Cleveland is apparently not my town= "Win" #2

So this race update is late becuase i was off having an amazing time in costa rica right after the half iron man in "cleveland" (read: mentor, ohio). but here is a synopsis



I get to mentor ohio two days before the race. its a small town area, but i managed to head out to cleveland to visit the rock and roll hall of fame, which was pretty awesome. I hitup the race expo the day before and checked out the course. Nothing too crazy from what i could tell, and that day Lake Eerie seemed to be cooperated.



Fast forward to 545 am race morning. I wake up to HOWLING winds outside my comfort inn window. Crap, i think to myself... i bet the swim is cancelled. Taht would be the second time this summer where a key race was transformed into a run, bike, run.



I was right. I pull into the race site to hear the news. Due to windy conditions and turbulent waters, the swim portion of the race was cancelled. BUMMMER> especially becuase this was a half ironman, and really my checkup point for the ironman. Oh well.



the race became a 1.2 mile run (yeah. lame), a 56 mile bike and a 13.1 mile run. as the race started i looked around a noticed very few women, and even fewer women my age competing in the half ironman. always a good sign.



I felt AWESOME on the bike, expect for one spot in the 2-loop course. there was a ridiculous incline that came out of nowhere that made me tip off my bike, both times i went over it. Chicago clearly doesnt train you for hill work, and the incline was so steep and so sudden that i didnt stand a chance. despite this though, i had a really great ride.

\

Onto the run. I start out with an incredible pace and i feel GREAT. this was gearing up to me one of my best races yet, but somewhere along mile 6 i had a real "UH OH" moment. the knee i managed to badly bruise 3 weeks ago in a cycling accident ( i blame the poor pavement near museum campus downtown) was really starting to act up. I have had xrays on the knee and structurally it is fine, but the bone bruise is pretty serious. It hadnt been hurting during most of my training runs but i think the 56 mile ride wore me out just enough to fatigue my knee and exacerbate the pain. damnit .

ok well, i managed to hobble across the finish line only to have to sit down immediatly and request a bad of ice. who knew a bone bruise could be that distructive? I think it will be fine by ironman time, just frusterating for now.

now, i came in first in my age group, but really not a noteworthy accomplishment becuase not only wre there only about 30 woman total doing the half ironman distance, but onle 2 of us were in the 20-24 age group.

all in all things are goingg great. its been a great season so far and i am really getting pumped up for the ironman. its taking a little bit of time to get back into the swing of things after vacation ( my body really liked being sedentary/poolside) for long periods of time, but those days are over i am afraid. fortunatly, it hasnt really been that bad getting back into training, and surprisingly my vacation didnt really effect me that much. i did my bes tto mix in workouts while i was away ....

anyway thats it for now. just one race left before ironman. Ill be in DC sept 14th