Going to Vegas!!

Well I did it!!  Thanks to all who said I could and especially to those who said I couldn't!  Six weeks after breaking my collarbone I did what I had been training for... I qualified for Worlds 70.3 in Las Vegas.  It certainly wasn't my best performance but I'll take it.   The swim was non wetsuit legal which was good for me. It still hurts my collarbone to get the wetsuit on and off and I swim relatively well without it. My swim wasn't stellar by any stretch but all things considered, it wasn't too bad.  I was 11th out of the water.  The one thing I absolutely couldn't do was swim after the injury.  I just started swimming easy last week to make sure I still could.
I loved the challenging bike course (except for the last few miles!! How many double railroad tracks were there?? At least 3 or 4?) ....Just wish my chain didn't fall off at the top of every hill!!  Ughhh!  I looked at the file at estimate I lost more than 4 min... but who knows because my heart rate also recovered over 30 beats, which helped me, so I can't really say for sure how much time I would have gained if the chain didn't drop. I managed to move up to 5th off the bike. 
The run....well that just plain sucked!!  I saw that hill and the cramps set in just looking at it. I started walking about one mile in and I swear for about two minutes I was going to drop out. I took some pickle juice and then shortly after that I started running again.  Things got a little better but not much. I took sips of pickle juice in anticipation of every hill and every slight incline. It kept the cramps just under enough control to allow me to finish the race...still in 5th place. Like I said...... I'll take it!!