This was a new type of swim start for me. I am not accustomed to the mass beating you get from a mass start. It was fine, I settled into a small group of about 6 of us. There was even a pretty fast chick that kept swimming up my feet. I was worried I would accidentally kick her in the boob. I found that thought a little bit funny considering the day I had in front of me. We came through the first lap in 27 something and I wasn't pushing it. About half way into the second loop my lower back and calves started to cramp. I wasn't expecting this at all. I was able get through it and after 56 min I was headed to T1. The long run up actually allowed my to shake off all the muscle tightness.
T1 was fast and on my way out to the bike my Hammer pill case full of salt tabs fell out of my pocket. I stopped and picked most of them up and headed out. The first 10 miles of the bike I was relaxing and but, not having fun. My legs just felt dead. The decent into Keene sucked as well. I remember pushing hard downhill but, only going about 14 mph. The wind was fighting me and everyone else I could see. That decent gave me time to warm up and get into a comfortable rhythm. My timer beeped every 20 minutes and I took in 100ca and 9 oz. of water. Nutrition was on and I started to feel good. A lot of people told me to take it easy on the first loop. I didn't push the climbs but, I was rolling right by everyone. During the out and back I counted 36 people including pro's ahead of me. Not bad I was having a good day. Things were looking up. I came through town on loop one feeling fantastic and was ready to pick it up a little. I started to passing people down 73 into Keene then at mile 60 (after 5 minutes of picking it up) I got a really bad cramp on the inside of both legs. I had to stand and drop down below 20 mph to loosen up. Mile 75 came and I took a swig o HEED. I swallowed about half and I immediately rejected it through my nose and about half my stomach contents. I was really surprised. Why did this just happen? After that I couldn't even look at my gel without getting sick to my stomach. Within 20 minutes I slowed to around 15 mph. The cramping got worse and my day was no longer looking good. There was actually a point where I didn't think I could finish the bike.
T2 was a long discussion with myself. What am I going to do? Run? Quit? I was in so much pain and I couldn't stop the cramps or take in nutrition. It was only around 2pm. I could walk the marathon and still finish. I bought a Lake Placid coffee mug the day before and I didn't feel like returning it so it looks like I'm walking...I started running and immediately cramped my hamstrings. I was literally 10 yds out of T2. I was able to hold it off a bit and got through mile 1 in 7:10. I felt good but, my legs were not cooperating and the soles of my feet were on fire. I felt like I had a huge blister on my foot too. Then it started. I couldn't run more than a minute without a cramp. I started eating oranges but, they too were giving me a nasty side stitch. That pretty much sums up the run. I averaged 12:30's working as hard as I could. And that blister...well actually it was a piece of glass.
I finally finished in 11:57. I never set a time goal for myself and I certainly earned the finish. I even ran the last 1/10th of a mile with a full calf and hamstring cramp. To sum it up, that race hurt a lot. It was only physical pain though. The pain I feel inside is much worse. Just plain disappointed in myself.
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| Check out the right lower leg... |
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