This week the weather has predicted serious storms all week for Saturday. Usually the storms tend to come later than the predictions than earlier (in my experience with sailing) but this storm was not usual. It began to look cloudy on Thursday and Thursday night there were storms but it cleared a bit on Friday, only to come back with a vengeance on Friday evening. The race directors adapted to these pretty well but it played a bit of havoc with check in and packet pick ups for a few folks. I managed to get my packet first thing friday but missed the course talk completely as I had made plans to have lunch at Arlington Race track with a large group where I could network with some interesting connections and that evening I was scheduled for an evening with a CSO board member and friend for the concert at Millenium Park and afterwards a buffet. She called me on Friday morning to tell me that we would be sitting at Maestro Ricardo Muti's table that night so I was particularly worried about getting back to Chicago in time. I was also watching the weather. She had also said that the party would go on, rain or shine. So Friday was a very complicated and busy day, beginning with a networking breakfast listening to Steve Pemberton. His story was compelling and very inspriring. I hope to read his book soon. The lunch at Arlington was nice and I got a ride home with a friend and arrived at 5:30 on the dot in time to walk over to the concert with my friend. It was raining a bit but soon became a downpour and the concert was uncertain. We hung out in the board member tent for an hour and listened to the rain and stood in puddles. We went over the the pavillion at 6:30 hoping to hear the concert. I was surprised at all the people who were willing to stand in the rain to hear the orchestra for free. I was with the board so had dry seats but felt really bad for those folks in the lawn. As it was the rain was a torrent but the particular Mahler piece went really well with the rain and seemed to have been composed just for that evening. It was a lovely evening. Afterwards we had dinner at Muti's table but in my opinion he was rather rude about the music chosen for the dinner; a small quintet of young men to which he objected fairly strenuously to his assistant at the table. I did not get the chance to speak with him as he as across from me but met a lovely man and chatted about many things all evening. I left about 9:30, still needing to get my transition bag ready for the race the next day.
It was not really supposed to rain today according to the weather report I saw but it was misting most of the morning. It was cold and I wished several times for that jacket back home. Transition opened at 3:30 and closed at 6:20, but I was in and out very quickly. I saw Seph and Sally and then Coach Allen, then Megan and Marni joined us and we all walked up to Buckingham fountain together. We found a nice "real" bathroom and the gear check area eventually. It was still cold and I opted to keep my flipflops and my jacket. I figured I'd ditch the flipflops (hated to do it as I've had these since my first championship race in Dallas) but really didn't want to ditch the jacket. Normally I stick a space blanket into my bag for pre-swim warmth but I forgot that too. I decided I'd tuck the jacket into my wetsuit and just swim it to transition with me.
We had a long wait with winds and rain and iffy conditions for over an hour. Apparently the bouys for the olympic distance short swim north and turn could not be placed because of a rip current that kept carrying them off. Eventually they decided to shorten the swim portion of the Olympic distance to the sprint distance, but that was 40 minutes late. While we waited I got more and more cold and I had not grabbed any water or nutrition so I was worrying about my hydration and energy levels. I told Allan I was cold and he suggested a warm up run. Best decision ever. I ran down the path with him and back feeling very strong and warmed up well. I knew I'd have a good race feeling that strong.
They had predicted the water temps at 60 so I was a bit worried that I'd start out cold and have panic issues yet again. However, we have swum in such cold temps this year that when I jumped in I was really happy...the water was nice. I don't think it was 60. Allan and I guessed it at 68-70 after the race. I hit the start button on my garmin for the auto multisport and for the first time remembered to hit lap instead of stop for each leg. I swam a good race this morning. I was confident and even when it got choppy I felt completely in control. I passed many people, swam around a few in my way and managed at 17 min swim. I was happy with that.
Bonus: Jamie Jacobson was my swim out puller and I got to say hi and thank you to her. So cool to see your friends. I hit the lap button and headed to transition. It's a 800 yd run to the transition area so it was pretty long. I was surprised and pleased that I was able to run the whole distance, even up the hill. Had a slight problem finding my bike but got my shoes, helmet and sunglasses on and hit the exit. I took the first quarter mile easy to get hydration and to settle my HR a bit. After the turn I hit the gas and pushed it up to 15 mph and took myself to the first turn onto lower wacker. I then pushed the speed higher and let myself work at 17 mph eventually using the inclines and the course to get to 20 and 22 mph a few times. I was happy with my ride. It was a smooth and fun ride, I did the hills at 10-12 mph, faster than the last time because I anticipated them and managed to keep my speed up even though there are slow and caution signs for the turns leading to the hills. There was a bit of headwind on the return on the bus route but I was still doing faster speeds than normal.
I was using water, skratch plus ucann and a bottle of water and Base Aminos. I felt the aminos kick in so used them more than the skratch. I think that helped my run later. I got into transition and switched to my running gear quickly, grabbing my sport beans and my empty water bottle. (I had planned to fill it on the first aid statrion the night before because this bottle tends to leak in my bag.) Here's the biggest improvement for me all year: I managed to do 12 min pace or just under for the whole run. Normally I have to walk and let my legs recover from the ride. They always feel heavy and sluggish and painful. Also I've had feet issues with cramping toes and numbness. I switched shoes recently to Atras and these shoes have changed my life. They are so comfortable and no blisters. I feel energized by this. My legs are also doing much better these days. I get off the bike feeling ready to run and today I was ready. I felt like I was running, not slogging and really enjoyed the chance to high five and cheer for my team mates on the course. I finished in 1:48, a 4 min PR for me for Sprint, even with the long transition run. I'm sure if the transition was equivalent to other races I'd be looking at more like a 15 min PR. I'm very happy indeed!
The most interesting part of the day happened well after the race however. I had said good bye to friends and decided not to go out for brunch so was headed down along the bike course for home with all my gear. Suddenly, this man stops and yells at me to give him my rear wheel off my bike. HUH? He said it again, pleading with me. I asked him why and he said his wheel was tubeless and flat and he needed a wheel to keep going. I told him I had just purchased these wheels and they cost me $1000! He said please! I said "I can' t believe I"m doing this..." The people around me were all holding their breath wondering if I'd give them up. I bent down and undid the rear wheel and gave it to him and he gave me his HED wheel. A nice lady took his picture and his information down which he was shouting as we worked to make the exchange and texted it to me so I could find him later. He rode off quickly and suddenly I had to figure out how to recover my brand new race wheel! People all around me were telling me how great that whole thing was and congratulating me and in the back of my mind I'm wondering if I just said good bye to $500 race wheel? I turned around and headed back toward the finish to wait. I was very tired from Friday and the chill air was taxing. I had packed dry clothes so I put the long sleeve and short sleeve shirt on and sat in the sun on the grandstand. I watched and snoozed for over an hour while I waited for Ramon Codrington from Panama...my race wheel friend, to finish his race. He came in on the Olympic distance at 2:30. He's in the 40-45 age group. He wasn't first but he was quite happy to have been able to race. Afterwards, we took photos and the lady who texted me found us and took a photo too. I asked him what in the world compelled him to demand my wheel like that? He said "this happened before to a friend and someone gave him a wheel. I came all the way from Panama and I didn't want my race to end in 30 minutes so I decided to see if I could get help. You were there. " He and I chatted a little more. As it turns out, he began racing in 2013 and he has lost over 100 pounds, maybe closer to 200. He said I would not recognize him at his prior weight. We made the exchange of wheels after a long wait at transition to recover his bike and said our good byes. I hope I can find him on FB and friend him.
I think despite the long wait, this was the most interesting aspect of the day.
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