Never Say Never - Run the Alamo Marathon Race Report

 

“You risk so much by hesitating to fling yourself into the abyss.” ~Unknown monk, 19^th century

 

I had never really liked the marathon.  Loved the other endurance events, but that one was just “meh” initially.  As I finished off my collegiate swimming years, I made the jump into triathlons and longer running distances.  Austin was my first marathon in 2003 – you would think for my first one I would respect the distance, but nope.  Lackluster training equaled a grueling, excruciating 26.2 miles.  I wouldn’t make that mistake again.  When I toed the line for the Motorola Marathon in 2004, I had put in the long miles, and was confident it would be a PR – and it was, for two decades.  Not sure why I did not put another one on the docket in the early 2000s, I still chased plenty of triathlons, half marathons, half ironmans, and then finally the big one, the full ironman in 2012.  That was the next time I did a marathon, at the end of an IM, and it was a totally different ballgame.  I never learned to race the marathon in the IM, I’ve only done 2, and while my 2^nd one in 2013 I totally crushed my previous PR, cutting 2.5 hours off of my first IM time from 2012, most of that time came from me learning how to race the bike leg more aggressively, not the marathon.  I was confident that with more experience and training, that I could learn to finally race the marathon, to execute the race from start to finish, not flawlessly, but solidly.  I tried again in the SA Rock n Roll in 2013 but DNFed from the heat and humidity.  Then had munchkin in 2014.  Then total hip replacement in 2016.  Then I closed that door on that goal, on what I thought would be forever.  I didn’t waste any time getting back to racing per se after the surgery, I did a half ironman 8 months post hip.  I did walk the majority of that half marathon in that race, and was tentative in getting back to running.  It would become somewhat of a double edged sword – so grateful to be out there putting in the miles, but also overwhelmed by the anxiety of what I was doing to my prosthesis.  I told myself I would keep the mileage fairly low, the intensity low, and do races that the run leg was no longer than a half-marathon.  I branched out in 2018 to do my first 50k, more as a celebration as anything else.  My hubs had finally transitioned to a job where we would finally be together as a family, after nearly 8 years of living apart – we were so grateful that that day had finally come!!!  Felt like the perfect opportunity as one chapter was coming to a close to celebrate the opening of another!!!  While not the most technical 50k out there, the Wildflower race in Bastrop certainly had some more technical sections than just an out and back beach race.  So there was quite a bit of walking in that race and I was thrilled with 9.5 hours at the end of the day.  My hip had cooperated over those 31 miles, but before I could really lean into that, I hesitated, and went back to the shorter runs, nothing longer than the half marathon.  Then under Coach Hillary’s tutelage a couple of years later, after some big run sessions, I hit a half marathon PR post THR during a mother’s day virtual run.  Something clicked.  A year and a half later I was toeing the line for my 2^nd 50k, all beach, and I pretty much ran the whole thing, and cut 3 hours off of my previous time from 2018!  Suddenly I could taste it.  I knew I could break my old PR, that it was time to put it back on the docket, it was new PR or bust!  I had an amazing training block headed into Houston 2023, but we all know how that ended – not well, a DNF.  Then this past fall, I ran the marathon at the beach race, and was hopeful it would fall there.  Weather was decent, low 60s, breezy, we’d get some rain too.  And my nutrition was so on point.  And I was on track, until I fell off the last 6 miles, and struggled in the headwind on the last segment.  4:49:08 was still faster than I had gone in decades, so I was pumped, moving in the right direction at least! Annual hip checkup went well in December, so I thought on it until the new year, then decided to give the marathon one last go before giving my body a little bit of a break.  Run the Alamo was on the docket for March, would be an awesome way to celebrate my 8^th Hipaversary, the race fell on the exact weekend that I got my new hip 8 years prior!  Had an average training block this go round, slower, and not as solid as the previous year, but I went into race weekend focusing on nothing but the positive, and my experience as an endurance athlete, all of the deposits I had put in over the decades were still there for the taking.  Game time babyyyy!!!

 

