Hy Vee in the books

Well things never go as expected and for me the Hy-Vee was no exception. It is my first DNF(did not finish). I felt good in the swim, I took a little side trip which didn't help my time. I started sighting the wrong booy. OOPs. but I got back on track. Since I DNF I do not know what my official time was because they did not post the swim and bike however my watch said 32 minutes. I am happy with that.

Out of the water and on to the bike, I started out slower this year, I did it on purpose. I wanted to get my legs warmed up before I started to pound them. Up Grand I went I found out that I am a better hill climber than most, I was passing people right and left. I guess riding into the river bottom does help. On the top of the first hill I was met with the sight of the "Hecklers", most of the biking hecklers had been out riding and drinking all night. So they were pretty well wound up, and one even had a speedo on, I will refrain from naming this speedo wearer to protect the identity of this wife and daughter..:)who have to put up with this speedo wearer. After the Grand hill the gound was flat for quite awhile. I was going between 18-19 mph. we had a slight head wind. I would pass some people, people would pass me. People would ride by yelling "go pink biker". Go to love the All9Yards pinks tri kits. About 2 miles from the turn around the hills started again, they were long and fairly steep. On the way back I started to crank it a little harder. I was going between 20-22 mph. Nice little tailwind. My shoulders were starting to ache really badly, i need to ride the tri bike more to get use to the position. Well back to Grand Ave and the Hecklers. Julie Hugo was cheering and yelling as was SS. I is nice to see your friend yelling for you. I think I did the bike in about an hour 20-24. I am not unhappy.

Now the Bike to run. I knew that this would not be good, I was not feeling energetic at all, i just wanted to stop. So I get my bike racked, my calf sleeves put on and head off to the run. I waved at Julie, Bill and my mom, sister, niece and nephew, then trotted on down the trail. It was miserable, my hips hurt, my stomach would not settle and I was thirsty. I tried not to drink to much water because that did me in last year. I ran maybe a mile then walked. Once I started walking I knew that it was over. I just could not get any kind of rhythm. The cycling hecklers were now the running hecklers. They cheered me on but It didnt help much. I was talking to myself about what to do. I really didnt want to walk the whole thing. It is a tri Swim, Bike and Run. Not swim , bike and walk. So I decided to hang it up. I have tried to starting listening to my body more. As I was walking back I ran into Kyle, Rob, Joe and Kurt. They tried to talk me in to walking it but I had made up my mind. I was done. No tri finish for me. I got a ride back to the park with a nice gentleman with a golf cart. Then went and found Bill. He felt bad for me but knew the issues that I have been having with my legs he was surprised that I stopped but not that I was having to walk.

I am upset with myself but at the time it was the right decision for me. I need to reevaluate how I am training and eating. I was having a hard time this year getting my mental attitude ready for this race. I was much more excited about it last year. Will I do another intermediate tri, I don't know. I hope to keep doing sprints.

I need to work on my nutrition, my stretching and my running. I need to maintain my swimming and cycling. I also need to lose weight.

I want to say I failed. I did fail in my mind but I tried and it was not to be. Life is full of disappointments you just have to deal with them.

JS also participated and did great. I will let her tell you about her adventures.

Thanks for checking in... until next time PEACE