That is the email I received from Coach Dirk after I gave him the recap on my day at St Anthony's and let me tell ya, it feels so good to have a solid race once again! On the long solo drive down to St Petersburg I had a lot of time to think about the few days that were ahead of me. Yes, I had done the work and had not had a back flare up in 4 months but I still had many lingering thoughts and doubts... the toll that taking almost an entire year off had on my endurance and speed, wondering if there were issues with my back that would prevent my body and muscles from functioning properly and just what was my body capable of and going to give me on race day. All things I knew I couldn't control so I tried to put all of those doubts aside the best I could.
It is amazing to me how smoothly St Anthony's is run with 4000 participants. Race morning I made my way over to transition to get things all set up. I was in and out of there pretty quickly and back at my hotel room to stretch and relax a bit before heading to the swim start. Ahhh... the joys of staying so close to the race site! Before I knew it I was standing on the start line and anxiously awaiting the sound of the horn to get us started. Starting out on the swim I quickly wondered if I had made the right decision to race age group instead of elite amateur... the start was a mad house and I was catching the wave ahead of me before I even hit the second sighting buoy. Well, this is where I was so I was going to have to make the best of it! The first third of the swim is protected by the Pier so it wasn't too bad but by the time I made it to the first turn buoy the waves had started to get a little big. The good thing about the second part of the swim is that the waves were coming behind us so if you timed it right you could actually ride the waves a bit. While I was trying to take advantage of this, I knew it was going to be bad news for the final portion of the swim. Sure enough, after the second turn bouy the waves were coming at us sideways. After just a few breaths I realized I would have to stop breathing to my left because I was getting more water than air! This also meant more sighting because I knew it would be easy to get pulled off course with the side current we were experiencing. I was really happy to finally make it to the stairs and up into Vinoy Park... T1 at last.
I purposely have my front water bottle covering my speedometer so that all I can see easily is my cadence. I can see the speed but I have to lean my head to the side in order to see it which I am not likely to do often during a race. A few miles in I was curious though so I tilted my head over and all I was was 0 then realized that my distance said 0. Guess I forgot to check that the magnet on my race wheels was properly lined up with the sensor. OOPS! Oh well. I know that I am better off riding cadence anyway and I certainly wasn't going to stop to make the adjustment! The bike course was WINDY but unbelievably, I felt really good. For the first time in a long, long time I felt like my legs were capable of generating a little bit of power. I knew that regardless of how the run went, I was going to be satisfied with my race because I just FELT GOOD. I also have to mention that my bike felt SO SMOOTH so a HUGE thanks to Jose for taking such good care of my bike!!
Back into T2 I racked my bike and took notice that there appeared to be 4 or 5 girls already out on the run course from my age group. I threw on my new racing flats (yes, flats I had bought the day before! ha!!), grabbed my race belt and headed out onto the run course. While my head was saying "we've got to start out strong but not too fast... let's build into this thing" apparently my legs weren't listening. I hit the first mile marker in 6:14. I was briefly concerned so I tried to back off a bit. The run course was getting warm and I just kept hoping that I wasn't going to fall apart. I kept checking the ages on the calves of women I was passing on the run course. Early on I passed one in my AG but at the turn around (21:12), I had still only caught one. The run was proving to be physically and mentally tough but I just focused on keeping my stride and trying to pick out runners ahead that I could catch. Finally, I started seeing some women from my age group. Motivation. At least three down and I had no idea if there were more ahead and how far ahead they might be so I kept pressing on. Finally I was in the finish chutes and I picked up the pace - if I was winning my age group I did not want to be beat to the line! When I looked at my watch, it told me I had just run a 42:12. WOW! For a run that seemed filled with constant doubt, I was extremely pleased with my split.
This was a good day for me and I am so excited to be back into racing. I had a PR race for the course and an age group win. Great start to hopefully a great and really fun season! Thanks to Coach Dirk for whipping me into shape, Jose for working on my bike, Savannah for letting Jose work on my bike, Gerry and Tommy at Spa Adagio for always taking such great care of me, Mark Rutledge at Rehabilitation Centers of Charleston (RCC) for helping me get my back strong again, and my SMRT Masters swim coaches for being on deck and providing me with quality swim workouts every day.
