After missing #2 in the series it was back to Bonelli today for #3, an Olympic distance race and on a course I’ve actually racced on before so a good chance of actually not getting lost which is something of a novelty at Bonelli. I managed to nearly get lost getting into the parking lot though which wasn’t a good start.
Was there nice and early, got a decent rack spot near the bike exit which was what I wanted, picked up the number and chip then into another huge line for the t-shirt and swim cap. Still got back to transistion in plenty of time, particularly since it was announced that the start would be delayed by 15 minutes due to all the people still in the lines to collect their stuff. Talked to raceforlv for a bit, met longboarder, messed around setting my stuff up for a bit longer then off to the swim start.
Put my wetsuit on crooked, sorted it out, did a quick warm up then wait for the start, I’m in wave 1 which is always good. Eventually we’re off and my swimming isn’t going too well. For some reason, and despite the fact that I’m barely kicking, my quads want to cramp (never had this before…maybe I should have been swimming more than once a week or tended to my hydration and recovery better this week). Eventually end up in no-man’s land, missed the front pack and there’s nobody around me, keep plodding along for what seems like forever until a couple of people from the next wave pass me, something else that I don’t remember happening before. Finally get to the beach and out of the water in 28 or something, 5 minutes slower than last time I raced this course. Talking to some people afterwards, most of them thought that the swim was long but it still sucked. I’m going to have to start getting out of bed in the morning and actually going to masters again.
Reasonable transition despite having to fend off various leg and foot muscles that wanted to cramp and off on the bike. Decided to go as hard as I could and worry about the run later. Dodging the construction work where they’d dug up the road and the express race people was interesting but managed to keep out of trouble. It was much less windy than 2 months ago which made the fast descents easier. Always surprised by how many hills there are at Bonelli, when they built the place they obviously didn’t like the idea of putting in any flat roads or trails…either that or Monty refused to use them when he devised the course. My quads were still hurting but I kept pushing and I think my bike split was 1:09 or 1:10 which was not great but an improvement over my previous bonelli outings.
Another quick(ish) transition and it’s time for the infamous bonelli run course. Today it was all really well marked and they had volunteers in the most confusing areas so hopefully nobody got lost. My legs didn’t want to play to start with and then my race belt decided to disintegrate. Picked it up and stuffed it down my trisuit. Got passed by several people in the first mile then gradually got going, worked it up the hills, let gravity have its way with me on the way down and try to save a bit for the last mile. Eventually I hit a point where I can remember how far it is to the finish and take off. I think I got nearly everyone who’d passed me earlier back and maybe one or two others. Roll over the line with maybe a 42-43 minute run for a 2:24:53 which is a course and distance PR for me. Then stagger over to the grill for a very welcome cheseburger which tasted great.
Pleased with the PR, thinking I maybe left 5 minutes out there with the swim and its after effects. Looks like I placed 4th in my AG when they posted the results so no medal. Waiting to see the official splits as I wasn’t tracking mine too well, I’m hoping that my bike placing has improved a lot as I’ve really been working on that.
As an aside, I’ve never seen so many crashes, people at the side of the road with flats or mechanicals or riders rolling up to the dismount line and then promptly falling over.
And now to St Khai, the patron saint of dumbassery. I’m doing another race tomorrow and I’m already sore. Fortunately it’s a sprint but I’m hoping that invoking the spirit of St Khai will allow me to be able to walk afterwards 
