Thursday, June 07, 2007

Swim Bike Crash Run Quit

This past weekend I competed in my first Half Iron Man in Burley Idaho. This race was specifically chosen for me because the swim was in a river...yes a nice moving on it's own river. Since the swim is my weakest link I need all the help I can get. On the morning of the race they bus you a mile plus up river, then you jump in and swim to the first transition area where you hop on your bike and ride into the sunset...or to transition 2 where you drop the bike grab your running shoes and you are now running your way to the finish. That is how most triathlons work...well mine was a little different than ideal. I did the whole swim portion, then I hopped on that bike just like I was told...I rode as hard as I could for 55.94 miles...unfortunately the course was 56 miles long. I crashed like .06 miles from the transition area. Let me back track this crash about 15 yards before I crashed I hit a ditch/gutter something that was crossing an intersection...I didn't see it coming - so I hit it hard, I think I hit it so hard I pinch flatted my front tire. Since this all happened so quickly I didn't even noticed I flatted. To get to transition 2 you make a small right turn...when I went in for this turn I was slowing down and turning just then my tire rolled off my front wheel rim. Yeah talk about Joseba Beloki 2003 tour injury...I slammed down on the ground pretty hard...I cracked my helmet and hit my face on the ground then I left a lot of skin on the road. If you know me you know how stubborn I can be so I grabbed my running shoes and tried to go for the run...well I made it about .5 miles before I turned back...my body was hurting...and mentally I'm not sure I was all there. So that pretty much sucked in a big way. I'm still shocked I went there to finish and I left as a 2/3rd winner. I'm pretty anti triathlons right now...so in a week or so I am thinking if I want to try again later in the summer.

2 comments:

DeGooyer Family said...

Congratulations!!!!!!!!! But I'm so sorry what happened - hope you're OK. I miss you and can't wait till you get back!

Anonymous said...

You write very well.