Racing in the heat is a fear of mine and it was justified when I raced at West Point. The goal of this race was nothing more than to race and have fun. I trained right through and the real goal was to learn about how my body reacts in the heat. The week leading up to the race I had one of the worst runs in my entire life. It was slow, seemingly never ending and did I mention slow? My hear rate was out of control and an electrolyte imbalance was very evident.
On race day I felt good. The race was very well organized and although it was hot, I didn’t think it was too bad. The swim took me a little bit as I decided to check out a different beach half way through. Yes, I swam way off course and got the reward of being hit with an oar from the lady in the kayak…lol! So my thought – get everyone on the bike.
Out of the water and onto the bike. My hr was crazy high and I found myself trying to get it down so I could push. About mile 15 it finally happened and I began to feel good. The course was extremely well marked, people at all the corners, traffic stopped…very fun bike! My thought – catch them on the run.
I came out of T2 ready to rock and roll. Feeling good the first 2.5 miles flew by. I saw a good friend who was hurt and I almost stopped to run with her. Again, this was a fun race and I was having a blast. Then it hit…the bridge. As I started to feel the heat and sweat start to decline, I looked down at my watch, over 200bpm! I freaked! 208, 212, 218…I was a nervous wreck and started to just jog. Still not believing this was accurate I kept checking it and it went down to 198, only to go back up. My head was pounding, and the aid station was ahead. I walked through it and took in a couple cups of water. I started to jog again and instantly my hr was back up in the 200’s. Just jog I thought, it will be ok. I started doing math in my head to see if I was coherent and I was so I figured it was ok. Across the bridge again and I walked the aid station and down into the shade. There was a short steep hill ahead and I walked that too. It was smarter for me to walk I kept thinking. My thought now – that milkshake Tracy was talking about sure sounds good!
I made it across the finish and felt like shit! After drinking a mix 1 I was sick to my stomach with a side stitch that is still bothering me. I found some shade and just sat down. On my way home I called my coach and my parents to get some input. No worries, not crazy, probably electrolyte imbalance and some people race at high heart rates. I felt calmed. Had a great after race meal and fun the rest of the night! All in all, a fun race, more lessons learned and good times with great people!!!
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