This will be a hard post to write.
First, this is me with my friends BEFORE the Greeley Triathlon last Sunday (June 6th). I was in a great mood because I was, well, feeling great.
Weather was perfect and I was antsy to race. It would be my first race on my new fancy schmancy racing bike too.
But it would also be my first DNF.
The swim went really well - better than I expected. I felt strong and despite a little bit of hypoxia during the first 100 feet or so of the swim, I pulled off a 9:30'ish swim time (according to my friend, Jenny). That was at least a minute faster than last year.
Another surprise: I came out of the water ahead of Jenny, which surprised both of us because she has always been faster than me in the water (and on foot), and that gave me a jolt of energy. I flew through T1 pulling my wetsuit off in record time. I jumped on my bike and headed out onto the course feeling great.
As I headed east on 10th street going close to 20 mph, I heard something fall from my bike. It sounded like a tire iron or something like that. Then I noticed that my seat was wobbling all over the place. Oh no, this is not good!
I told myself to just hold it in place until I got back to T2. It was only a 10 mile bike and I thought I could make it back. I had to slow down to keep the seat in place using my inner thighs and buttocks. No, this is not good.
As I rounded the corner onto 95th Avenue, I realized I was super thirsty. I gently reached down to get my water bottle and the next thing I knew I was doing a face plant on the pavement and my body was skidding across the street.
This is the 2nd time I've crashed in a triathlon and I can tell you one thing: it hurts. It hurts like hell.
So what happened? My seat was obviously not screwed in tight and it just came off during the race. How in the world could that happen??? I really don't know (and neither does anyone else that I've asked). When I bought this bike last December, I bought a new seat too and the shop owner (who did my bike fit) put the new seat on but maybe he didn't screw it in tightly enough. But I've ridden the bike 9 or 10 times since then and never noticed anything. Go figure!
Fortunately, I did not break any bones. I had a cuts and lacerations on my face and a huge bruise on my left thigh. I also had a sharp pain in my chest, which only got worse as the day wore on. We thought it was a broken rib at first but then Kurt said it was probably a "rib muscle that separated from a rib bone". Great, as long as I don't laugh or take a deep breath, I'll be fine.
I cried pretty hard. I was very angry and I couldn't hold it in. A policeman called for someone to pick me up - lo and behold it was John Kinne - a Greeley policeman I know very well. He laughingly said "Dallow, what happened to you this time?" when he saw me and I tried to joke about it but I was not too successful. I was really upset.
Long story short, I ended up in the medical tent for much longer than I wanted to be. It was very, very hard to see my friends having a great time, comparing race times and congratulating each other. A few came over to joke with me but some kept a distance and that made me feel worse.
A week has passed and I am feeling better. The scars on my face have healed but not my pride; that will take much longer. I've come a long way as a triathlete and I felt like a total idiot for not checking my seat before the race. It was hard not to get a little depressed afterwards.
I did get some good training in this week. On Monday, I rode my trainer hard for 65 mins doing a Spinerval workout (the longest indoor workout I've ever done). Tuesday and Thursday were moderately-paced runs; on Wednesday, I rode 30 miles with Brian D (a guy I met through the Twin Rivers group, more on that later), and on Thursday I swam with the Master's group.
All in all, I'm lucky to be walking and talking, considering how fast I was going when I crashed. And I learned a few things along the way, like check your bike seat before a race....and believe in yourself no matter what happens.
No comments:
Post a Comment