Woman versus Caveman

Last year when I competed in the Caveman tri I was recovering from a bad cold, Maison had hives due to an allergic reaction to penicillin, and thus it wasn't the best circumstances to be competing in my 2nd tri (see A trying tri). So this year I was bound and determined to do better...I was not going to let the Caveman get me this time. I had grandiose plans that I would get in a solid 3 weeks of training after I got back from my half marathon in Moab. Nope...not so much. Not feeling the training. I swam exactly one time last week; first swim since my last tri in Oct and biked only twice. Let's just say I wasn't exactly prepared.

All week I was watching the weather. We had been having unbelievably high winds in the high 20 mphs and it was supposed to come a big storm. High winds are awful but high winds and torrential rain was just more than I could bare. So this morning I was pleasantly surprised with the 22 mph winds, no rain, and 70 degree weather.

The swim was completely uneventful...no one passed me, the people I passed let me by politely, and I ended up with my best swim time ever (5:01). I felt good going into the bike transition and had high hopes as I made the first turn onto the main road. Then the gusts hit me as I was trying to go up the first hill. 22 mph winds hitting you head on when you are soaking wet on a bike wearing a tri top (think long sports bra) is just a wonderful experience (yes! that is sarcasm!). How come when there are high winds they never seem to be in your favor? Where's gusts to my back when I'm going up hill? Why do they always seem to be working against you? Some how I kept an ok pace and finished at 49:43 which was 2 min faster than my bike time last year.

The run was horrible. My legs were like jello from pushing through the wind on the bike. It was already close to 80 degrees (yes, at 8:30 in the morning) and I was really having to push myself to keep going. Then I saw Adam and Maison! I was so excited to see them and so determined to beat my time from last year despite the high winds that I felt a surge of confidence that I could do this...I could beat the Caveman.

The run was 2 loops so I passed Adam and Maison for the third time and felt an odd strain in my right quad. My right hamstring had been very tight since the half marathon and now it was going into the front of my leg. I was really worried I was going to blow my hamstring when I had only 1 mile left to run. If I were to blow a hamstring in a race and not be able to finish I would really hope it would be at the beginning so you could just pack it up and go home. To blow it at the end of a race when you are so close to finishing would just be too heart wrenching.

I passed Adam and Maison for the 4th time and could see the finish line. I just gave it everything I had. If I blew my hamstring now I could at least walk or crawl across the finish but I didn't have to. I did it! I finished at 1:27:42 (3 minutes better than last year), I had my best swim time, my best bike time at this distance, and ended up finishing 8th in my age group. So in this battle of woman vs caveman, WOMAN WINS!!!

Running to the finish line:

Maison checking out my medal: