Even though I have been taking a cocktail of meds (antibiotics, Alka Seltzer plus, regular aspirin, bronchial inhaler), I am at best marginally better than I was a week ago, or at least it appears that way.
And then I don't do well on drugs anyway--I can't tell if I am so tired and spaced out because of them or because of whatever it is I have.
This is making me depressed. I feel like crap, I can't train (OK I tried for a few days and look where that got me), I have a race in a week, I can't train, I can't train, I have no energy.
This thing is sucking the life out of me. Even more fun is that when I don't train, I lose my appetite except for the sacred chicken soup, but I'm even getting tired of that.
I want my Mommy. Oh that's right, I don't have one anymore. I wish I could rent one that would come over and take care of me just for a day. That would be awesome.
THIS is what I call suffering.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Triple T Race Report
Pics are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crackheadfe/sets/72157618817588438/
I was stressing in the week leading up, not from training, not from packing, but from going continuously from waking up until falling asleep for a week. I need my down time first thing in the morning (about :45 to 1:00) and again in the evening (1:00-2:00). I didn't get in any stretching, which for me is quality "no think" time Monday-Wednesday, although I did get a massage which helped.
On Tuesday night, after getting in a pretty good brick workout, I woke up several times during the night coughing. A dry cough. I thought maybe I was just dehydrated, but the coughing continued off and on on Wednesday, and I began feeling, well exhausted, and barely ran in the afternoon.
Oh well, I'm doing this thing anyway, but Wednesday night I was so tired that I didn't even finish packing but instead went to sleep early, since I figured I'd have a few hours to get ready in the morning. I had made piles of crap all over the place (you know--the triathlon crap piles, right?), and it was just a matter of assembling everything into neat bags and boxes in the morning.
Jostein said he'd be ready to leave at 7AM on Thursday, but no way for me so I begged for like 9AM which is what we'd originally agreed to. I managed to wake up pretty early, and since I'm highly organized, I calculated that I'd be ready by about 7:30, but I guess he slept in which was fine as I used all available time to fine tune my packing.
I had a lot of crap, but a lot of it was provisions for the cabin, and it all fit nicely into Jostein's car, and we were on the road just a bit after 9AM. I couldn't even drive as I felt pretty bad by this point, but was still trying to be a trooper in supplementing the GPS and/or just paying attention to it. There were a few times where we missed turns because we were talking so much, but luckily, neither of us gets fazed by a little lostness, and besides we had nothing to do but get to Shawnee State Park, set up the cabin and rest up.
We stopped at a Taco Bell someplace for some lunch. I am not a big fan of the Bell, and don't think I've been to one in at least 20 years. But I do know it's possible to get something somewhat healthy at most any place, so I think I got some steak tacos that were actually just fine. And we had some brownies that I had made for the cabin.
There is more than one way to get to the park, and one or two of them involve dipping into Kentucky and then coming back into Ohio. Once again, we were talking and laughing so much we missed a few turns and made a few extra state line crossings, but it was cool because we got to see some really pretty bridges over the Ohio River.
We ended up coming into the park from the eastern way instead of the west which would have had us on a major part of the bike course for 3 out of 4 races. No worries--we'd probably drive the bike courses on Friday morning.
We unpacked everything, arriving sometime around 6PM or so local time (we went from CST to EST), headed to the Lodge for dinner, which was passable, with the highlight (for me anyway) being the shrimp/crab dip appetizer and the sweet potato fries. The meat and fish were overcooked, but hey, we're in the middle of nowhere, so couldn't complain too much!
It was very peaceful on Thursday night because hardly anyone is there in the park, and literally at night there was no noise or light, which was quite relaxing. They did upgrade the TV's to cable, but still, we didn't come here to watch TV!
Friday morning, Jostein wanted to see the bike courses (I'd done the races twice before), so we headed out and I navigated and he stowed away many details about hills and turns and such, and I took some pics along the way. We covered most of the bike courses except for one stretch of the 1/2 Ironman course on Sunday, so a good amount. Then we went back into Portsmouth to fetch the final groceries for the cabin, and I grabbed some Tylenol Sinus since I thought that was what I was suffering with.
When we got back to the park, we tested out the water in our wetsuits and then took them off to see how that was. The water was a nice temperature. Jostein wanted to see the run course, and asked if it was driveable, and I hadn't thought of that, but since they do drive trucks up there to fashion the aid stations and he has a 4WD, why not? So we drove up the run course, of course I took pics, and that was kind of neat to see it from that perspective.