Race day weather was not great, humidity that morning was in the low 90s, air temp 60s, overcast with not much of a breeze.  I wore my hydration pack for the race for peace of mind since I did so well with nutrition in the fall race, I would at least have control over that during this race.  Canon fires and we are off, Coach Hillary and I had discussed beforehand about going out conservatively, so my first mile kept it cruisy, a little over 10, just out there enjoying the day.  I was already drenched though, my core heats up really quickly in the humidity, I knew this race would all come down to how well I handled my nutrition.  2^nd mile just under 10, still cruisy, drinking my citrus salt LMNT, and feeling decent.  Miles 3-9 I settled into a good rhythm, and kept the miles at 930 or under.  We broke off from the half marathoners somewhere around mile 8, and it got quieter (quite a few more half marathoners than marathoners).  After mile 9 my heart rate jumped from low 140s to high 170s, which was not a surprise to me in the weather.  I was about to see how long I could maintain it.  My range is large, from resting in the upper 40s to a max that will still hit the high 190s/low 200s.  So I knew I was still the high end of aerobic, dancing the line of anaerobic, even at a cruisy pace.  I would love to see what my body could really do in a marathon in weather in the high 30s/low 40s, but alas we cannot control the weather, just make do with what we have on race day.  As we branched off I was behind a couple of runners that would speed up when I started to pick up the pace to pass, but then slow down to a slower pace than I was going when I ended up back behind them.  It became one of those situations in which I just needed to commit and get it done, so I finally made some solid passes, and felt better.  Miles 10-12 were fairly uneventful, slowed down some to a pace just under 10, then mile 13 I stopped at the aid station to refill my LMNT, so that added a little time to that pace for that mile, 1030ish.  As I ran by mile 13, I saw mile 21 on the other side, and was like oh man, we’ve got 4 out and back miles here coming up.  Held it together really well for that stretch, taking my gels, drinking my LMNT, focusing on my form (which had pretty much gone out the window the back half), enjoying the peaceful path before me.  What a beautiful marathon course, going out on the greenway out to the missions, through parks, just a gorgeous course.  And I could feel the humidity drop throughout the run, which was so nice!  I mean, it wasn’t super low or anything like that, but as long as it wasn’t 90%+ I was pumped!  As a matter of fact, not only did I recognize some of the old running trails that I used to run on regularly with the friendies, but I came across the section that I stopped at all of those years ago at SA Rock n Roll, that the golf cart came to pick me up after I DNFed.  I smiled, I felt so strong, and just kept putting one foot in front of the other.  I picked some rabbits to chase, some I passed and didn’t see again; others passed me back, and we would hop back and forth throughout the rest of the course, and at the finish as we congratulated each other, we laughed about the sections in which we kept passing each other back up.  It was really cool.  Miles 14-21 were solid, with 14 being the last one under 10, but the other ones between 10-1030, which I was totally stoked about!  Then the wheels came off not long after 21 and the last aid station I briefly stopped at.  Legs were heavy, not cramping (because my nutrition rocked!), just tight, and I continued to will them forward.  Not only did I lean into the training deposits in the bank, but also leaned into the experience as an endurance athlete, and understood that I how I felt throughout these miles would change rapidly.  Sure enough, clipped off some mileage at 10 min mile, just to do a brief 20 second walk break a moment later.  The last 5 miles were exactly like that, all of them.  Averaged 12 min miles for all of them, and just kept digging deep on that home stretch.  The last couple of miles are along the Riverwalk as you head back towards Hemisphere Park and the finish.  I felt great, and passed people; I felt terrible, and got passed back.  I checked my watch, calculated what my miles had to be in order to secure the PR.  As we came up from the Riverwalk and headed to the finish, the volunteers that were yelling “you are almost there!” were fortunately correct, thank goodness.  It’s never fun times when you hear “the finish is right around that corner!” when the finish, in fact, is not right around the corner, you are actually not almost there because you have like another mile to go.  While my watch mileage was a little ahead of the actual mile markers, it wasn’t by much, so as I passed 26, with .2 to go, I knew I was indeed nearly there.  That old PR was about to fall, and I picked up the pace the best I could in that finisher chute, giving high fives along the way.  Saw my people cheering me on and gave them the best smile and high fives – what a race day this was!!!  Crossed that line in 4:31:30, breaking my 2-decade old PR of 4:38:39 (I kept thinking it was 4:37, I actually had another minute to spare, lol) at the Motorola Marathon in 2004.  44-year-old me with a prosthesis beat 24-year-old me with a working body.  Experience certainly was in my favor, but not necessarily my body.  I was beside myself that a goal that I had essentially put up on the shelf forever I was able to dust it off, and give it a go again; and not just chase it, but take it down!!!  Takeaway message – never say never.  Always believe in yourself.  Always.  Encouragement from your crew is important, yes, but at the end of the day, YOU have to believe in YOU, no one else is going to do it for you.  Whether it’s an athletic endeavor, an academic endeavor, a business venture, whatever your goal/dream may be, you have to put in the work, and you have to take the leap.  May we all be so lucky to have mentors, friends, coaches, loved ones who support us wholeheartedly on our journey, who inspire us to keep reaching each and every day.  May we continue to pour that same energy into those around us, so that the rippling effect of that energy reaches far and wide.  May we always be humble enough to keep learning, but confident enough in ourselves to know what we bring to the table.  May we never make ourselves small.  May we never place limits on ourselves – we will never know how far we can go unless we fling ourselves into that abyss without hesitation.

 

***Nutrition – if you are curious about my nutrition for the race, I had 2 Liters of water in my pack, which I drank a little over a Liter of water during the race while taking my gels (I took 10 total gels, 7 roctane lemonade gels [no caffeine & more amino acids] and 3 salted watermelon gels [caffeine & more sodium], so 1000 calories total).  I had 2 16 oz carry bottles (one I carried, the other in my pack) of slightly diluted LMNT (1000 mg sodium, 200 mg potassium, 60 mg magnesium) which I drank, then I had an extra 2 packs of the drink mix which I used one pack in one of my 16 oz bottles and did not dilute it.  The other pack I couldn’t tear open so I had to do just Gatorade in my 16 oz bottle at the last aid station.  So 4 16 oz bottles of an electrolyte drink, which was predominantly LMNT, which I would highly recommend for anyone who sweats profusely and is losing large quantities of sodium.

Super pumped about snagging the new PR!!!

Deep in the pain cave those back half miles!

Celebrating with my faves!  What an amazing day!

Why Keep Count - Ironman TX 70.3 Race Report

We learn early on the importance of keeping count, of marking our progress, keeping tabs on how close we are to the goals we set out for ourselves to accomplish.  We do this in all arenas – athletics, careers, relationships.  Whether it’s that first 5K under a certain mark, a top ten finish in an Ironman, an anniversary with a loved one, that coveted promotion well earned, we know our numbers.  Some of my all-time favorite swim workouts I can recall with perfect clarity, and I can list out all of my PRs from all of my swim events over the years, including the year and the meet that I achieved them at (well except for the breaststroke events, I’d rather forget those, hahaha!).  Perhaps the better question is why are we keeping count, does it serve a purpose, are all of these details really relevant to our journey as a whole?  Of course it is.  Everything that we do builds on what we have done previously, every goal, every dream chased, every end result, leads us ultimately to who we are meant to be.  And when we unapologetically lean into who we are meant to be, it gives others permission to do the same.

Athletes I have coached over the years have asked that question, why does this workout matter, who cares about the time, the pace, etc.  I have asked myself as an athlete (and coach) those questions too.  Obviously every workout is not going to be your best ever, most will be average, and you’ll have some really phenomenal ones, and some really awful ones too.  But keeping track of the numbers, best T3000 time in the pool, best set of 12x400s on the track, allows for that growth as you continue to push the pace.  The same applies to races too - you'll have some good, some bad, and some in between.  But you have to know where you came from in order to lay the groundwork for where you are going.  Again, I could rattle off key workouts and races in all things swim without hesitation, a sport I have been in all my life and it has without a doubt laid the foundation for not only my future profession, but for other endurance endeavors as well.  The details matter.  The numbers don’t lie.  I guess that’s what I’ve always loved about sports like swimming, running, triathlon – the clock never lies.  You get what you put into it, full stop.  And to chase down those goals you need to keep track of the numbers, celebrate them as they come along.  Be proud of your progress, and don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.  For me a week and a half ago the magic number was 10.  Galveston was my 10^th half-ironman.  This double digit milestone is significant in my story because I've done 4 of those half-iron races before my hip replacement, and 6 after.  I am blown away by what my body can still do.  I think many of us do not really know what we are capable of, our default becomes limiting ourselves.  If you would have told me that I would add more half-iron races to my repertoire post hip than before, I wouldn’t have believed you.  And yet here I am, celebrating my 7^th hipaversary racing in my 10^th half-ironman.  Numbers are not the end all be all (of course that is the process as a whole), but they matter, and continue to empower us along the way in our journeys.  Know your numbers, know their significance, and know what they mean to you.  Own it, and lean all the way into your story.

