Yuba Race!!!

Hi everyone, now that I've learned that people really do read our blog (besides us of course) I'm even more eager to share our fun experience at Yuba. I have been wanting to do this race for the past 3 years but something always gets in the way. This year I was so thrilled to race with teammates and camp out, get dirty, the whole bit. As Amber mentioned in her post, we had an awesome campsite! I never knew Yuba had such great campsites. My only regret is that we didn't load the car up with firewood because we could have had a very (safe) but monstrous bonfire, instead we wandered around in the dark gathering twigs and asking the neighboring campsite for wood. That night as we sat around the campfire and laughed our heads off we looked up at the sky and enjoyed the remarkable scenery of stars. I find it so peaceful being away from city noise and enjoying the great outdoors and great friends. Having a good type A friend (yes, my darling Amber) around is always important because she will remind you that it's time to go to bed, otherwise, other types such as myself suggest things like skinny dipping late at night when it's really not in your best interest, it's just a lot of fun :)

It didn't matter that we got to bed at a reasonable hour, I may have slept only a couple of hours, I was sooo cold! When we were setting up the tent I brilliantly suggested that we leave the cover off the tent so we could enjoy the pretty sparkling stars...curse the dang stars. Leaving that top off the tent kept a cold breeze rushing through the tent all night. This wouldn't be a problem if I didn't grab the only sleeping bag in my garage with a broken zipper. All night I tried to wrap up like a burrito to stay warm, but on a hard ground, not successful. My saving grace was my super warm HEAD hoodie that I was grateful to have on hand. Note to self: next year BE PREPARED.

The next morning I was teeth chattering cold (there's a lovely picture that looks like something out of Blair witch project). My type A friend wanted to be the very first in transition area (I know, I tease, but really that's why she's a champion) so we drove over and I don't think ANYONE was even awake yet. We were the first bodies up and moving around. The bathroom was lovely, it was warm and clean and made a great breakfast area. Outside all Aaron (the race director) could hear was a bunch of crazy girls laughing in a bathroom,  HA could you imagine a bunch of dudes huddled in a bathroom giggling?

As the camp came to life, I started to get excited to race. I got to try out HEAD's new wetsuit, FYI it rocks! As Amber said, the swim was looong. It's funny when someone swears to you that it's the correct distance but your eyeballs know better. Oh well, isn't that the number one rule to racing, expect the unexpected and just roll with it?! I was eager to test the wetsuit so I was happy regardless.

The bike portion of the race is what I always look forward to the most. The road was a little rough, but the countryside was beautiful. I felt my legs were a little tired, not because of a superhero training schedule, but end of season kind of fatigue. By the time I jumped off my bike and started the run, I felt like I was running with a parachute strapped to my back just holding me back. I'll admit, it felt like chubby girl running, not wonder woman running. I loved seeing a lot of friends and familiar faces in the race and always enjoy a little high five as we pass each other. As I was heading back to the finish line I approached the cattle crossing which had three boards placed across them which was great so that people could safely cross and not trip...um yeah, so I tripped anyway. It was probably very pathetic looking and I came down pretty hard on my right knee. I later found out that six other graceful triathletes ate concrete at the same spot. One guy looked pretty bad, his race suit was all scraped up, he was probably actually running fast. That little fall gave me a bit of adrenaline to ignore the pain, get up and finish the race. Afterwards I was just so grateful my beautiful bike was not involved!

Oh yeah, my time... not that great. But surprisingly I still made it on to the podium in 2nd place, I'll take it! Overall I still had a huge smile on my face. I love this sport, I love being challenged and having a poor performance lights a bit of fire under me for next year. I know where I want to be and I know what I'm capable of. Isn't that ultimately the purpose? Triathlon is such a great outlet to find healthy ways to set goals and push ourselves. I think it's important to not take yourself too seriously in the process and enjoy the journey. Some days we're number one on the podium, but others we are cheering for our friends victory instead. I hope that our end of season team race at Yuba next year is EPIC!

Thank you to RaceTri for a fantastic race! And thank you to our amazing sponsors; TriEdge, Kestrel, Bearpaw, HEAD, Flexr, T3, GU, Contour, CoolAide, Darn Tough, Betty Design, Coach Keena and others who have shown love to our team like K-Swiss. This racing season would not have been as outstanding without your support! Of course, thank you to my hubby and kids. No matter where I place, they make me feel like a champion every time. Love you.