Finally back to the cabin to unload more groceries, and we had a little time to relax before cabin mates would start arriving. Marty got in first, and I did some meal prep for the evening meal. I was beginning to feel sicker, but oh well, what am I going to do?
I had forewarned Jostein and Marty about taking a car down to the transition area, as you don't want to add any extra stress to your legs by riding up the 365' hill after every race.
I don't remember whether Rob and Julie came to the cabin or whether we met them down by the race, and the same for Shelley and Steve who didn't stay in the cabin but would join us for dinner.
Did the first race, the super sprint, about hyperventilated in the water--didn't use the wetsuit as it would be too time consuming, but the water did feel cold that first time in for a race, and my lungs didn't feel right, but got on my bike and did the big hill seated the entire time, and that was OK, but running felt like shit like I had only one lung. Oh well!
Got back to the cabin, Julie and Rob were definitely in, and then Erik found us and we were looking for Carl. I flagged him down riding around the cabin area, and we started working on dinner, Jostein manning the grill, and I did some table setup, we all had drinks and got to talking to one another and it was quite the jovial crowd.
Dinner cleanup happened, and then there was a lot more talking and stretching. Everyone was trying out my Theracane and The Stick, which are the bestest tools I have (in addition to my massage balls) for working on myself.
I don't remember when I got to sleep, but it was at a decent time. Except I started coughing a whole lot more during the night, and went out to sleep on the couch because I didn't want to wake everyone up with my coughing. The next morning Marty told me he came out into the living room to do some blogging and almost sat on top of me! I never saw or heard him.
Saturday morning was fun with everyone getting ready to race and being all pumped up. I was pumped--full of meds--since I had a sinus headache, cough, and alternating stuffy/runny nose, and I was dizzy to boot. But hey, I'm tough, I can manage, right?
So I do the first race, and I swam OK, biked OK but running felt like I had only 1 lung going, and I guess I had been stung by something on Saturday and my left ear had swelled up huge and was hard and itchy, so when I finished I headed to medical for the ear and for the wheezing in my chest.
Stupid EMT's said my chest sounded fine (uh, yeah maybe for a normal person try harder next time!), but they did give me something for the ear and said I should take some Benadryl and since this was my first sting of the year with a pretty good reaction, I noted to myself that I should not wait to get that EpiPen to carry with me in case of inability to breathe after a stinging incident.
Jostein was nice enough to try and locate me and was worried, but I told him I'd gone to medical and would be OK, or so I thought, so he drove me back up the hill. We left our bikes in transition.
In between races on Saturday, it was all about eating and resting. I drank 2 servings of Endurox R4, ate a Twinkie, a hardboiled egg and something else I don't remember. But I felt like crap. Still had the full sinus headache, wheezing, stuffy nose, sore throat and cough. Shelley kindly gave me a spare inhaler which seemed to help with my breathing somewhat. I laid down for about an hour, woke up and drank a can of Ultra Violence, took some Tylenol Sinus, shot up my nose with Nasonex, took a couple of hits of inhaler, drank some Alka Seltzer Cold Plus, and felt like I could at least start the next race.
Which I did, and it started with the bike, and I rode pretty good, or so a few people told me. I was still dizzy, but I've done an entire Ironman dizzy (Brazil in 2006), so I managed, and then the swim was fine for the first lap, but then I had a coughing fit and had to stand bolt upright in the water (it's shallow) and cough my head off for about a minute before getting back to business.
Once again, when I got to the run, it felt like I only had half of one lung, and it hurt like hell and I wanted to cry so badly and just stop, but I couldn't, you know? I didn't want to be the weak person who just gives up. So I finished, but not the way I wanted (everyone else in the cabin had done well) and headed back to see if I could live to fight another day.
We had a nice dinner, and as bad as I felt, I really enjoyed everyone's company as this is the stuff I live for, eh? But Shelley and Steve were missing. Jostein told me Shelley had felt sick and wasn't coming to dinner which bummed me out, but I was barely managing myself, so we all needed to forge on.
Trying to sleep Saturday night I was coughing so much, it was so painful and frequent, I once again went out onto the couch, and I was totally miserable. I don't think I slept more than 2 hours from all the coughing I did, and it was probably around 4AM that I decided I was too ill to start the race on Sunday. I wanted to cry so badly and be a baby and be taken care of, but that wouldn't be the right thing to do in front of 6 other people who needed to get their race day on, so I stuffed it, woke up with the rest of them and just got out of their way so they could get to doing what they needed to do.
