Race morning, I woke up and my first thought was: Why am I doing this? First time that's ever gone through my head on race morning. Was worried about that.
Got there super early, and had more than enough time to set up transition, relax with Chris and get my wetsuit on. Still felt less focused, and still less nervous. Didn't have my usual pre-race jitters - in fact, was smiling and happy. It actually felt great.
Queued up for the new, rolling, self-seeded swim start. Had been debating the 34:00-36:00 corral versus the 37:00-38:00 corral … Eagleman was 34+ but this was at mile high, which I figured was a 10% hit to my swim time. Started at the front of the slower one, but at the last minute ducked under the rope so I could draft off the faster swimmers.
SWIM - 34:12
Rolled into the water and started swimming … first 50 meters or so worked to get my stroke rate and breathing in a comfortable rhythm, and was feeling great. There were 4 hot air balloons in the air on the right, and got to see them every time I breathed on that side, it was a real treat. Felt like I was swimming with comfort and control, but was passing people and the bouys were coming and going quicker than I'd ever experienced. Knew I was having a good swim.That great feeling continued around the first turn, and the second turn. Mostly I was reminding myself to hold back. And I was enjoying the swim! Beautiful, crystal clear day in a gorgeous setting. Swim didn't feel like it was taking forever. I was feeling great.
Got a little off-track mid-way down the 3rd leg, which I seem to do when I lose focus on the way home. Got corrected pretty quickly though and knocked out the rest of the swim with ease.
T1 - 4:32
Found my rack (filled with bikes still) and started drying off to get moving on the bike. Had to switch out my knee covering - I had absolutely shredded my knee 8 days prior when I tripped on the sidewalk during my final long run - because the water had compromised the adhesive, then threw on my stuff and headed out. Annoyed when I glanced at my watch and realized my transition was slower than I'd have liked.BIKE - 2:47:47
First 5 miles - a slow, gradual 5 mile climb - felt easy and went by in the blink of an eye. Had no idea what to make of it. Second 5 miles, and 3rd, and 4th, all went by equally easily and quickly. Had never experienced time flying by like that in the early miles of the bike. Amazing. Knew I was feeling good but had no idea what my pace/time was.
After mile 20 I realized I could restart my Garmin and hit "lap" to start the bike and mile 25. So at least I'd be able to track the final 31 and would also have my mile counter for the run. Set that up.
Continued feeling good for the rest of the ride. 5 mile splits were consistently coming in sub-15:00 so knew I was cruising. The series of hills that had broken my spirit on the pre-ride were a lot more manageable - I think knowing from the pre-ride where the end was helped a lot. I did start mile-watching a bit, and finally started feeling a little fatigue in the last 5 miles. In hindsight, wonder if I would've done better to leave the Garmin off altogether.
Especially given that I was starting to feel it in my legs a bit, I tried to back off the last 8-9. Think I did a bit, but not a lot. Still felt good coming into T2, not even feeling that "I really need to get off my bike" urgency. Saw that my 31 mile time was a little over 1:30 - which meant I was definitely sub-3:00 for 56. Had no idea how much below, but knew I was good.
T2 - 3:43
Jogged into T2 and hit the port-o-potty. Figured better that than be miserable on the run. And since I knew my swim and bike were strong, and I didn't really have a time goal other than not blowing up (which I figured meant I'd be sub-6:15 for sure) I decided not to sweat the extra minute or so. Swapped out gear and headed out.RUN - 2:07:46
Started out and could tell I didn't feel fresh. Knew I had two climbs up to mile 3, and that the rest of the loop would be ok. Settled into what felt like a slow run and hoped for the best. Knew I'd walk all the aid stations for fluids and ice.First climb (the shorter of the two) was ok. Second was long, had to slow down to a trudge, and was absolutely toast by the top. Kept going but it was tough. After about a half mile started to feel a lot better. Told myself I'd be fine, had lots of recovery time before I had to do that again. But the back half of the loop felt long, and by the time I was approaching transition to start loop 2 I was getting in my head, feeling fatigued and wondering how I was going to do that again.
Felt great starting the back half of the run, but that didn't last long. Had to constantly fight to keep running, and not break down to the dreaded start and stop. Walked anything that even smelled like a hill, and all the aid stations, but forced myself to keep going on the flats. It hurt, it was hard, it was long, and it was hot (I think it was 90 and all sun, but with the ice in my hat I didn't consciously notice it).
I was thinking, though, on the second loop, how when I'd picked this race back in the fall I had no idea that it would have such significance. I was looking at the Res, and the mountains, and soaking in the beauty of the race.
Finally got off the trail and on pavement - turns out the trail makes you feel extra sluggish, and by the end I really notice the lack of traction and how much harder I had to work. When I could see the finish area I felt huge relief. Just happy it was going to be over. Think I picked it up a little into the finish, but didn't have much for a big kick. So happy to finally be done. Clock time was 5:59. Relief.
TOTAL TIME - 5:37:48
I finished and was a little delirious (as usual). Found everyone as I exited the chute, and Chris said he thought I was sub-5:35. I told him there was absolutely no way he was correct. I knew I was sub-6, but didn't necessarily think I'd topped Williamsburg.I was really just so happy to be done, so pleased that I fought through the run, and thrilled to be sub-6 for the second time this season. Felt legit.
After we'd found a seat in the shade, Chris tried to look up my results on his phone but they weren't there. I was talking to another finisher sitting at the table, and said that I had no idea what my time was. I said I thought the clock was the age group start, but he said it was the pro's. Which was my first inkling that maybe I'd finished faster than I realized. Could I actually have hit 5:45?
The guy looked up my time on his phone. Alison? From Vienna? 5:37. I nearly fell of my seat. Had to look at his phone to be sure. In total disbelief. If the kids weren't there I would've been dropping f-bombs left and right.
I'm still in disbelief. 5:37. Incredibly legit time. Doesn't feel like it could possibly be true. Must've been something funky about the course (bike course, really) that led to wicked fast times. Could it be the altitude? Doesn't make sense.
But seems like it was not across the board, necessarily. I was 19th in my age group out of 100, versus 54th out of 100+ at Eagleman. Average time for the field at both races was 5:58. So maybe just my day. Something magical about that day. Can't imagine I could possibly repeat it.