THE BEFORE :
So I didn’t really pay attention when I signed up for all the races for 2018. I was on a high from the Chicago Triathlon and saw DC women’s was in April and the Flying Pig Marathon was May so 1 a month I’m good right? Well, it was the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May-oops. So the husband was not happy about me being gone at all this time.
My ankle was still bothering me so I made a doc appointment to make sure it wasn’t more than a sprain for peace of mind. Sure enough, that’s what it was-a sprain. So I could run but need to take it easy and ice when I can.
PRE-RACE:
There were 4 MRTT relay teams put together and we roomed based on what leg we were running. I was with whom I call (or she calls??🤔) my acquaintance. We met through MRTT about a year earlier and had very much the same sense of humor. Figured we would either have a great time or it would be awkward as He**. I rode with her and 2 others, a little over an hour ride. We got to the packet pick up expo to get our photo ops and goodies.
This is a really great expo-it’s HUGE. Tons of companies, cool gear, and tons of P&G freebies.
After we got all our goodies we went to the Hilton Cincinnati, checked in and met everyone for dinner.
We were a big group and the service was terrible at dinner. Not enough seats, rude waitress, drinks took forever, refills were nonexistent, food was not right and took a long time, etc, etc. We were ready to get out of there and one of our MRTT mamas just went down-passed out. EMT was called, she ended up being fine-just maybe over-heated and she doesn’t remember. So it was an eventful dinner! Here is a blurry shot but it gives you an idea of our fun!
THE RACE:
Me and the roomie headed out about an hour before the race. We weren’t positive where we were going so we just followed the crowd. We found our spot and waited. I will say this race is HUGE but well organized. We were there for the start of the race and National Anthem. Then they slowly started letting each corral start and the relay was last so we waited quite a while. We could have showed up 45 mins late and been fine for our corral BUT the roomie wouldn’t be having that!!!!
When we finally got started we found the other relay teams and started off together. We ran about the first 1/2 mile together, got to the bridge and I just wasn’t feeling it. I slowed WAY down and told them to go ahead. My ankle was already bothering me and I knew I had some hills coming. I actually didn’t realize how many hills were on the first leg.
I won’t go into a whole lot of the race because it SUCKED. I think this may have been my worst race EVER. I was hot, hurting and just never got into a groove. I finally made it to the pass off and was relieved. I swore I was done and would never run a race again. I was mad at myself, with my body and just embarrassed at such a poor showing regardless of my ankle. Since I was with friends I tried my best to shake it off and try and enjoy the rest of the day.
We got on the bus to head back to the finish line. This was the most lack luster of the whole race. I was expecting a fun time to hang out but that didn’t happen. I don’t know if it was because we were part of the relay or just bad luck but they shuffled us around to the back of the course through a random entrance behind all the tents. We missed most of the food but didn’t know it until others started to finish and we saw all the amazing things they had gotten. When we tried to go back to the gate and explain that we hadn’t gotten to the food tents, the volunteers wouldn’t listen to us and we couldn’t go back into the area. That was disappointing and I understand they wanted to make sure everyone had enough food, which I certainly appreciate but when you are telling the truth it is frustrating.
While we waited for the rest of our team we went back to the hotel, showered and headed back to cheer them finishing. There wasn’t any great place to sit so we found some grass and sat and all hung out while everyone finished.
This was a fun race because of the people and the energy, I would love to do it again because this wasn’t my best showing. I was really down and out for a while after this race. I think this is part of the reason why I didn’t focus much on the run for the 70.3 Ironman.
The Later Tater Momma 