In all the hustle, I forgot to eat anything and headed down to the race with everyone. I decided I would hang out and take pictures of everyone--it was the least I could do, right? I got nice shots of almost everyone going into the water and coming out, and then I decided I was going to be personal sherpa for Jostein, which worked out pretty well (or at least I think it did!).
But I also managed to cheer for everyone, was given THREE cowbells (MORE COWBELL!!!), and I did them proud, yelling my ass off even though my throat was raw and I was coughing like someone with emphysema! I just felt so bad physically that I had no time to feel sorry for myself for not being able to race that day.
Whenever I would see peeps from the cabin, the attention getting phras was "HEY FATTY!!!" We had pretty much settled on that on Friday night, and I heard that while everyone was out there they used it judiciously probably to the surprise (and maybe sometimes horror) of other athletes. It's just ironic since none of us are fat, but it sure gets people's attention!
All my cabin mates did well on the day, and well, I'm still sick. I went to the doctor yesterday, and when she asked what my symptoms are, I said:
Today, I'm 1 day into antibiotics and starting to feel better already. In fact, I did THREE workouts today--55' of strength, a 1:22 ride and a 25' run. ACTUALLY RUNNING!!! I needed to do it because my body actually NEEDS the movement--my lungs needed to be cleared out much like a race car needs to go fast, and I feel better for it. I will be cautious tomorrow and will either try running for 1:30 or else I'll put that off until Friday and go for another ride tomorrow. Swimming doesn't seem to be a good idea yet, in fact I can wait until next week, I'm a crappy swimmer anyway.
I still haven't had a good cry over missing Sunday's 1/2 Ironman, but I know it's coming--probably as soon as I feel a lot better. It will suck. But I like experiencing the emotions of all of this, and as weak as I may be right now, I know that I am pretty fucking strong to have made it through what I did get through last weekend, and I am looking forward to some great race performances.
I had so much fun supporting my friends on Sunday and seeing them do so well--if you can't be there for other athletes, who the hell cares how YOU do???
I was stressing in the week leading up, not from training, not from packing, but from going continuously from waking up until falling asleep for a week. I need my down time first thing in the morning (about :45 to 1:00) and again in the evening (1:00-2:00). I didn't get in any stretching, which for me is quality "no think" time Monday-Wednesday, although I did get a massage which helped.
On Tuesday night, after getting in a pretty good brick workout, I woke up several times during the night coughing. A dry cough. I thought maybe I was just dehydrated, but the coughing continued off and on on Wednesday, and I began feeling, well exhausted, and barely ran in the afternoon.
Oh well, I'm doing this thing anyway, but Wednesday night I was so tired that I didn't even finish packing but instead went to sleep early, since I figured I'd have a few hours to get ready in the morning. I had made piles of crap all over the place (you know--the triathlon crap piles, right?), and it was just a matter of assembling everything into neat bags and boxes in the morning.
Jostein said he'd be ready to leave at 7AM on Thursday, but no way for me so I begged for like 9AM which is what we'd originally agreed to. I managed to wake up pretty early, and since I'm highly organized, I calculated that I'd be ready by about 7:30, but I guess he slept in which was fine as I used all available time to fine tune my packing.
I had a lot of crap, but a lot of it was provisions for the cabin, and it all fit nicely into Jostein's car, and we were on the road just a bit after 9AM. I couldn't even drive as I felt pretty bad by this point, but was still trying to be a trooper in supplementing the GPS and/or just paying attention to it. There were a few times where we missed turns because we were talking so much, but luckily, neither of us gets fazed by a little lostness, and besides we had nothing to do but get to Shawnee State Park, set up the cabin and rest up.
We stopped at a Taco Bell someplace for some lunch. I am not a big fan of the Bell, and don't think I've been to one in at least 20 years. But I do know it's possible to get something somewhat healthy at most any place, so I think I got some steak tacos that were actually just fine. And we had some brownies that I had made for the cabin.
There is more than one way to get to the park, and one or two of them involve dipping into Kentucky and then coming back into Ohio. Once again, we were talking and laughing so much we missed a few turns and made a few extra state line crossings, but it was cool because we got to see some really pretty bridges over the Ohio River.
We ended up coming into the park from the eastern way instead of the west which would have had us on a major part of the bike course for 3 out of 4 races. No worries--we'd probably drive the bike courses on Friday morning.
We unpacked everything, arriving sometime around 6PM or so local time (we went from CST to EST), headed to the Lodge for dinner, which was passable, with the highlight (for me anyway) being the shrimp/crab dip appetizer and the sweet potato fries. The meat and fish were overcooked, but hey, we're in the middle of nowhere, so couldn't complain too much!