SWIM

This was the FIRST time I have ever been able to rack my bike next to familiar faces!  Saturday afternoon I met up with my tri teamies before check in, and by all of us checking in together, we all received numbers right next to each other, so we would be all in the same place in transition.  I had been fortunate enough to train with this group on some rides before this race, which certainly pushed me out of my comfort zone, they were beasts on the bike, I soaked up all I could from all of those sessions.  I was so grateful that I was getting the chance to race with them at this event, appreciated all the cheers out on the course (even though I might have not looked so enthused on the run – we’ll get to that fun leg in a bit, hahaha!), and was so pumped for them that they totally crushed it out there!  What a privilege it was to have them out there in full force!!!

So awesome to see friendly faces race day morning as we were getting our bikes ready and setting out all of our gear – great conversation, took some fun pics, then headed to the swim start.  Last year the fam and I got to transition later than anticipated so I was racing to get as close to the front as I could; this year we got there a bit earlier, and I hustled in transition, so plenty of time to head to the swim start.  I wanted to seed myself around the 30ish mark, and I got there with time to spare this year.  Water temp was low 70’s like last year, and like last year, I went sans wetsuit.  My ultimate goal in the swim is always to break 30 minutes (28 minutes and change at Buffalo Springs in 2017 doesn’t count since the swim was short), but anywhere in that range I am usually pleased with, in the vicinity of 30-32 minutes.  Last year I was 31:49, so I would have been ecstatic to hit that number again, but no dice this year.  I did sight right on target pretty much the whole way, but I just couldn’t find a great rhythm most of the swim.  Competing in the Highland Lakes Challenge this past fall just reiterated my love for distances 5K and farther – this 1.2 swim confirmed that.  It is ironic that when I first got into triathlon a couple of decades ago, I bemoaned how short the swim was, and couldn’t they shorten the bike portion instead??  And now, I am pumped to get onto the bike leg.  I don’t dislike the swim of course, I’m just not crazy about the shorter distance.  Give me miles and miles of water, swimming long is my favorite.  So I finally turn at the last buoy and can see the finish in my sights, pick up the pace as much as I can into the finish, and as soon as I pop up and glance at my watch I groan.  I knew it would be slower than my pace last year, I could feel it, but I was hoping for a 32+/33 low.  Numbers don’t lie, and while it wasn’t my best, it’s also not my worst, and it was now over, so I needed to focus on what was in front of me, T1, and the 56-mile bike that lay ahead of us.

SWIM = 34:27

T1 = 6:38

BIKE

My transition time was about the same as last year, a few minutes slower, but in the same ballpark.  I would still like to get that sucker under 5 minutes, plenty of work to do in that arena.  As I raced for the exit out of transition I was sure to take a package of my skratch chews, as well as some of my skratch drink on my way out.  The usual twists and turns out of the park I wasn’t crazy about as per usual, but once I got out on the main road I hit it.  My bike training had been so much more substantial than the bike training leading up to this event last year, so I was super pumped to chase my bike PR which I got on this exact course in 2018!  Good news for us was that we got crosswinds this year instead of the direct tailwind/headwind that we got last year, so the return trip was much more pleasant, lol! Little bit of a cross tailwind going out, overall I felt good, kept pushing the pace, still got passed by plenty of stronger cyclists – I was pretty sure my teamies would be chasing me down - I kept my cadence up, and my legs moving!  We had overcast skies and as we headed over the bridge onto the island, some fog joined us as well.  Although not something I would normally want to ride in during a training ride, the fog out on this race course was soothing somehow, I just felt so calm riding in it, and was really enjoying the day!  After the turnaround I took another package of skratch chews, and of course had been drinking water/skratch all along the route, so I felt like my nutrition was pretty on point.  When we made the turnaround last year, we were blasted with a brutal headwind all the way back.  This year the return trip was a headwind crosswind, and it was glorious! Felt solid on the island and back over the bridge, and all the way up until about mile 45.  At that point I was doing some sitting up out of aero to stretch my back, and trying to stay focused for those last 10 miles, I was going to be really close to a bike PR!  Somewhere in here my teammate passed me, and that gave me a boost, and figured the rest of the crew was not far behind.  I fought really hard those back half miles, and I watched my mph go down, then back up, such a seesaw at the very end.  As we turned onto the road that would take us back into the park I never gave up hope that the PR was up for grabs, kept pushing as hard as I could all the way in!  It wasn’t quite enough for the PR (so close!), but it was a solid bike split for me, and the leg that I was most pleased with all day!!!

Bike = 3:02:02

T2 = 4:53

RUN

Super pumped about the T2 transition, finally under 5!!!  Last year’s T2 was almost 8 minutes, yuck!!  Super proud of the hustle, headed out on the run course feeling pretty good, we still had some cloud cover, unlike the full sun we had last year, but this year it was definitely more humid.  As I knocked out the first few miles of the first loop I was doing ok, had my carry bottle with me this year with the skratch drink, and I had eaten another bag of skratch chews out of T2 as I headed onto the run.  This year the fam let me know where they would be, so I saw them pretty quickly, gave high fives, hugs, and kisses, and continued on my way.  As I was heading into the back half of the first loop I saw my teamies heading the other direction, and it was so awesome to be able to shout words of encouragement to one another!  By the end of the first loop I knew I was in a bit of trouble.  My pace had slowed down pretty substantially, but I was still optimistic that even at a slower pace, I might not PR, but I could still make that 6 hour mark.  I was staying on top of my hydration, and taking the gels every 30 minutes, but by about midway through the second loop I could feel the implosion coming on.  I had briskly walked through previous aid stations, now I took my time walking through them.  In fact, I would tell myself, just keep running to the next aid station, then you can walk.  By the back half of the second loop I was throwing in some 20-30 second walk breaks, and then running to the next aid station, mile marker, the fam – whatever I could focus on.  I was coming undone fast, and I was pretty sure I might just be walking the entire 3^rd loop, not sure I had anything left in the tank.  It was disappointing since last year I negative split the sucker and my last mile was the fastest mile of the whole thing.  There would be no negative splits this year, I was deep in the pain cave and just wanted to be able to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Loop 3 was such a sufferfest, I willed my body forward, more quick walk breaks, taking my time through the aid stations, and coke became my staple.  Every single aid station on that third loop I would grab ice and coke, throw some ice in the coke, and chug it.  It tasted so good, and was a must have on that loop!  By mile 12 I was just trying to keep it all together, it was so much fun as I headed for the finish seeing my fam and tri teamies cheering loudly for me on that homestretch!  I made it!!!  It was one of the slowest half marathons I have done in a half iron, but I was so proud of how hard I fought in the run leg, especially the back half when all I wanted to do was walk it in.  Pretty gnarly headache post-race told me my nutrition may not have been as on point as I thought, or the humidity just did me in, or a combo of both.  As I debriefed with Coach Hillary later, she pointed out some important numbers, my barely there run mileage leading up to this race this year.  After Houston I had been dealing with some foot pain, and had backed way off the running, was nervous it was a stress fracture, fortunately just a nasty case of bursitis, and by the time it was on the flip side I managed to get in a couple of longer runs that I had felt good about, but still wasn’t enough to sustain the legs this go round.  The numbers don’t lie, and at the end of the day it does come down to what you put into it.  I was still pleased that my foot did finally come around and I was still able to close out lucky #10!

