What a weekend IM Chattanooga was. Let’s just skip to the end and note that I did not finish the race.. BUT that’s okay. More explanation to follow…

This was the biggest weekend for the year between Atlanta Tri Club and Energy Lab, and really for all of Atlanta. It really is a bummer that they apparently will remain on the same day, as it will be very hard to choose where to spectate next year. I may be trying to start out in Augusta, race, and then jump in the car and drive to Chattanooga. Flying would be nice though.. maybe there’s a regional flight from Augusta to Chattanooga? 🙂

Anyways, back to the beginning. I was greatly looking forward to this weekend, but not really because of me racing personally. I had a lot of folks I had been coaching racing and there were nearly 90 members of Atlanta Tri Club racing Chatt alone, not to mention the ~20 at Augusta.

I was in better shape than I had been all year, but I wasn’t super confident.  In the same vein that is all my racing in 2014 it has been one step forward and two steps back. Lately though I had been actually able to hit my numbers on my workouts assigned by Coach Brain at Accelerate 3.  I also felt really healthy though thanks to some help from friends…in particular Dr Glass at Georgia Sports Chiropratic, and my crack massage therapist Collette at George Sports Massage.

We had an awesome and huge pre-race dinner. John had organized a dinner for 150 and we also gave out recognition. It was an awesome time. Checked off the to-dos and felt as ready as I would be.

Swim

The swim was everything that everyone who dislikes swimming hoped it would be. A fast current and borderline temp kept the times quick and bunched everyone together. I probably started in the last 50 people yet was still in the water within 15′ or so. 51 minutes later I was out and randomly John popped out right behind me. This has happened to us several times, oddly enough. I didn’t see him at all during the swim but ended coming out 5″ apart.

Had a fast transition and was feeling great. Got out on the bike and was moving quickly through the crowded course. I started to get the feeling that today might just be alright. Sailed through the first thirty under goal watts and above goal pace. Saw an ATC kit in the distance and came up next to Dane. We chatted for a second and I think I said something like ” I’m feeling great” or some sort of famous last words.

Right after that I felt a heavy bounce and my back tire was completely flat. I pulled over and got to work quickly. I found the source of the problem.  A huge road colored nail, aka a carpet tack that had made a small gash. Went through the motions and the tube wouldn’t hold air. I think it was just old because it was slowly leaking around the valve stem.

At this point, it had been about five minutes and I started thinking I am out of the race so no huge reason to hurry. Went through intermittent periods of asking for a tube/asking people to alert the mechanic. I didn’t want to mess up anyone else’s race and I also didn’t think technically I was supposed to receive aid from another competitor.  After some more time passed I realized what does it matter if someone gives me aid, I’m not racing for anything so they can disqualify me if they want. I have never gone that long truly in an IM without seeing some sort of mechanical support. I think they were just overwhelmed with the number of flats and mechanicals.

Eventually I saw Tony and he was kind enough to give me another tube. Problem with that one, too. Twenty more minutes go by and I see James coming back the other way. I hadn’t even seen him pass but he was kind enough to get down the road pull over and ride all the way back to help. He also supplied a tube. The problem with this one was the valve stem was too long. I go back to waiting for aid. It must have been an hour and a half.  I went back and forth from periods of frustration to complacence and back again.

The mechanic was helpful and ended up taping over the rim where the nail had imbedded, then we used a fourth tube which held. Back on the road again. I was pretty far back but there were still a lot of people around. I rode about thirty more miles and felt that something else wasn’t right. It was way too hard and I wasn’t going fast or hard.

Back on the side of the road waiting for the mechanic again. My wheel was seated wrong and rubbing against one side of the brake. I have to say at the tail end of the race people were much more helpful and several stopped to see if I was okay. By this time I just took a comfy seat in the ditch and enjoyed the Chattanooga countryside. A long time later the mechanic came back through and ended up taking things apart and got me back on the road.. finally.

By this time it was after 2 in the afternoon and most people who were going to make the cutoff were a ways past where I was stopped. I rode for a little longer and started thinking about the fact that many of the people I wanted to see would be running and how I wanted to cheer them on. Then I started thinking about all the hard work I’d put in and how this is how I was “spending” my fitness and thinking about the possibility of saving it to spend elsewhere.

It’s funny  because I went through the same thing at Roth but came to a different conclusion. At Roth, I decided it was worth it to spend my fitness on the race, even if I had to walk because of my injury. In Chattanooga, I wasn’t willing to spend it on another limp to the finish type situation, I wanted to actually race and this was my last shot of the year in that there wasn’t enough time to complete, recovery, and race again.

When I hit the next aid station I let them know I wanted to catch a ride in. I rode in with a nice volunteer and was at the tent by midway through the run!  People were very kind to me, which I greatly appreciated. They gave me things to wear (I only had my bike outfit since transition wasn’t open, so this is how I ended up). Special thanks to Matt and Kelley for feeding me, taking care of my bike (Podium Multisports always to the rescue.. even at the race!) and even lending me shoes. Also,  Lappis who are always sherpas extraordinaire- Todd for immediately mixing me a beverage and Lauren raiding her car for clothes!

I honestly wasn’t that upset though because I felt like I made the right decision. I weighed the pros and cons and realized the pros outweighed the cons… mainly because the DNF afforded me to take my training to IM Florida, where I’ll be racing next weekend! With the decision out of the way, I was able to enjoy watching teammates, athletes, and strangers all run it in. What a banner day. Honestly we had so many great performances, I don’t even know where to start. I was very proud of everyone, and I have to say that spectating in some respects trumps racing!

So, in the end, I’m glad I got to spectate. I didn’t have to miss these great performances….

So many #elab athletes racing, and I got to see them all after all!

 Meanwhile in Augusta…