![\"1078922_10151726322980306_90395801_o\"](\"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1078922_10151726322980306_90395801_o.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nRelief swept over me when I saw that she made it.\u00a0 I smiled and yelled something about how hard the swim was.\u00a0 Just seeing her lifted my spirits even more. I got going, clipped in quicker than usual and plowed my way up that hill.\u00a0 I made it! At the top, some guy yelled, \u201cPepper that hill, Girl!\u201d\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have a clue what he meant, I didn\u2019t know if he was encouraging me or criticizing me.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t really care at the moment and I kept going.\u00a0 About a mile in, I pulled the banana from my pocket and ate it.\u00a0 I tossed the peel to a group of folks who said they\u2019d take garbage.\u00a0 Ok, on to the next part.\u00a0 A couple miles down, a whole lot more to go.\u00a0 The roads were somewhat rough. \u00a0Every few feet there was a crack in the road, but it was like going through a ditch each time.\u00a0 Gu-gunk. 3 seconds later\u2026ga-gunk.\u00a0 3 seconds later\u2026again.\u00a0 Ugh. \u00a0I had to pee.\u00a0 And the bumps were making it worse.\u00a0 I pulled over at Mile 15 for a pit stop.\u00a0 It\u2019s a long race, better to be comfortable, right?\u00a0 While I was off the bike, I grabbed a GU Roctane and washed it down with some water.\u00a0 As I remounted the bike, I heard someone yell, \u201cLet\u2019s Go FLEET FEET\u201d.\u00a0 As he passed I saw he had one green and one orange Zensah sleeve, he was also wearing FLEET FEET gear.\u00a0 I started back up and made my way through the country roads of Racine.\u00a0 Every direction we turned seemed to\u00a0present a stronger head wind.\u00a0 How is that even possible?\u00a0 It reminded me of riding in New Town.\u00a0 I passed people.\u00a0 I got passed by a lot more people, especially super fast dudes on Tri bikes.\u00a0 I saw lots of debris on the road, disgarded water bottles, someone\u2019s old tube, splattered gels, CO2 cartridges.\u00a0 I saw a girl\u2019s tire blow right in front of me and it scared me half to death because it sounded like a gunshot.\u00a0 I worried that I would do something wrong and get a penalty, but I kept pushing.\u00a0 I passed a guy as I powered up a hill.\u00a0 I could feel his eyes burning into me as I passed him, so I turned and smiled.\u00a0 That\u2019s right, buddy, you just got chicked.\u00a0 I saw people fixing flats, adjusting chains, doing whatever they could to get their bikes to the end.\u00a0 At Mile 35-ish, I took another GU.\u00a0 When I reached mile 46, I thought of my 46 mile ride through Wildwood with \u201cGrey\u201d a few weeks ago.\u00a0 This ride was certainly less hilly.\u00a0 At Mile 47, I realized I had already accomplished my longest ride ever.\u00a0 And I was about to bust through that with 9 more miles.\u00a0 No problem!<\/p>\n
Somewhere between 45 and 50, I found Kristin.\u00a0 I yelled, \u201cHey, there\u2019s my girl!\u201d\u00a0 A few miles later, I came up on Serena.\u00a0 I yelled her name, she smiled and said Hey, and we kept cruising along.<\/p>\n
By mile 50, I couldn\u2019t believe I was almost done with the bike and I\u2019d had no issues.\u00a0 My prayers for no flat tires had been answered.\u00a0 Worst case scenario, I could run my bike to the transition at this point.\u00a0 I came up to an aid station knowing my fluids were low, and knowing I probably hadn\u2019t hydrated enough on the bike.\u00a0 I prepared to grab one of the bottles being held out for me.\u00a0 As I motioned that I was going to take one, I apologized in advance to the woman holding it out and said, \u201cSorry, I\u2019m still terrible at this!\u201d\u00a0 But I grabbed it, didn\u2019t crash, chugged some of the water and tossed the bottle toward the pile of \u201cLast Chance Garbage\u201d.\u00a0 Success!<\/p>\n
I was back on the neighborhood streets of Racine, getting close now. The bike course doubled back on the run course.\u00a0 There were already lots of runners out on the course, it got tricky passing cyclists without riding into the running lanes.\u00a0 Time to start prepping mentally for the run.\u00a0 It\u2019s gonna be hard, it\u2019s gonna hurt, I\u2019m not gonna be able to run like I normally do. Just take it nice and slow and whatever you do\u2026 KEEP GOING!<\/em><\/p>\n I made the final turn and headed down the hill into T2.\u00a0 The volunteers along the side motioned to slow down.\u00a0 I did.\u00a0 I unclipped.\u00a0 I got to the bottom and dismounted, just as a guy fell over.\u00a0 The girl in front of me got around him and we all narrowly avoided a crash.\u00a0 I could hear someone behind me yelling my name, but I didn\u2019t turn around to look, I just threw my hand in the air and waved.\u00a0 My feet were killing as I tried to run into transition, unhooking my helmet as I went.\u00a0 I looked over to my right and saw Chad, so I yelled his name and waved as he looked up.\u00a0 He smiled, waved back and I think he hollered, \u201cHey Lindsey!\u201d<\/p>\n