ever do a half....on the equator?

well...apparently Cambridge, MD is located on the equator...and the tropic of cancer...and in the devil's bedroom...all wrapped into a big bundle of city on the sun. I was dreading writing this post as I wasn't sure where to even begin. Eagleman was a crumbling mess of sweltering body. It was a true test of guts and will. It sucked. I was really proud that I finished because for the first time in my racing career...i really didn't want to. I didn't want to continue because my body had ZERO interest. It wasn't functioning. My legs were locked. No matter how much water I drank--it simply wasn't enough. There was NO SHADE....they need to invest in some TREES in Cambridge. That meant simply no relief....just hot hot smoldering lava sun beating down on our poor vulnerable bodies. My wave didn't go off till close to 8AM so by the time I got to the run it was over 100 degrees with 90%humidity. I was sweating....like dripping down my face type of sweat...before i did ANYTHING!! Just standing and waiting for my wave to go off....sweating...

The water was like bathwater but i had to wear a wetsuit because as you know...i can't swim. HA. I ended up totally over heating in the water and found myself breathing to the same side every stroke....where typically i breath every three. Clearly this slowed me down as I had the slowest swim ever. This was a total mind Fu*k as i knew at that point that in those conditions I simply couldn't catch the pack...i knew my hope at qualifying was over just 40 min into tthe race. T1 was terrible....i dropped my bike...lost my chain...and couldn't get my damn wetsuit off. The bike wasn't much better....there were terrible winds out on the course that mirrored riding into a 2500 watt hairdryer. I couldn't get my speed up....didn't feel uncomfortable necessarily---just super hot and had trouble spinning my legs through the winds. The run was the real start of my nightmare...I felt okay going out of T2 but by the time i got to the first aid station i had to stop and shock my body by splashing ice water on me. I have NEVER stopped at an aid station. I proceeded to have to do this at EVERY aid station the whole way. Barely jogging from station to station ...stopping and drenching my body with ice water to get my core temp down. It worked for a minute ....or less....but then i was back into that terrible funk of nightmare hobbling. I simply couldn't acclimate. I was sweating harder than i have ever sweat and i just couldnt replace it fast enough. I am certain i need to take a look at my nutrition--because CLEARLY i was missing something....probably not enough SALT...and I forgot to pack ice packs and cold compresses in my fanny pack. :) the finish line wasn't really sweet...it was merely the end of a terrible journey. After several minutes of gathering myself...it became a bit sweeter--but only because i was really really proud of myself for sticking it out in those horrid conditions. Many people dropped out or did half the run. Finish time....5:26

Back to life now....took a LONG time to recover. My first day back was this past Saturday--went for a 2.5hr ride and a 30 min run. No pressure--just easy work. I was weak...i needed more time. I took sunday and monday off again and yesterday was my first "official" day back--rode for 2 hours and ran 40 min. Felt incredible. In fact, I had probably my strongest run ever--as far as HR in relation to speed. My body almost felt like it was robbed of a race and my legs were unleashing their capabilities. I am super glad that all went well because i was kind of dreading going back to training....thought maybe i took too much time off. It is true--rest is a blessing.

So I put hell behind me and plunge forward to IM LP. My volume is about to skyrocket and I am going into this event in hopefully the best shape of my life. I will post some EM photos as soon as i get them.....they arent pretty. ha. But they are beautiful to me as they are a simple reminder that you can do ANYTHING. If you fight like hell and you dont give up...you WILL hit that finish line. you WILL prevail because YOU decided YOU wanted to.

Keep your chin up and keep your training hard and smart. ITS TRI SEASON KIDS!!!!!!! YIPPPPEEEEEE