UltraPossible: "Sweet As"

Life is amazing...so many beautiful places and people in this world, I am so glad to be able to see/know so many!

Our NZ trip is in full swing. Enjoying all the sights and events. We have 11 days left and I am looking forward to some of the adventures we have planned, especially the bungee jump (check out http://www.bungy.co.nz/the-nevis/the-nevis-bungy this is how SV, Tom, Ashley and I are spending our morning tmo...what a way to start the day...YAY!!!!)

Our week in Auckland went quickly. We did the run course our first day and I was happy that it was a flat one, lots of turns but mainly around the waterfront; very pretty. We did the bike course twice before the race. The first ride, was windy (50km/hour) which made for some incredibly tough sections and scary descents but the next ride the winds were calmer (only 30km/hr) and I was able to get a better sense of what it was going to be like on race day. The course was great, a few good climbs and descents in the 20km loop (2 laps) only the 7km section back to town in a headwind was challenging.

We didn't get in the ocean to swim before race day, we opted to swim in the pool instead, the cold air and low water temperatures didn't excite any of us!

Watching the elite men's race was exciting; pouring rain, gusting wind and the thrill of watching them put it all on the line. Definitely gave me inspiration as I watched them all push themselves to the limit; man can those guys run/fly!!

Race day the weather was cool but sunny. After several days of rain I was pretty happy that we were going to have the sun! Competing at World Championships you start in a wave with only your age group. Very nice to start with only 98 women! Jumping into the water was shocking...the temp was 14 degrees Celsius. We were off in less than a minute and I was out front...SV said he could see me out front from the start which is pretty cool. I wasn't prepared for how choppy the swim was...a few large mouthfuls of salt water... poor sighting and the cold temp didn't make for a very fast swim time, but wasn't much I could change. I came out of the water fourth in my age category and I felt pretty good.

The run to transitions was long, running to the end of the wharf then back into the transition zone to the bikes. This made it fair for everyone as there was a huge transition area (3000+ athletes competing). The wharf has several rail tracks (similar to what you find in the city for street cars) which the race organizers covered with blue carpet. The carpet I believe was intended to make the area safer/more even...unfortunately it disguised the tracks and I rolled my foot as I was running to transition from the swim-bike. The first time I hit one, I swore, the second time I hit one, I swore louder! I seemed ok so I kept going.

I had a pretty good ride. The wind was not a factor until 13km... it was a LONG 7km back to town with the headwind, but the cheering from Ashley and Cat at the turn around was a nice boost. I saw SV on my second loop...he was on the 7km headwind section and for the first time in a race he didn't look like he was flying (that's what a 33km/hr headwind will do to you I guess).

During the ride I realized that something was up with my foot. When I stood for climbs I had pain on the lateral side of my right foot.
Heading into T2 was the worst part of the race...the long run up and down the wharf and trying to avoid any of the rail tracks in my bare feet was very painful. I tried to run on the inside of my foot/big toe and tried to not focus on the pain, but I knew then that something was wrong.

I want to say I considered stopping. Honestly though, there was no way I was stopping. I had come too far and it was only 10km...I could do it.

The first two kilometres of the run were a mental battle...the sane part of my brain was telling me to 'Stop, something is wrong and it is ok to just pack it in'. The other part (you all know that part) was telling me ' I have come all the way to NZ, that I am not a quitter'. I wanted to place top 10 in my age category and I kept thinking that the foot was already messed up so I may as well keep going. Obviously, this competitive side of my brain won the battle.
I convinced myself to not focus on the pain...to get through the first loop and to use the cheers from all the spectators to keep me moving forward. It truly is an amazing feeling to have so many people yell "Go Canada", "Looking Good Canada", etc.
As I started the second loop of the run I saw Ashley and I was pretty sure she yelled "Bring it home!".
This gave me a huge push... I decided I had already done 5km, I was finishing the next 5km, and I had better get it done faster (the longer I was out there the longer it was going to hurt). I focused on the people in front of me and catching them.
I am happy to say that I did not get passed by any women on that run...but I did a lot of passing! Coming into the finishing area was a great feeling. I had no clue how I had placed...I was pretty sure I hadn't made it on to the podium, but was hopeful that I had placed in the top 10 in my age category. In the end, I placed 9th in Women's 35-39!

I was able to watch John and Dave from Gravenhurst race each other to the finish line and unlike Budapest, I was there to cheer SV as he ran to the finishing line looking super strong. (He had a stellar 38th placing in the Men's 45-49!).

I am still not sure how I got myself to keep going...is it determination or stupidity (I oscillate when I think about it). It's been a challenging few days post race...the 4th/5th metatarsals are sore and possibly broken but I have been resting/icing/elevating as much as possible, and the swelling and bruising has gone down significantly. I have been swimming a few times to keep active but man do I want to run, lol!

Thanks to everyone for the support and encouragement leading up, during, and after the race...You are all the best people a person could know!!