Muncie Sprint- September 7th, 2013
The Sprint Tri in Muncie, IN would be a bit different than my typical race. I wasn’t being joined by my family, but with three of my team mates from the NIU tri team instead. I had no idea what it would be like. I was going to have to spend 4 1/2 hours in the car with people I didn’t know very well. I was a little worried. As you know from my past posts, I am very anal when it comes to sticking to my routines. I like to eat a certain pre-race meal and get plenty of rest. I was concerned my schedule would be thrown off and I wouldn’t do well.
The adventure started at 2.p.m. on Friday afternoon. I had to pick up the Tri Club president, Maria, and another member, Wyatt, on campus and load everything into my truck. Next on the list was to pick up Matt, the past president, and transfer everything to his van and let him drive. He lives about an hour from NIU and as we headed to his house via the highway, the three of us were all chatting up a storm! Shocker! We talked about the race and how training was going. We chatted about some of the new members on the team as well. Thankfully, Maria loves country music as much as I do so there wasn’t an issue with the radio. (Thank you to Wyatt for putting up with all the country music!) An hour and a half passed in no time at all! We arrived at Matt’s house and decided to take my truck instead of his van. It just made more sense because we were already settled in Theodore (My truck). We got back on the highway and continued our adventure to Muncie!
The ride to Muncie was looonnnngg, but we were so busy playing road trip games and making up new games that the time flew by. I think we were also hyped up about the race so we were excited and full of energy. I must say, having a tri team to travel with is cool. I mean, I didn’t get to sleep like I usually do, but it was worth it since we formed some new friendships.
We finally arrived at the hotel at about 9pm. I like to be sound asleep by then! I was starting to panic a little. By the time we were all unpacked and had the bikes in our hotel room, it was almost 10pm. I had to run back out to the truck to get one last thing and when I returned to the hotel room, the door connecting the two rooms together was wide open. As it turns out, ISU’s tri team was right next door. I had no clue who these people were, but Matt and Maria knew them from prior races. They were talking and having a good time. I, on the other hand, was ready for bed. I got on my oversized tee shirt, brushed my teeth and was ready to jump into bed. As luck would have it, Matt and Wyatt needed Gu’s for the race the next day, so I was able to trade them Gu’s for some time alone in the room so I could fall asleep. Meanwhile, they stayed up with the ISU team for a while longer. I finally got to sleep around 10:30pm.
Thank you to the team for letting me go to sleep!! I would not have been a happy camper otherwise!
Race morning – we woke up about 5:15am to load everything back into Theodore. With that done, we headed out to bufu land (30 minutes away) to get to the race site.
Race time- I raced the Great Illini the weekend before so I opted to race the Sprint Distance that started at 9am while my teammates did the Olympic Distance that started at 8 am. So I was able to cheer them on at the swim start. I waited at the swim out and as the racers exited the water, I told them how far out they were from the first racer. I like when people give me that info so I thought they might appreciate it. Once Maria, Matt and Wyatt were out and on their bikes, I decided to get Audrina on and start a swim warm up. As I was watching the swimmers earlier, I noticed the current was really strong and they were drifting about 200m off course on the swim back. So my plan was to find someone to draft off of. It turns out I didn’t need to worry about it cause I was haulin’ balls in that water. I felt like I was only swimming for 2 minutes and I was done. I felt AWESOME! I really enjoy swimming. I ended up with the fastest female swim time. In fact, it was a minute faster that then first place winner.
The run to transitions was covered with rocks and acorns and was about 1/4 mile long. They did their best to cover the path with artificial turf, but running with bare feet, I could still feel the rocks and acorns. Ouch! Transition was smooth, I had everything I needed (tri clips and all). I jumped onto Cecilia and took off. I wanted to catch the guys that were in the Elite wave in front of me. It was a little hilly but I kept telling myself, “This is the next to last race of the season! You can do it!” I pushed myself and eventually passed three of the guys. Suck on that men! I was really happy because it was a 21.3mph average. My fastest of the season for triathlons. Again with the ball haulin‘. While I was on the bike, it followed the run course so I had an idea of what was coming. I finished the bike in 36xx. This was also faster than the first place winner.
I knew I had rolling hills for the run. Hills are hard to come by in the flatlands of DeKalb so I didn’t have an opportunity to train for this sort of course. There were no women in front of me. The plan: to push myself as hard as I could! I wanted first place! So far so good. No CRAMPS! I was so happy. As the hills kept rolling, I ended up having to slow my run to a speed walk up them. I saw the what I thought to be the finish line by a huge American flag. I stopped, relieved that I was done only to hear someone shout, “NO! Keep going!” The finish was actually about a hundred feet away. What a goof! I crossed the finish and the first thing I asked was if any other females finished. They hadn’t but since it was a staggered start, I couldn’t tell what place I was in. When the results came out, there was only ONE female in front of me and she beat me by only.. get this.. 40 SECONDS!! What? So close! Dang you rolling hills and faux finish line! Could that have made a difference? Probably. She made up 4 minutes on the run. Dang you weak sauce run! But hey second place overall that ain’t so bad! Hopefully, with the upcoming off season, the weak sauce run will turn into a “steak sauce” (A1) run. Will be continued….
*** In other news….. I have accepted the invitation to compete in the ITU World Championship held in Edmonton, Canada in September 2014. I will be training hard and saving money for the trip. If anyone needs a sitter, I’m your girl!
Copyright Katrina Mascarella 9/14/13
katrinathebeast 