RUN = 2:26:26

TOTAL = 6:14:23

So incredibly grateful to get the chance to do these races!!!  So grateful the fam was out there in full force cheering me on all day, and so grateful for all of my tri team’s cheers too, and enjoyed getting the chance to race with my badass teamies out there this year!!!  Super pumped to be able to mark down #10 in the books, and so proud of my progress getting to this point in my journey!  Looking forward to all of the adventures ahead!  Obviously the marathon PR is still on my radar to chase, and it may be about time to put another marathon swim on the docket!  Super stoked to keep chasing it all!!! Let’s goooooo!!!

You Win Some, You Lose Some - Houston Race Report

Spoiler alert – I did not complete the marathon a couple of weekends ago.  In fact, I did not even attempt it, and made a game time decision during the race to switch to the half.  Disappointed is an understatement of how I felt after that half on Sunday, I was crushed that I did not get to chase the 2-decade old PR in the marathon, which I was confident I could break.  The decision not to do the marathon, albeit a hard call to make, turned out to be the right one since my body was more wrecked after the half marathon than it was after my 50k this past November.  This could not have been clearer to me as I was upchucking in a bag on the drive home (a first for me, super fun times), and I could not actually eat anything of substance until Monday morning.  I think I slept nearly 15 hours when I got home that Sunday, the day was a shitshow pretty much from start to finish.  But it wasn’t all for not, I gleaned so much from putting this race on the docket and attempting to chase that PR. 

About a week and a half before the race, I finally decided to go to the doctor, I had been dealing with some coughing and congestion since the arctic blast weekend over Christmas.  I know my body well enough to know that if mucus stays too long in my sinuses, it will eventually wander down into my chest and sit there.  By the time I went to the doctor, I was still dealing with sinus congestion, my ears hadn’t cleared in a week, and I had developed chest congestion (sure enough!) with a cough that had become deeper, yet I still couldn’t get the crap out.  I told the doctor I had had some good days too, and had been taking some over the counter meds, so I might have been on the up and up, but the cough was concerning me and I had a race in a week and a half, so I wanted to get it checked just in case.  After listening to me she said that it sounded like I had the start of bronchitis. Oh shit.  A week later I was at a different doctor’s office still not feeling great, and wanted to make sure my lungs were clear for race day.  A chest x-ray later and the doc confirmed my lungs were clear, I could run, enjoy the day, although she recommended not to necessarily red-line it since my body was still fighting illness.  And can I just say I walked out of that facility feeling like a million bucks, every doctor’s visit should be exactly like that.  The x-ray tech was an athlete, and we discussed the triathlons in our area; the doctor, I had taught her kiddo the past couple of years, and I immediately felt better seeing a familiar face, I had been so stressed to still be fighting sickness right before race day.  She put me at ease, and I was so grateful to have her as my doctor that day!  So after the incredible visit I felt hopeful my body would still be ready to go race day!

Race weekend was upon me, and even waking up Saturday I did not feel quite right.  Slight headache, took some Tylenol, kept hydrating.  By the time we got to Houston, the headache had gotten worse, pretty sure it was getting close to migraine status.  By that evening I didn’t even feel well enough to really eat, went to bed early, hoping and praying I would wake up feeling at least just a little bit better.  I did not.  Head still throbbed, I still felt sick.  Ate a couple of bites of yogurt, a couple of bites of apple, and that’s all I could do.  Considered not toeing the line at all, I felt so bad, but that made me so sad to not even give it a shot.  So I put on all my gear and headed to the start line.  This race always has the best energy, I could feel all the good vibes around me, decided I would run until I couldn’t, I would take it mile by mile, and it would be a game time decision if I decided to pull the plug.  I was not hopeful that I would make it very far, still felt like crap, but I would give it a go.  As soon as we started I could tell it was not going to be a very long day for me.  My paces were substantially slower than the paces I held during my long runs leading up to this race.  But I pushed that aside, and focused on the mile right in front of me.  I focused on my form, I focused on taking my hydration and nutrition, even though taking my gels each time caused me to gag, but I forced them down anyway.  I was still grateful to be out there putting in some miles, it was so cool to look ahead and behind me, and see a sea of runners in both directions for as far as the eye could see.  Everyone out there running together, running for different reasons, but sharing the day, always such a fulfilling and powerful experience.  By an hour in I knew for certain that the marathon was a no go, so when the marathon branched off at mile 8 and the half continued straight, I stayed on the half marathon path.  I was crushed, I had worked so hard for this day, and my body had refused to cooperate.  And it wasn’t even what I had initially worried about that derailed me – yes, still some coughing and chest congestion, but I could breathe, and was not hacking up as much as I had been.  It was my head that was killing me, I just felt so sick, my body had already been depleted before I even began.  I had a little pity party for the next mile, then decided to try to hit the paces that I was supposed to be hitting during this race for the next 4 miles.  The half at this race had been my first half marathon (running the whole thing) post hip surgery in 2017, so I was still feeling some pretty strong emotions in those last few miles.  It was a struggle in 2017, those last few miles, and of course I was just coming back, and hesitant about how much I could push.  This time I was flying, even as awful as I was feeling the legs were still coming around, and it was exciting to see how far I had come running wise during this last big training block.  I had leveled up.  The fam was surprised to see me as soon as they did, and I was grateful that they were right there when I finished, I was a mess.  Quick post-race pics during/after some tears, then it was time to pack up and head home.  I still could not eat anything, had a bite of banana, a sip of chocolate milk, and that was it.  The car ride home was the longest ever, and as soon as we arrived I headed straight to bed.  I still have no idea if the migraine came on from fighting the illness right up to the race, or I caught something else, but whatever it was, it was no good, and came on at the worst possible time.

