Smitty's Blog

I'm so wet.

haha.

Where do I even begin this?

This morning I got up at 5am.. got ready... and went down to the lobby to catch the team bus to the race site (about 7K away). It was supposed to take us 15 minutes to get there.. but the stupid bus driver and Hungarian translator/tour guide/bossy woman Judit (there's no H on that) couldn't figure out how to get us close. We'd made the trip with Judit many times this week, but she was totally unprepared for the road closures... so that 15 minute trip took an hour. The Hungarians have absolutely no sense of urgency... and we Americans are entirely unpatient people. So that didn't go well. We finally stopped on this corner ... so that Judit and the bus driver that didn't speak a lick of English could argue with the police about letting us go drop off. We told Judit we needed to get off the bus.. and she told us no... that we could be arrested if we got off in a "no drop off" zone. She said, "i command you to stay". Judit was out there blah blahing with police for a good 5 minutes... and we're all restless in the bus... so I asked the bus driver to open the door... and we all escaped! It was a 2 mile run to get to transition from where we escaped the bus..... a pretty long haul with the gear bag.. and pouring rain. And unfortunately for us.. our bikes were checked in yesterday! By the time I got to transition, I had 10 minutes to get out and 15 minutes to race start. I also had a long line to check my gear bag in (only bike shoes and run shoes and race number allowed in transition). Thankfully, some Americans let me cut in front of the line (which surely would have taken 30 minutes) to check my bag. Then I had 5 minutes... realized I forgot my chip.. so had to run back to transition to get it (it was inside my bike shoe). I made it on the race platform just as my wave was walking down. Phew!

I started on the far outside right on the swim. The swim was shorter than the aquathlon - only 750m. I was glad I did the aquathlon because I knew what to expect with water temp. Freakin' cold! But I didn't seize up today like I did on Wednesday. Water temp was 15 Celcius. So ya... pretty cold.... and I had only my sleeveless wetsuit (note to self: bring both in future events despite what the website says about projected temps!). I felt pretty smooth on the swim. I was definitely in the top half of my wave (40 in my age group wave). I cratered a little toward the end.. got tight... but I sighted a lot better than on Wednesday's race. I was "content" with the swim... and really made a point of it on the last 100m to savor the experience I was getting. Wow... swimming in a bay of the mighty Danube River! (and the water is NOT blue by the way... more like brown... and very cloudy).

Transition SUCKED. It was such a freaking LONG run up to T1. Sand.. gravel.. and grass that was more like mud. But i made it.. and once I did I felt the actual time at my T1 post was pretty quick. ITU has a helmet on and buckled rule before you can even TOUCH your bike... I did okay with that... Opted for no socks with all the rain. Then the LONG run out of transition! haha

Bike was decent. It was soooo wet. 5" of rain in last 20 hours.. Crazy. Three "U" turns on the bike... I did okay with them. Only a couple women passed me (most passed me in that long T1).. and I felt FAIRLY strong on the bike. Avg 20.6 I think... so that's pretty decent for me. Course was pretty sketch.. not only wet but huge deep puddles, manhole covers and several smaller potholes and uneven cracks in the road.

T2 was LONG again.. of course. We had to dismount then run about 100m on the road... then another 300m on the wet muddy grass. I was fairly quick again once I got to my post... Not terrible.. but not super fast.

The run was gorgeous. We ran along the Danube.. and it was just cool. For the first time EVER (I'm embarrassed to say that) I ran the whole way without taking a short walk break. I really didn't even feel tight or anything.. and I had a good kick coming over the bridge over the Danube to the last 400m of the finish. It was pretty cool... the USA Coach was handing out USA flags for us to carry in to the finish once we crossed the bridge.. so that was awesome.

I have absolutely NO CLUE how I finished... or what my time was. I'm pretty sure I wasn't last... which means I met my goal! Really, this course was very conducive to my strengths ... and other than the rain, I felt I had a pretty good race. More than that, the experience was amazing. It was just really cool to look on everyone's chest and ass and see their name and the country they were representing... And even though I wasn't the fastest one out there, I will savor this experience. I met some amazing people... some great Americans that I'll look forward to seeing again at future National Championships. One of the top two USA girls in my age group only beat me by a minute or so... and she beat me by 5 in iowa... so I felt I legitimized myself... and why I was here.

It was a great experience, indeed... but I don't think Budapest in September will be on my travel plans anytime soon!

Thanks y'all!
Smitty