my friends camera. So for now you get another Jessica photo of me. This is the run at Racine.


I have made it back to Boulder after a nice little bit of traveling and racing. I have the cankles to prove it! For some reason I feel like I have been gone forever. It has actually only been about 13 days....Anyway, great news to report on my last 1/2 Ironman. I finally had a breakthrough race after a loooong bout with foot problems. All my 1/2's this year have been "decent" but I didn't think any of them really stood out. Racine was a PR performance for me and has definitely given me some confidence for my Ironman coming up in just TWO weeks!



Racine actually caused a lot of stress for me because I did very well there last year and had a really strong run and didn't want to go slower. I wanted to have that same kind of race but I wasn't sure if I was in good enough shape (run wise) to do it. Just recently, I have been able to run without foot pain (Knock on wood, tree's, telephone polls, and even that fake stuff they made 70's kitchen cabinets out of!) I can't tell you how happy I am to have this issue under control. Plantar Fasciitis was a major struggle and lasted for over 5 months. I really owe Bob Crany over at altitude fitness so much as he was the one that figured out how to get it under control. He is now God status.



So back to the stress part. I am notorious for what I call the "pre race injury." That is something that pops up out of the blue before a race with no real rhyme or reason. Most often I overcome the dilemma and do just fine. Rare occasions it actually causes a problem. The whole debate in my mind is "Are they real injuries? Or are they just stress?" 85% of the time I think they are stress related. I will probably write up something on my theory about the whole thing (which I know you are all dying to hear) but for now I will just focus on my latest example.



Two days before Racine I could tell my nerves were up. I was acting like an asshole to most people around me (not intentionally). Honestly I was trying my hardest to keep it under control. All that got in the path of Hurricane BDC I apologize. At least I didn't make those that suffered me sit in the Super Dome! I do have the best friends though that keep me sane when I flip out.



So this "pre race injury" was in my eye LOL. I define an "injury" as anything that happens to the body that screws you up. My left eye started to hurt and the the lid became swollen. I developed some form of stye. Long story short, the eye was at it's worst the AM of the race and then after the race it all started to go away. Before the race: "WTF! WHY ME? I CAN'T WEAR GOGGLES! LOOK HOW BIG MY EYE LID IS! IT ITCHES! IT BURNS!" After the race: "Oh my eye? It seems fine." Do you get my point here? I have tons of examples like this one (mine and others) that really suggest the mind is trying to sabotage us all!



Once the gun went off I really didn't thnk that much. Before I knew it I was on loop two of the run back in "Mummy Mode" (Huuuh Huuuuuh) trying to get my legs to go as fast as they could. The lack of speed work was noticeable but I was still able to run a 1:19:30 something. It's quick, but not the kind of quick I want to be running. In the end I was 5th overall and 1st Elite. With a time of 4:08 something (A PR) A great day for me!



The day before the race I was at the course watching my friend Jane do the sprint. She is new to triathlon and on a very cool journey of her own. She won the Athena category and looked so awesome out on the run. Myself, Jess and Becky were on the course yelling so there was very minimal walking on here end! GO JANE! Becky gave it hell the next day on the 1/2 hanging tough in that heat! Jessica, well, we all know she thinks doing triathlon is WHACK and that we are all Locco in La Cabezza. But that is one girl who knows how to spectate! It is going to be awesome having her energy on the course at Vineman and Hawaii!



At some point we heard a women talking to the race director about the course. She was bitching that the course should be described as "hilly and slow" not "flat and fast." I almost had to pull out a gay "GIIIIIRLLLLL" with a twist of black women "Yain't know nothing about NO HILLS!" I mean there were some "rollers" but anyone that uses the word "Hill" in the Midwest is smoking crack. If anything the proper thing to bitch about was the bumpy roads LOL...I fired a water bottle off the back and I think it is now orbiting the earth.....


So that's all. Glad to be back in Boulder. Had a nice open water swim with the guys this AM. Everyone is looking super fit. I think there is going to be some serious ass kicking in the next few months!



Thanks so much to Becky and Jane for putting us up the week before the race. It was a blast! I even had fun being crammed into one hotel room with the three of you. I hope my sleep toots weren't too bad for ya!


Later,

bdc