It was very peaceful on Thursday night because hardly anyone is there in the park, and literally at night there was no noise or light, which was quite relaxing. They did upgrade the TV's to cable, but still, we didn't come here to watch TV!
Friday morning, Jostein wanted to see the bike courses (I'd done the races twice before), so we headed out and I navigated and he stowed away many details about hills and turns and such, and I took some pics along the way. We covered most of the bike courses except for one stretch of the 1/2 Ironman course on Sunday, so a good amount. Then we went back into Portsmouth to fetch the final groceries for the cabin, and I grabbed some Tylenol Sinus since I thought that was what I was suffering with.
When we got back to the park, we tested out the water in our wetsuits and then took them off to see how that was. The water was a nice temperature. Jostein wanted to see the run course, and asked if it was driveable, and I hadn't thought of that, but since they do drive trucks up there to fashion the aid stations and he has a 4WD, why not? So we drove up the run course, of course I took pics, and that was kind of neat to see it from that perspective.
Finally back to the cabin to unload more groceries, and we had a little time to relax before cabin mates would start arriving. Marty got in first, and I did some meal prep for the evening meal. I was beginning to feel sicker, but oh well, what am I going to do?
I had forewarned Jostein and Marty about taking a car down to the transition area, as you don't want to add any extra stress to your legs by riding up the 365' hill after every race.
I don't remember whether Rob and Julie came to the cabin or whether we met them down by the race, and the same for Shelley and Steve who didn't stay in the cabin but would join us for dinner.
Did the first race, the super sprint, about hyperventilated in the water--didn't use the wetsuit as it would be too time consuming, but the water did feel cold that first time in for a race, and my lungs didn't feel right, but got on my bike and did the big hill seated the entire time, and that was OK, but running felt like shit like I had only one lung. Oh well!
Got back to the cabin, Julie and Rob were definitely in, and then Erik found us and we were looking for Carl. I flagged him down riding around the cabin area, and we started working on dinner, Jostein manning the grill, and I did some table setup, we all had drinks and got to talking to one another and it was quite the jovial crowd.
Dinner cleanup happened, and then there was a lot more talking and stretching. Everyone was trying out my Theracane and The Stick, which are the bestest tools I have (in addition to my massage balls) for working on myself.
I don't remember when I got to sleep, but it was at a decent time. Except I started coughing a whole lot more during the night, and went out to sleep on the couch because I didn't want to wake everyone up with my coughing. The next morning Marty told me he came out into the living room to do some blogging and almost sat on top of me! I never saw or heard him.
Saturday morning was fun with everyone getting ready to race and being all pumped up. I was pumped--full of meds--since I had a sinus headache, cough, and alternating stuffy/runny nose, and I was dizzy to boot. But hey, I'm tough, I can manage, right?
So I do the first race, and I swam OK, biked OK but running felt like I had only 1 lung going, and I guess I had been stung by something on Saturday and my left ear had swelled up huge and was hard and itchy, so when I finished I headed to medical for the ear and for the wheezing in my chest.
Stupid EMT's said my chest sounded fine (uh, yeah maybe for a normal person try harder next time!), but they did give me something for the ear and said I should take some Benadryl and since this was my first sting of the year with a pretty good reaction, I noted to myself that I should not wait to get that EpiPen to carry with me in case of inability to breathe after a stinging incident.
Jostein was nice enough to try and locate me and was worried, but I told him I'd gone to medical and would be OK, or so I thought, so he drove me back up the hill. We left our bikes in transition.
In between races on Saturday, it was all about eating and resting. I drank 2 servings of Endurox R4, ate a Twinkie, a hardboiled egg and something else I don't remember. But I felt like crap. Still had the full sinus headache, wheezing, stuffy nose, sore throat and cough. Shelley kindly gave me a spare inhaler which seemed to help with my breathing somewhat. I laid down for about an hour, woke up and drank a can of Ultra Violence, took some Tylenol Sinus, shot up my nose with Nasonex, took a couple of hits of inhaler, drank some Alka Seltzer Cold Plus, and felt like I could at least start the next race.
Which I did, and it started with the bike, and I rode pretty good, or so a few people told me. I was still dizzy, but I've done an entire Ironman dizzy (Brazil in 2006), so I managed, and then the swim was fine for the first lap, but then I had a coughing fit and had to stand bolt upright in the water (it's shallow) and cough my head off for about a minute before getting back to business.
