Another race in the books. I had so much fun on this one! I've been pretty focused on running the past year and a half so it was really nice to mix it up and throw a triathlon into the mix. I've been doing a lot of my training with Ben and we decided to camp at the reservoir the night before. Best decision ever! It was so nice to wake up and not be rushed. It didn't even seem like we were racing until about 20 minutes to race time. When the wet suit went on though I felt claustrophobic and the nerves turned on. I knew I could be competitive if I held it together and I really wanted to do well. I was confident with my training and I was feeling pretty fresh so I tried to stay positive and focus.
Nutrition- Egg and milk a couple hours before race time. pb/almond butter mix half sandwich and half a banana about 30 min before race time. I felt too full to start. 5 hr energy right before. Gel w/ caffeine before run.
Swim- 14:48
I'm really happy with the swim. Wearing the wet suit is a trade off. It makes getting into the water really easy and makes you more buoyant but it's a bugger to get off. Felt good about he effort I gave. The water was really calm and I only had a few guys try to swim over me. Getting out of the water was a bit more disorienting than I would have liked, but managed to make it up the never ending hill to the transition area.
T1- 2:51. I need to work on that time!
Bike- 37:51/19.02 mph average My legs took a little while to feel good. The plan? Go as hard as I could. I was breathing like I was working hard and I was. It worried me but I was willing to take the risk of blowing up. Maybe I wouldn't. The course was a pretty fast out and back. I was hoping for at least 20 mph average but I'm happy with 19 mph average.
T2- 1:15. Not too bad.
Run- 23:56/7:43 average pace This was a hurt fest.
The only real though I could process was "this is hard". I was aware of people looking over as I passed like I was a crazy person running after them. That was fun... I could feel the bike in my lungs. My breathing was off from the start and I never got it under control. I battled side aches for the first half. Guess I red lined it too much and didn't leave enough for after the bike but I survived it. Barely. I was passing people the entire way which is mostly what kept me going. I would pass people and they'd look over like I was a heaving fool. I almost gave in once and walked but I pushed through. The most frustrating part was that my legs felt really good. Fatigued but good. My breathing just wouldn't let me go faster. This was the longest 3.1 miles I've run in a long time and it definitely made me respect the art of triathlon. It's a balancing act that I'm eager to get better at.
Pushing past what you think you are capable of is the most addicting and invigorating feeling I've ever experienced. My goal was to make top 10 so mission accomplished. My brain has already forgotten how painful it was and I'm jones'in for the next adventure. Thank you to Ben, Josse, Mom and everyone for being a huge support. I couldn't do any of it without the support I receive from friends and family. And to the kid that told me I can do a running dismount, I hear ya. I'll learn that.
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