This race was also one week after I told Skyler I was pregnant. I debated on whether I would race and decided that I would race easy. I wasn't trying to win, I just wanted a good workout.
So Skyler and I headed to Las Vegas for the race. We met up with some friends up there who were also doing the race. They stayed with us at the trailer at Lake Mead. We previewed the bike course the day before the day and confirmed that it still sucked. It was also really rainy that day. Not a great combo for race day.
Race morning came and we prepared for our race. Since Las Vegas is a desert, it has extreme weather. So on the drive out to the race course the temp was reading about 45 degrees. I was not stoked.
The race began and I found out that the water was super cold too. I've never been that cold during the swim portion of a race ever. Not even in the ocean! Plus, I think the swim was longer than it should have been. I got out of the water and was just shivering. Since I wasn't in a hurry, I took my time drying off and trying to get warm. I couldn't get warm and took about 10 minutes in transition. Normally this is a ridiculous amount of time, but since I had a little baby to protect I didn't care.
Skyler Swim + T1 - 34:38 (2009 - 33:24)
Elise Swim + T1 - 39:49 (2009 - 32:11)
I grabbed a jacket and some snowboarding gloves and hopped on my bike. I knew I would warm up soon, but until then I was bundled up. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures for the race. Skyler's dad was at the race taking lots of pictures, but four months later and I haven't seen them yet. Oh well. I was glad that Skyler and I had pre-rode the course the previous day because I knew where all of the dangerous spots were. I worked on keeping my heart rate low, but I was still able to make almost every single climb. The funny part is that I really enjoyed the ride. Knowing that I wasn't racing and was just having a good time really changed my perspective. The best part is that my time was faster than before.
Skyler Bike + T2 - 1:43:36 (2009 - Skyler dropped out due to the flu)
Elise Bike + T2 - 2:18:43 (2009 - 2:43:38)
I was feeling really good by the time I got to the run. The run was a bit different than 2009, but it still had a similar amount of climbing. I monitored my heart rate, but was still able to run fairly fast. Remember that I was coming off a strong season of half-ironman and trail running training. Just a few minutes faster and I would have beat Skyler's run time :)
Skyler Run - 57:36 (2009 - no time)
Elise Run - 1:03:16 (2009 - 1:12:50)
Skyler Total Time - 3:15:50 (2009 - DNF)
Elise Total Time - 4:01:48 (2009 - 4:28:39)
I was and wasn't surprised that my time was faster than two years previous. It was my first off-road triathlon in 2009 and I'm a more experienced triathlete now, even if I am pregnant and raced slow.
I was exhausted after the race. The first trimester sleepiness hit me hard and we slept for 4 or 5 hours before waking up for a sweet dinner at McDonald's. A lot has changed in the past few months including our race priorities. Maui is not in the future this year, but hopefully it will be a goal again another year.
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