Once again, when I got to the run, it felt like I only had half of one lung, and it hurt like hell and I wanted to cry so badly and just stop, but I couldn't, you know? I didn't want to be the weak person who just gives up. So I finished, but not the way I wanted (everyone else in the cabin had done well) and headed back to see if I could live to fight another day.
We had a nice dinner, and as bad as I felt, I really enjoyed everyone's company as this is the stuff I live for, eh? But Shelley and Steve were missing. Jostein told me Shelley had felt sick and wasn't coming to dinner which bummed me out, but I was barely managing myself, so we all needed to forge on.
Trying to sleep Saturday night I was coughing so much, it was so painful and frequent, I once again went out onto the couch, and I was totally miserable. I don't think I slept more than 2 hours from all the coughing I did, and it was probably around 4AM that I decided I was too ill to start the race on Sunday. I wanted to cry so badly and be a baby and be taken care of, but that wouldn't be the right thing to do in front of 6 other people who needed to get their race day on, so I stuffed it, woke up with the rest of them and just got out of their way so they could get to doing what they needed to do.
In all the hustle, I forgot to eat anything and headed down to the race with everyone. I decided I would hang out and take pictures of everyone--it was the least I could do, right? I got nice shots of almost everyone going into the water and coming out, and then I decided I was going to be personal sherpa for Jostein, which worked out pretty well (or at least I think it did!).
But I also managed to cheer for everyone, was given THREE cowbells (MORE COWBELL!!!), and I did them proud, yelling my ass off even though my throat was raw and I was coughing like someone with emphysema! I just felt so bad physically that I had no time to feel sorry for myself for not being able to race that day.
Whenever I would see peeps from the cabin, the attention getting phras was "HEY FATTY!!!" We had pretty much settled on that on Friday night, and I heard that while everyone was out there they used it judiciously probably to the surprise (and maybe sometimes horror) of other athletes. It's just ironic since none of us are fat, but it sure gets people's attention!
All my cabin mates did well on the day, and well, I'm still sick. I went to the doctor yesterday, and when she asked what my symptoms are, I said:
- broadband headache. She pressed in my sinuses to see if they hurt and I about jumped off the table going "OUCH!!!"
- stuffy and runny nose
- sore throat
- non-productive cough
- diminished lung power
- wheezing
- stuffed up ears
- fatigue
Today, I'm 1 day into antibiotics and starting to feel better already. In fact, I did THREE workouts today--55' of strength, a 1:22 ride and a 25' run. ACTUALLY RUNNING!!! I needed to do it because my body actually NEEDS the movement--my lungs needed to be cleared out much like a race car needs to go fast, and I feel better for it. I will be cautious tomorrow and will either try running for 1:30 or else I'll put that off until Friday and go for another ride tomorrow. Swimming doesn't seem to be a good idea yet, in fact I can wait until next week, I'm a crappy swimmer anyway.
I still haven't had a good cry over missing Sunday's 1/2 Ironman, but I know it's coming--probably as soon as I feel a lot better. It will suck. But I like experiencing the emotions of all of this, and as weak as I may be right now, I know that I am pretty fucking strong to have made it through what I did get through last weekend, and I am looking forward to some great race performances.
I had so much fun supporting my friends on Sunday and seeing them do so well--if you can't be there for other athletes, who the hell cares how YOU do???
Monday, May 25, 2009
Triple T Update
Long story short: I wasn't feeling great when I left on Thursday--I was coughing fairly often--and it got worse on Friday to the point where I thought I had a sinus infection (may still have one) and got stung by something in my left ear which caused it to blow up like cauliflower, and then my lungs got gunked up with something.
On Saturday morning, I still managed to do the first Olympic distance race, faring OK on the swim and bike, but suffering on the run as I was wheezing. I checked into medical afterwards for the sting and wheezing, and they dug a stinger out of my ear (yes, I need to get a script for an Epipen) but gave me nothing for the wheezing.
I was very unsure whether I could or should start the second race on Saturday afternoon, but I got lucky in that Shelley gave me one of her inhalers, and I pumped myself full of caffeine, aspirin and antihistamines and set out for the second Olympic race, which starts with a bike ride.
I actually felt pretty good riding, and managed to pass a lot of people (the time trial start had almost all the teams starting ahead of me which meant I started way back) and had a better bike split on a tougher course than in the morning race, swam OK again, but felt like I was going to die on the run. I felt pretty awful finishing, and was getting stuffed up in my nose to boot.
