lonestar

We arrived on Friday after what seemed to be a fairly easy drive.
Weather was cool and not too bad, but after living in Texas for a bit you know this stuff can change fast. We had a house where 6 of us were all staying; it was the first time for 12 people who I had trained. Last year I coached 20 people for TNT for this same race, so I had some experience in helping people get here and doing well.
This time I had a chance to be here for all the emotional breakdowns, my job was simple, just pick up the pieces and make sure everybody had confidence when the gun goes off. I was a little nervous but decided not to show any fear. Linda asked if I was and before I could answer she said of course you’re not, this is what you do, I thought you are right.
Everyone was checking the weather daily, trying to figure out what it would be like. The race course had changed due to the storm the year before; the bike had a weird extra loop thrown in and the run was a 4 loop run.
We found out at the race meeting that we could drop off our bikes on Saturday, that put us into a slight crunch, heather was not very good at drinking and biking, so I grabbed a never reach to put on her bike so she could drink easier. So we got the bikes ready and dropped them off.
We all woke up at 0400 to leave for the race at 0600. We arrived in plenty of time to finish setting up. This is just a training race and I was here for my people, of all things to forget, I forgot my socks!
Oh well I can deal with it, everyone has shown up ready to go. . My wave is one of the first of our group and it is set to start at 8:27 but they are running behind. We have all put on our wetsuits and now we have found out that it is going to be a little longer. As we wait all suited up, I noticed a concerned look on Eugene’s face, I knew this wasn’t good but I was thinking all about damage control. We knew the winds were going to shift and then later they were going to get crazy strong, but who knows when? It is now 74 degrees with humidity at 100%, this is not good! It is almost 9 and we haven’t started yet. The concern on Eugene’s face starts to get to me.
But it is all good! We finally start. The swim is easy and not crowed, but salt water sucks! My neck starts to chafe but I am almost done so who cares. As I start the final stretch, I look over and see Jackie right next to me. We come out of the water together and talk along the way, I get to my bike and Ingrid comes in, so I get ready to go and then decide to wait a little to see who else, (heather) comes in. Finally I take off, the first water stop seems pretty far away but the wind isn’t bad and I am well over 19mph in my hr zone. I get around the first turn around and start to see people, I figure when I start my second loop I will see heather, but not quite she is there just after I am headed back, I pulled up next to her and talked to her for a little bit, and then I take off. I grabbed a bottle at the next stop put it into my cage and it bounced out, should have stopped but that would make too much sense! I get a few more miles out and I see Eugene on the side of the road just coming back in. I said are you ok? He said I am cramping bad. As soon as I get by my right quad locks up, I don’t usually have these problems, till now.
I stop at the next water stop and use the bathroom and get some bottles and Eugene passes me. I see a sign that says mile 50 and the wind has picked up.
The course was shortened to 55 miles, but the last 5 miles were the longest of my life, I make the turn to head into moody gardens, and I see Eugene stopped on the side again trying to get his legs to move without the cramps, he jumped on again and we rode in together. He made the comment that he did that way too fast, I agreed. We had hammered it in about 3 hours but now we are struggling to maintain 5 mph.
We get into transition and the reality sets in, this is going to be a long day! I am now starting to worry about the first timers, did they listened to me when they should have? Did they know how to go into damage control mode and recover? Then the announcer says they are having wind gust up to 50mph. I am concerned about heather getting aero and surviving the wind.
When things go bad and you go into survival mode it becomes all about rehydrating and eating so you can somehow move forward with something that doesn’t look or feel like a run.
I start to think about each person, and what they will need to do, the long stretch of no water and the bad wind on the sea wall. Eugene and I walk a run together on the first loop and talk about the brutal ride.
As I get back around by transition I start looking for bikes to make sure everyone has made it in, I see a few and the I see Virginia, and I know heather has survived.
As the run gets further and the course loops around it makes it easy to see each other I see, Kathryn , Ingrid, heather and they are walking and running, I am very relieved and I stop and give them a pep talk and we continue on. The only things that taste good are the chips, (vinegar and salt), and the red licorice. The bowls of chips had rocks in them to keep them from blowing off of the table, this is crazy!
As I see more and more people I start asking who they have seen and where they are. Towards the end you get so tired of hearing, “your almost there”, “great job”, “looking good”.
My race is just a training day, I am feeling okay, but I am so proud of everyone! Some look good and others looks bad, for the people who are not looking great, I told them to keep going, keep fighting, and I said you make them physically remove you from the course.
It was a very tough day and everyone pushed through, when we were done I asked Eugene which was easier, cda or this half? With any pause he says cda.
I told heather If I had to choose, I would rather redo Tempe than return to Galveston.
I am very proud of everyone!