The alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m. last Saturday morning and I responded with an "Ugh", a deep breath and a sigh. I am soooo not a morning person. You would think someone knowing they were getting up early with plans to physically exert themselves would at the very least go to bed early - but not me. What can I say? I'm a rebel. A really dumb rebel. My husband and I drug ourselves out of bed and ate a nice, hearty breakfast before driving three hours to the race. "Are you excited," the more physically fit part of this martial union asked during our ridiculously long drive. Excited? Meh. Nervous? Oh yeah!
Something you should know about my husband, Ben, is that he is competitive. I don't mean a little bit competitive; I mean "use every ounce of energy you have and there better be blood, sweat, and tears in the end so I know you gave it your all" competitive. And me? I'm more of a "finish well, but let's get real - you have children to raise and work on Monday, so don't kill yourself out there" kind of competitive. We make a great team, right?!
I'll pause the play by play for a public service announcement at no extra charge. Port-a-potties suck! If I never use another one again it will be too soon. Gag! What were those people eating before they got there? And for goodness sakes people, don't look down when you're in there! Never, ever look down the forsaken hole! Double gag! Oh how I wished I was equipped with male genitalia during those 30 seconds of pure agony.
Back to the story already in progress. We signed up for heat 3 (the very last) of the race to be on safe side. This was, after all, our first time competing and we didn't want to be the newbies holding everyone up. We were bussed to the starting line of the first leg of the race - the dreaded canoe. We had never canoed together. We own kayaks, but never once had we been in a canoe together. This was the part of the race I was most nervous about. And I had good reason to be. We struggled our way through all three and a half miles of the river course where there was absolutely no current, might I add. About five minutes into the hour long paddling stint, I questioned Ben's decision to put me in the back of the canoe but what can you do at that point? I was totally drenched once we reached the finish line. My suspicion was that at least some of those splashes were intentional, but I have no actual proof. I was just happy no one fell (or was pushed) out of the boat.
For the second part of the race, Ben biked an 8-mile single track course through the woods. He naturally did great but had to get off his bike a few times on the steep uphills due to lesser experienced riders in front of him. I could see the excitement on his face and how he thoroughly enjoyed passing other bikers as he rode into the final transition area to tag me. And then, I was off! I felt pressure to finish this thing well. As soon as I made the first turn and headed into the woods I passed a dude. A dude! Yeah, baby! As I passed him, he told me good job and I was struck by what a kind gesture that was. I decided then to try to be just as encouraging to other racers. I had to be careful as I ran up and down hills, around trees and over roots. I definitely did not want to face plant in front of everyone. That would be embarrassing and it would probably hurt, too. (If that's not incentive - I don't know what is.) I hit one mile at 8:40 and I was stoked considering the nature of the course. I passed a few more runners and it felt great! I told each one of them in some form or fashion they were doing well. I set my sights on passing the final runner and announced to him as I closed in that I was coming up on his left since the course was narrow. To my surprise, he held his hands out and told me I wasn't getting by. I was speechless. My only option was to stay behind him or trip him and I am definitely not that type of competitive, remember? Thankfully, he then laughed and moved over to let me pass but vowed to catch up to me later. We bantered back and forth on the last half mile about how he was or wasn't going to finish ahead of me but in the end I won. I finished the course with an official time of 22:19 (my watch showed 21:52 but I digress). We placed 9th overall and I placed 6th among female runners. Oh yeah!!
An official race photo wasn't captured of me (which I am perfectly okay with) but here is one of Ben. I love the guy cheesing in front of him.:
I think we might have to do this again. You know, after some canoeing practice. :)
