What a strange day.Our friend Leonard let us stay at his house outside of Las Cruces, and then we followed him to the base where the race was to be. Len usually finishes at or near the top of his age group. We took off at 5:30 am, and Len was just ahead of us in his car going through the checkpoint at the base at White Sands Missle Range when it was discovered that he did not have his car registration with him. No registration, no admittance to a military base!. So, he turned around to leave his car the required one mile out from the base. We followed him, and he put his bike onto our back rack and climbed into the back seat.
Problem is, he didn't think that he needed to lash the bike down, being as it was only one mile back to base, and we weren't aware that he hadn't lashed his super lightweight Lightspeed Blade down.
"Oh, NO..." you're thinking to yourself, "wait...don't tell me..."
Yes, friends, his beautiful ride blew right off the back of the car as soon as we were up to speed, hitting the pavement and cracking the carbon fork clean in two. At that point, he decided to call it a day and go home.
What happened next, then, was cruelly ironic.
The wind was gusting over 40 mph. First, the bike racks in part of the transition area blew over, bikes included, and not long after that, the race officials got together and decided to make this a duathlon. They canceled the bike
portion. (Many of us were relieved, although THAT was spoken afterwards in the locker room, in hushed voices, nervously looking about, lest anything think us anything less than stalwart athletes) They extended the 5K run to 8K, and we took off at about 8:05. There was not enough time for us to call Len back.The wind was so strong when we turned into it that my heartrate spiked immediately. I decided it was easier, faster, and more efficient, to scurry along on the ground, bent low, a lot like my cat when she's nervous - instead of running upright. Of course, when the wind was at my back, I raced along like a champ, but since the wind effected everyone exactly the same way, so I came in at my usual place of back of the pack, a few minutes behind everyone else. Even so, it was my best run split ever - about an 11 minute mile, so I think the hill running is beginning to pay off.
Once in the pool I, the slothful Athena, somehow managed to nearly close the gap between me and some of the people in front of me, but not fast enough, finishing 20 seconds behind the person in front of me. The 400 meter swim felt good, so the long swims are beginning to pay off as well. I finished 30 seconds behind my fifteen-year-old son, who refuses to train or work out. I told him that I was proud of him for being out there, but if he didn't want to be beaten by his 41-year-old mother, he better get off his butt and train!
- Results: 2nd place, Athenas (I will never beat Helen C., she's just too fast a runner for me.)
- Husband: 1st place, Clydesdales
- Son: 1st place, under 20.
- Next race: Amarillo Sprint Triathlon