It took me a little while to put pen to paper about my report, I was really disappointed in myself – I had put my big goal out there, and I was confident that I had a really good shot of achieving it, and then to not even be in the ballpark of being able to chase it, well, I was crushed.  Hubs pointed out that it was just bad timing (was it ever!) and munchkin told me she was proud of me for trying (all the feels in my mama heart on that one), and all of my supportive friends had the best words of encouragement and wisdom, I felt like even though it was a loss as far as not even being able to chase the PR, it was also a win with the experience gained.  Later, as I was debriefing with Coach Hillary, we discussed all the quality miles that I had put in during the fall, as well as all of the solid long runs that I nailed my marathon pace miles.  My cadence had improved, I just felt stronger on all of my runs, from the easy to the tempo.  While this race didn’t go AT ALL according to plan, the training I put in for it remains in the bank for the long haul.  I think sometimes the races that don’t go according to plan we toss aside or do not want to really talk about, but those are the ones we usually learn from the most.  We can be quick to share all the deets from the highest of achievements, but there is a lesson in the epic failures too.  Whether sidelined by an injury, or an illness, or a race simply doesn’t go according to plan, all of the deposits put into the process simply do not vanish, the journey continues.  It’s always refreshing to read/listen to a story/blog/podcast that do just that – acknowledge the setbacks, not just the gains.  And embracing those disappointments and setbacks along the journey are key, which are just as pertinent to the process as the victories.  We should never be afraid or ashamed to celebrate both.  I didn’t get it done this time around, and I am disappointed the race did not go according to plan.  But I did make some huge gains along the way, leveled up so to speak.  The training block leading up to this race was a win, even though Houston itself was a loss.  Can’t wait to give the marathon another go in the near future, not done chasing this goal, and looking forward to all the wisdom I am still yet to learn on this journey along the way!!! #gratefulheart

Going All In - Barrier Island Ultra 50k Race Report

 

“Adversity is our teacher.  When we view adversity as a guide towards greater inner growth, we will then learn to accept the wisdom our soul came into this life to learn.”  ~Barbara Rose

 

“Father Time catches up to us all.”  En route to my swim event several weeks ago, I stopped in for my annual hip check-up.  Every year it alternates between seeing either my surgeon or PA, this year it was my PA passing on those words of wisdom.  Both know that I run on my replacement, and in fact when I was shopping for surgeons back in 2015 for this surgery, my now surgeon told me the new joint would absolutely hold for running purposes, we just didn’t know what the life of the new hip would look like, there just wasn’t enough data out there to tell us such things.  Two years ago the left hip started going, labral tears and the like.  PRP injection helped to calm things down, and a couple of years later it’s still rocking and rolling.  But I also know I am on a clock, that my run days will one day be behind me.  But that day is not today.  And as I reflected on those words of wisdom from my PA, it has occurred to me (and intuitively always knew but drives the point home so much deeper post hip) that indeed, Father Time will catch up to us all, in all kinds of different arenas.  Bionic body parts seem like small potatoes in the grand scheme of things that Time will expose us to.  There’s a spectrum, and I imagine we all will find ourselves somewhere along that range throughout our lives.  Not just the havoc Time will have on our bodies, but all that we will experience will give us perspective and wisdom unlike anything we could have imagined when we look back at our younger selves over the decades.  Personally, I have always tried to glean all of the lessons that I could from my athletic endeavors, from my coaching and teaching experiences, from all that Life threw at me.  The past decade taught me so much, and then some more.  The insight I gained into myself, the wisdom I gained about the importance of story, let’s just say God gave me a new set of eyes.  Time is very much a commodity that we do not have enough of, so what we do with the time that we do have matters.  Go all in.  On yourself, in your endeavors, your relationships.  Don’t go halfsies.  Halfway is bullshit.  When you go after a goal, pursue a passion, search for your tribe – don’t put yourself in a box, don’t be less intense, less passionate, less, less, less.  Be more.  More of it all.  Go ALL in.

 

Most struggle with the going all in, so many activities, so much to get done, so little time.  It’s also hard to go all in for ourselves when we feel like others may not be in our corner, whether it’s colleagues, friends, family – maybe we sometimes hesitate because we are placating others without even realizing it – doing what they want to do, chasing their dreams, but at the expense of our own.  So I think going all in means going all in on all of these things, not necessarily just in chasing a goal, but going all in on ourselves, of being of who we are.  To not to put ourselves in a box for others, to not stifle that energy, intensity, authenticity.  We are always gleaning lessons from our experiences, we should never hesitate to go all in to learn as much as we can.  That goal/endeavor/dream means so much more because of the whole process of what you put in.  And that process is often HARD, and it is tempting to sometimes go halfsies along the way, but don’t do it.  The hard is what makes it great, anything worth anything in life is hard.  Marriage is hard, parenting is hard, coaching and teaching (professions I’ve been in for decades now) are hard.  And people don’t like to talk about the hard, what it means to go all in, we protect ourselves.  But to acknowledge the hard, and go all in – that is so fulfilling, life changing.  Pursuing those goals/dreams that are close to your heart, and knowing what your non-negotiables are.  Family time is my number one so everything works around that.  I make no apologies.  That means I am picky with my race schedule, I do what works best for me and my crew.  But I still put those goals out there and chase them with everything I got.  I have always LOVED the process of chasing goals, of putting in the work.  I could not be happier with my fall block of training – getting ready for the three day swimfest, coupled with getting ready for the 50k, with munchkin’s gymnastics comp meets in there, school kiddos’ cross country meet schedule in there, and all the busyness that comes with the school fall schedule.  I always perform at my best when I have so many things happening at one time, and this fall was no exception.  As I chased down my goals in my 50k last weekend, I was the most proud of that, of the whole process in its entirety that went into preparing for this beast.  That’s what I celebrated out there last Saturday, giving it all I had during the process so that I could just relish the experience on race day.

 

