One of Those Days. . .

. . . where maybe I should have just stayed in bed.

For starters, I was so wound up last night with everything I had to do that I Could. Not. Get. To. Sleep. I finally drifted off around 3:00 am, but my alarm went off at 5:00.

My husband wasn't yet home as he was still working at the food cart. Honestly, I was so tired and unmotivated that I was kind of hoping he'd get home too late for me to leave by 6:00, like I needed to in order to arrive at my triathlon on time.

He got home at 5:40, encouraged me to go when I shared my concerns, and I scrambled around to get everything ready and took off.

This event was held at a (relatively local) park. The event info said to be at the park by 7:15 and then they would be shutting the park gates. I was probably lucky I didn't get pulled over for speeding the whole way there, and was set to arrive on time. However, the last turnoff before the park had a line stretching about 10 cars back. I could see that the street the park is off of was also bumper-to-bumper cars waiting.

It took me at least 30 minutes to get to the park gate. Although they let us (me and everyone else waiting in line) in, this meant my setup preparation time was significantly limited.

Somehow I got everything ready and down to the swim start just in time. Our heat began and...I couldn't blow air out through my nose while swimming. This struck me as really odd as I've been fine in the pool and the only time I had problems was in the salt water at Catalina.

So apparently I AM a headcase and have mental issues with putting my face in the water when I'm in open water.

I tried a few more times and I just couldn't fix it. So I started swimming with my face out of the water. For those of you that haven't tried it, it's much more work, just so you know. Immediately feeling exhausted, I flipped over to my back and did backstroke.

Which I have not trained with.

At all.

I flipped over about every 20 strokes to see where I was and check the course. Despite this, I ended up so far off course that the lifeguards yelled at me--twice.

I was passed, and passed, and passed. This was frustrating because although I'm not a fast swimmer, the swim is usually the best part of a triathlon for me as I typically finish in the middle of the pack (as opposed to the end of the pack in the other events).

I staggered out of the water, struggled to unzip the wetsuit, and made it to the transition area, which was a bit of a distance away.

While I was putting on my bike shoes, I somehow managed to slice open my thumb which started bleeding quite badly. Finally all set, I grabbed my bike and started the journey out of transition.

One tiny little detail I've forgotten to mention. The park was flooded due to the late spring and heavier than usual amounts of rain. The area that was normally set up as the transition area was six feet underwater, so it had to be set up elsewhere. This meant that there was close to a quarter mile between the transition area and the road where we could mount our bikes.

Also, my bike shoes (which are good on the bike) really hurt to walk in.

I finally get on the bike and a few pedal revolutions in, my ride is feeling rather rough. I glance at the front tire, which seems low, but not concerning, so I keep going. Several bumps later I look again. It's gone from low to ultraflat. I'm only about 50 yards into the 12 mile bike.

I have no spare back at transition, so I'm hosed.

I turn around and walk the bike back towards transition. I figure I'm tired from the lack of sleep, I have a ton of stuff to do at home before guests come over, and this is just going to allow me a little time to get things done.

All the same, I'm annoyed that I spent $85 on a race registration, had a lousy swim, and now won't even finish.

When some random stranger sees me walking my bike, he asks if I have a flat, do I need a tube, and would I like him to help me change the tire? I'm so thrilled and relieved and grateful, I dang near propose to him in thanks. He completely changes the tire for me, and fairly quickly.

I hop back on the bike and take off on the course. I'm worried a bit about pushing myself too hard as I have not had enough training time on the bike, so I'm trying to find a balance between pushing myself and going for a sightseeing ride.

Like my last triathlon, this bike portion is 12 miles and pretty flat. I manage to maintain a 14-15 mph pace outward and 16-17 mph pace coming back. I'm feeling decent about it and wondering how the times will compare--the last tri where I had the dysfunctional rear derailleur and this one where I had to change a flat.

I get off the bike and the origins of my adductors and hamstrings are so sore that I'm having problems walking. I'm hoping it will wear off by time I get out of transition.

It doesn't. My thumb starts bleeding again as it breaks open while I'm changing shoes.

I waddle out to the course and intermittently try to run. My body is not cooperating. Something about how those sore muscles are pulling on my back is too much to deal with and despite not having had pain medication in about five months, I'm wishing for it at the moment.

Waddle waddle waddle jog for a bit, waddle waddle waddle. I do at least try to keep my walk at a semi-fast pace, but have to concentrate on it.

The run course (which I am walking) is also an out and back course. On the way back, I realize that I only see a handful of people (and by handful I do mean able to count on one hand) still on the course. I may well be one of the last, if not the last to cross the finish line. Unless any of them started in a wave before me, I will also be dead last in the event.

*sigh*

I finish though, get everything packed up, collect my "I finished" medal, and go home.

Where I immediately have to finish cleaning as we're expecting about 20 guests. I take a quick stock of the house, which I have really been working on cleaning methodically room by room, but it took so much longer than expected that there is no longer time for cleaning.

I must bulldoze.

Grabbing empty laundry baskets, I start piling things in and hauling the baskets out to our garage, madly surface cleaning as I go. I'm still pulling the chair slipcovers back on when my dad arrives and vacuuming as my aunt arrives.

I may give my husband a hard time about being on Moroccan time, but when it comes to stuff like this, I'm just as bad. To top it off, I'm a sleepless, tired from the triathlon, stressed out grouch.

The perfect combination for a party hostess.

Amazingly, the party goes pretty well. I'm slightly annoyed that the kids play room (I converted the massage room, set up a tent and left out art supplies) has glitter glue all stuck to the floor, but it's water-soluble and it could have been other things in the house if I hadn't set that up for them, it would probably be far worse.

One of the moms at the party asks if I'd like to do a girl's night and go see a movie. Although I'm tempted, I realize I will probably fall asleep in the middle of it and decide I'll take a raincheck.

Once everyone is gone, I decide to check the race results.

Bad news: as suspected, I am DEAD last. By 10 minutes. Also, it's my slowest triathlon time yet, five minutes slower than Catalina (which was 3 miles less on the bike) and six minutes slower than my April event (which had a shorter swim).

Here's the times:
Swim: 28:14
Transition 1: 7:25
Bike: 56:50
Transition 2: 4:41
5K Run: 52:13
Overall: 2:29:24

So more bad news is that the swim was 8:23 slower than Catalina for the same distance, my transition 1 was 1:01 slower, my Transition 2 was 0:49 slower, and my overall was 5:03 slower than Catalina.

But here's the good news:
Both transitions were significantly longer distances between events, so I am not worried about the additional time on them.
The run was faster by 2:31 even though I still had to walk.
With three miles extra on the bike distance and all the crazy things that happened (having to do back stroke, flat tire, etc), I was only five minutes extra compared to Catalina, so not too bad
I did all this on only two hours of sleep.
BEST of all, even with the flat tire changing time, I beat my Catalina bike time by nearly three minutes even though the course was 3 miles longer, and if I compare it to the same length, similar course, I beat my April time by 19:10, which is HUGE.

Granted, the new bike that fits properly and has a functional rear derailleur probably had a lot to do with the bike time, but I had a flat and I still did really well in comparison.

So not too bad of a day after all.

Although I certainly hope there are less "challenges" at my next one as I would consider my character built sufficiently enough on this event.