Today's race report I'll make short and sweet since I'm tired and need to go to bed. Anyhow, my first tri was a sprint...maybe technically a super sprint as it was a 400 yd swim, 11 mile bike and 5k run. It was the Women's Only Triathlon in Sylvania OH and is geared towards beginners who want to try out a tri, or women who are intimidated by larger co-ed races. This was a perfect race for me!
Today started at 3:30 a.m. The race started at 7:30 a.m. but we needed to get there by 6 a.m. for packet pickup (didn't do it the night before since it was an hr. drive). I needed time to get up, have my coffee, banana, yogurt and get ready to roll. Then I picked up my gal pals Ruth and Krystin and we were on our way! Oh yeah, it was also COLD! 50 degrees actually this morning. no good! Seriously...is it July!? So, I wore my warm-ups over my outfit as we were milling about getting our packets and set up in transition.
So, we made it just before 6 a.m. and had lots of time to spare which is good for me mentally so I could check out how things looked on my path from the swim and from bike to run, so I know what to look for to find my spot. Also of note, they had random bike racking, only by age group. So, I grabbed a spot on the end and faced my bike toward the bike out. I heard somewhere the end spots are the easiest to access....'they' were right. :)
At about 7:15 we were told to line up near the swim start. You start on this terrace and are seeded by time you think you'll finish the swim in. I was hoping for a 10 min....so seeded myself appropriately. It was also a time trial start. So, everyone started at 4 second intervals. That was nice as I was freaked out by the prospect of swimming with lots of people at the beginning. Before I knew it, people were in the water and my turn was up! I took off ( albeit slowly). Then I mentally messed up. I got close to some swimmers who were faster and didn't have 'space', so I tried to find some and instead ended up killing my rhythm and that was that. The rest of my swim was long.....and slow....and well, not 10 min. :( Ended up being 14:30. Ouch! OH well, as soon as I had my land legs back I bounded up the quarry stairs(yes there were steep concrete stairs coming out, did I mention? And my body was tired! But, I shook it off and focused on T1. I passed a bunch of ladies on my way into transition, so that felt good. :) I did the first transition in 1:08. No wet suit, but I'll take it! I found my bike easily and did my change(though I forgot to dry my feet and my bike shoes are now wet) and ran my bike outta there!
On to the bike! This is the fun part! I love riding bikes! :) I picked up some speed and started passing lots of people. I 'caught' a lot of the faster swimmers which felt good, and even some of the dri tri-ers. I'm still not sure about this drafting thing, so I tried to keep my distance until I was sure I could stay in front of someone. The ride was FLAT! It was basically a huge square around cornfields. So much fun! I only had 2 complaints about the ride. 1 was it was really windy going 1 direction...so I struggled to maintain a decent speed. 2, was that at 1 intersection, one of the traffic directors motioned for me to stop, as they were stopping a vehicle, but then said to go! I was so annoyed, I lost a bunch of momentum and had to get it back. Sigh. On the up side I found a new hammer gel flavor I love. Raspberry! I had just 1 on the bike to hopefully stave off the stupid side cramps I've been getting as of late on the run after I bike(thinking electrolyte issue with the heat maybe?). Oh well, it was over before I knew it and I was on to T2. I managed a decent time in that one 45 seconds....and I was off.
Ugh! I hate that first mile running after the bike. My legs feel like lead, but I just kept them going....1st mile was slow, but then I got my rhythm and pace back and started to look for signs of other age groupers I might actually be running with. Didn't see many (none actually). So, I figured I was way behind. As I was passing the final water stop, I heard someone shout "you can catch her!"....I realized it was one of the volunteers telling me.....there was someone just in front of me that was my group. And yes, I was on her heels. With only a mile or less to go, I thought I had enough in reserve to pick it up a little. So, I did. And I passed her. Then I kept going at that slightly increased pace....then I came up on another one in my group...and passed her. That was kind of a fun game, but I figured they'd catch back up at some point....but never did. Before I knew it I saw the end and my family and friend cheering. I saw that last 100M and gave the rest of what I had. It was awesome! I finished strong and I cannot wait to do another!
I finished in 1:18...I was hoping for 1:14..which would've happened had it not been for my horrible swim. Well, I guess I know what I need to work on for next time. I hope to find 1 more to squeeze in this year sometime. :)
I definitely am hooked!
Cheers!
Jess
