Racing Sick

I ran the tradewind triathlon over on the marine base this morning- I had signed up a month or so ago- if I hadn't already paid there was no way I'd be racing with this airplane funk/gunk that i've got right now. But when the alarm went off at 5:15 I laid there thinking about it and what a waste it'd be to not race cause I was feeling a little below the weather, and hey, maybe I could sweat it out and have a good race anyway.

The 500M swim went fine, 9:30 or so. Last year the bike was super windy, this year not so much. Around the start of the second lap I burped a couple of times and tasted acid. I knew I was not in top form as I was getting passed as much as I was passing others- not something I've grown accustomed to. I was having a hard time taking a full breath, if I did I felt closer to gastric expulsion with every breath... I finished the ~11 mile bike in 34 minutes... a lot slower on the second lap than the first. In T2 I really hit the wall and felt like crap as soon as I got off the bike. I jog/walked most of the first mile, tried to kick it up a bit around the first mile marker, threw up a bit, jog/walked a bit more, and somewhere around the 2 mile marker settled into an easy 8:45 pace or so and jogged it in home. I didn't even want to sprint into the finish knowing that 1) i could lose my cookies right in front of everybody-which I did at the Haleiwa race but finished under an hour, so then it was totally worth it, and 2) I would feel like a jerk sprinting ahead of someone who's working hard after I was plodding through three 11 minute miles, trying not to throw up or pass out.

So, it was pretty frustrating to get beat by a ton of people who know me and I usually can stay ahead of, but that's racing I guess. I showed up and raced and only threw up once, and I got my T-shirt. Now, more dayquil, a haircut and maybe some yard work.

Update: results here. Had I been in form I'd think I'd have gotten on the podium easy. Also, no yard work was accomplished.