And, back up again! Icebreaker TT

It has been a crazy couple of weeks. I was out with bronchitis (101-degree fever, awful congestion) a little over a week ago and couldn't train or race at all. I got back to Ironman training this week, trying to pay particularly close attention to what my body was telling me.

Then, I did my first TT of the season today and improved my time by 2:23 from last year. Awesome!

Today's race was our team-sponsored 'Icebreaker TT' out in Green Valley outside of Auburn. The course is a curvy, yet relatively flat 10 miles. I distinctly remember this course from last year due to the horned 'wooly cows' and Christmas tree farms that line the course.

The weather was gorgeous—sunny, relatively warm for March, and most importantly, dry and not windy. Kevin and I parked the car next to my teammate Jess and got set up. I was a little distracted by the excitement of the first race. I did not warm up as well as I would have liked.

Before I knew it, it was time to race! 10:10 am was my start time. I love this race because all the support folks are my teammates and it feels so good to have all the great encouragement. It doesn't hurt that I am friends with a handful of the officials as well.

Go!! I take off like a bullet. I have a tendency to do this at every TT. Once I got into a rhythm, I settled down. However, I encountered a new challenge at this race—my speed sensor wasn't working. I always gauge how I'm doing by that so I felt pretty blind today. No matter, the cadence sensor still worked so I tried to keep that nice and high.

Not to soon after I start, I hear the whirring sound of a disc wheel. I freak out because I can't believe I'm getting passed by the person 30 seconds behind me. But, nobody comes. Around a corner, I take a quick peak behind me and no one is there. What the? I keep going. I hear the noise again. I'm getting paranoid. Not too much later, it dawns on me. That sound is myself!! That is my disc wheel making that sound! After an internal chuckle, I get back to business. Two guys passed me today, but I was okay with that. I was doing my own thing.

At this point, you may be wondering how the bronchitis is treating me. Well, my nose is a mess. With my hands on the aero bars, I'm wasn't anywhere near position to give a strong snot-rocket blow. I just tried to exhale as hard as I could through my nose blow and let the grossness run down my face. (Hey, it is better than blocking the oxygen.) Towards the end, I could feel the mucus build-up foaming at my mouth.

Super happy that no one got too close of a photo of that mess.

But, in less than 27 minutes from when I started, I was done! I cooled down, put on my running clothes, grabbed my iPod and did my 30-minute easy run through Flaming Geyser State Park.

Because it was so nice out, I did not mind waiting for the results. I had a chance to talk to my bike racing friends I haven't seen since the end of last season. To be honest, a good number of them were surprised at my current state of physical fitness.

Finally, I found that my official time was 26:51.3, good enough for 11th place from a field of 40 or so. I feel really good about this and am excited for the season ahead! I should also mention that my whole team had a great showing as well. That, and I think I'm beginning to like the new, fairly white kit.

P.S. Kevin is getting really good with his camera. Here's a link to the photos he took today.
http://tu.smugmug.com/Sports/2010-Icebreaker-TT/11434992_jVYiT#803900656_h6r95