Race report catch up ...

Wow ... so I moved into my new apartment May 1st and just got around to hooking up my computer so am way behind in blogging.

I have missed multiple race reports in that time. I don't have the patience to blog about each one, so here are the highlights:

May 1 - Polar Bear Triathlon
First tri of the season. Raced a few weeks post Boston, still fatigued and very tired from moving the entire day before.

May 16 - Bedford 12k
This was the 3rd race in the quest for the jacket. Raced extremely tired from finals at school, some personal stress, and an impromptu trip out of town.

June 6 - Mooseman Triathlon
I arrived at this race after 4 days in NJ for an insurance training class. Drove straight from the airport to the race site ... little tired but nothing major. Slept great in my tent. I love sleeping in my tent. Weird. Race morning was good. All was pretty normal. I was trying not to freak out about the swim as I have been having issues with that lately. Start ... swim didn't go to well. I kept feeling like I couldn't breathe and having to stop. My swim split was slow. Then, coming out of T1 I mounted my bike and then somehow got tangled with another girl. Our handlebars hit, my bike went down, I went over the handlebars and hit the ground, hard. I got up and took off, shaking. I kept telling myself to shake it off and relax. I kept riding and then realized that something was wrong with my bike. Dismount. It was just my brake rubbing. I fixed it and took back off. The first time I reached up to shift, pain shot through my hand and I thought, wow ... that's not good. I looked down at my right hand and it was already swollen and bruised. I kept riding and fought back a few tears. I soon relaxed but was having problems shifting and getting my water bottle in and out. Half way through the ride the road was really rough and the vibrations were sending shock waves through my hand. I tried riding with one hand for awhile then frustrated and in pain, I started to cry. Okay, this is not me. I started to yell at myself in my head ... dude, suck it up and get over it. There's probably nothing wrong. No excuses. Luckily the road smoothed out and I was able to drop back in my aerobars for awhile and got myself together for the end of the bike. I was really happy to get off that bike. T2 proved a challenge as I had a hard time getting my shoes on with one hand. Once I headed out on the run, I felt good. Adrenalin took over, the pain went away, and I had a really good run split. However, the moment I crossed the finish line I knew something was wrong and the pain came rushing back. I went straight to the med tent for ice. They told me something was probably broken ... which was confirmed 2 days later. Ugh.

June 7 - Rhody 5k
The 4th race in the quest for the jacket. This was the day after the Mooseman. I woke up tired, with a swollen hand, and still in pain. I drove almost 3 hours, ran a 5K in a pretty respectable time given the circumstances, then drove almost 3 hours home. Wow, earning the jacket... that's all I have to say about that.

June 21 - Portland Seadogs Fathers Day 5k
Nothing to say here ... ran it as a workout.

July 12 - Rhode Island 70.3 Triathlon
My Half Ironman and what was to be my BIG race of the season. Unfortunately, having a splint on my hand for a week and a cast for 3, put a damper on my training for this race. I went down, did the distance, and finished. Maybe the only good thing that came out of this race is that I had a good swim with no freak outs and my fastest bike split in a half yet, which is ironic seeing that the bike is what I trained on the least.

Many more races to come this season ... 3 more triathlons and 3 more races in the quest for the jacket. Stay tuned ...