Peregrine Charities Race Report - Forgot the bike shoes, but not the lightsabers

Derek and I absolutely love this race. We have traveled to Waterloo for the past 3 years for a number of reasons: Waterloo is closer than Minneapolis for both of our parents to come and see the boys and with the grandparents there we can both race. Also, Cedar Falls is a town right next to Waterloo and where Derek and I met and went to college - University of Northern Iowa.

I felt like I just wasn't myself this week, with my training. I am not sure if the lack of sleep had caught up to me (Keaton is still getting up twice a night to nurse) or if my body was saying "hey you haven't slowed down for me to recover from having a baby 3 months ago!" I knew there was going to be some great competition at Peregrine, so I was looking forward to having a solid race.

I started packing for Owen, Keaton and I a couple of days before we left because I wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything, but low and behold I forgot my bike shoes. I had rode the trainer with my road bike Saturday morning and forgot to take them off afterwards. We were about an hour out when I said to Derek "CRAP" I forgot my bike shoes. We didn't want to turn around because with two kids any extra time in the car is not cool. Derek's Dad was coming to race the sprint course in the morning, so he was able to bring me my mother in laws road bike shoes. I was pretty much freaking out about it the whole night and between Keaton waking up to eat, I think I got 4 hours of sleep.

Race morning was COLD! As Derek and I were driving to the race it said 42 degrees and then it went down to 40 degrees! I got the bike shoes and they worked...however I was having a hard time clipping out of the shoes and getting them off. You had to push down on some part of the lever and I thought to myself "Oh boy this is going to be interesting when I get off the bike and my hands are frozen".

Swim was same old same old - 24 minutes. Derek and I were talking about this on the way home and I think I am just in survival mode out there - I wasn't really huffing on the swim and he said that he is pushing so hard he is grunting... so for next year, I will be grunting on the swim. That is a priority of mine for next year - swim lessons and coach! I knew I was second out of the water and Janet McCullough had about a 2 minute lead on me. I should have listened to Derek and not put my socks on in transition, because my feet were still frozen on the bike - probably costing me an extra 10-15 seconds. The bike was so cold that my jaw still hurts as I am writing this from clenching it on the bike. There were times that I was secretly wishing I was one of the novices on a mountain bike., and I was racing my first triathlon and had my warm North Face Jacket on! I did manage to catch Janet at about mile 20 on the bike, but knew she was going to push me on the run and I was dreading dismounting with my borrowed bike shoes.

As you can see from the picture I had to do an old school mount/dismount - pretty much all out stop to clip out and then I couldn't get the shoes off (exactly what I was afraid of) and finally just yanked them off. I think I had about a 20 second lead on Janet coming out of T2. I felt strong for the first 2 miles and I still need to stick to my nutrition plan, because I didn't take my gel until about mile 3. I felt pretty sick to my stomach and almost didn't take it at all. I knew Janet was coming for me and I saw her on the turnaround and she looked really strong. She passed me at mile 4 and I tried hanging with her, but knew I just didn't have it in me today. I finished second for female and happy, considering all of the issues I had going into and during the race. My running is still not where I want it to be, but rest is what I need and I'll get it in November and December. This winter will be about rebuilding and strategizing for next year. Dan Cohen (my coach) gave me some great advice today and he is right on the money when he says it is all about what you do in the off-season. I will need to be patient and take it easy this winter because I feel like my triathlon season just started when for others it has ended. I am running the Twin Cities 10 mile next weekend and Owen is doing the Half Mile race with Derek - we are getting the cow bell ready for him!

On a side note I was finally able to meet Elizabeth Waterstraat. I really like reading her blog, since she and I have a lot in common. She also had a baby about 9 weeks ago and ended up winning the sprint race - Way to go!