We lucked out with a small cool front that morning, and it stayed overcast most of the run for me, weather in the 60s and much less humid than it had been.  Even by Sunday the humidity was back, and my hubs joked if I would have rather had the humidity or the big winds that we ended up having and I did not hesitate to say the big winds, hahaha!  The 50k was 2 loops of 15.5 miles, 4 times through 7.75 miles with aid stations at the start/finish, and the 1.5 mile mark, and the 6.65 mile mark.  It would have been nice to have had one in between the 1.5 and 6.65 mile mark, that stretch got kind of lonely, but it is what it is.  I had my hydration pack with me with pretty much everything that I needed, I wasn’t planning on stopping much at the aid stations if I could help it.  Actually my pack was fairly heavy to start, 2 L of water in the pack, a couple of 16 oz bottles, tons of gels and skratch chews, I was all set!  The first 7.75 was fairly uneventful, we started at 7 am so it was still a little dark out, but got light quickly.  We had a small tailwind to start which would become stronger throughout that first stretch, it wouldn’t take it long to pick up.  There would be a small craft advisory due to the wind, it blew constantly at about 20 knots, gusts of up to 25 knots, it was pretty gnarly on those return trips with the headwind.  My goal was about 6 hours, I was hoping to get under 6, but realistically looking at 6 as the mark to shoot for.  I was trying to stay as relaxed as I could on that first 15.5 miles like I had discussed with my coach, but that 2^nd segment of 7.75 miles into the headwind made it a bit harder to stay relaxed.  I pushed a bit to hold my pace, and even with the extra push my pace slowed.  At about 13 miles I had to stop quickly and pull the aquaphor out of my bag to apply it on my lower back where the hydration pack was chafing me.  It burned really bad early on, I knew it was going to get worse throughout the day.  I had applied aquaphor everywhere before the race but forgot about that spot. No good.  After applying I jumped right back onto the pace, and soon was at the turnaround point, just one more 15.5 mile loop to go!  I stopped quickly at the aid station there to refill my bottle with electrolytes (I had gone through both bottles of electrolytes on the first loop).  I got going again slowly, and tried my best to get back on pace.  At the 1.5 mile aid station I stopped again quickly to put more aquaphor on and put one of my empty bottles in the pack.  The next 5 miles dragged on a bit, I was doing a great job of continuous running, and that was another big goal, to be able to run the entire thing with limited walking.  I did do a 50k in 2018 in Bastrop, but much more walking/hiking happened at that one, and I wanted to see what it would be like to run as much of the 50k as possible.  I finally made it to the 6.65 mile aid station, and I spent a moment there collecting myself, refueling my bottle with electrolytes.  Finally made the trek to the 7.75 mi turnaround point, there was a bit of brief walking on this short stretch, but overall I kept it to a slow shuffle jog.  When I turned around and the wind pummeled me is when things slowed down the most.  Super slow shuffle jog/quick walk breaks back to the aid station at 6.65 mi, where I spent the most time at it for the last time, topping off my electrolytes, and getting a coke.  I drank about half of the coke, then I was ready to get to the final stretch.  Those couple miles after the aid station were the toughest, I could see I was not going to make my goal of 6 hours, and I was not going to make my goal of setting a marathon PR in my 50k.  Yes, a bit ambitious to set that one during a 50k that is entirely on sand, but I thought it was possible, and it really was until about mile 23.  My PR is 4:37 from the Austin Marathon back in 2004, and the fact that I was knocking on the door of that for most of this race gave me so much joy.  I cried at mile 25, when I get overwhelmed with emotion it’s what I do, and those tears were for the disappointment of not reaching that goal, but also for the excitement of being so close, and the realization that I would shatter my previous 50k PR if I kept moving forward.  Euphoric is the best word to describe that moment.  I called my crew and at mile 27 I gave up my hydration pack to the fam, I needed the last 4 miles to be pack free.  I took my electrolyte bottle and my phone and that was it.  For those last 4 miles I ran 3-4 minutes solid and alternated it with a 30 second easy walk.  Forward momentum was the name of the game.  At the 1.5 mi aid station I quickly stopped to put water in my bottle (I had run out of my electrolyte fluid just then), and pushed on to the finish.  As I got closer to the finish, I saw all of these kites, and inflatable crabs, and I mistook them for finish line hoopla so I got super stoked, then was so bummed to see it was not actually the finish line! Noooooo!  My finish run quickly deflated to a walk.  Then I caught sight of the actual finish line and started back up again.  My quads were on fire, but kept pushing all the way to that finish chute!  I almost tripped and rolled an ankle right before finishing but luckily caught myself, lol!  I was so elated as I crossed that finish line, quickly greeted by my cheer crew!  What a day!!!!!!

Previous 50k – 9:28, New PR – 6:31:21!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I could not be more proud of “going all in” on all of the things this fall.  So grateful to Coach Hillary for getting me ready to race both the swim stage race and this 50k race amidst my crazy fall schedule!  The experience at my 50k race was made even more fulfilling by the entire process that went into preparing for it.  I LOVED that crazy process this fall so much!!!!  I put in more mileage than I had in years, and come race day shattered my old PR, and even came close to breaking an old marathon PR!  So, never hesitate to go all in, to chase those goals/dreams that bring you the most joy, to soak up the entire process of pursuing those endeavors that mean the most to you.  You won’t get this day/month/year back.  Father Time really will catch up to us all.  Show up and “go all in” in all arenas in your life.  It will be hard, but it will be worth it – just go for it.  I thought this season was over for me after the 50k, but I’m not quite done yet.  Got the marathon PR on my radar and I’m all in.  Houston marathon here I come.  Let’s goooooooooooooo!!!!

Highland Lakes Challenge - Race Report

Last Spring as I was discussing possible 2022 goals with my coach, I found that I was itching to do another marathon swim.  Swim Around Key West is still my all-time favorite swim/all-time favorite race, and I wanted to put something of that size back on the docket.  Lake Tahoe swims caught my attention initially, and I considered the 12 miler, and possibly even the Trans Tahoe Relay with a collegiate swim friend who does the race with her hubs and their friends most years.  That relay sitch did not work out this time around but I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for a U of H swim reunion at this event, how incredible would that be, let’s do it ladies!!!!!!  With no Tahoe for the summer, I began looking at other alternatives, and I stumbled across a gem that I wish I would have known about years ago!!!  The Tex Robertson Highland Lake Challenge, put on by Sandy Neilson-Bell and Dr. Keith Bell (totally read all of his psychology books for swimming back in the day!).  The original format for the race is 5 lakes, 5 days in the Texas Hill Country.  Lake Buchanan, Lake LBJ, Inks Lake, Marble Falls Lake, and concluding at Lake Travis, all varying distances.  This year was the first year back since 2019, so it was 3 days, 3 lakes.  I was intrigued immediately, and the best part would be that we could stay with my in-laws, and have the opportunity for some quality family time over the 4 days that we would be up there!  I knew training would be tricky in the fall, with school just getting started back again, coaching cross country, and munchkin’s gymnastics comp season gearing up, it was going to be a very busy fall indeed!  But I’m always up for a challenge, and decided to go for it!  And I am so happy that I did, what an incredible and humbling race experience!  Highly recommend this event for all avid swimmers!!!!!!!

