Sunday, July 12, 2009

Couples Triathlon race report

Total 2:07:03
Swim- corrected, but not yet official 20:53
T1 4:28
Bike-49:31 13.6mph
T2 1:50
Run- 50:18 16:14/m

So a good race, much improved on the bike, and felt strong throughout. The last time I raced this course was Danskin last year, 2:24 overall, 12.7 mph on the bike, 17:10/ mile on the bike, so much improved!

From the beginning, up at 5 am, out to Decker by 6, and plenty of time to set up, then go back to the car and read the paper in the A/C. Probably 30 T3ers racing, and another 15 volunteering and supporting, so that was cool. My wave was third to go, and that was nice, though a little weird to be in the same wave with men- most of the time waves are the same sex. But I waited 2 seconds after the gun, and got a good rhythm quickly. I did get a little queasy on the swim- the water was HOT, and about half way through I realized how uncomfortable I was because I was so hot and couldn't cool off. Plus my stomach was a little off, from something I ate yesterday, and swallowing some water.

Up the long ramp to transition and there are wood chips covering the dirt, and worse, there are sticker burrs! I had to stop twice to pick them out of my feet, and that sucked. Off on the bike, it took a little while to settle my stomach, then ate some Clif Blocks. I tried out the intermittent standing on the climbs and it worked really well- getting up a little momentum to get the pedals moving again for sitting. Pushed it at the end because I was counting the run being slow.

It was slow and it was HOT- some shade, which was nice, but my time definitely showed the heat. Also, the grass trail was uneven with lots of cracks from the drought, so a lot of time spent picking my steps. I ran the whole way except the water stops, though I should have walked up the last hill, because while I felt pretty good chugging up the hill, I was not able to recover to have a strong finish at the end.

But I was done. I sat in the shade with ice in my sports bra and drank a bottle of water, and poured another one on my head for about 10 minutes before I felt good enough to get a drink and breakfast taco. It was pretty cool because 90% of the T3ers were in my wave- mixed friends 60-79. And I wasn't the last T3er! By about 40 minutes! Super excited about that! When I went to check my time, I realized they didn't have a division for me, so they started my chip time at the beginning of the race, 15 minutes before my wave went off. I've emailed them to correct it, which hopefully they will do within the week. I was really impressed they had results up on the internet less than 6 hours after the race was complete. Good job Run-Far!

I stuck around for the awards, and T3 was well represented. And then home for a much needed shower, A/C, and nap. It was a really good time overall, the team support, Logan on the microphone, a PR with most improvement on the bike. Good times!

1 comment:

everybody's entitled said...

Hooray for you for so much improvement! And you had fun!