onionman 2010

wow, i had been looking forward to this race for a long time. i've raced it twice before and i'd say its probably my favorite race. the first year i had so much fun and then the 2nd year i had taken so much time off the first year that i was so so excited. so this year i was looking forward to seeing what progress i had made. >eric was headed out to spokane for the 24hr mtn bike race, so my mom came with me and the kids out to walla walla. we left right at 8am on saturday. the kids were amazed when we got to walla walla that it was so close! after the vegas trip they just assumed we would be in the car for ever. they wouldnt let us check into our hotel yet so we went out to the race course and drove the course. its so beautiful, but the sky was dark and it was very windy. we got back to the hotel, checked in, i changed my clothes and headed out on my bike to pick up my race packet. i wasn't gone long but did a little tour of walla walla and then came back to the hotel to take the kids swimming. we headed out to dinner at the strangest italian/chinese resturant. totally weird. the kids both slept with grandma and i had a bed to myself! i didn't sleep too well, but whatever.the alarm went off and i had my normal pb&j and then just layed in bed. at 730 i packed up the car and headed to the race site. yikes! i was late apparently and had to park up on the ridge. but really i had plenty of time. i carried my bike down the rocky hill which i had decided if this were an xterra they would make us run up it to get to T1. i set up my transition and ran into janet and kate. then we kind of just hung around, listened to the pre-race meeting, janet informed me that the water was indeed cold as balls and then we went down to experience it for real. and yes, it was cold as balls, rumor has it 55 degrees. i swam for about 3 minutes but that was plenty.
the swim:
this year they started the race in waves. women and teams went 3 minutes behind the men. 10 seconds before the race started the woman in front of me announced to everyone that this was her first ever race, so i wondered what she was doing in the front row of the swim. i have never been in a swim with so much contact. it was crazy. i got kicked in the face, i was swum over, i got hit in the head. but i managed to be ok. the swim was two loops and i was still pretty cold but doing ok about 1/2 way through the first lap. i was swimming well and my left arm wasn't hurting at all like it had been in the last few open water swims. there was a funny little current by the 2nd buoy that kind of carried you right to it and around it, it was a pleasant surprise and i was looking forward to it on lap 2. finally i was out on lap 2, still getting pummeled, still having crazy people swim right into me, still all kinds of chaos. around the 1st bouy the water got choppy and i swallowed a few gulps but i was doing ok. i kept coming up on feet and being afraid i was going to get kicked. eventually i noticed my left hand was going all wonky. i started to wonder if i had broken my finger and not realized it. i was just flailing around in the water with each stroke and i had not control over it. i decided to just let it do its own thing. finally i got to shore and was happy to have enough energy to run up the hill to T1.
T1 - DISASTER. what is up with T1 this year?? i got to my rack and noticed janet's bike was gone! i was so excited to see that she had a good swim! yay janet!!! my hands were so cold that i couldn't do anything. i could barely get my cap and goggles off my head. there was no way my ear plugs were coming out but i kept trying. i managed to get my helmet on, but my abs cramped when i bent to put on my socks and shoes, both of which were taking extra time due to the frozen hands. i tossed on my vest since i was so cold and then i struggled with the ear plugs again, wondering if it would be totally weird to ask a volunteer to pull them out for me. thankgoodness they eventually came out. i saw kate run into T1 as i was headed out.
The Bike!
i was pretty excited about the bike. i'm a stronger cyclist now and i have been doing a few really good workouts lately, and i've been feeling good, so i was psyched. i was working hard and passing people right away. i was in my aero bars and big ring and pedaling hard. about 15 minutes in i caught up with janet and gave her a cheer, and then stuck to my orders to suffer more, chat less. the course is all up hill on the way out, then you turn around and go downhill the way back. i was caught by one guy on the way out but passed a lot of people and was feeling really good. i got to the turn around and was looking forward to the downhill only to find the wind to be very strong, so even going downhill i had to work really hard the whole time. i was caught by a few men along the way back and then a woman in my age group. i could see her ahead of me a ways and was determined that if i could keep an eye on her i'd be able to catch her on the run. finally we turned off the main road and started the 1.5 miles back to transition. i was noticing that i was having a harder time staying comfortable and was fidgeting on my saddle. with about a mile left there are some up hill rollers and it all went bad. i had an immediate sharp pain all up in my business. i wasn't sure what it was but it hurt like a mothrafarker and with every pedal stroke sent a sharp pain down my leg. if i stood it wasn't as bad but my legs were thrashed from the first 24 miles and i couldn't stand for long, i was breathing hard and i had to fight hyper ventilating from the pain every time i stepped down. i slowed to a snails pace, fighting the urge to just stop. i'd say 10-15 people passed me in this last mile and i saw several from my age group go by. i just had a terrible feeling of helplessness. i had no idea what was going on but hoped i'd make it to t2 and be ok once i got there.
T2.
i rolled up to T2, dismounted and hobbled in. two volunteers came running asking me if i was ok. i wasn't but kept hobbling in, not sure what to do. still on the verge of hyper ventilating, i got my stuff together and hobbled out.
The Run
i stopped and tried to stretch. strangely, the girl that passed me on the bike that i thought i would catch on the run came running by, slowing to see if i was ok. not sure how i wound up in front of her but then just watched her run away. i hobbled for a bit. i tried running but the pain was shooting down my leg, the stretching wasn't doing anything, didn't seem to relate to anything, so i walked. i resolved to walking the entire run, assuming that even at that hobble pace, i might still be able to beat my maui run time. :) i watched as more and more people passed me, and more from my age group. i watched as the men's leaders ran back in, and was surprised that a few of them called out encouragement to me. i'd run 20 steps or so, and realize my messed up gait was tweaking my back so i'd walk again. at around the 2 mile mark, 25 minutes into my run i tried running again and just kept running. the pain wasn't getting better, but it wasn't getting worse. then i got to the 3 mile mark and began passing people again, no longer being passed. i got to the turn around and saw Janet! I was hoping she would catch up to me so we could run to the finish together. As i was catching more people again, i got a 2nd wind and just pushed through it. i wasn't going fast, but i was getting it done and the last mile i started to work really hard, there were two people i wanted to catch, and i managed to catch one of them. whew i was done.
i hobbled to the girls to get my chip cut off and the girl looked at me and told me i had lost my chip. i was just like WTF, you have GOT to be kidding me.
turns out my chip came off at some point in the run so all of my splits were recorded.
i know that my swim was about 2:30 faster this year, despite the super cold.
T1 was 40 seconds slower 100% attributable to those ear plugs. not sure what would have happened had i just ridden out with them, but i wasn't ready to try it.
bike was 3 minutes slower. this bums me out. some of this is the wind, which i am totally fine with since everyone had to deal with the wind, but i know i lost at least 3 minutes in that last mile.
t2 was 5 seconds slower - i had a pretty good t2 despite my ordeal, which makes me laugh.
the run was 13 minutes slower. ugh. not horrible since i walked those two miles, but i had figured i would be under 50 this year, i was very much not under 50. not even close.
eric called within minutes of me finishing and getting my clothes changed. i cried to him about it all and then was over it.

