Andrew Starykowicz, 70.3 California - I Finished

Friday 04 April 2014
I spent last Sunday night worshiping the porcelain Gods.  I took Monday off and by the time Tuesday rolled around I felt somewhat back to my normal self.  I got in a few good workouts in on Tuesday and Wednesday which renewed my excitement for 70.3 Oceanside on the coming weekend.  Then on Wednesday night I was back worshiping the porcelain Gods.  Thursday my abs and back were so sore I couldn’t even stand up straight.  I apologize to the Lava crew for not coming out and signing autographs on Thursday but trust me, you didn’t want me there.  Friday I spent most of the day in bed going through feeling like of could race tomorrow mixed with times in which I was waiting for me insides to explode.

Race morning was no different. I would feel great for 20-30 minutes and then horrible in which I was retching for 10-20 minutes. I called my wife 20 minutes before the race started and told her I was going to pack it in and not race. She told me to just get through the swim and see how you feel, maybe the nerves are aggravating whatever you have…she knew if I started I would finish.

For the cool Pacific Ocean swim I switched from the Orca Alpha1.5 wetsuit to the 3.8 (Macca’s goto wetsuit) for the race. The 3.8 has a lot more insulation and bouyancy but for me it is not quite as fast the Alpha1.5, but I decided it was better for the muscles to be warm than cold and tight. The cannon fired and my head was not in the game right away. I was still debating whether I really should be racing. Just that quickly a group of five or six got off the front but I noticed I was next to Pete Jacobs and Matty Reed was on my feet. I was confused, these are lead pack guys. The swim was steady which was great for me because I did not have the mental capacity today to do the whole sprint and relax routine. Finally the swim was over and I dashed up the boat ramp into T1.

I wish I had a video of my T1. I think I spent 10 extra seconds at my bike figuring if I should do this or not. My head was not in the game but my body felt pretty good. Finally I set sail for the group that all just out transitioned me.

The first 30 miles of the bike were interesting. I sat in like most of the guys I race, it is amazing how much less power you need to put out when you are sitting 3rd or 4th in line…no wonder why they run so fast. My stomach tied up a few times and I would throw up everything I put in it. At mile 30 Sebi caught me so I decided to work with him, I knew my day was shot so I thought maybe I could help his. Shortly after mile 43 I got a split that we were two minutes down to Potts, Charbot, and Frodeno. I decided to set sail and see if I could catch them. With my stomach I knew running was impossible so maybe I could just get the pride of being first off the bike. I rode hard, puked, rode harder, puked some more, rode harderer, started dry heaving, finally at mile 55 I took the lead and rolled into T2 first.

I told Frodeno to go get them as we transitioned together. Then we set out on the run, for the first 8km (5 miles), I ran a kilometer (0.6 mi) for each mile that Frodeno was running. I wish it felt easy like the pace should’ve, but I was miserable. The thing that motivated me was Rapp and Jacobs were both out there also slugging it out with bad races. Finally the finish line.

I have been in and out of the doctors and am still working on figuring out what this is. My plan is to be back at San Juan in two weeks but that may be put on hold if I cannot figure out what this is.

Thank you for the support

Andrew
PS – Sebi-You owe me a few beers!
Andrew Starykowicz


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