I worked all weekend (again) and finally got done on Saturday night around 8pm. I came home and got cleaned up and went to a fund raiser here in Tunica with Tom and all our friends.
The fund raiser was for a 10-year-old girl in Tunica that needs lots of prayers, positive thoughts, whatever you want to say....but she needs 'em. She was in a bad accident on a friend's farm and was electrocuted. As a result they had to amputate her left arm at the shoulder, and her right arm just below her elbow. Can you imagine?
In true Tunica form, the town rallied together and had a huge fund raiser on Saturday night at a local restaurant. It was one of these things where you pay a cover and get a meal and couple drink tickets. They had Mexican food, Crawfish, Catfish, three bands, some games for the kids, an auction, all that good stuff.
And get this.....from 3pm until about 10pm they raised over $63,000 for this little girl's recovery. Do you hear me?!?!?! $63,000 in seven hours. That is insane. I heard that one of the auction items was a home made cake...just your run of the mill cake....and it went for $400.
Just goes to show what an amazing town Tunica is, and how it's citizens pull together when one of their own is in need. Just amazing.
You can read more about Madysen's story HERE.
On Friday I got to go into work late so I decided it was going to be the only good time to fit in Mock Three before race day.
I will not give a big long recap since I will be doing that again in just a few days for the REAL DEAL! So here's the short version:
Swim: 1 mile
As we all know I DESPISE the swim and it is what I do not look forward to. I was happy with this swim, though. I finished in 40 minutes which is pretty fast for me. I will be UBER-happy if I can do this next week in the race. I ate 4 GU Chomps before the swim and had a lot of energy and felt GREAT!
Bike: 20 miles
Between the swim and the bike I ate 4 more GU Chomps for energy and boy did they work! I felt amazing for the the entire 20 miles and finished it right at my goal of 80 minutes. I even found myself singing out loud to my iPod on a few occasions! I also took another regular GU Gel(Tri-Berry flavor...YUM) at mile 15.
Run: 6 miles
Okay, here's where things get a little sad. During the bike I felt great. Wind in my hair, the sun shining. I wasn't *hot* but was sweating only a little. I think I didn't realize how hot it really was outside because on the bike the wind is blowing and you simply don't notice how warm it is. So I began the run and felt okay until about mile 2. There is a portion of my run course that goes out by Tunica Academy and there are no trees or shade to speak of. It was during this stretch that I started to feel the signs of severe dehydration coming on.
I had gotten water after the bike, but not enough. And I should have taken some with me on the run but I didn't. Stupid move, Laura.
So anyway, around mile 2.5 I started to get a headache and my face felt super-hot. Hot like fire. Then, every time I would shift my eyes, I felt dizzy and lost my footing a couple of times. Um HELLO top three signs of a heat stroke. So, instead of scarring the kindergarden class for life by dropping dead in front of them on their way to lunch, I decided to be smart and take it easy.
I walked for a bit and took another GU I had in my pocket, hoping the vitamin C would help. It didn't. I still felt hot, hot, hot, and dizzy. I decided to do the smart thing and walk the mile or so straight back to my house.
I have learned that when your body sends you signals, you need to listen to them. There is a big difference between pushing yourself and listening to your body.
When I got home I stood under a running hose for a few mintues to get my body temp down. I was feeling pretty bad at this point. I downed about half a gallon of water and felt like a new woman.
I was disappointed that I didn't finish Mock Three in full-force, but I knew I had done the right thing by bowing out gracefully. I am not that concerned about it. I could tell my endurance could have carried me for that last 10K, but I wasn't hydrated enough.
Class, what did we learn today?
- Take hydration on the bike ride. GU alone will not do it.
- Stop at the water stations during Race Day.
They have water every mile of the run for my actual race, so I plan to take advantage of them.
*One more thing* I wanted to share was that I wore my new tri-suit and LOVED IT!!! I was a little worried that the legs would be too tight but the minute I got in the water I didn't even notice them. Wearing it was like being naked...only with 'support' in the right places if you know what I mean. I love it. It dried quick, it was comfortable, and it didn't look half-bad.
Stay tuned for pics after the *REAL DEAL* in only 7 days!!!!!!!!!!!
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