 

DAY 1

Day one was a short 2.2 mile swim in Lake LBJ.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather, a little crisp in the morning, but not cold, with zero wind.  The lake looked like glass, it was beautiful!  Such a chill vibe in the atmosphere, as we all checked in with Sandy we all talked about the weekend ahead, other open water swims we’ve done, open water swims that we want to do – it was so low key, but still very much a competitive bunch.  There were 20 of us total that first day (such a small event, so cool!!!), and all we were allowed to have was a swimsuit, cap, goggles, and our swim safety buoy (not a huge fan of swimming with it in a race, felt like drag, but my attitude changed a bit about it on the third and final day, hahaha!).  We also could not wear any type of watches or garmins, no technology allowed.  This was difficult for those of us used to crunching numbers, but also a bit freeing in a way.  Later I learned that a few of the athletes stuffed their garmins in their safety buoys to get some sort of reading, hahaha!  The 2.2 mile loop was rectangular like, two orange buoys at either end of the rectangle, with an orange buoy at the dock that we had to touch when we finished.  We started at that same dock, and when they counted us down to zero, we headed for the bridge in the distance, keeping the buoy to our left, swimming width wise to the next buoy, then rounding it and swimming length-wise to the buoys back across the lake.  I felt really solid this whole swim, started off pretty quick, did not sight right on target for the first buoy, but was not too far off base.  Course corrected, and kept hitting it.  Was chasing rabbits, and these rabbits had orange safety buoys attached, so they were easy to see!  I was the only one with a pink safety buoy (are you surprised? of course not!), so I was really easy to spot for the hubs, who had the opportunity to be out there all three days.  They needed another boat out there, and since driving boats is pretty much his job, he gladly volunteered to be another safety boat out on the course!  So fun that he was able to be a part of this event too!  So I rounded the buoys at one end of the course and headed for the other side.  Felt fantastic, still no winds so it was easy to cut right through the water with no problem!  As I got ready to round the last set of buoys is where I went off course more than I should have, and added to my distance (others did as well, and still others were about to cut the 2^nd buoy out completely and just head to the finish, until they were corrected).  So looking at it visually, the last couple of buoys looked like they were directly across from one another, when in fact, the 2^nd one was more at a diagonal (it was not the same set up as the first 2 at the bridge at the first half of the race), so I rounded the first buoy, and swam across the lake looking for the 2^nd buoy – I was feeling so strong I did not want to stop (I should have stopped, hahaha), so I just kept swimming, figuring the buoy would appear at any moment.  It did not, because it was not there.  I finally popped my head up and looked around, and the pontoon boat stationed at the end of the buoys with the volunteers were trying to get my attention, and were pointing to where I was supposed to go.  I finally realized I was off course and swam for the 2^nd buoy, and as I rounded that one, I could see the finish in sight!  Still felt amazing in the water and sprinted to the finish!  Final time 1:02:34!  Those of us who veered off course estimated the extra distance to be between .2-.3, so still a solid swim!  I honestly do not know my final placing, hubs said he thought he counted me as 8^th, not sure if I was 2^nd or 3^rd woman to finish.  Which I was totally pumped about with this crew.  There were collegiate athletes, marathon swimmers, masters swimmers, and the like.  Everyone was competitive.  I finished that 2.2 miler, and those behind me finished one after the other.  There were no stragglers, everyone was a strong swimmer out there, and it was so fun trying to stay with the beast groups.  The overall female winner for the weekend swam the 8 mile Lighthouse swim in Islamorada when she was 15 years old just to give you an idea of what I am saying!  Like holy moly I was so impressed with the swim versatility in this group!!!  First day was a success, we all took a group pic at the end, then it was off to refuel and rest up for Inks Lake on Day 2!

DAY 2

 

This was my FAVORITE day of the three!!!!  Point to point 3.2 miler in Inks Lake, no buoys to sight, just hit it right from the start, and keep the gas on!  Also the finish was at Camp Longhorn which was so cool because my kiddos at school had always talked about how awesome this camp was over the years, and now I was seeing that camp in person!  We were starting at the dam upstream, and then swimming downstream to Camp Longhorn.  We all piled into several boats after the swim safety briefing, and headed for the dam.  I had given my parka to hubs, and just took a towel to wrap around myself for the boat ride, it wasn’t too chilly in the air that morning.  We all chatted about previous swims we had done on the way out, looking back to follow the path that we would be swimming on the way back.  As we neared the dam, I noticed my hubs was driving one of the boats, didn’t realize he was going to drive this day, would have hopped in his boat if I had known! Of course, in full race mode, the first thing I said to him when I saw him (instead of great to see you out here!) was where is all of my stuff?? Hahaha!  Luckily he had dropped it at the race start with most of the other gear, I would need that parka straightaway after coming out of this swim.  We waved and he wished me luck, and off the boat I went.  Eeeeeeee that water was pretty chilly!  Swam to the start buoy trying to warm myself up.  Countdown started, and soon we were racing towards Camp Longhorn.  Didn’t stay with the front pack long, but the pack after that we stayed together for a big chunk of the race.  There were 4 of us, and we just kept swimming with each other, moving in front of each other, behind each other, next to other – the positions just kept changing as we moved along.  Hubs said it was pretty cool to watch, there we were, with plenty of room, all grouped together.  I hung on as long as I could – I felt as strong on day 2 as I did on day 1, and I was totally digging this point to point swim, I was determined to empty the tank all the way!  Probably about three quarters of a mile out from the finish they started to pull away just a bit, and at this point we also started to feel the wind and chop.  The big hillsides had protected us the majority of the swim, but as we neared the end, we would begin to encounter choppier waters.  By at about a half mile to go, I could tell I was definitely putting more effort into each stroke because of the conditions, but it was not super significant.  At about 500 yards or so from the finish the chop became more significant, and it was just a fight all the way in at that point!  Challenge accepted!  Pushed hard all the way into that orange buoy!  Final time 1:18:33!!! Yassssss!!!!  So super stoked about that effort!!!!  Again, hubs thought he counted me as 9^th, I think 3^rd woman.  But honestly, it didn’t even matter, it was anyone’s race, such a competitive field, and I was so humbled to be out there experiencing this race with all of these incredible swimmers!!!!  As I climbed the ladder at the finish, the super choppy water and waves reminded me of climbing the ladder of the diving boat at the oil rig at the Flower Gardens years ago in similar conditions, except then the ladder also bobbed up and down with the boat (hahaha!) so it was awesome in this case that the dock did not move, lol!  As I hopped out and visited with the other finishers, I was extremely grateful to see my parka sitting there with all of the gear – parka and beanie went on asap, I was super chilly after that swim!  Hubs drove the boat up not too long after, and at that point we saw the pontoon just down the way following the last 2 swimmers.  Again, the whole crew (today it was 22 of us) was in and out of the swim pretty quickly, I think everyone finished around the 1:40ish mark!  2 down, 1 to go!!!!!!!!!