the onionman is still my favorite race.
i was so happy to have janet and kate there.
i didn't get hypothermia from the swim.
it was sunny and warm
i worked hard and felt good with my effort on the swim and most of the bike
i am happy for finishing
i'm happy that that wasn't my garmin lying on the side of the road
i suffered the whole race although it wasn't all the right kind of suffering.

after the race, kate, janet and i shared race stories while enjoying the BBQ, then i headed back up the rock hill to see this dirty truck that parked in front of mine.
i drove back to the hotel, relaxed a bit with the kids, then headed out to pioneer park. who knew there were peacocks in walla walla. the day was beautiful, and the kids had a ton of fun looking at the birds and running around the park. i continued to hobble around, and try to stretch but just kind of felt blah. when we woke up this morning, it was raining and dreary for the 5hr drive home, but we made it back safe and sound. on the drive i realized that the whole ordeal likely has to do with riding aero. i don't do it very much, heck, the bars are coming off the bike today if i have any say in it, although i've been doing it these last few weeks when i've been on my road bike. i don't think there is anything really bad going on since i feel ok today, not worse. granted i've been sitting on my arse all day, but if it was really bad i think it would be hurting more than it is. i'm keeping my fingers crossed and will lay low for the next few days, try to see the PT this week and hopefully be better in time for the xterra idaho in two weeks. good thing we haven't registered yet, but i am hoping to be good to go. if not, hopefully we can get out to the one in oregon the following week.