I was trying to find a decent topic to describe my race on Saturday, I think that pretty much nails it. I chose Angola In. (Pokagon Triathlon) as my shot at qualifying for Nationals because it was early season and I hadnt been home to Michigan to see my peeps in a few months so I was able to knock off both in the same weekend. I first had to get out of work on Friday. Instead of leaving at 3 and driving the four drive plus the loss of a time zone I started driving at six thirty! I finally got into bed a little after one and spent most of the night listening to Angola get shalacked with rain and high winds.

Morning: I woke up at 5:45 (4:45 my time) and got dressed and headed out the door. I arrived at the race site and was able to grab the first spot on the first rack closest to the bike in/out (bonus!) Normal routine, eat-set up-stretch-meditate-yack with people. Heading down to the water...

Swim (1500m): At a delightful 61.5 degrees I couldnt wait to get into the water =I Gun goes off and after the initial shock I was able to get into a great rythem and pulled out of the water in 23 minutes. T1 was a blur, usually is, off to the bike...

Bike (24.9mi): Kinda cold, nice wind and some rain made it wonderful. Everything was good for about a 1/2 mile then my world started falling apart. The course was VERY hilly duriing the first and last 5-6 miles and rolling for most of the middle 15 miles. My world fell apart when I realized that anythiing over 23mph on a decent and my whole front end of my bike would shimmy to the point of almost losing control. Stopped, checked everything and nothing seemed outta place but couldnt decend to save my life. So I cant go fast down hill which means that on every uphill Im starting my momentum from scratch. I was feeling really good and on the rollers and flats I was sustaining 22-24mph but those hills killed my time and my legs. I finished the bike 10 minutes off pace for a 40k. Thanks to the nasty tore up roads I got my first bike penalty for riding on the left, no way Im going over pot holes, big puddles and gravel! T2, quicker then T1.

Run (10K trail, ALLL HILLS!): With the 3+ inches of rain on Friday night it made the trails at Pokagon a flooded, nasty, muddy mess. I was happy that at the turn around I was sitting about 22 minutes and then the affects of mashing the pedals for an hour+ started to take effect. At about the 3.5 mile mark my legs just shut down, there was no reviving this situation, not if the world depended on it. I made it through the finish line (with a 50+ minute 10k) shaking my head (yes I was disgusted at my performance, I know I know I didnt have control of all the elements today) and wanted to hide haha.

Post Race: Props to the cooks and volunteers who made up the pancakes and fruit for all of us, it was amazing and tasted sooo good after a hard morning. Im not sure how I qualified for nationals at this point but that was my only goal for the day. Im not happy with my performance at all, 2nd AG and 38OA, but I accomplished my goal and can use it as a learning experience (never to race there again!)