Lehavim Triple Super Sprint Triathlon - 24 August 2007
The day started out badly. In fact, it started getting bad from last night, when I had a dizzy spell. I get these once in a while, but it hasn't happened in several years. The dizziness wasn't too bad last night, but I still wasn't feeling great when I first woke up this morning. I stayed in bed and got up a couple of hours later feeling much better. Until that point, I was sure I was going to have to pull out of the race (and in retrospect, maybe I should have...).
I got to the race site (less than a kilometer away) at around 3 p.m. It was hot, just as I expected it to be. I'm sure the temperature was around 100, but there was also a bit of a breeze, which was nice. Just as I got there, my former coach's son came running up to me to ask if he could borrow my goggles. He was doing the youth race and was supposed to be done before I started, so I gave them to him. Then I got set up in the transition area and waited around for the next 2 1/2 hours or so.
The first thing that went wrong happened even before the race started. Because of the heat, they had to change the time of the kids' race. Somehow, it ended up interfering with the third round of the youth race, which then had to be held up. The adult race was also delayed slightly, but when I did the math, I realized that the youth race wasn't going to end before we started and Amir had my goggles. When he got out of the pool, I asked him to throw them to me and he did (yes, this could have gotten him disqualified, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't and as it turned out, he didn't finish the race anyway). When I looked down, I saw that they weren't MY goggles. I have a lot of trouble with goggles and I really wanted to race with my own, but I had no idea where they were. So I waited for Amir in the transition area, which was open because the adults had to get ready for our start (and this was a very small race and the atmosphere today was pretty easy-going). When he ran in with his bike, I saw where his stuff was and grabbed my goggles, only to discover that he'd apparently tried to adjust them and the strap had gotten all messed up. I thought I only had five minutes until start and I had messed-up goggles to fix. Of course, I was so stressed about the whole thing that I couldn't fix the strap, but fortunately, someone else offered to do it for me. That done, I went out to the starting line, only to discover that the start had been delayed by another 15 minutes (this was good -- the later it got, the cooler it got).
Round 1: 1.5 km run / 200 meter swim / 6 km bike
The first round actually started off ok. I had wet myself down in a cold shower and with the breeze blowing, I didn't really feel overly hot at all. A couple of my teammates pulled a bit too far ahead of me on the run, but I figured they'd gone out too fast and I'd catch them on the way back. I was right. I passed one of them and finished right behind the other. I had a faster transition and got to the pool before her. She actually swam a bit faster than I did, but I still managed to get out just before her and it's a good thing. Because of the nature of this race, I was allowed to wear my race number in the water, but I chose to leave it at pool side. Very bad idea, because I completely forgot to pick it up when I'd finished. Fortunately, Ronit was behind me and after she called out to me several times that I'd forgotten my number, I ran back to take it. In the meantime, she passed me, but I figured I'd catch her on the bike. Wrong.
I dealt with forgetting my number ok, but the first round on the bike is what broke me. I hopped on my bike, started riding and then went to shift to the big chainring and I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the chain to move to the other ring -- I didn't know if it was the derailleur or the shifter or what, but it was just stuck. The bike is the strongest of the three sports for me and here I was, unable to reach any of my high gears, spinning my pedals like crazy going downhill. I couldn't catch up with the people in front of me because I was already pedaling as fast as I could and I had no gears left. By the time I started going uphill, I was mentally somewhere else. In retrospect, I realize that I could have looked at this differently -- instead of trying so hard to go fast downhill, I could have just rested my legs and used them like crazy going uphill. Anyway, I reached the top of the hill and then rode back down, my chain scraping against my derailleur because I was using combinations that don't work on my bike. And it was all pretty much in vain, because just coasting down the hill I was going over 40 kph and my feet just couldn't keep up and certainly weren't going to make me go any faster, but like an idiot, I kept pedaling like crazy. I finished the round exhausted and very frustrated.
Between rounds, I hoped I'd be able to fix my bike, but even with several people helping me, nothing I did worked. I was about to pull out of the race when someone said that I should just keep going and do it slowly -- at least I'd finish (and if I finished, I knew there would be hardware, not that I really cared right at that moment). In the meantime, while everyone else rested during the break, I was busy with my bike and when I started the second round, my heart was still pounding as if I'd just finished.
Round 2: 6 km bike / 1.5 km run / 200 meter swim
I kept going, but in my mind, this race was already over. I set out on the bike and just let everyone pull ahead of me, without even putting up a fight. When we turned around at a traffic circle, I was actually surprised to discover that I wasn't dead last. Going uphill, I managed to pass one or two people, but I just wasn't in a race frame of mine -- it felt more like an aggravating training ride. Going downhill, I had the sense not to pedal this time. I found that I could go just as fast or faster if I just got way down on the aerobar and coasted down the hill.
