Kokopelli Tri

This Saturday was Kokopelli down in St. George. This was my first attempt at an Olympic distance triathlon and only my 4th tri ever. The swim was at Sand Hollow Reservoir. This was a beautiful place to race and it was at the top of my list because on the Ironman St. George the swim is at Sand Hollow as well. The week leading up to the race I had a hard time eating right. Not that I ate the wrong foods but, my fear of eating the wrong food and my lack of preparation of the right foods, kept me from eating very much food at all. This did not bode well for me on race day, or at least part of it!!! I especially did not eat enough food the day right before the race.

The night before the race the weirdest thing happened. I was sitting at a picnic table in Zion's when I went to take the first bite of my chicken breast (the first REAL meal I had eaten all day!) when I bit down and...STING... I was stung by a wasp that must have followed that chicken INTO my mouth! It stung me on the inside left side of my upper lip. After I spit the wasp out, I could tell the GIGANTIC stinger was still in my lip. Luckily my Mom was there to help me out and pulled the stinger out of my mouth. Immediately my lip started to swell, it seriously looked like the worst Botox job you've ever seen. I will post some pictures below but these pics weren't taken at the height of the swelling, I WISH I had pics of THAT! It was pretty hilarious at least now I know I would look ridiculous with Botox injections:) This was the first time I had ever been stung by a bee of any type so, after we were sure I wasn't going to have a fatal allergic reaction my Mom and I were laughing SO hard. Every time she would look at me she would give me this look that said "Oh my gosh...you look so scary, I am so sorry..." and then she would burst into laughter. We had a lot of fun making fun of me!

Like I said...This was seriously NOTHING compared to the swelling that took place about 3 minutes later!!! What was I THINKING not getting pictures of THAT!!! Oh well...

So the next morning, I packed up my stuff and we were off to Sand Hollow. I set my stuff up at the transition area, gave my mom a quick lesson on how these tri's work and where and I guessed about what time I thought she could look for me at transition. Then it was down to the water...

Swim: 1 mile 29:02

This was a 2 loop triangle swim. I was not sure where to put myself as they started my wave. So just to be safe, I placed myself in the back right side of the pack as they blew the "Start" horn. I started to swim, I passed the first buoy, passed the second one, then on my way to the third one I realized that there were not many pink swim caps around me, I thought to myself " Oh great, I am going to be the last pink cap out of the water!" I glanced behind be on one stroke and could see a whole bunch of pink caps bobbing along BEHIND me! Then I thought "What the... I don't remember passing anyone! I must be in between the fast swimmers and the slow ones." I put everything out of my mind except for my rhythm and sighting those buoys. Before I knew it I was done with the second lap and onto the boat ramp. I waved to my Mom and ran into transition. I later found out that I was the 1st woman in my division out of the water! What!?! I really never would have thought...but I am happy:)

Bike: 33K 1:14

This was a tough course I think. It could have been worse but it could have been better too. It was very hilly, 2 pretty mean hills (about 6% grade). I felt strong after about the 1st 2 miles and I was able to push hard up the hills. It was beautiful too, the views were classic southern Utah! I averaged 16.6 mph which could be better but I am pretty happy with that for now. I was able to stay in aero most of the time, except for the hills and when I chickened out going down a couple of those hills :P As I rode UP the hill into transition I started to feel how heavy my legs really were. As I got off the bike, I was stumbling and felt really dizzy. I started to get nervous about the 6 mile run I had ahead of me!

Run: 10K 1:14

I know...I know....this is a SLOW time for a 10K! I am not a fast runner anyway but even for ME this is a slow time! I REALLY bonked on the run. Usually, in my workouts, it takes me .5-1mile to really get a rhythm and wake my legs up. When I passed that first mile aid station on the race and I seriously was feeling like I had already run 6 miles I knew I was in trouble! I think my problem was that I had really not been eating enough in the week leading up to the race and the EFS on the bike and Hammer Gel I pounded were just not getting me through. I pushed on...at 1.5 miles I walked for about 10 seconds, I was in disbelief that this was really happening "really Brooke, 1.5 miles and your walking?...Really? What is wrong with you? You are a pansy!" These were all the things going through my mind which I'm sure didn't help me at all! I commenced running again. I had to literally think to tell my muscles to move, to run. I made it another mile, got some water, walked through the aid station but wouldn't let myself walk after I passed the last garbage can...running again. Made it all the way to aid station #3 (mile 3) drank water. Walked again just to the garbage can....running again....3.5 miles my legs stop moving. A guy came up behind me and started to pass me slowly, as he passed I noticed his fresh road rash on his shoulder and side, he said to me as he passed "come on run it out with me...you can do it!" For a moment I was with him...after all I wasn't BLEEDING for heaven's sake! I ran for the next half mile with him and stopped to get water at the aid station again. He kept going....I kept him in my sights for a while but then my legs stopped moving again. I was almost to mile 4 and a nice girl passed me and said "Are you doing OK?" I said "Yeah, just having a rough day I guess." She asked "What's up?" I said "I don't know I have NO energy and feel STARVING!" She pulled an applesauce packet out of her jersey and asked me if I wanted it, I said "yeah if you're sure you don't want it!" She said she wasn't planning on eating it, so I scarfed it down. Oh WOW I felt a burst of energy literally running through my body! It was enough to get me about .5 miles away from the finish, then I felt like crap again, but the adrenaline rush from the spectators and seeing my Mom running beside me up the hill to the finish, really helped me run that last bit and across the line!

What a race! It was fun and crappy at the same time but I still want to go do it again!