The Good, The bad and The Ugly

Two weeks ago I would have gone as far as saying I was in the best shape to date and ready to roll. However, this past week i have been fighting with allergies and some lower back tightness that was making me question if i should race or not. The problem with allergies is you wake up feeling like death and often i would be awake half the night for the week leading into the race. I was so excited to start my season that Carley and I went to Galveston for Texas 70.3 and US Pro Championships and i was going to give it the ol' college try even if i had to carry tissue and nasal spray with me.

Starting off in the swim i felt good, i blasted myself off course(oops!) and took some others with me and then exited the water about 30-45seconds down where i needed to be, my back was starting to hurt but i figured it would be okay once i got on the bike. Looking back i lined up on the wrong side and should have positioned myself with the guys i knew would be out in the lead, plus i should have been paying more attention to the winds and the current.

It just gets uglier from here. I ripped off my speed suit taking my # belt with it, okay jog back into transition and get the number as everyone passes out onto the bike. I hop on my bike and land on one shoe as it flies off, okay more time being lost. I felt completely loopy, the sort of feeling you get when you have had to many antihistamines, ibprofuin and nasal spray and not enough coffee.

As i smashed myself up the road, i noticed that there was something wrong, i rode the first half the bike being passed left and right just to notice at the turn around that my wheel was rubbing ever so slightly making it very difficult. The last half of the bike i was clearly out of the race and i rode in with some back tightness, very stuffed up from my allergies and i headed home. The funny part is after a 5hour car ride i felt pretty good, oh well life goes on. My back is better today, however i will be having everything looked at just to double check. Rather than dwell on the situation i have decided to keep moving forward knowing that my fitness was there but my health was not.

I would like to thank everyone for there kind messages over the weekend. I will make sure the next time i start a race i am ready to go. Also a special thanks to Ron for loaning me his wheels. I learned a big lesson- Don't use a 1080 front wheel in hurricane winds! Thank you Colonels, KSWISS Canada, Powerbar, 7 Systems, SLS3, and all my other supporters. Congrats to everyone for finishing the race and battling the winds. Also a special mention to Lance who placed in his age group, William, Jarrod, Cody, Anthony, Brian, Alison. It was great to meet lots of new people! And last but not least thank you to Carley for having to spend 5 hours with me a in a car after a DNF:(.