Growing up only 30 minutes from this race I had heard about it my whole life. I've watched it in the past and heard about classmates doing it. This year it was my turn to have a crack at it. Although I had zero expectations going into it, I was still excited to get out and enjoy the racing environment.
I didn't have an A-grade lead up coming into this race by any means. Two days prior I was dressed in my suit and tie and dancing the night away in downtown Chicago. I had some pretty big reservation about going to a sorority formal only 48 hours before a race. But hey, ya gotta live a little right? Drinking, dancing, and discussing sorority sister drama isn't really my cup of tea. Thankfully, it turned out to be a great night and a good way to get my head off the race.
After driving back to Iowa, doing an easy bike ride with my dad, and getting my race packet it was time for an early bedtime. Sadly, this "early" bedtime turned into me staying up well after midnight. I had to get up at 4 A.M. and tossing and turning for several hours only put more unneeded stress in my head. But my alarm actually woke me up at 4 so I did in fact fall asleep at some point...although it didn't seem like it.
Race Day:
I was doing this race with Kennon and Kallie (Kennon's mom), so we packed the cars, stopped for a cup of gas station coffee, and caravanned our way to the race site. Standing in line outside transition waiting for it to open, we of course, as usual, joked about the most ridiculous things. I'm almost certain that everyone around us was annoyed, but whatever, it was early and joking around made it a little bit more bearable. While spitting out joke after joke, we started to feel the combination of cold temps and strong wind...these would later wreak havoc on the race.
Post transition area setup, warmup run, and last bit of food, it was time to go down to the water. After only 20 yards of walking through the sand to get to the water my feet were totally numb. The sand was THAT cold. I was absolutely dreading getting into the water. I figured that it would undoubtedly be freezing. However, the 65 degree water temp was actually warmer than the air temp. A pleasant surprise for sure! I mean 65 degree water isn't warm by any means, but compared to the 50 degree air temp with 20-30 mph winds, it felt a lot warmer.
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| Exiting the swim by myself (Photo cred: Jacob M.) |
Instead of doing the massive wave swim start, the Pigman race series does a time-trial start. One person starting every 3 seconds. This avoids the MMA-esk fighting match of trying to find open water, yes, but did it solve the problem of swimming around/over people, no. I didn't get a swim warmup in because I didn't want to stand around freezing in the wind, but I was happily surprised that I found my swimming rhythm right away. I caught the person who started in front of me within a couple of seconds...then another...then another...then another. I kept that pattern up for the whole swim...actually, I kept that pattern up for the whole race. I didn't get passed a single time during the swim, or the remainder of the race. I was able to zig and zag my way through the crowded water with minimal trouble.
I exited the water, feeling fantastic, and had smashed my pervious sprint-distance swim time. Good deal! A quick and smooth T1 and it was time to fight the wind. And I mean FIGHT the wind. It easily made my "Top 5 Windiest Days On A Bicycle" list. Heading South was smooth sailing, but going North. Ouch. I was averaging in the mid 30's heading with the wind. But after taking the turnaround, that all changed. Not truly knowing how strong the wind is until you turn to face it sucks. I was smashing the peddles, just trying to get a nice turnover going. But even with this effort I was struggling to even touch 20 mph.
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| An empty T2...sweetness! |
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| Anthem for this race: All By Myself by Celine Dion (Photo Cred: Jacob M.) Never got passed. Alone the whole time. *note the sweet sideburns I was rocking for the race |
I had seen this race in the past and looked at pervious results and I had always thought that those people weren't human. "Those" people didn't seem to be actual people to me. But now I get it. The light bulb went off after this race. You put in the work, you get the result. Period. I never knew if there was some magic pill or food or something that "those" people ate. But no, it's all about doing the work. After a quick look over the results I noticed that at least 6 of the top 10 were pros. To be right behind them was an awesome feeling! I never would have guessed that I would finish in the top 10 and/or with people who race for a living. It is a huge confidence boost for training/other races the rest of the season!
Now it's time for some recovery and prep for my race next weekend. Holiday Lake is up next. Until then, thanks for the read!
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| Winner winner chicken dinner. 1st in my AG and Kennon got 2nd in hers. We got little pink piggy banks for a prize. (Photo cred: Kallie M.) |
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