Eileen Swanson's Tales

16th out of 20th – ugh!

Lucky Peak Reservoir, Boise 70.3

What a weekend! It was one filled with lots of new beginnings, highs and some lows, fun times, and new experiences as well. But most of all as Coach P put it “it was a step in the right direction, an OK race.”

I arrived late Friday night and my friend Kristin picked me up at the airport. We got back to the hotel and pretty much went to bed. Saturday morning was SO CRAZY! This is how quick it went, we were literally on the go from 9:15AM-8PM.

- We got up, put our bikes together
- ate breakfast
- headed to the pro meeting (SO NICE to see some of my friends, including awesome teammates Lins and Katya)
- waited in line for 1 hour and 10 mins to pick up our race packets (YES seriously 70 full mins)
- went back to finish putting together our bikes (my brakes were off and couldn’t be tightened, something was off)
- Kristin’s wheels didn’t take air so…..
- we went to the local bike shop (AWESOME GUYS there, check them out if you are ever there – George’s cyclery)
- drove to T1 (a good 25 min drive)
- talked to Coach P
- tested our bikes out
- climbed a 1/2 mile dirt/gravel rode carrying our bikes up to T1 (everyone was complaining, not just me;-))
- dropped our bikes off
- ran back down the hill
- stopped to get something to eat at the grocery store
- just made it to T2 with 1 minute to spare to drop off our runing stuff, PHEW!

Absolutely hectic, non-stop action!! We were tired, but it all had to be done. We ended the night with a fun dinner at PF Chang’s Kristin is so much fun!

Sunday morning came so quick and we were lucky enough to get a ride from Coach Bruce and Coach Dan of Lifesport all the way up to T1, no climbing the hill on race day! It was super windy and cold up at the top of the reservoir. This made for a very choppy swim!

As soon as the gun went off, I took off and wanted to stay close to the front if not at the front of the pack. I got punched in the back once so I immediately picked up the pace and before I knew it, I was leading the pack to the first buoy. As soon as I turned right at the buoy, it was super choppy and I couldn’t breathe. When I race I really only breathe to one side and unfortunately it was the wrong side for this race. I started freaking out that I couldn’t catch my breathe and thinking that I didn’t belong at the front (SO DUMB). I have never freaked out like that before, but I think the combination of being at the front, the cold water, and my new wetsuit choking me really caused this. Within seconds of my meltdown, I had let 5 girls go by. I tried to calm down and go with them, but it was too late. By the time I got myself together, I was now on my own to chase the leaders. I was so upset since I know I am better than this and have swam with several of those girls before. I got into a good rhythm, finally, and swam with one other girl during the last 800 meters. I exited in 6th place and had the slowest T1. I was frozen and had a tough time taking off my wetsuit and putting on socks. Geez, it was slow. I lost an extra 30 seconds to everyone else’s T1 times here.

The first part of the bike was super fun. It was a fast downhill to get off the top of the reservior, before we began to climb up again. During the first 10 miles I got passed by Desiree and Linsey. Both of whom were so sweet, saying “great job E.” I tried to keep them in sight for as long as I could. But their pace was too fast for me at this point. I felt ok on the bike with my new saddle, but I did realize that I need to move it forward. I kept sliding off the tip and having to move back every couple of minutes. That was annoying, but I knew there would probably be something off since I only rode the saddle a bit before I raced on it. My fault, but I had no choice, my other saddle was unbearable. Overall though, it didn’t hurt close to as bad as my old one so that was good news!! I do have major deep cuts where the seams of my Splish suit are, since that is where all my weight is supposed to be with this saddle. Probably not the best idea to wear a skimpy Splishy with this Adamo on my first real test. Anyway, the rest of the ride was a mixture of flats, rolling, and a couple hills. I must say it was Frustrating to get passed by 7 pro women that I should be able to ride with. But I worked as hard as I could and I thought I would be pleased with my time, however it was a little slower than expected. Coach P thinks it’s because I kept moving around to not fall off the saddle and my postion was off because of this. Oh well, it was still a good effort with all things considered.

The run was amazing! Tons and tons of spectators lining the 2 loop course. There was never a moment where someone was not cheering you on. It was super cool! Many of the pros said that the crowds and noise was bigger and greater than in most IM’s they have done. It was truly amazing!! It was almost as loud as the crowds in Kona! SWEET! I loved it!

I felt ok throughout the run, much better than I did at Oceanside and WF, so all I could say was that it is an improvement and a step in the right direction. That is all I could ask for at this point. I’ll take it for now and know that I can do better and WILL do better each race!

Have a great day!

E