xterra farragut

i was pretty excited about this race, i had a lot to prove after last year's disaster. can anyone say 51 minutes for a 1500m swim?
i was bummed after hurting my obturator internus at the onionman, but after doing all those kegels all week, i was feeling good and ready to show idaho who was boss.
we headed out early on friday morning. we met eric's mom in Ellensberg and dropped the kids off with her. they were so excited about a weekend with grandma that they could hardly contain themselves. we did the kid exchange and then we were off the rest of the way to idaho. we stopped in ritzville for lunch at taco del mar. we pulled in to the parking lot in our ghetto 14 yr old volvo wagon with our bikes on top and parked across from a fancy team car with top end road and time trial bikes on top. turns out eric knew those people, they are from a local team and were headed out to a stage race in montana. fun!
after a lot of hours we got to the race site and got ready to pre-ride. we parked next to some guy and he and eric chatted it up. when eric told him about his stellar swim time from last year the guys was like, what? were you dog paddling or something? then we were off. my stomach was feeling a little bleck from the fish tacos from lunch but i was hoping it was just nerves or something.
they changed the course a little bit, but it was still long, coming in as two laps totally a little over 21 miles. the course isn't terribly technical, but its hard and fast and there is a good amount of climbing. i was dying on the pre-ride. i kept asking eric if we were at altitude because i was dizzy and couldn't breathe. sweet.
we finished up the lap and then got suited up to go for a swim. we had heard from some peeps that water temp was 46. onionman was 55 and that was COLD, so i didn't even know what 46 could be like. janet lent me her booties and i was quite pleased with them when i stepped into the water. i got in about waist deep and put my hands in. they instantly hurt from the cold. eric went out, but i stood there, waist deep with my cap and goggles on and my hands on my head for about 10 minutes. eventually eric came back and i tookd a dive in. i swam out, turned around, was back on shore in a minute 12. not cool, or apparently a little too cool.
we were staying at the same place as last year, Macdonald's Bayview Resort. i love this place and someday hope to come out and stay a few days. they are so nice, the cabins are nice and the views are amazing. plus when i went to check in, the guy made the comment that i was the fittest person he had seen all day so i must be the lady there for cabin 2. they knew we were coming for the race, but he totally made my day, i almost hugged him.
then we went back into coeur d'alene to the MacKenzie River Pizza Company for dinner. we went there last year, and its our couer d'alene favorite. my stomach felt super blecky, so i was still worried maybe i had some food poisoning from lunch, but i piled some lasagna into my lasagna hole and it took care of those pesky tacos. i felt better after.
back to the cabin and chillin' watching Say Yes to the Dress for a few hours before bed, the whole time freaking out because we had no internet connection and i was worried about my Tiki Farm crops, afraid they were going to go bad or be destroyed somehow. i tried to block it out and we went to bed.
that's a whole lot of pre-race stuff going on there.

saturday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn, despite the race not starting until noon. we headed over to the race site and registered, i cornered the race director and asked him about the water temp. he said they hadn't decided yet, but yelled over to another guy saying they needed to go check water temp. we went back to the cabin and watched 2 episodes of law and order and ate breakfast and chilled out until it was time to go.

the transition area was tiny! they were saying 3 to a rack and everyone stood around wondering what to do with all of their extra space. it turned out to be more like 4 or 5 per rack, but still it was spacious. mat racked right next to me and eric racked one rack back. chris and shannon racked over that direction, too.

next thing ya know it was time to suit up and head to the beach. i got in and swam around a little. i knew when push came to shove i would be ok but it was super cold. they called everyone to the beach and said that all racers would be doing only 1 lap! hooray!!! then someone yelled - hey that buoy is floating away! so they had to go chase it down and re-anchor it.

the race director shot his shotgun into the air and we were off.

the swim:
it was cold. unlike onionman there was no contact, everyone was spread out quickly. i felt good the whole time and even got used to the water. i swam well until i rounded the 2nd buoy when the waves were hitting me weird and we were swimming through these giant pools of pollen that had settled onto the water's surface. but i got through it in considerably less time than the previous year. i was happy to get out and even happier that i didn't have to get back in for a 2nd lap. swim time - not sure, results aren't up yet.

T1:
OMG, we had to run across the beach and up this hill and these stairs and then across this field and then like 1/2 mile later you finally are at transition. the only good thing about it was that my hands were mostly warmed up by the time i got there so i was able to get my ear plugs out and then everything else went ok. i do have to mess with my gloves and that wrist brace so that takes forever, but finally i was out.

the bike:
the bike is really long, but i had decided i was going to go hard and concentrate on the bike only. i was done with the swim so i didn't need to worry about that any more and i would worry about the run when i got to it. now it was all bike. the only sorta technical parts are in the first few miles. last year there was a root that i had worried about for days but they bypassed the root this year and put in a smaller, easier root instead. there was also a steep road climb last year that they bypassed through the trails. it was still a good climb but much more tolerable. i passed a few people right away and then played cat and mouse with a few for the rest of the race. i also passed a girl from my age group right at the end of the 1st lap. finally i came to the end of the 2nd lap, when i realized i was at the end a huge smile overtook me because i was so happy to be done. i felt good for the whole thing but my back did start to cramp up at the end of that first lap and was killing me. i took two clif shots and went through a little more than a big bottle of electrolyte drink.

t2 & the run:
t2 was uneventful and sort a quick, i think? the run is lovely. it was the only part of the race last year that i liked. it goes along the lake and the views are great but this year i actually didn't check them out very much. i ran out of transition with a guy and ran with him for about a mile then i passed him. i wasn't going very fast but i felt like i was moving. i was even running the hills and feeling pretty positive. at 2.5 miles in we head up hill, for what feels like forever. at this same time my knees started to hurt and everything from my sports bra down felt like it was going to cramp and any second. 3.5 miles in that girl from my age group that i passed on the bike passed me on the run. she was flying! i might have been walking backwards for all it was worth. she was maybe 20 feet ahead of me and she rolled her ankle. i couldn't believe it. i felt horrible but at the same time picked up my pace. i did ask if she was ok, she said she was, so i took off. but that didn't last long. she shook it off and then came flying by me again and i didn't see her again until i was telling eric about her and she was parked in the car right next to us. i was trying to stay strong but my knees were on fire, i haven't ever had them hurt like that before. my obturator internus was fine but my knees! ugh!!! i tried to pick it up for the last mile and then had to stop for a truck that was crossing the course ??? and then up the last little hill, around the sand pit and to the finish. i was really happy to be done, i sat down in the shade instantly because my knees couldn't stand any longer.

a few things about the race:
i was happy with the swim
i didn't get lapped on the bike
i was out of T2 before the first finisher came through
i came in 3rd!! but need to check results because there was low turn out so i might have some in last, too. regardless i am happy with my effort, but bummed about my knees.
Eric came in 2nd overalll and won his age group!!
Chris won his age group and came in 3rd overall!!
Mat won his age group and came in 6th overall!!
Shannon won her age group and came in 3rd F overall!!

it was a good day!!