I don't even remember the second run. My mind was somewhere else. I do remember the kids at the water station calling my name and cheering me on, but that's about it. Before I got to the pool, my swim cap and I had a fight -- I wanted to put it on my head and it didn't want to be there. More wasted time. I swam over 100 meters completely along in my lane. Everyone else in the lane had already finished and I didn't honestly care. I ran across the finish line for the second time, feeling totally disgusted with the race and with myself.
Round 3: 200 meter swim / 6 km bike / 1.5 km run
The swim was easy enough. I had to wait for the faster people in the lane to start and then I just took off right behind Ronit and drafted off of her for the entire thing. We left the pool together. Back on my bike, I felt the same old frustration. Ronit passed me right at the beginning (I'm normally faster than her on the bike) and I never managed to catch up. It occurred to me, going uphill, that she was actually pulling farther away and that could only be because I wasn't giving it my all, but it just wasn't there. At that point, all I wanted to do was to finish the race. Then, just as I rounded the traffic circle at the top of the hill, something strange happened. I automatically tried shifting up to the big chainring and to my surprise, I felt the chain move. This is when I took off. I shifted up to my highest gear, got way down on the aerobar and pedaled like crazy. This is when I started passing people. It was too little too late, but it felt good for a few minutes, anyway.
All that was left was a measly 1.5 km run. On the way out to the run, just as she was passing me, one of the women I had passed racing down that hill said to me, "Good job! You're amazing on the bike!" Well, I guess I'd been "amazing" for a couple of minutes, anyway. Normally, the whole bike segment would look like that. The run was pretty slow. The kids were cheering for me again as I passed the water station and I heard one of them say, "That's my English teacher!" and then one of my son's friends begged me to take water from him because no one else had (but I already had a cup). They told me to run faster and I calmly replied (yes, I was running that slowly), "What difference does it make? I'm the only one in my age group!" Great attitude :-( Anyway, I did manage to give a bit of a push at the end and I was soon crossing the finish line. I have never been so glad to have a race over with (as opposed to being glad to finish a race) as I was today.
Yes, the mental demons beat me today. Stuff goes wrong all the time in races, but I'm usually mentally strong enough to just deal with it and keep going. Today wasn't one of those days. I feel like kicking myself for not giving this race my all, even with the "technical difficulties". However, I guess that would be just letting those mental demons beat me again. The smarter thing to do, I think, is to just write it off as a bad race day and move on. The next race is bound to be better.
I got to the race site (less than a kilometer away) at around 3 p.m. It was hot, just as I expected it to be. I'm sure the temperature was around 100, but there was also a bit of a breeze, which was nice. Just as I got there, my former coach's son came running up to me to ask if he could borrow my goggles. He was doing the youth race and was supposed to be done before I started, so I gave them to him. Then I got set up in the transition area and waited around for the next 2 1/2 hours or so.
The first thing that went wrong happened even before the race started. Because of the heat, they had to change the time of the kids' race. Somehow, it ended up interfering with the third round of the youth race, which then had to be held up. The adult race was also delayed slightly, but when I did the math, I realized that the youth race wasn't going to end before we started and Amir had my goggles. When he got out of the pool, I asked him to throw them to me and he did (yes, this could have gotten him disqualified, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't and as it turned out, he didn't finish the race anyway). When I looked down, I saw that they weren't MY goggles. I have a lot of trouble with goggles and I really wanted to race with my own, but I had no idea where they were. So I waited for Amir in the transition area, which was open because the adults had to get ready for our start (and this was a very small race and the atmosphere today was pretty easy-going). When he ran in with his bike, I saw where his stuff was and grabbed my goggles, only to discover that he'd apparently tried to adjust them and the strap had gotten all messed up. I thought I only had five minutes until start and I had messed-up goggles to fix. Of course, I was so stressed about the whole thing that I couldn't fix the strap, but fortunately, someone else offered to do it for me. That done, I went out to the starting line, only to discover that the start had been delayed by another 15 minutes (this was good -- the later it got, the cooler it got).
Round 1: 1.5 km run / 200 meter swim / 6 km bike
The first round actually started off ok. I had wet myself down in a cold shower and with the breeze blowing, I didn't really feel overly hot at all. A couple of my teammates pulled a bit too far ahead of me on the run, but I figured they'd gone out too fast and I'd catch them on the way back. I was right. I passed one of them and finished right behind the other. I had a faster transition and got to the pool before her. She actually swam a bit faster than I did, but I still managed to get out just before her and it's a good thing. Because of the nature of this race, I was allowed to wear my race number in the water, but I chose to leave it at pool side. Very bad idea, because I completely forgot to pick it up when I'd finished. Fortunately, Ronit was behind me and after she called out to me several times that I'd forgotten my number, I ran back to take it. In the meantime, she passed me, but I figured I'd catch her on the bike. Wrong.