 

DAY 3

 

Oh man day 3.  I guess it was fitting Mother Nature saved the toughest for last.  So Sunday was projected to also be a windy day, except there would not be any protection in Lake Buchanan.  It was wide open for the whole 3.2 mile swim.  This lake is usually first on the docket in the 5 day series, and it was the only one that had previously required a kayaker sherpa per swimmer.  It also was usually a longer swim, a little over 4 miles.  If I had this day to do over again, I would have asked hubs to suit up and kayak for me (although later in the race they would need him to pull out their boat that died so he was still plenty busy), but I still gleaned plenty out of this sucker going solo, so maybe I wouldn’t change anything at all.  Right from the start we were pummeled.  The race map looked a little like a rectangular trapezoid, we were going into the wind first, then would have a tailwind when we went all the way across the lake to the next buoy.  It didn’t matter.  You couldn’t see shit.  The orange buoys were not large enough to really see over the waves, it was definitely difficult to sight a line…the entire race.  After fighting wave after wave heading towards buoy #1, I realized I was quite a bit off, so I swam diagonally to right myself, and fought as hard as I could through the waves.  I was relieved as I finally approached the buoy, and we only had to touch it, and then head for the next one.  As I changed directions and headed across the lake, I was passed, and I tried to follow the orange safety buoy in front as long as I could but it was short lived.  Eventually, there was a kayak next to me, but I didn’t really feel much better about that at that time, since the kayak had nearly slammed into me on several occasions.  It was tough conditions for a kayaker too, and if you were not a seasoned, reasonably strong one, it was going to be a strugglebus day out there.  So I finally popped my head up next to my kayaker and asked where the buoy was, I couldn’t see it!  He pointed across the lake, and I could finally make it out.  So I kept plugging away.  The tailwind was deceptive as far as the help you might think it could provide.  You almost felt like you were about to body surf, until the wave pulled you back, they were too short and too choppy.  I took some strong strokes and popped up to keep the buoy in sight.  I repeated this process over and over again in what felt like forever.  Eventually, my kayaker gets in front of me, and I pop up, and he says, I’m so sorry, not that buoy, but that other one over there.  I look where he is pointing and it is diagonal from the other one, so not too bad of an adjustment.  I said thank you, and continued on my way.  So, somewhere in here my kayaker disappeared, and the buoy seemed to get farther and farther away.  I was exhausted fighting through all the chop, but my spirits were high as I got closer to the buoy and was getting ready to turn on the home stretch.  Except as I was almost to the buoy, I realized that I was almost nearly on shore!  WTAF?!?!  Long story short, this buoy, as well as the finish buoy, blew off of their lines.  The race director told us post-race that this was the 2^nd worst conditions at this lake in the 13 years of having this event, and she was going to go pull all of the swimmers out of the water, except the boat died.  So back to my shore debacle, I did some doggy paddle to get myself out of there, and did a little breaststroke to get my bearings.  There were tree branches sticking out of this shallow cove all over the place, so quite a bit of breaststroke so I could see where I was going.  Then I’d do some freestyle, then I’d see the branches again, so more breaststroke.  At this point, I couldn’t see the finish (since the buoy blew away), had no idea where I was going, and wondered if they were about to come pick me up and tell me I had DNFed (I could not see any kayakers or swimmers anywhere, I felt like I must have been the very last one out there).  For the first time in my life, I was a bit uncomfortable in the water, and suddenly could see that bridge where those who might not be comfortable at all could have some anxiety attacks in these type of situations.  I continued to do some breaststroke, and a couple freestyle strokes.  I wanted to do water polo freestyle, but that was a no go because I would swallow too much water while getting pummeled in the face by the waves.  I turned around to look back at the buoy, and suddenly I saw the pontoon boat. Are they coming to pick me up?? Is this race going to be a DNF??  The boat made it to shore but didn’t seem to be moving (it died, and if I had stayed a bit longer right there, I would have seen hubs drive up in the jet ski to pull it out) and there were kayakers heading my way as well.  I waved at them, and this older gentleman got to me first, and I am sad that I forget his name (he told me several times when I asked him, I just cannot recall it) because this man guided me all the way into the finish which I was so super grateful for.  It had crossed my mind before I saw anyone that I might even have to swim to the shore closest to me and walk it back, I couldn’t just be out there fighting those waves all day, not going in a general direction.  So my kayaker asked if I could see the next buoy and of course I could not, so he told me to follow his line. Forever and a year later, I made it to the buoy, touched it, and headed to the finish.  Of course I couldn’t see where that was either, and again my kayaker told me to follow his line.  I was starting to get cold, I was ready for this sucker to be done, I pushed as hard as I could in the cross wind and super choppy chop.  On the shore they were trying to hold up bright items like bright pink parkas, and even a bright orange kayak.  It was just so hard to see, really needed that buoy as a guidepost.  I just kept with my kayaker, and about 500 yards out I finally saw shore, and hubs was standing there in the water in front of the others on shore, and when I could see bottom, I put my feet down, threw my hands in the air, and teared up.  I gave hubs a huge hug, thanked my kayaker sherpa profusely, and just kept repeating, I was lost out there, I didn’t know where to go, I was so lost.  That’s when the race director explained with the gnarly conditions she was going to pull us but then the boat had problems.  Another spectator mentioned that they had eyes on me on shore, they could see when I was in that shallow cove, so that was good to hear.  I asked if my time counted, and they said yes it surely did!  Final time 2:10:35, who knows how far I really swam with the detour, but the swim was for sure the slowest of the three.  But I was most proud of this one.  It was so damn hard, and I was so uncomfortable in parts of it, but what great open water experience to deposit in the bank!  There were 2 more competitors left to go, so we cheered them into shore (just 13 swimmers on this day, I was just thrilled to be able to finish this race!).  Afterwards hubs went back out on the jet ski to help tow in a guy on a paddle board (the race director crew wasn’t sure he could make it in and would need help) but when hubs got out there, the paddler said that he had it.  That guy was a beast to be a paddler sherpa for us in those conditions!

Overall, what an incredible weekend of open water racing!!!  Loved that the hubs was able to participate in one way or another and be out there with me during all of those races as well!!!  Loved that we got all of the extra quality family time while we were out there!!!  So grateful to Coach Hillary for getting me ready to race in this event with my crazy fall schedule!!!  I cannot recommend the Tex Robertson Highland Lakes Challenge Race enough!!!!!  I will most definitely be back!!!!!  Next race up is a 50K this coming weekend!!!!!  What an awesome season of fall racing!!!!!  Yasssssssssssss!!!!!