D's Adventures: Medal Monday - Brett Robinson TRI-It-On Sprint

SLEEP is definitely what I wanted Saturday after I got home from the TRI. Three hour drive after working all day... barely sleeping thinking about race .. and a three hour back home after racing... talk about TIRED.

I registered for this race months ago when they offered earlier registration at a cheaper price and BEFORE I knew I was going to have so much trouble with my hip Bursitis! I registered for the longer distance (Olympic). However, the closer it got to race day I began wondering if I should back down to the Tri-It-On distance which is a shorter sprint distance. I was swimming the Olympic distance in the pool and recently biked 40 miles, so I figured I was ready in those 2 areas, but my running is mostly walking right now. And after about 5 miles jog/walking, my hip starts hurting so I was unsure if I could really put all 3 sports together and finish. I kept telling myself that it's okay to fail. Failure means you actually tried. But in this case I knew my training was not up to where it should be for me to be attempting an Olympic distance and that really sucked!

Last year I had also registered for the race and at the last minute, I decided to bike one last 50 miles with my two friends that were doing Augusta half ironman with me. Well, I ended that 50 mile bike ride with a visit to the ER to get my calf sewn up.

I thought Augusta was out of the question. I was so upset. I wished I had went on to the Brett Robinson race. However, I was able to complete Augusta with no problems. Praise Jesus :<>)

So this year I was determined to make the race if at all possible. Heck it isn't cheap to register for the race and they won't let someone pick up your shirt if you don't make the race. All week I debated on what I was going to do. I had not only my training to think about, but we also had a storm named IRMA that I was worried may cause the water to be very wavy in Gulf Shores. My husband even said he didn't think they'd be having the race. I watched the weather all week. I even watched live webcams showing the water. On Friday it still looked calm, so I decided to go on after work. I quickly made me a room reservation and hit the road at 5:45 pm. I had several friends that were doing the race so I knew once I got there that I would not be alone. The whole drive I debated on switching distances. I prayed and even tried to tell God what distance I should do. Knowing that doesn't work! LOL I think we all tend to do that at some point and time. I tried to reason through every thought as to why I should just go ahead and stick with the longer distance. By the time I reached the hotel, I was wore out just from thinking. When I finally got everything unloaded and laid down in the bed around 10 pm, that's when I really prayed. I prayed for God to help me to stop thinking and just leave it in his hands. I told him I was not going to worry about it any more and when I woke up, I would know what to do.

Well, the next morning I was still unsure. Boy sometimes God just doesn't answer us immediately, does he? I went on to check my bike in and pick up my race number early since I had not done that the night before. When I walked in to pick up my number I just had a gut feeling about switching. So I asked the lady what I needed to do to switch and she said she would have to give me a new number and I'd be at the end of the sprint peeps to start the swim. YUK. I'm not a fast swimmer to begin with, but when she told me I'd be last, it was like a balloon going out of air. I felt so deflated. However, I reminded myself that for me this was just practice and I was not going to be racing hard so it didn't matter if I was at the end to start. It just meant It would be a wait to actually tart. LOL The race started at 7 am and I didn't hit the water till 7:30 am. I was freezing!!! It turned out to be a cold morning. They even announced before the race that the water temp had dropped and you could wear a wet suit if you wanted to. Boy I wish I had mine just to keep me warm while standing around. Even guys with big old muscles were shivering.

I was number 347..... I think we had like 352 total sprint racers so I wasn't actually the last one...but dang close to it. ha I'm not sure how many were in the longer distance, but I was number 844 before I switched. It's typically a nice size race. Many love the race. It's a fun one. Most years though it's fairly hot! and I've seen the waves be huge before.

On Friday the water looked calm. And people that had been there on Friday were talking while we were waiting to start about how much the water had changed over night. There was a huge north wind and the waves were picking up. That's the only thing I hate about an ocean swim... you just never know about the water!

