Full Booty race report.
The weather reports all week had stated we would have substantial winds and possible thunderstorms. We had all of that. I had lots of friends doing this race. That was great and we shared some great pre-race time together. This is also the first race we have had family (other than my youngest daughter) at. That was different!
I think I should share a little pre-race. Jill with the race knew me by first name in March. I need a lot of information to ease my mind and make my plan. She was wonderful. We had been told there would be certain nutritional items on the course but what we were told was very limited. Soooo plan B was initiated.... Team SPAZ members (my sister and youngest daughter) were recruited for run stop #7 between mile 9 & 10. They were stocked with baby wipes, Kleenex, chicken broth, pickles, jelly beans and pickle juice. Now I feel better and have something to run too.
Race day
The Swim: 33 or so of us enter the water for an in water start all full athletes and full aquabike athletes. The atmosphere is complete with Pirate ship and a pirate who fired the cannon to start our race. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, stay calm. I had a bad swim the week before complete with a panic attack and horrible wheezing. So I just concentrated on staying calm. Third yellow buoy.... sandbar.... walk around it and the paddleboard tells me swim left and you can actually swim. I did. Orange turn buoy....walked around then back to swimming. I AM NOT MOVING....I AM NOT MOVING.... replay of Williamsburg 2018. Get to where you can swim! I made a hard left and swam toward the 1st yellow buoy. Once I got there I could again move forward. Time for ROUND TWO after I spotted the family on the bridge and waved from the water .Second loop of swim I was aiming for that walk at the 3rd yellow buoy BUT the sandbar was gone..... I was sad but just kept swimming and when I rounded the second turn buoy I knew this time to swim left hard. Second loop was not as bad. Gave an in water thumbs up to the family before climbing up the ladder. Wetsuit stripped and fresh water hose properly abused. Into transition my bike shoes and socks were in the changing tent waiting Sat down to put them on then out to the bike.
The Bike: Chris Torosino Cather, Michelle Dolan Lawrence, a lady I don't know, and I all hit the bike mount line at the same time. After picking at Chris for being "in the way" I mounted the bike to head up the 2 bridges. YEP it's windy.... here we go. I biked from rest stop to rest stop. I knew they were around 14 miles apart and it would be 9 stops total so I just chanted in my head about that. The stops were not crazy busy like larger races and the bottle hand offs were easy. Somewhere around mile 20 the first rain started. We had ridden several training rides in the rain so that was no big deal. At mile 52 athlete #39 had a flat. I told him I would notify them at the next turn. I remember this so well because I sang it to myself all the way to the next turn and let the volunteer know. Just after that turn, lightening. Then a loud crack and immediate boom of thunder. WOW that was CLOSE. Ride to special needs. Stopped at special needs. I would have enjoyed a table and chair but I made do dumping my bag on the ground. Ate dill pickle kettle cooked potato chips and drank muscle milk. Ate some jerky. Reloaded bike and refreshed my lube to prevent chaffing. Onto the last half of the bike. I always thank God for the ability to do this and talk to Him often while biking reminding myself we all have a purpose for where we are right now. I was drinking one bottle before every stop to make sure I stayed hydrated. Can we talk about the SNAKES? Yes they were dead but OMG there were so many!!! Same spot just before turning onto 70 to head to special needs again….lightening and thunder. Hopped off again at that stop ( mile 90 ) to stretch a second and refill bottle. I can say even though it was not hot because of the rain, I still would have enjoyed some COLD water but it was all just sitting out, not chilled. Peed again so hydration on point! Going to finish this bike. Headed out and waved bye to the volunteers at the rest stop that was at the loop. Counting down the miles. At mile 100 I was just over 6:30 total bike time which was the same as my last century. I’ll take it! Mile 110 I hear glass exploding behind me and feel some hit me I thought. Surely not….a dark blue Chevy truck 80’s model passes. I think he just threw something at me. What the HELL? I turn on Hwy. 70 and HOLY HEADWIND with one mile to go. Very happy to see Chris waving me in and Jill at the dismount line. Jill let me know Priscilla Sylane (my oldest daughter) was about 30 minutes ahead of me and looking great! Michelle came into transition just after I had stripped and managed to wiggle my way into my compression pants for the run. She assisted me in getting a dry bra on a wet body (THAT was a feat). Dry clothes and socks!! First time since I jumped in the water!!! Onto the run.
The Run: I am not a “runner". I run using Galloway intervals. I have an MRI of my right knee a half a page long including a torn meniscus and partial ACL tear but my ortho told me these are old injuries. I also have stage 4 arthritis in both knees. So I run one minute and walk 30 seconds. As I start my run it gets really dark and windy. About mile 0.5 a pelting sideways downpour begins…. But I had just gotten DRY. Oh well at least it’s not sunny and hot! The volunteers were super and great to see. I walked the stops and took coke or water at most. Mile 7 or so I met Glenn. He was trying to hold a 13 min mile pace and I was too. We stayed together until special needs. At about mile 8 I see Priscilla rocking it and she tells me she is currently 1st female!!!! At special needs I tried to minimize the blister damage I could already feel by applying Vaseline and dry socks to finish the run. Glenn goes ahead. Around mile 17 I see the only other female in my age group. I passed her. She stated her IT band was killing her. Shortly after I pass her she passes me again. Then 2 cars come and several teenagers jump out to walk with her. I pass them again and then they all begin to run together and pass me. The group stayed just in front of me and in sight all together until mile 23 then I started my walk to the finish and they pulled away. I walked the last 5K until I got about 0.2 away from the finish and jogged in. A hard earned one but done and it was still a PR over my 1st full.
Proud to be one of the 15 listed finishers of the Inaugural Crystal Coast Tri Full Booty!
The next morning Priscilla noticed my back tire was flat. She tried to put air in it and found a quarter inch gash in the tire. Very thankful it got me in!
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