1. resolution 15k run
2. Super run 10k
3. Frozen foods 5k
4. San Diego Petco park 1/2 marathon
5. Tinkerbell 1/2 marathon
6. Superseal (cancelled triathlon)
7. Lavaman triathlon
8. Spring sprint triathlon
9. Rock n roll 1/2 marathon
10. SD international triathlon
11. Vineman 1/2 ironman triathlon
12. IB sprint triathlon
13. Trirock international triathlon
14. Desert Edge Olympic triathlon
There was actually a total of 18 races on the schedule this year. I did not do Solana Beach sprint tri which fell one week after vineman. I skipped mission bay triathlon which fell on my bday & I just didn't wanna get up early on my bday. I had a few upcoming races that I also have decided not to do. The "really big free marathon" the travel to Nevada to participate is too costly with soaring gas prices & I'm tired. The silver strand 1/2 marathon I would of had to volunteer for my bib & really don't want to take up my whole weekend for a race I really didn't enjoy last year.
The Desert Edge triathlon was a HUGE undertaking on a few levels, some I wasn't aware of right away. My cousin Patty had asked me to come out to Colorado & participate with her in this race for her 50th birthday. I have done 2 other races with her & enjoyed them so much it was hard to pass up. It would also be an opportunity for me to bring the kids on a road trip to meet family they had never met before! The drive is around 12-13 hours. Originally I was going to try to make a straight through drive both ways with 2-3days in Colorado. Well with the help of my works scheduling dept, a good friend in Las Vegas, & my plotting the schedule went : thurs work AM shift, depart San Diego 4pm (which turned into 5pm after gas, a trip home for forgotten items) & drive to Las Vegas. We got to Vegas around 10pm-ish & stayed with our friends that own a home there. It was literally a quick pit stop as we got there visited only a few moments before getting bed. We left bright & early to finish the drive to Colorado.
The drive from Vegas to Grand Junction went way smoother then I expected! Other then small bladders stopping us more often then I would have liked & me mis calculating gas & BARELY making it to fuel at the last 10 miles! We arrived & spent the evening getting settled in with our family. Sat Patty & I took a easy bike ride in the morning. I quickly learned how hard a change in altitude makes it to breath! I was huffing & puffing the whole time! It made me nervous about the race! After the ride we went out to the race site to get our bibs & drove the race course. I felt a lot better after seeing the course. It was mostly flat with a few small rolling hills & one bigger climb towards the end. Nothing compared to my 1/2 ironman. My confidence was up again!
We spent a relaxing night at home & early to bed. Race morning I got bundled up as best I could (I was NOT prepared for Colorado weather & had loaner clothes from Patty). We headed to the race start I got out of car & started to reconsider this decision to race! IT WAS 31 degrees!!!! Soooo cold I can't even describe. The race director had emailed there was an option to skip the swim because air temp would be down (water temp was 66 degrees) but doing a duathon would disqualify you for awards). I was in a division thy had maybe 6 woman so I still had visions of podium.
We got set up and in wetsuits quickly & actually headed in the water as it was warmer in the lake then out of it. We swam around to get warmed up & then it was GO TIME. I felt very confident going into like the first 20 yards of the swim. The water was not cold like the air. BUT all of the sudden I felt myself gasping for air & unable to breath. I kept trying to breath in but I was struggling. I had to STOP I was feeling lightheaded & dizzy. One of the aid canoes came up & asked if I needed to hang on....my pride screamed inside me NOOOOOOOOO but my brain was like you could die HANG ON! I held on & tried to catch my breath, it was not happening. In triathlon you can legally hold on with no penalty as long as you make no forward motion (FYI). There was NO WAY I was gonna give up but I was quickly aware that all my friends warnings about the altitude were dead on. I continued on the swim slowly having to stop & catch my breath a ton of times. I didn't have to hang on again but I was the last person out of the water for both the Olympic & sprint waves. Then it was on to the bike.....
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