I dealt with forgetting my number ok, but the first round on the bike is what broke me. I hopped on my bike, started riding and then went to shift to the big chainring and I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the chain to move to the other ring -- I didn't know if it was the derailleur or the shifter or what, but it was just stuck. The bike is the strongest of the three sports for me and here I was, unable to reach any of my high gears, spinning my pedals like crazy going downhill. I couldn't catch up with the people in front of me because I was already pedaling as fast as I could and I had no gears left. By the time I started going uphill, I was mentally somewhere else. In retrospect, I realize that I could have looked at this differently -- instead of trying so hard to go fast downhill, I could have just rested my legs and used them like crazy going uphill. Anyway, I reached the top of the hill and then rode back down, my chain scraping against my derailleur because I was using combinations that don't work on my bike. And it was all pretty much in vain, because just coasting down the hill I was going over 40 kph and my feet just couldn't keep up and certainly weren't going to make me go any faster, but like an idiot, I kept pedaling like crazy. I finished the round exhausted and very frustrated.
Between rounds, I hoped I'd be able to fix my bike, but even with several people helping me, nothing I did worked. I was about to pull out of the race when someone said that I should just keep going and do it slowly -- at least I'd finish (and if I finished, I knew there would be hardware, not that I really cared right at that moment). In the meantime, while everyone else rested during the break, I was busy with my bike and when I started the second round, my heart was still pounding as if I'd just finished.
Round 2: 6 km bike / 1.5 km run / 200 meter swim
I kept going, but in my mind, this race was already over. I set out on the bike and just let everyone pull ahead of me, without even putting up a fight. When we turned around at a traffic circle, I was actually surprised to discover that I wasn't dead last. Going uphill, I managed to pass one or two people, but I just wasn't in a race frame of mine -- it felt more like an aggravating training ride. Going downhill, I had the sense not to pedal this time. I found that I could go just as fast or faster if I just got way down on the aerobar and coasted down the hill.
I don't even remember the second run. My mind was somewhere else. I do remember the kids at the water station calling my name and cheering me on, but that's about it. Before I got to the pool, my swim cap and I had a fight -- I wanted to put it on my head and it didn't want to be there. More wasted time. I swam over 100 meters completely along in my lane. Everyone else in the lane had already finished and I didn't honestly care. I ran across the finish line for the second time, feeling totally disgusted with the race and with myself.
Round 3: 200 meter swim / 6 km bike / 1.5 km run
The swim was easy enough. I had to wait for the faster people in the lane to start and then I just took off right behind Ronit and drafted off of her for the entire thing. We left the pool together. Back on my bike, I felt the same old frustration. Ronit passed me right at the beginning (I'm normally faster than her on the bike) and I never managed to catch up. It occurred to me, going uphill, that she was actually pulling farther away and that could only be because I wasn't giving it my all, but it just wasn't there. At that point, all I wanted to do was to finish the race. Then, just as I rounded the traffic circle at the top of the hill, something strange happened. I automatically tried shifting up to the big chainring and to my surprise, I felt the chain move. This is when I took off. I shifted up to my highest gear, got way down on the aerobar and pedaled like crazy. This is when I started passing people. It was too little too late, but it felt good for a few minutes, anyway.
All that was left was a measly 1.5 km run. On the way out to the run, just as she was passing me, one of the women I had passed racing down that hill said to me, "Good job! You're amazing on the bike!" Well, I guess I'd been "amazing" for a couple of minutes, anyway. Normally, the whole bike segment would look like that. The run was pretty slow. The kids were cheering for me again as I passed the water station and I heard one of them say, "That's my English teacher!" and then one of my son's friends begged me to take water from him because no one else had (but I already had a cup). They told me to run faster and I calmly replied (yes, I was running that slowly), "What difference does it make? I'm the only one in my age group!" Great attitude :-( Anyway, I did manage to give a bit of a push at the end and I was soon crossing the finish line. I have never been so glad to have a race over with (as opposed to being glad to finish a race) as I was today.
Yes, the mental demons beat me today. Stuff goes wrong all the time in races, but I'm usually mentally strong enough to just deal with it and keep going. Today wasn't one of those days. I feel like kicking myself for not giving this race my all, even with the "technical difficulties". However, I guess that would be just letting those mental demons beat me again. The smarter thing to do, I think, is to just write it off as a bad race day and move on. The next race is bound to be better.
posted by bari | 12:48
1 Comments:
I find that when the mental demons get me the best thing to do is move on. Great report and great pictures too!
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