Ugh. So, I didn't race this morning.

I got as far as driving to the race site and starting to set up my transition. And then my body started to rebel. And rebel hard. Sharp cramps, nausea, and then The Headache.

I decided to just pack my stuff back up and go home.

crappy weather + feeling crappy = needless pain and torture

There is something about getting up early that seems to be triggering migraines for me. I need to get to the bottom of that, and soon.

My bags are packed...

Ok, so just the one bag.

My transition bag is ready. My bike and the rack for my car are sitting by the door. Clothes are laid out. Alarm is set (for rilly, rilly early).

Sadly, I can't find my camo print dress or the chest strap for my heart rate monitor. I cant replace the dress (though I think I just remembered where it might be), but I can order a replacement strap if it doesn't turn up in the early part of next week. Neither of those things are necessary for my race, but I'd like to have them nonetheless. *sigh*

Think of me tomorrow morning, out in the chilly rain, suffering in the suburbs. (Ok, so it's not all suffering. It's more fun than anything else.)

Another race down. :-)

This morning saw my alarm go off at 4:40 a.m. I followed that up with a solid twenty minutes of sitting on Lisa's couch and alternately dozing and trying to get myself fully awake. Then, I got dressed, made some breakfast, loaded my bike on my car and went over to the race site with Lisa. Well, we went to a shopping center about a quarter mile away from the race site and then walked over. (I'm convinced all of this foot travel before and after a race is just the race directors' way of screwing with the participants.)

I got my transition area set up, but wasn't really happy with it. So, I set it up again...this time with my stuff positioned on the side of the bike I prefer. (Lisa took lots and lots of pics of all of this fussing around, so it must have been amusing to watch.) And then, a giant woman showed up and tried to rack her bike beside mine. Except, being a giant, her bike wouldn't fit under the rack easily, and once she got it under there it was too tall to actually hang from the rack. So, she decided to hang it *over* the rack...um, that didn't work out so well either. Eventually, she resigned herself to having to prop her bike against the railing around the transition area and just setting up the rest of her stuff across from mine. I was simultaneously amused and incredulous. She was well-meaning, but just a clueless mess. It was also her first triathlon, so it was hard not to feel a little bad for her--also the fact that she was #666 and in swim wave #13 seemed to have her just set up for mishaps.

My swim was ok, but I kept getting caught behind people who were struggling. I eventually got out of the water and realized I had a splitting headache. Ick. I *really* dawdled through transition, hoping the headache would dull a little before I got on the bike. It didn't. But,I eventually managed to talk myself into riding.

The ride was really pretty, but had lots of rolling hilly bits. My knee seemed to be cooperating a little better this time, but I was mostly just concerned with my headache. I was so preoccupied with that, I wasn't paying enough attention to the rest of my body. At one point, I was hit with intense nausea because of a way elevated heart rate (189...eep!).

My second transition was a little faster, but I was still feeling gross. But at that point, I was so close to finishing (just one more event) that there was no way I was going to bail. So, I walked almost the entire run. Except the end. Something got into my head at the very end (I think I realized I was really close to water, food, electrolytes, and a chance to sit down), and I started running toward the finish line.

Crossed the finish line and collected my medal. (and a bottle of water and an apple) w00t!

I also hit the stop button on my heart rate monitor and checked out a summary of my "workout". That's when I realized I had stupidly let my heart rate get too high. And I burned 1201 calories during the race. Kick ass.