Race Report

Finishing off the run

This past weekend I was able to get back to racing triathlons.  I little over a year ago I got injured at a race and had to take some time to recover.  This weekend I was able to participate in the WIN for KC triathlon which was so much fun.  It is one of the best races I have participated it.  There is so much positive energy at the race and as an all women's race its something truly special.

The night before the race I was so nervous, almost like it was my very first race again.  But luckily I was able to get some sleep so i was ready when my alarm went off super early on Saturday morning.

I got to the race nice and early to set up my transition area.  While getting set up I ran into several of my teammates which helped me calm my nerves.

A nice little transition area

For this race I decided to do the time trial start.  We went after the first 5 heats of mass starts and the anxiety started to build as I saw my friends getting out of the water while I was still waiting for my turn to go.  I lined up in the 8-9 minute group for the swim.  I was about the 8-10th person in line and was ready to go when they told me it was my turn.  I got in the water quickly and was able to settle into my stroke easily.  I passed several people and was feeling pretty good in the water.  I was able to finish strong and forgot to change my garmin.  My time was not quite what I had hoped for but I still felt pretty good.

I made a quick transition on to my bike and was off on a short 10 miler.  The bike course was crowded with a lot of people, many who were not experienced triathletes so it was a little frustrating trying to pass people when they were not riding on the right side of the road.  About 2-3 miles in I finally settled in a little but was a having trouble controlling my breathing.  For some reason, I was breathing much faster then normal.  It really took most of the bike to settle my breathing but my HR was fine during that time.  I saw several of my teammates and it was nice to see them.  I had a nice dismount of my bike and ran through transition.

BAM teammates representing

On to the run...the part of the race I was most nervous about.  I have not had a lot of good runs this summer and have been battling mental doubt and some ongoing foot pain.  I actually stopped my Garmin after transition and didn't realized it until well into the run.  I started off well and saw some of my friends who were there for support.  In the pre-race meeting they said the second water stop was at the turnaround so when I saw the water stop and was feeing great I was so happy.  My joy was short lived though as the water stop was just before mile 1, no wonder I felt so great.  I kept telling myself just run the next 1/2 mile and see how you feel.  With that in mind I made it to the turnaround and was not feeling so bad.  This was a major victory.  I walked through the water stop, got some water and was off to run again.  I had figured out my Garmin wasn't working and according to the Garmin I was under 12 minute miles which is right were I usually am.  With lots of encouragement from other people running and a friend cheering at the last 1/4 mile I made it to the finish line.  I felt pretty good crossing the line since it had been so long since my last race.  I got the monkey off my back which felt great.

After the race I found my cheering section (an awesome guy and dog) and a few friends.  I finally went to get my time and was pleasently surprised to have finished 9th in my age group, top 11% of all athletes and most importantly, about 2-3 minutes faster in the run then I expected.  All in all, not a bad race day.

Of course, no race is complete without a lake day after with friends.  Now to race again tomorrow :)