Blog

                From the beginning, my first XTERRA was interesting.  You may remember a week or so ago when the weather channel was talking about crazy storms hitting the south… yeah.  We drove through that.  And previewed part of the mountain bike course in that downpour on Friday after we arrived in Arkadelphia.  And yes, that is a real place; I now have the t-shirt to prove it!  Long story short, what all this rain meant was that the water level in the lake became high enough to touch a high voltage cable that made the transition area dangerous.  After 14 hours of driving, the last thing I wanted was to get that text message that said the transition area had been shut down.  Luckily, the race director was determined that this race move forward.  Or not luckily.  Depends on how you look at it!  The race director moved transition area overnight, but this meant all new courses with almost no time to check them out.

                My racing companions, my husband Todd Kennedy, former pro-triathlete Abby Johnson and sports medicine fellow Kyle Snell and I came up with some key quotes from the weekend that described the trip perfectly.  Here is my favorite from race morning:

Athlete: How far is the run?

Race Director: We have no idea. 

                That’s an exact quote.  Well, no use in waiting, lets dig into this race!  Heading into the swim, I tried really hard to ignore something Kyle’s half-brother had let us know… which is that Arkansas is home to EIGHT different poisonous snakes, including the cotton mouth.  The cotton mouth is a BIG black snake that lives in the WATER.  They become more active after the rain.  Oh boy.  The horn went off and, despite my best efforts; I could not keep near Abby.  I was bumped and jostled and elbows were flying.  It seemed to last forever, but suddenly it was over and I broke through into clean water.  And I was alone.  Darn, no one to draft off!  I focused on my turnover and added little surges to buoys.  I know I have a tendency to let my effort slip as I race and I was determined to have a fast swim and I did!  I had the 2^nd fastest swim second only to Abby.  Well, that was a good start!  But it went downhill from there.

                I transitioned much slower than I normally would because I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget anything.  Glasses, helmet, shoes, gloves, hydration pack.  Okay, go!  As I sped along the pavement to the trailhead, I figured I might as well start my hydrating now!  I pulled on the straw and… nothing.  I sucked harder and harder (try not to laugh, I was starting to panic at this point!), but still nothing.  I yanked on the straw, trying to straighten it, but still nothing.  I stopped off to the side before heading on to the trail, knowing I needed to have access to my hydration.  I frantically pulled at my backpack and straw, but still nothing.  It was straight but wasn’t working and I didn’t know why!  Shortly, a race official came over and asked if I wanted help.  I desperately said yes and tried to frantically explain what was happening.  It still wasn’t working so he shouted for me to go and that he would meet me at the end of that trail loop.  I took off, but had to stop and yank my cadence meter out of my wheel where it had decided to fall over, and then FINALLY I hit the trail.  I tried to make up time without making stupid mistakes.  This was no simple single track trail.  It was technical with sharp, pointy rocks EVERYWHERE.  I finished the loop and, thankfully, there was the guy with my working hydration pack!  I thanked him breathlessly and back to the trail. 

                That first loop had been the easy one.  After that, the elevation changes, the rocks and the mud began to tire me.  Originally, the bike was supposed to be 19.5 miles, but with the addition from the new transition and a connecting trail, it was now 25 miles.  That’s a LONG mountain bike!  I made sure to finish my drink mix before getting to the end of the bike, but I knew it would be a tough run.  I had already been going for over 2:30 with a run of an unknown length to come.  I ran into transition, stripped off my gloves, switched my shoes and glasses, and threw down my helmet.  I paused for a second and saw my water bottle sitting there.  I remembered the race director suggesting athletes bring water on the course because the aide stations were much farther apart than initially intended.  For the first time in my triathlon career, I grabbed my water bottle and took off.  I was so glad I had.

                Even before I hit the trails, the run was tough.  As I approached the trails and the 3 hour mark, I knew I was in trouble.  I was dehydrated despite my best efforts and my legs felt heavy from the hills, which went steeply up and down before getting to the trailhead for the run.  About 2 miles into the run, the tightness in my hamstrings suddenly spiked and I found myself on the ground.  How had I gotten there?  I stood up and immediately my hamstrings contracted.  I tried to take a step and my hamstrings seized again.  I began to panic, wondering if I would even finish this race.  I paused, took a drink from my water bottle, stretched my hamstrings and slowly began to run.  Step, step, step and I was still moving.  Okay, I can do this.  My muscles felt on the verge of cramping, but I managed to keep moving. 

                But I wouldn’t stay moving for long.  My hamstrings and quads seized 3 more times, sending me to the ground each time.  I didn’t even notice the blood running down my shins, I just focused on finishing.  Mile after mile after mile I ran through the woods.  I saw a few racers out there, some men passing me and some men that I passed.  I kept trudging on, walking when the ascents or descents were too steep and I worried my legs would cramp.  Finish, just finish.  At one point I heard Kyle and Abby cheering me as they ran past, but I had to focus on keeping my legs from cramping.  I stopped at each of the few and far between aide stations and filled up my water bottle with Gatorade and water, but I knew it was too late for my body to be able to use the electrolytes in the very sugary Gatorade.  There were times when my muscles were cramp so badly I wanted to stop and cry, but it wasn’t hard to convince myself that I would only find help at the finish line!

                Eventually I came out of the trail and on to the pavement.  I knew I still had over a mile and my watch had already lapped for 7 miles.  Would this run ever end?  The ups and downs of the pavement felt even steeper now.  I had to stop a few times and squat down, trying to loosen the cramping in my quads, but at this point the cramps were nonstop.  It felt better to keep running, but running hurt so badly I wanted to stop.  But with the finish line nearing, I didn’t want to give up now.  Eventually the finish line came into sight!  I crossed, so happy I had survived a run that ended up being 9 miles!  But the cramps, which had been constant for the past mile, wouldn’t let me stay upright anymore.  I dropped to the pavement, begging my legs to stop cramping!  I was lying on the pavement in a position like I was at the bottom of a push up because my legs wouldn’t stop.  I don’t know the name of the man who helped me, but I hated and loved him at the same time as he massaged my legs so they could relax.  After my legs finally stopped, my unknown helper brought me bananas and pickles.  Yeah, it sounds super gross, but believe me, when you’re in THAT place, pickles are as delicious as candy! 

                Turns out, my perseverance had paid off!  The woman from my age group who had passed me had not been able to finish in the tough conditions.  This put me first in my age group!  It was just nuts and I couldn’t believe it.  Of course we had to stay for the awards!  Abby had also won her age group and finished 4^th overall while I finished 5^th overall.  Todd finished 3^rd in his age group and Kyle had a great race in a very competitive age group.  Todd and I had been planning to assess our interest in and skill at XTERRA based on this race, but considering what had happened to the distances, we decided we wouldn’t make any judgments from this race!  We have another XTERRA in our plans, so maybe we will wait for that one.  Either way, this was an unforgettable way to start of the 2016 season!  And I have to give a HUGE shout out to Village Bike & Fitness in Grand Rapids for the COOLEST uniform ever!  After getting my Liv Lust 2, I've become completely obsessed with Liv gear and I LOVE this uniform!  Can't wait to wear it in more races... and I'm a little relieved to be on the road for my next race...