Well, I think the title explains a lot about this race, lol. I went into it like I always do, excited to be there, wearing my good luck check-in clothes, and mentally preparing myself for the day ahead. What I guess I should have done is actually check the website so I could see that the bike course had been changed this year. I had such a great race here last year that I guess I let my arrogance get the best of me.
Race morning came and as I was hanging out with Kris and Brian waiting for my wave to start when a friend came up to talk to us and she brought up the course change. I was like, "Say what?" Oops. Okay fine. So it would be a new bike course, big deal. I've ridden plenty of courses where I didn't know where I was going. Deal with it.
Started the swim off and knew I wasn't swimming super fast but knew I would be in my usual time frame. Grabbed my bike and took off. Okay so far so good. The first couple of roads where the same but instead of making a left to head up the hill that most people dread we turned right and headed off into no man's land. Not really, but that's what it felt like to me. I could tell that some of the roads were the same but I couldn't figure out how I had ended up on a road that I recognized without knowing how I had gotten there. I guess it shouldn't have mattered to me while I racing, but it did.
Oh, I also decided to switch up my bike nutrition for this race. Mistake #2! I was making decent time to the halfway point on the bike and feeling okay. Not great but not horrible either. Then somewhere along the way I just deflated. I got nauseous and a little lightheaded. My speed was just decreasing and decreasing and all I wanted was to be done. I didn't even feel like running. I swore to myself that if I even made it into T2 I would rest and see how I felt before pulling off my chip.
I limped into T2 like a beaten dog and racked my bike and laid on the ground. My head was spinning and my stomach was rumbling. I looked out at all the runners out on the course and then up to the sky where then sun was beating down and my decision was made. I was not going to gain anything from going out there and running for 2 1/2+ hours. I took off my chip walked up to an official and turned it in. I felt humiliated doing it but I had nothing to prove. Why dig myself into a hole. I wasn't in contention to win anything. Why make my Monday hurt more than it already was going to.
So that's my first DNF. Don't worry, I promise this isn't going to become a thing for me!!
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