Sadly, about 10 other people also got flats in on the course and 5 of them took a ride back to transition. (Mr. Tea filled me in on that tidbit at the finish). When I was packed up and leaving the race, I saw 3 people making the march up the hill with their bikes....also with flats.
It is hard to put in the training hours to have a race like that. My effort was really good. But, I really wanted to see what I could do on the bike. I also knew that I was set up to have a fantastic swim and had estimated my swim time to be about 6:00.
I didn't realize we had a problem on the swim until I spoke with Amanda and Chris W (Coach's husband) at the finish. (Amanda was 2nd place OA Elite on Sunday in the pouring rain). She said they were all counting on me and another person to be #1 and #2 getting out of the water. Then they saw the buoys taking off. She said the swim became chaos at that point with people just cutting the swim short. (Mr. Tea said several women got out of the water crying.) BTW: Only my wave was affected. We were the last wave to go. Winds had been going all morning, but they went bonkers for my swim start. When I got to shore, I had been maintaining the lead. So, when I saw about 15 other women getting out ahead of me, I knew something was weird. The current was such that I couldn't really tell that I was chasing the buoy. (Me and the two women who were pacing right behind me....we all ended up swimming the same almost 1000m)
Here's my swim map from Strava.
Um. yeah.
And the bike data.
I wasn't going to accept a ride or a DNF for this race because I felt fantastic. The only thought I had after the bike was that even if they take my chip, I was still going to run.
Well, I didn't take a lift back to transition. So, there wasn't an issue.
The run:
Although I didn't follow the plan...I honestly just forgot about the plan. I wasn't upset at all. Sh*t happens. I started running, and I had forgotten about the details of my plan. Instead, I still picked up the pace and effort. However, the race became more of a run. What I did well was that I kept fueling when I was walking the bike. I had packed extra water and extra calories just in case. That ended up helping me on the run.
That pretty much sums up the race. I ended up coming in 8th F45-49.
Nothing really spectacular about the race other than it was the FIRST of the year.
I'm heading to AZ from 3/19-3/21 or thereabouts for my next race (another sprint). Then, my peak race is in AZ in April.
Again, it was a race of mixed emotions. I felt fantastic. I was SO ready to race. I was disappointed that it went the way it did. Triathlon is complicated. Things are going to happen.
Give me a few weeks. I'll be ready for the next one.