CDA 70.3

Overlooking Lake Coeur D'alene 

CDA 70.3 was meant to be my "A-race" for the season. I picked this race because 1) I had unfinished business when a bee stung me 2 years ago and I was unable to finish the race and 2) it paired up perfectly with a vacation to Portland after to visit Jacobs family. I joked that "all I had to do was finish" in order to have a "better" day then last time, but boy did I underestimate that finish line and what my body had lined up for me that day.

Always Beautiful

Long story short, I showed up flat and had absolutely nothing, resulting in a "bad" day. But-- I did find my finish line, so in a way my original goal was completed. It took me a couple days to wrap my head around this one. So many times as athletes when your pour your heart into something you can become very depressed, deflated, and frustrated when you have a bad day at the races, or even just a bad workout. Dont get me wrong, I was certainly upset my body didnt show up, but I did finish, and I did literally give everything I had on that day, even if I sucked!

The finish line pic that literally says it all. Woof.

We can ask questions and poke around as to why this happened, but sometimes there really is no explanation. Last year, Alicia Kaye raced Challenge Roth and pulled out because she wrote in her blog that she had extreme jetlag and could not perform. I read this and thought this was wild. I dont generally have trouble sleeping before races, but for some reason the 3 days leading into the race I kept waking up at 2 am and not getting my normal 8-9 hrs. I am afraid to believe I suffered a bout of the jetlag, but I suppose it could have happened. I was feeling ready both physically and mentally leading into the race, so sometimes its just a shellshock to show up rock bottom.

Truly how I felt. ha!

I believe I am SUPER fit and my day was not a reflection of who I am as a person or as an athlete. I get redemption in 2 weeks at Musselman so all I can do is sleep, recover, and come back stronger the next time!

On the positive side of things, I got a great trip with my Future Mother in Law who luckily took on sherpa duties for me over the weekend and allowed for the trip to happen. I got to meet up with the great Quintana Roo gang for breakfast. I had a relatively decent swim in my Zone 3 wetsuit with the main chase pack (although from the get-go I questioned how hard this felt)...I persevered another 56 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run, and though not as fast as I would like it, still gained some fitness and alot of experience (which was also another goal from the year-- race 70.3s, good or bad, and learn how to race them)! I believe it is most of the time that the bad days truly resonate in you as an athlete and make you rise up.

Onward!

Sherpa Duties. 

Good day or bad day, this town is still amazing!