Since I guilt-tripped my friend M to update her blog, guess I need to update mine so I don't look like a hypocrite. Last blog was after the Cinderella ride, which was almost 6 weeks ago. A lot has happened since then: 4 races and 2 organized rides. I had another flippin' DNF for a half ironman. Here is the shortened version of what happened at wildlfower. I am quoting a conversation I had last week when some friends went over to my parents house. We were getting ready for the iCare classic bike ride and enjoying dinner.
Nancy: "So Jill, what happened at wildflower? I heard it didn't go so well."
Me: "Yeah, I had a slow bike so-"
The table immediately erupted in giggles and I was confused until I realized how I sounded. I played along.
Me: "Yeah, I just don't know why my bike isn't faster. I should take it to the shop and say, 'this bike isn't going as fast as I want. Fix it.'"
In actuality, it was me who was slow on the bike, not the bike itself. (Don't hate the game? Hate the player?) I learned my lesson that not training enough for a 1/2 ironman triathlon will result in a not so great race. I also learned that you should PAY ATTENTION TO CUT OFF TIMES. As in STUDY THE RACE PROGRAM. For some reason I thought the bike cut off was 3. Which meant as long as I got off my bike and in the transition by 2:59 pm, I would be golden to run the 13 miles.
Yeah, the cutoff was actually 2:45. But they apparently gave people a 10 minute grace period so it was really 2:55.
I rolled in at 2:57.
I foolishly was thinking, "Oh yeah, I got this. Wait, why is this race official taking my timing chip off? What the -"
So, I was disqualified, but she did say I could run the 13 miles if I wanted to. It just wouldn't count.
Oh, that sounds super.
Yeah, I passed and chose to enjoy an adult beverage at the spectator stands while cheering my friends on who finished.
So, whatever. I had another bust of a high profile race. It's not like this is my job. If the Barb's Crash of 2008 taught me anything, it's don't put all your eggs in one bento box. Life goes on. I could recap the Wildflower Experience, but am not really feeling it. In summary, it was a big ole' pain in the neck party with 10,000 people taking over a campground. It was cold. It was hot. It was sweaty. It was no toilet paper for one day. It was sleeping on the ground on a slanted hill. It was sunburnt. It was crazy endurance athletes. It was a man with cerebral palsy doing the swim. It was people crossing a finish line with their own story as to how they got there. It was a hard race. It was awesome.
I will try again next year.
