Deer Creek Oly - tornados, lightning, setting PRs and chicking the men

The Deer Creek Olympic Triathlon isn't one that was on my race schedule...until, like, last Tuesday. I kinda just felt like racing it. This means, there was no taper. There was very little preparation. And I was just out looking to have a good time. per usual.

Pre-race:
I awoke at 4am and was out the door by 5:15 for the (nearly) two hour drive. As the sun rose, I noticed the trees were whipping about. I also noted that there was a comment on my FB status that there was a tornado watch in Mt. Sterling. Beautiful!
I got to the beach and the waiting began... I waited in line for my race packet. I waited in line for the bathroom. I waited to set up in transition. And then I (along with everyone else) waited for the storms to subside and the race to begin. There was some crazy lightning that was striking out on the lake. It was gorgeous. But it also made me kinda want a duathlon. As the heavens were dumping copious amounts of water and I was chattin' up race stuff and tri gear with a teammate, I look to my right and hear "Ms Lindsey?"...it was Big Daddy Diesel!!! We chatted for a bit and suddenly, the sun was making an appearance and everyone scattered the pavilion. I made one last trip to transition and pulled on the wetsuit. which, i will note, is much more difficult to do when feet are wet.

The 1500m Swim:
We ladies are always given the last wave start. It sucks because there are actually some decent female swimmers. And some not so decent male swimmers. But I digress....So, we finally got started about an hour after supposed start. Out to the forst turn, no major issues. Upon making that turn...CHOP! I didn't mind it, but I was a little taken by surprise the first couple strokes. Swim, turn, swim....straight into the sun. I lost sighting and went off course a bit. Back on and a fairly uneventful second lap swimming over previous waves. Time: 23:45

T1:
Run up the muddy hill to transition...to empty foot bath buckets. The sprint tri waves had all gone off before the Oly and I guess they decided to NOT refill them? Anyway, run, find bike, strip wetsuit, don shoes, helmet, go get other sunglasses from bag...ugh. that took forever. time: 2:08

The 40k Bike:
Windy? Windy. Windy! The first 15-20 mins were just spent getting into the groove. I was cruising at 21-23mph. I took in water. Then the crosswinds hit. I decided to take in a gel....just a girl in a black skin suit riding a P3 with Zipp wheels and an aero helmet passed me. Dammit! The goal then became to just not let her out of sight. As I was climbing the first hill at the end of loop one, a CincyExpress teammate passed me with some trash talk stating that Barry might get chicked by me, but he wouldn't. When I caught him on the next little climb, I told him he better hurry up then. And he took off.
The second loop was much the same as the first. I took in another gel, drank some gatorade. At the top of that first climb is a flat that is straight into a headwind and I saw my speed drop to 11.4mph. A huge highlight of the tailwind though was seeing my speed over 30mph! The second time I was going in for those hills, I picked up a guy. He was sucking my wheel and I was getting irritated. I'd seen quite a bit of drafting out on the course. And I almost opened my trap a couple times, but really, they're the ones that have to live with cheating. So, I kept my mouth shut.
As I was finishing up the bike, I saw a couple other Cincy Express teammates already out on the run, so I shouted as loud as I could and pretty soon, I was pulling into T2. Time: 1:12.01

T2:
Rack my bike, take off shoes, helmet, slip on Zoots...and for some reason I walked until I hit that timing mat. I still had NO idea where I stood place wise. And I was having fun, so I didn't really care. I also knew I was making fairly good time.

The 10k Run:
It was flat and fast. But also all in the sun. The first mile is trudged across the levee, on grass...that had just been rained on...and tramped across by the sprint tri peeps. So, it was, needless to say, a little sloppy. I hot the first mile at 7:18 and waited for my legs to come around. Just before the turnaround, I saw the leading female (who I'd beat at Triple in every race). I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could hunt her down on the second half of the run...and then, at the turn around, I saw black speedsuit girl stopping for water. I got some water myself and went on ahead as she was complaining of cramping.
I kept myself relaxed and ready to go at any moment. At the last water stop, with about a mile to go, I asked for a Heed and heard "Water! Water! Water!" from black speedsuit just behind me. I didn't even look back, I just decided to pick up the pace for the last few minutes. With about a quarter mile to go, we hit the home stretch into the parking lot and round a corner where her cheering squad was based. They yell for her as she passes me. I was exhausted. She'd stayed right on my heels the whole last half and I didn't have it in me to go and get her in the last few hundred yards....
Until I heard someone yell my name. Suddenly, I knew I had it. I got a shit eatin' grin on my face, giggled aloud and poured it on, coming in 20 or so feet ahead of her at the finish. (Also outsprinting the CE guy who wasn't going to get chicked by me. Interestingly, he also started a wave ahead of me, so it turned out to be a 2 min beating.)  Time (via watch as T2 and run did not get separated): 44:00

Total time of 2:23.04. 3rd place overall.

Post-Race:
I talked to some teammates and Scott (Big Daddy Diesel) and got a little something to snack on and then headed home. I had intended to ride (my bike) home from the race with a buddy of mine. Due to extenuating circumstances, this did not occur. So, upon arriving home, I went out for a two hour ride with the boy. And my legs were feeling it with every little riser. We discussed riding and racing technique and the mental aspects of competition. He's got a wealth of knowledge. And experience. Lucky me!