Race Report

I have to admit that it feels good to write a race report!   :)

Yesterday was my first triathlon in nearly two years, the last one being the ungodly hot Olympic tri in July of 2011.   After that race, I was completely burned out (literally and figuratively, haha), and I took a long break from just about everything triathlon-related.  Then last year, I got injured and was forced to take a break.  Now that I'm operating at 90%, I was ready to tri again.  (HAHAHA, I crack myself up.)

Me and my friend A at the swim start.  She ended up first in our age group.

I signed up for a race that all of my friends have done and raved about, even though it meant I would be racing against my training partners -- and losing.  They are all much faster than I am, and I find it depressing to always come in last place in our little group.  Nonetheless, I sucked it up and registered.  The race is held at a boarding school, interestingly the campus where Dead Poets' Society was filmed.  Quarter mile pond swim, 16 mile pretty flat bike course, and 5K cross-country run.  I figured the whole thing would take me 1:30ish. 

I will be the first to admit that I had NO IDEA what a cross-country run entailed.  HOLY CRAP!  It was mostly a single track trail run with roots and rocks underfoot, or grass that hadn't been mowed in weeks, and HILLS!  Short, steep, curvy, twisting hills.  I was so not prepared -- mentally or physically -- for that sort of run.  But I digress.

SWIM - my mantra was Be Calm
Apparently, I was way too calm.  My swim time was 10 minutes!  That matches the swim time of my first triathlon ever, back in 2007.  Ugh.  I have no idea what happened....   Maybe I just took it too easy?  I was expecting 8:40ish and hoping for 8:30.  10 minutes was a huge disappointment.  Then, the run to transition was a good quarter mile (starting uphill), so my T1 time was way higher than usual.  In my head I said, "Get to work.  You need to make up 2 minutes on the bike!"

Me coming out of the water.

BIKE - my mantra was Be Aggressive
My goal was to hover around 20 mph for as much of the bike as I could.  While the course was pretty flat, there were some small rollers that slowed me down to 14-15 mph.  Every time I slowed down on an incline, I told myself, "OK, now you have to spend some time at 23-24 mph to make up for this!"  I knew I'd be under 55 minutes for the bike but was hoping for around 52 minutes.  Bike time = 51:25.  Whew!  And my T2 was under a minute.  They should give out awards for T2.  I would win every time.  I rock in T2! 

RUN - my mantra was Be Strong.  It should have been Be Afraid!!
Well, I've already covered the run.  I was hoping for 25-26 minutes (closer to 25, if I'm being honest), but I was woefully unprepared for that particular run.  If it had been a flat run, or even trail run without so many twists, turns, and hills, I would have smashed that goal.  My legs felt good, even if my glute really started to hurt, and I wasn't winded or tired.  It was just a hard run.  Run time = 26:13.

Total time = 1:32:21.  Fourth in my age group (really 6th, but we all got bumped up because the first two women in my age group were also the top two females overall!  YEAH!  Old ladies rule!!!!!!!!!!).  My friends A and D were 1-2 in our age group.  Woo hoo!!   And my friend M was 2nd in her age group (she's younger than we are).  Woo hoo again!  AND I got to see a dear friend from high school that I haven't seen in at least 6-7 years.  Such a great surprise!!

I'm happy with the race and results.  And I'm already looking for another tri or two for this summer.  :)