Swim, Bike, Nausea, Run, Walk, Puke, Crawl

That's pretty much how the Whitewater Xterra went for me this year.  So you don't really need to read on.

But just in case you're interested....  Last July I did my first Xterra race at the US National Whitewater Center here in Charlotte.  I didn't know how to swim and signed up the day before the race just for fun.  I was second to last out of the water, but was 5th female finisher overall, and won my age group.  Shocker for me.  I was ten minutes behind the first place female and two minutes behind the fourth place girl.  Not bad for my first race.

And when I say I can't swim, I mean I really don't know how.  I did the breast stroke the entire 750 meters.  Yes, it was very tiring!

After last years race I fell in love and had high hopes of focusing on Xterra races this year.  I even planned to take some swim lessons.  I was 9 minutes behind the winner on the swim, beat her on the bike, then was a bit slower on the run.  So with any effort at all, I could be good at this.

But then I broke my shoulder and all my plans went out the window.  So here I was, one year later thinking about doing the race the night before....

Oh what the heck, I can't do much worse.  Little did I know...

Anyway, not having swam once since last year, my plan was just to get through the swim.  And I did.  I felt better this year, knowing at least what to expect and feeling okay about being almost last out of the water.

After I jumped out of the Catawba river, I put on my Keens and ran hand over foot up the rocky hill, around the pond, and then climbed up onto the island, ran down, kicked off my shoes, and swam across the white water pond.  Yup, this is Xterra!

Oh the joy of starting to pedal.  It was like all became right with the world.  And the bike course was longer this year, huge bonus for me. 

As soon as I entered the downhill into the singletrack, I had to dodge four walkers...ugh!  Then I passed about 50 people on my first lap.  It was fun and wild.  When you pass that many people it gives you the illusion of speed.  I'll take it.

Sadly about 20 minutes into my first lap, I started feeling nauseous.  So I took a sip of Gatorade/water from my camel back and it felt worse.  Uh oh, this was bad.  I pushed as hard as I could without feeling more sick.  I slowed down on my second lap to avoid getting sicker, all the while so dreading the run to come.

Like all good things, the bike finally did have to come to and end.  I should have ridden slower.  In the transition I felt really sick but found out I was running third or fourth overall. I did my best to change and get going, but I was slow.  I tried to run, but it made me feel sicker.  I did my best to run 20 paces and walk 10 all the while trying to keep my stomach contents down. 

After two miles of walk/jogging, the first girl passed me.  And that really hurt.  And that was just the beginning.  More girls went by and  I couldn't run to save my life.  Finally after mile 3, I puked several times, even through my nose.  For a minute or so I felt better.  I was even able to run for like a hundred feet.

Then I think the dehydration finally hit me and I started feeling woozy.  And yes, girls were still passing.  I stopped counting after 10.  At mile four, I sat down at the water station and the aides poured five cups of water on my head.  I wanted to quit.  I was done.  I really felt dead.

Meanwhile I knew my biggest fan was waiting for me to cross the finish line.

So I got up and did just that, crawled my way to the finish.  Even second before the end three more girls passed me, that really sucked!

I managed a smile for the finish.

And then puked some more.  And more and more and then even more the next day.  I got down to 102 pounds.  It was really ugly. 

I still finished third in my age group, but that is no consolation. I feel cheated.  I want a do-over.  I need a do-over.  And sooner than next year.