06/12/2023
Race Report
We got in on Saturday morning to check the bike in and get our wrist bands. We caught up with Cheyenne and friends and John got to practice his signing skills with them. Then John left and I got to spend the rest of the day with Cheyenne and her crew. Good thing I knew sign language. Two of the athletes were deaf and one was deafblind. We walked the swim exit and drove the bike course so we knew what was happening on sunday. Then we all went out to dinner. It was interesting watching the deaf and deafblind athletes ordering their food. When I asked how they do it they just said I point to the menu or I type what I want on my phone. It made sense and I mentally facepalmed myself. Then my parents came and we got ready for bed.
Morning of
John Kathy and I drove down to the race and lost John a few times due to him finding people he knew and taking pictures. Good thing Kathy was there. I got my stuff all ready beside Clifford and made sure everything was ready to go. I wasn’t as nervous about this race as I was for Placid. Cheyenne and her athlete Kathy were right next to me getting ready so I had some friends to chat with while John was MIA once again. Then we all took one last bathroom break and made our way down the 1.5 mile swim transition shoot.
Swim
We got there a little late so I didn’t get the chance to splash around in the water and get used to the temperature. It was just, there goes the PC athletes! And here comes everyone else. Once I hit the water the breath was knocked right out of me. I couldn’t breathe for a second due to the water being so cold. I couldn’t even put my face down into the water. John stood there with me for a while until I caught my breath. Cheyenne and Kathy just passed us, so I put on my goggles and the competitive side came out. I was still cold, but I was warm enough to move. The river helped a lot with our times, but it didn’t help John and I with trying to stick together. He was pulling me to the left for most of the swim and I kept going right. One person swam right between us and pulled on the teather. I think John had some words for them, but I wasn’t really listening to that. The river also tricked me a lot of the time because it would go from sunny ground to dark abyss, so I couldn’t really tell when we were ending.
Finally we made it out of the water. We had some friends at the water to help us with these very large steps leading out of the water. Kathy had our shoes at the ready and we made our way back to transition on the 0.25 mile shoot.
Bike
When we got there Cheyenne and Kathy were already gone. We’ll get them on the bike. We got ready and I grabbed onto Clifford and we ran out. From transition to the mount line was another 0.25 miles and both John and I ruined our bike shoes running through that. John’s left shoe kept coming out of his clips so up hills were a little tricky. Good thing he has a motor on the back. Throughout the bike we got a lot of interesting comments. One of them being, “is that your wife?” Every time we passed a group they would let us know that Cheyenne and Kathy weren’t that far ahead of us. We’re coming for you now Kathy and Cheyenne. We finish the bike and start moving through transition when we see Kathy and Cheyenne. We race past them and give a little wave.
Run
We start putting our run stuff on and Cheyenne and Kathy come in and do the same. I quickly sign to Cheyenne about things that hurt, leaving John clueless. We dash out and soon we’re on the move. The run is a two loop course, not my favorite, but I did it anyways. We get through the first loop and I’m hitting a lot of my marks, not so much on the timing end, but form and food and drink wise I’m feeling pretty good. That was until round two. Not far into lap two I hit a wall and it feels like I can’t breathe. I’m not in pain anywhere, I’m not hungry, I’ve been drinking enough, I’m not hot, I just felt my throat closing. To the point where I couldn’t talk to john to tell him what was happening. All I could do was pant and point at my throat. After a few moments of walking we got going again. Not far behind us though, was Kathy and Cheyenne, but we soon lose sight of them as we move through the second loop. The day was hot enough to get ice at every station and by the time we hit the half mile marker between stations it was all gone. We heard the announcer on the course say left for lap two and right for finish. Right I was headed. My GIT Guide in training Bryan was along the run cheering us on. “Megan there is somehow going to be ice cream at the finish if you keep going!” Sounds good to me. We get to the finish and John has us raise our hands over our heads as we cross the finish line.
Post
A place to sit and to be released from the tether is all that I want at the moment. I finally get a chair and the medical people come over. Apparently I looked like I was either going to hurl or faint after I crossed the line. I did cry when it was over, and I still can’t tell you why. We got inside and I froze my butt off being in the AC and wet from all the ice, but it was nice to finally get some food.
I came in second for the PC athletes and first for PC female. I didn’t get my goal time, but I always have a goal of finishing and that I did.
All pictures and videos can be found on John’s page, I just write the really long stories. This video is the best way I could describe yesterday’s race.
