There are good days and bad days in every job, sport, and
life. Triathlon is no different. Challenge Quassy is known as the beast if the
northeast because of its massive hills on both the bike and run. I had been
training heavily leading up to the race and with a good taper and I felt strong
on the morning of the race. I was joined by Kevin Grimes and one other member
of the Race 4 Chase team at the race.
The swim went great and I was exactly where I thought I should
be getting out of the water. The water in Lake Quassy is clean, calm, and
perfect for a long swim. I got out of the water and raced through the CMAK
volunteers working the aid station and headed into T1.
The bike course started out with a long fast downhill
stretch and then the pain and suffering began. By the half way point on the bike
my legs were screaming and my mind was getting weak. I started to consider
dropping out of the race. In five years of racing I have never once quit a
race. I just couldn’t see myself heading out to run a half marathon in the
state I was in getting off the bike. Its time like these that I remind myself
what Chase’s family goes through every day and they don’t get the option to
quit. I decided to start the run and see how I felt.
The run course starts out with 4 miles of fast flat road.
As I came out of transition feeling awful I saw my family on the side of the
road. I was not expecting them to be at the race so this was an immediate lift
to my mental state and of course the legs soon followed. Now that the kids and Kim
are here I can’t quit. I was now in the run for the long haul.
I held a nice pace for 6 miles and passing the half way
point I was starting to believe that I was going to pull out a decent run. Soon
after I was suffering big time and every step was more painful than the next. I
got to mile 9 and in front of me was a huge hill. I find it hard to believe that even the pros
would run a hill like this. It is a ridiculous obstacle to put on a triathlon
course. The hill was mentally and physically crushing. From that point on the
run became a death march for the next 4 miles. After a long slow
run/walk/shuffle/crawl to the finish line I finally arrived. All of my kids
were eagerly waiting to run across the line with me. This was a great way to
finish a long hard day.
There are good days and bad days. I cant wait to forget
this one and move on to a good one.
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