It was the biggest turtle I have ever seen. He/She was in the shade of some grass on the right side of the path, maybe a quarter mile from Norristown.
You’d think that I would have considered it a sign. IE Slow and steady wins the race. There were bunnies around the path too. All on the left side. (If you have no idea what I am talking about, Google Roman Superstition.)
My team asked me to take a few laps at the beginning and go hard on the climb of the course. String out the field to get a sense of the field for the guy we wanted to win. I thought ‘Sure, no problem. I will do that, then take a few laps to recover. What could possibly go wrong?’
I kept telling folks this week that I felt ‘good’ for this race. I’m never ever going to do that again.
At the whistle, a guy from tri-state(maybe?) went up the road. I went after him. I took the first turn badly, had to do a lot of work to get onto his wheel again. I didn’t look to see how hard I was going. After I caught up, I sat on him until the pack caught up.
By the time we got half way up the climb about a mile later, I had peeled off and started drifting to the back. I figured I hadn’t executed on the plan, but I kept someone not on my team from getting very far up the road.
Time to recover!
For the next two laps, There was no rest for me. I went over a bump and lost my water bottle. I got caught behind a crash on the bad turn. I got caught behind everyone stopping at the bad turn. I every time I started getting comfortable and looking for an opportunity to move up, the pace would lift, or we’d get to a climb. I was OTB before the end of the third lap. Thats less then seven miles or a third of the race for those of you keeping score at home.
I stopped and started a few times. And then got lapped. Finally, I did something I have never done before. I took the DNF.
On the bright side, my team captain got 3rd.
For me though, It was a shitshow. I am red with shame.
That is all.
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