Luray Triathlon and farewell Jeep

Bust.

The hard top hasn't been on the jeep since the day I drove it home back in 2008!
Thanks to Jon and Sweeney for helping me with this task :-)

I packed up the Jeep for one last road trip together and set out for Luray on Friday afternoon.  I arrived at the site and set up the tent with no issues, but then I could not open my cot!  The cot was a requirement thanks to my back issues and knowing that the small camping mattress I have wouldn't have worked.  Sadly, I noticed that one of the bars of the cot was bent and it was indeed broken and unusable.  Uh oh.  The tent was set up on grass so I was hoping that it would be OK, but no such luck...back hurt.  On top of that, the temperatures dipped into the 40's that night and I was woefully unprepared, especially since I was sleeping directly on the ground which made it even colder.  By morning, I was a frozen brick that couldn't move and made the decision to head home that day and forgo the pint glass that I would've gotten for completing both races of the weekend.

Thanks Sweeney for letting me borrow the tent!!

I was lying there trying to decide whether or not I was going to push myself to do the Olympic race anyway when I realized that I'd forgotten to pack a sports bra.  Seriously?!  Who forgets that?!! At that point, it was obvious that running, and probably biking, were out of the question.  Then, I stepped out of the tent and realized it was only 50 degrees.  Everyone knows that three makes a fact, and the chilly air temperature sealed the deal that I was not going to race.  I made the decision to do the swim, and then join my mom in the Team Z tents to cheer on the other racers.

I enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the Team Z tents and took my time putting on my wetsuit and heading down to the lake.  The water initially felt cold, but I quickly adjusted to it.  It was a weird pac-man shaped course and we literally swam the entire perimeter of the lake and then a smaller inside triangle.  The waves were started only 2 minutes apart and I never really got any separation from anyone.  Other than the constant swimming on top of people (and being swum over), I felt pretty strong on the swim.  It was easy to push it a little when I knew I wasn't going to have to get on a bike afterward. 

When I stood up on the beach and ran over what I thought was the timing mat, I stopped my watch at 34:55 and started walking.  But then I crossed over another timing mat, and wasn't sure which one was officially the swim finish, so my time might be a few seconds more than that.  I checked the official results, but they don't have me listed anywhere.  Oh well. I wasn't sure if I should go into transition or not, but there really wasn't any kind of escape route.  There was this weird staircase with the tiniest stairs I've ever seen, and I ran up those and into transition area.  As I stopped and talked to the volunteer about what to do with my timing chip, I found myself wheezing.. and I remember that this happened after the Lake Anna relay when I just did the swim.  I wonder if I pushed myself to the point that I really should've used my inhaler first?  Normally I only have breathing issues on the bike, but it must be that I pace myself different when it's just the swim? Though I didn't have any issues in the Save the Bay swim.  I dunno, maybe next time I'll try using my inhaler before the race. 

I didn't take any people pictures, so I'm doing this throwback style from the camping trip to
Niagra Falls that Allison, Mom and I took the summer before my senior year of high school

I got my wetsuit off and sat down to catch my breath.  Then it was time for a hot shower. Finally, warmth. The air temperature was still super cold and I was more than relieved that I was not jumping on a bike to face the wind. That and the fact that I had been super nervous about the hilly bike course and was happy I didn't have to face that either. Next year.  After I was warm and dry, I made my way over to the Team Z tents for lunch, beverages and to spend time with my mom, cheering on the other racers.  I am so consistently at the end of the pack that it's always a nice change when I am able to watch and cheer others along.  One nice surprise was seeing Allison Medina, one of my best friends growing up who had just driven down to watch some friends and was doing the sprint race on Sunday.  Part of me wished I was staying and could race with her, but I knew it was best for me to head home.

One last drive on the open roads in the Jeep

It shouldn't be too shocking that I ended up with a bad cold for the rest of the weekend.  Luckily, since I was supposed to be at Luray, I didn't have any other plans and was able to spend a day and a half on the couch in my sweats with NyQuil and ice cream.  The only thing I had to do was drive out to Carmax to say goodbye to the Jeep. Time for the next vehicle chapter...