Saturday night I slept extremely fitfully and couldn't stop coughing and didn't want to wake anyone else up in the cabin so I went out to sleep on the couch. I don't think I got much sleep that night, and it was about 4AM, I'm guessing, when I decided I was way too sick to start the 1/2 Ironman. Still, I got up with everyone else and decided I could at least cheer and take pictures.
In the midst of all the excitement, I forgot to eat breakfast, but I felt committed to getting pictures of everyone I knew (6 staying in the cabin plus maybe 5 other people I'm friends with) starting their swim, and then I wanted to get some shots leaving on the bike. I got pretty hungry and needed to go back to the cabin to get some food and drop off a friend's wetsuit (yes, I was playing Sherpa), and then I headed back down for bike duty.
I ended up showing the way for the turnaround where athletes could pick up fresh bike bottles and got a lot of pictures of my peeps, and then I stayed there for the run, getting a lot of pics and cheering for pretty much everyone in general, despite how crappy I felt.
So I did do the sprint and the 2 Olympics but not the 1/2 Ironman. My friend Julie grabbed me a finisher's shirt because she said I deserved it. As sick as I was, I had a great time, as I enjoy cheering for and helping out athletes as much as I enjoy racing myself.
I still haven't figured out my own race times, but will get to that sometime tomorrow after I pay a visit to my physician for some antibiotics and an Epipen, since this was my first sting of the year and already I had a pretty bad reaction, and last year I went from mild to extreme hives, so I think I'm in danger of a bad incident with a stinging insect!
I'll write more when I'm feeling a little better. For now, I need a ton of bed rest. Most of my friends did really well at the races, and I'm really happy for them. Me--I know when to kill it, and I had to do it this weekend or risk several weeks being out of commission. I have many other races coming up, and more fun, so we'll just chalk this one up to perhaps a little too much stress combined with heavy training.
On Saturday morning, I still managed to do the first Olympic distance race, faring OK on the swim and bike, but suffering on the run as I was wheezing. I checked into medical afterwards for the sting and wheezing, and they dug a stinger out of my ear (yes, I need to get a script for an Epipen) but gave me nothing for the wheezing.
I was very unsure whether I could or should start the second race on Saturday afternoon, but I got lucky in that Shelley gave me one of her inhalers, and I pumped myself full of caffeine, aspirin and antihistamines and set out for the second Olympic race, which starts with a bike ride.
I actually felt pretty good riding, and managed to pass a lot of people (the time trial start had almost all the teams starting ahead of me which meant I started way back) and had a better bike split on a tougher course than in the morning race, swam OK again, but felt like I was going to die on the run. I felt pretty awful finishing, and was getting stuffed up in my nose to boot.
Saturday night I slept extremely fitfully and couldn't stop coughing and didn't want to wake anyone else up in the cabin so I went out to sleep on the couch. I don't think I got much sleep that night, and it was about 4AM, I'm guessing, when I decided I was way too sick to start the 1/2 Ironman. Still, I got up with everyone else and decided I could at least cheer and take pictures.
In the midst of all the excitement, I forgot to eat breakfast, but I felt committed to getting pictures of everyone I knew (6 staying in the cabin plus maybe 5 other people I'm friends with) starting their swim, and then I wanted to get some shots leaving on the bike. I got pretty hungry and needed to go back to the cabin to get some food and drop off a friend's wetsuit (yes, I was playing Sherpa), and then I headed back down for bike duty.
I ended up showing the way for the turnaround where athletes could pick up fresh bike bottles and got a lot of pictures of my peeps, and then I stayed there for the run, getting a lot of pics and cheering for pretty much everyone in general, despite how crappy I felt.
So I did do the sprint and the 2 Olympics but not the 1/2 Ironman. My friend Julie grabbed me a finisher's shirt because she said I deserved it. As sick as I was, I had a great time, as I enjoy cheering for and helping out athletes as much as I enjoy racing myself.
I still haven't figured out my own race times, but will get to that sometime tomorrow after I pay a visit to my physician for some antibiotics and an Epipen, since this was my first sting of the year and already I had a pretty bad reaction, and last year I went from mild to extreme hives, so I think I'm in danger of a bad incident with a stinging insect!
I'll write more when I'm feeling a little better. For now, I need a ton of bed rest. Most of my friends did really well at the races, and I'm really happy for them. Me--I know when to kill it, and I had to do it this weekend or risk several weeks being out of commission. I have many other races coming up, and more fun, so we'll just chalk this one up to perhaps a little too much stress combined with heavy training.
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