It was finally my turn to jump in. It felt like I was on a roll coaster! I tried to time the waves so when I was on the top of one I would look up to try to find the buoys. It was a struggle. I think I basically floated most of the race. There wasn't much true swimming because I spent most of the time looking for the them dang buoys so I could make the right turn and not go out further for the longer distance... which my friend Marsha told me she accidentally did. I'd much rather a river swim any day. LOL When I finally got to where I was coming back into the shore and I could touch my feet to the bottom, I stood up and looked at my watch. I was at 8 minutes. Not as fast as I would have liked to be, but I was happy...... UNTIL.... a monster wave took me down. I should have looked back, but was too busy looking at my watch. It was heck getting up. The waves kept crashing in on me. I could barely walk. I was thinking to myself that I bet whoever was on the shore was getting a good laugh at this old lady trying to get out of the water. My swim time ended up being 9:45 by the time I got out and crossed the mat and my watch said 389 yards instead of the 300 yards. I guess I swam a tad off course looking for buoys. Whew! SLOW! I saw where some people swam the distance in 5 minutes! That's fast.. to me! :>) I was just happy to be out of them waves.

Now on to the bike. It was an out and back course. It felt so easy. I was flying. I looked down and I was averaging 20 mph. I could barely believe it. Then I started noticing the people coming back on the route. They were all going so slow. When I got to the turn around the lady was waving saying slow down.... the wind is bad. I didn't realize what she was talking about exactly until I started my turn. It was like I hit a brick wall! I could barely manage a 14 mph pace. Now I knew exactly why it was so easy going out and why the people looked like they were going so slow coming back!!! A strong head wind! Probably the strongest wind I've ever biked against. I'm shocked I ended up with a 16.9 pace overall. It was tough coming back!

That's the TRUTH!

Once I put my bike up in transition, I only had the run segment left. YIPPIE .... and it was only 2 miles. I did my 1:1 intervals until I made the turn at the 1 mile mark. I decided to try to push myself and run most of the last mile. It was tough... but you know what they say....

I saw Amie and her dad going in when I was starting my run. I was so happy to see them before the race. I think it's amazing that they do races together! Reminds me of my other friend, Serina. We had a nice visit. It was great seeing them. I've missed seeing several old friends lately! I miss the old days. :>)

Got a picture...... (Stole from Amie's page... aren't they the cutest ever!)

I finished and Jennifer was standing with Amanda and some of the other "swamp donkeys", that's what they call their group, at the finish line and wanted to get a picture. So we grab a picture real quick and Jenn texted it to me.

Amanda, Jennifer & Me

I didn't get a picture of Amie & her dad after the race. My phone was in the transition area and they were not letting people in just yet. By the time I got in to get my bag, I think they had left. I never saw them again. I loaded my bike and then went to grab food. I talked to Jennifer and them for a short while and then they all left to go to the beach. I think they were all staying all weekend. I had a drive home! YUK I was getting ready to walk to my car and decided I would walk over to the booth where you could get a printout of your results. Everyone else had done that earlier, but I didn't thinking..why bother.. ha I don't know why I decided to as I was leaving, but it was something tugging at me to go get them. Good thing I did because they were announcing the age group 50-54 and called my name! I did a double take. If the lady hadn't stumbled trying to say my name it might not of caught my attention. I got 3rd place. Boy I was shocked! Everyone had left so I didn't get a picture of me getting my award. I did however ask a guy in the parking lot to take my picture before I left. Thank you random stranger! :>)

Here are pictures from the Brett Robinson Facebook page... I'm on #3 getting my award. :>)

They also captured me walking around after the race looks like... :>)

I'm still shocked I placed. Maybe the fast people didn't show up for the race due to the storm. Or maybe it was God giving me a little bit of hope to not give up. For the past couple of months dealing with this bursitis, I've started to get down. I'm wondering when I'll ever run without pain. I know deep down I have to keep the faith that God will allow all things to work out for his good... not my own. :>) Right now I'm just happy he allowed me a little bit of happiness on Saturday with placing in a TRI....even if it was a shorter distance sprint. I give him all the glory! Without him I'd be no where! I am thanking him for my many blessings!

Here's a picture of the medal and the cute cup I got as my award.