Race Report: Orangeman

Subtitle: My First Road Bike Crash

2012 was the year of proving myself. After taking off about a whole race season, I was anxious to get back to serious racing again. I missed racing Ironman California 70.3 this year because I didn't think I'd have enough time to train for it after having Desmond. But I really wanted to do a half-Ironman distance race. The next best thing was a new race called Orangeman in Dana Point, CA.

Orangeman is the same distance as a half-Ironman, but it's not an official one. That just means the race was smaller. Skyler chose to do this race too as Ironman prep, but you won't see him in any of these pictures. I stole the show for the day.

Desmond came with us the day before to pick-up our bibs and race packets. I've never seen a boy so sad while holding a balloon. Actually, I think he was just tired.

Race day came early, since we had to drop Desmond at the babysitter's house. Ian and Ashlyn are so super awesome! They reassured us to not hurry home or worry at all. They are lifesavers!

The swim was at Doheny State Beach. The water was pretty warm, but filled with lots of kelp. You know how much fun it is to be constantly touched by kelp when you're swimming? I don't prefer it. I came out the water and was surprised to see Skyler in transition. He had started about 10 minutes before me. He just had a really bad swim day. It happens. During a race that long you just have to learn to shake it off and not let it affect the rest of your race.

Elise Swim 41:33, Elise T1 3:00

Skyler 49:43, Skyler T1 2:42

I knew the bike was going to be a killer before going into this race. Pretty much it is 28 miles up Ortega Highway, then 28 miles back down. I don't shy away from climbs, but I knew it meant I wouldn't be able to compare my time with other half-ironmans because this would be way harder. It was a tough climb. I kept thinking...where's the top?! Finally the turn-around came and I was flying down the hill. I felt great and I was gaining time on the way. 

About 3 miles from transition we entered a residential area. The left side of the street was coned off for the racers. It wasn't very wide, so when a woman was drafting off me, I moved over for her to pass me. I thought she wanted to pass, but instead she continued to draft (which is illegal in most races). Because I moved to the right, I was close to the cones, which were connected with yellow caution tape. It was a windy day and the tape blew toward me and wrapped around my handlebars. Before I knew what was happening, I was falling. My bike was jerked away by the tape and cones and I was coming down hard on my left side. Oh no! So many thoughts were going through my head such as, will I still be able to run a marathon in two weeks, and can I still do Ironman. Then I hit the ground hard. I thought I had broken my elbow for sure because of how hard I hit. 

Next I was concerned about someone running into me. The girl that kinda caused the accident saw me fall yet rode away. No one else saw anything. I picked up my bike and quickly moved onto nearby grass. A volunteer finally saw me and ran over. She asked if I needed help and I said no, actually I wasn't sure. A few minutes later some policeman showed up. They interviewed me and asked if I needed help again. I said yes I would like to be checked out.

Paramedics arrived about 10 minutes later and my elbow was throbbing. Blood was dripping down my arm, but I felt confident it wasn't broken. What I really wanted was a pain killer. The paramedics attended to me, cleaning up my wounds. I turned them down when asked if I wanted to go to the hospital. I said as long as nothing was broken, then I wanted to keep racing. I had to sign a consent form. About 30-40 minutes after I first fell, I was pulling my bike off the group to get back on. I kinda feared that if I didn't get back on my bike, that I wouldn't for a while.

My elbow hurt so bad so I couldn't put any weight on it at all. Riding a triathlon bike with one hand is nearly impossible. Luckily I only had 3 miles to go. I rode back to transition and made the decision to keep racing. All I had to do was run and I didn't need my arms to do that.

Elise Bike 3:51:42 (with about 40 minutes associated with crash), Elise T2 5:06

Skyler Bike 2:57:48, Skyler T2 1:37

The run consisted of a 2 mile sand portion, then you got to the loops. This part of the run was back-and-forth on a beach pace for 3 loops, so you actually ran 6 times on this same path for 1.8 miles each time. Talk about boring! I knew I would see Skyler sometime soon and I was so anxious to tell him what happened. We finally found each other and ran for a few miles together while I related my story. He had started to worry when he didn't see me on the run course. He was happy to see me, but he was almost finished so off he went to the finish line. I was jealous.

The rest of the race was pretty boring. I was able to run with my injured arm pretty easily. I guess I'm used to only using one arm to run since I train pushing a stroller most of the time. I ran for a few miles with a friend. Actually, we walked but I didn't care. It was hot and I wasn't in a hurry. After my 3 loops, it was back across the sand and through the finish line. I proudly wore that finisher's medal.

Elise Run 2:38:59, Total Time 7:20:23

Skyler Run 2:09:55, Total Time 6:01:46

Race adrenaline kept me pretty happy for the rest of the day. We enjoyed our post-race ritual of In-N-Out and Del Taco. And lucky for us Ashlyn said to take as long as we need because Desmond was being so good with them. Yay!

I would have expected the pain of my injuries to be the worst on the day they happened, but that definitely wasn't true. The photos below are from 4 days later. They may not look like much, but this was/is some serious pain. My elbow got the worst of it and I was convinced it actually was broken. A trip to urgent care confirmed that my bones were just very bruised, but not broken. I learned that road rash hurts WAY more than it looks. Last week I saw a dermatologist who said that my road rash gave me a tiny tattoo (from the asphalt). 

Fast forward to 6 weeks later and I'm finally started to heal. My knee is fine. The large hip bruise is gone. My road rash has produced fresh, white skin on my back. The only pain I have is my elbow. It's hard to believe, but it is still so sensitive. I used to cry in pain anytime anything touched it. It had been punctured to the bone, which is why it was so sensitive I'm sure. It's still pretty raw, but I can use it normally again. I wasn't able to swim for a few weeks while it heeled, but now I'm fine with that.

(Back, hip, knee, elbow)

I'm extremely lucky, I definitely know that. I could have been hurt so much more. I was able to run a marathon 2 weeks later (yippee!) and I can race Ironman in 2 weeks. I also know I don't ever want to crash again, but realistically I'm surprised it hadn't happened before. Also, Orangeman was a great race and I'd love to race it again.